Anthem Sports Ready To Sell Global Force Wresting/Impact Wrestling

I'm not surprised. They apparently tape shows for free, don't really have merch deals, don't really advertise PPVs,  pay the network to be aired and not the opposite and probably pay their wrestlers a huge amount. Where do they actually expect to make money from?

Guess their trip to India didn't pay off, when they let people in for free and in some cases actually paid everyone in attendance to actually be there. Said at the time that I didn't think that was a good idea. Just a waste of money. If wrestling is that big of a market in India, they shouldn't have to pay people to attend. I would have looked at that and said that we needed to do more work at home first to build up our brand so that they'll want to pay to see us when we go over there. Like usual with them though, they rushed it. Presumably because WWE were tapping into the Indian market. When you don't have something worth selling though, it's pointless and a waste of money.

And that applies to everything they're doing. If it's not worth selling, they won't sell. Simple as. I'd go back to a standard ring and work hard on stories and trying to get viewers. Only way they'll improve. More viewers equals being able to get better TV deals.

-- As reported earlier today. GFW Chief Creative Officer Jeff Jarrett has taken a "personal leave of absence" from the company effective immediately. According to Mike Johnson at pwinsider.com, the move was initiated by Anthem's Ed Nordholm earlier in the day and reportedly took Jarrett by surprise, as he was ready to host a fantasy football party for GFW employees today at his home (which of course didn't happen as it was moved to GFW headquarters instead).

-- With Nordholm forcing Jarrett's hand into a leave of absence, the reason is apparently not due to any unhappiness regarding the creative aspect of GFW but rather by his "erratic behavior" that was building for months. It all came to a tipping point at the recent Triplemania event where Jarrett appeared looking out of shape while stumbling around ringside.

-- Jarrett's defenders are stating that he is not totally to blame in all of this as many of the things he was being criticized for (such as backing Anthem in their legal dispute with the Hardys) was because he was simply following orders to be loyal to the company. Others point out that Jarrett definitely needed a "break" of some sort but mainly because was working tirelessly to manage the situation between Nordholm (who people say has no clue about wrestling) and the actual wrestling part.

-- It remains to be seen how GFW/Anthem will fare without Jarrett due to Nordholm's inexperience with wrestling. A number of meetings were held throughout today to discuss the future direction of the promotion and it appears the creative team - which Jarrett put together - will be staying as is.

-- Perhaps the most interesting note that came out of all this is the possible revelation that Anthem and GFW never actually merged officially so if Jarrett is indeed gone for good, it's possible the GFW name will follow suit. The futures of Jim Cornette and Alberto El Patron are unknown but at this time Cornette is still with the company. Karen Jarrett, however, will surely separate from the company if Jarrett is gone.

Starting to sound as much of a mess as TNA was.

Apparently they wanna do a GFW network. Where the hell they expect to get the funding I don't know.

Its weird that these reports come out and yet yesterday they announce a bunch of new stuff they are doing lol. Leadership in this company has never been stable, now looks like we have another non wrestling mind running stuff.

I'm frankly amazed that they've lasted this long all things considered. I don't anticipate these networks lasting long though, WWE keep saying that they lose money  on their network, so there's no reason to think that the GFW Network will make anything...

Thought it was kind of weird to announce all that stuff they did yesterday. But looks like some false stuff is going around.

PWInsider.com is reporting discussions during this week’s meetings did not focus on reports of GFW being sold by Anthem, including no talks of selling the tape library, and instead looked at plans moving forward. Reports of Anthem looking to move GFW offices from Nashville to Toronto were also debunked, with a source saying Ed Nordholm was specifically asked about a potential move, and he said there were no such plans.

Finally, PWInsider said their initial report on Karen Jarrett’s status with the company was an error, and no decision has been made on her position with her husband Jeff’s leave of absence this week. It was originally believed that she would be finishing up with the company due to Jeff’s departure, but that has since been corrected.

If they are in financial trouble, selling their tape library wouldn't overly help. That's arguably their biggest asset and if they sell that then they lose a lot of value as a company. In their best interests to keep hold of it.

Also completely in their best interests to deny it... which makes reports seem dubious, but once one of their top guys says they're struggling financially, they're screwed. You deny it and do what you can behind the scenes.

Hopefully they have some good plans for moving forward. Stop wasting money and use what they have wisely. Best thing they could do is not sign anyone else for the time being and spend some money on some writers and marketers. Get fans in, get fans knowing about the product and shit like that. Then when they're pulling in some money, look at improving the roster. They should be able to do okay with what they currently have roster wise.

Well, they do have a sizeable roster, including some pretty big names, so there's no reason to get more talent in. Use what they have, cut some of the fat even and as Benjawi said, spend money on improving the product. I just hope that Ed Nordholm is open to taking advice from people who actually know the business. I must admit, I'm surprised to see that Abyss and Sonjay Dutt are also producers, but that's not a bad thing considering their experience...