Ed Nordholm, the Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports and Entertainment, appeared on Wrestling Observer Live on Friday to discuss GFW’s new Global Wrestling Network, an ‘over the top’ streaming service similar to the WWE Network.

Acknowledging that Global Force Wrestling’s troubled financial situation, Nordholm said “We’re invested in this company. We’re growing it. We know it’s not going to turn around tomorrow.”

In addition to GFW and TNA content, the plan is to feature content from GFW’s affiliate promotions, like AAA and NOAH. He even said they’d like to get New Japan content on the Global Wrestling Network, if they can persuade them.  “We’ll have a plan, an efficient place for an aggregation of wrestling content that isn’t related to WWE.”

As for how the pricing structure would work, the are planning to have some content available for free, but “most of the product will be in the pay tier. It’s hard to make the business work in the digital world off an ad-based product. There will be stuff available on the free tier, but you’ll have to go to the pay tier for the archives.”

Regarding the possibility of selling the GFW/TNA tape library to WWE, Nordholm says he knows the value of the content they currently own and he’d rather monetize it himself than sell to Vince McMahon.

“I know full well how the WWE Network would monetize the content and what they could pay for the library. It makes no sense for me to sell it for that kind of price. I’d rather keep it, put it up on the app, and monetize it myself.”

Check out the complete Ed Nordholm interview at F4WOnline.com.

The infamous airport incident involving former WWE Star Alberto Del Rio and his girlfriend Paige has made a lot of headlines, though now it appears that this saga will finally be coming to an end.

We noted before that Alberto Del Rio was no longer a suspect in the incident and now a latest report from TMZ has revealed that Paige is not being hit with domestic violence charge either.

The Female WWE Star has previously admitted that she was the aggressor in the incident and she threw a drink on Alberto. After an investigation, the Orlando Police Department had recommended Paige to be charged for the incident.

However, since Del Rio who is a victim in the case didn’t want to move forward with the charges, the case is now reportedly closed according to State Attorney’s Office.

It’s worth mentioning here that Alberto was suspended by GFW due to his involvement in the incident, and his suspension has not been lifted yet.

While many believed that the former GFW World Champion would be cleared to return before the GFW TV Tapings last week, he was instead stripped of the title by the Officials and currently there is no news on when or if he will return to the company.

On the other hand, Paige who is still under a WWE contract has spoken about her WWE return multiple times in the past saying she is hopeful to come back very soon.

Although WWE’s stand on the whole situation is not known and it’s doubtful if the company even wants the former Diva’s Champion to return.

We noted before how GFW Star Tyrus refused to attend the latest GFW TV Tapings due to being unhappy with the way he was being treated.

He released a video in which he accused officials of treating him like a ‘second-class citizen’ and said that he has been handcuffed creatively.

Now the former WWE Star has announced his departure from the company. He gave the news through a tweet in which he revealed that he has been granted his release as seen below:

Thank you to @EdNordholm and @IMPACTWRESTLING for granting me my release. Wishing the roster and crew all success. #TyrusSmash #Nuffsaid

— Tyrus (@PlanetTyrus) August 19, 2017

It’s worth noting here that Tyrus is not the only star who has left GFW in recent days. Over the past number of weeks, almost half a dozen superstars have parted ways with the company.

The names to leave GFW in recent times include the likes of former World Champion Magnus, ‘The Blueprint’ Matt Morgan and just recently Da Pope.

Tyrus had joined TNA back in September 2014. He debuted as a heel initially and acted as a sidekick for EC III. He later turned on him and sided with the Hardy Boyz, turning face in the process.

Prior to his stint with GFW, Tyrus worked with WWE for almost 8 years under the ring name Brodus Clay. Though while he spent a long time working with WWE, the monster sized athlete didn’t achieve anything significant during his career in the company.

The first day of latest Impact Taping schedule was filled with a number of interesting events including the crowning of a new GFW World Heavyweight Champion and the Impact debut of a former WWE Intercontinental Champion.

As we noted before the first episode of Impact which was taped during the first day of the 4 days taping schedule saw the return of Jim Cornette.

Cornette announced a Gauntlet match for next week to determine the new GFW World Champion after Alberto El Patron was stripped of the title recently.

During the episode, they also announced the debut of former WWE Star John Morrison now renamed as Johnny Impact. The announcement was made through a video package which can be seen below:

JOHNNY IMPACT IS COMING #IMPACTonPOP #DestX #GFW #ImpactWrestling pic.twitter.com/eT1ldnogDa

— pwguru (@pwguru65) August 18, 2017

The episode featuring the Gauntlet match was taped later in the night and Johnny Impact made his debut during the Championship bout while coming out as a participant at number 13.

He stayed in the match for a while and was one of the final four contestants in it along with Moose, Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards, before being eliminated. Below are some of the photos of his Impact debut:

Spoiler 46: Johnny Impact is out next! pic.twitter.com/aMWIiCUs4L

— The Rogue Fan (@TheRogueFan) August 18, 2017

https://twitter.com/theredstandard/status/898366501111123970

Spoiler 55: Final 4 are Moose, Drake, Eddie Edwards, Johnny Impact pic.twitter.com/P2VSYlUwDe

— The Rogue Fan (@TheRogueFan) August 18, 2017

It’s worth mentioning here that John Morrison made his GFW debut during a Live Event earlier this month from Long Island New York on August 4rth.

The GFW World Heavyweight Championship has been in controversy lately thanks to its former owner and former WWE World Champion Alberto Del Rio.

Del Rio was infamously involved in an airport fight incident with his girlfriend Paige and was suspended by the company due to it while he still held the belt.

Officials stripped him of the World Championship just a few days ago despite no longer being a suspect in the mentioned incident. Since then it was rumoured that GFW will scrap their old plans and take a completely new direction for their top title.

During the latest episode of Impact Wrestling Jim Cornette returned to the company and announced a Gauntlet match for next week’s episode of Impact to crown the new GFW Champion.

The episode was taped later on the same night and Eli Drake won the announced Gauntlet match to become the new GFW World Heavyweight Champion.

Drake joined TNA back in 2015 and this is not the first championship he has won on the Promotion now rebranded as Global Force Wrestling. He has previously won the TNA King of the Mountain Championship once too.

Eli has worked for WWE on a number of occasions as well but he has mostly worked in dark matches for the company and he hasn’t had any meaningful stint with them.

Spoiler 57: Your winner AND NEW GFW Global Champion, ELI DRAKE! pic.twitter.com/hHZQmD3xne

— The Rogue Fan (@TheRogueFan) August 18, 2017

Last year when WWE was hiring several former TNA performers amidst the company’s financial crisis, there were still some stars who decided to remain with the company through its most uncertain times. One such star who made the decision to return to the company now known as GFW despite having an offer from WWE is the Indo-American professional wrestler Sonjay Dutt.

During his recent Interview with Wrestlinginc, Dutt spoke up about his decision to choose GFW over WWE and revealed the reason behind his move.

According to the GFW star, he has to put his family first while making any serious decisions in his life and it was also an important reason behind it among other things:

“A lot of factors played into that, I’m 35, I’ve got a wife, I’ve got two kids and I’ve got a family that I have to put first before my decisions in life. That took a good chunk of the decision-making process, what is best for them. You know, uprooting my family and two young children, that was a huge part of it.”

In previous interviews, Dutt has also mentioned that his relationship with the GFW founder Jeff Jarret was also a reason for his GFW return.

It’s worth noting here that Sonjay Dutt worked as a guest trainer at WWE Performance Centre last year and he was later offered a contract by the company.

Though he rejected the offer and signed with GFW as a full-time producer instead. He later also made his in ring return for the company and became the X-Division Champion for the first time during the recent GFW tour of India.

Knowing Mr McMahon’s love for tall guys, many believe that former GFW/TNA star Matt Morgan could have been a big Star in WWE if he would have worked with the company for long enough.

While The 7 footer did have a stint with WWE from 2002 to 2005 and became the OVW Champion multiple times too, he couldn’t achieve much in the main roster and was released from the company after having multiple gimmick changes.

During his appearance on the Sitting Ringside with David Penzer podcast, the former GFW star talked about his WWE release and revealed that Officials actually wanted him to go to NJPW and work there for sometimes before returning to the company.

However, Matt decided to leave New Japan and join TNA instead. According to him, he took this decision because he got really bitter and pissed off on WWE:

“WWE sets me up to go to New Japan, got paid really well, but I got really bitter and pissed off. I then decide, you know what? I’m going to shove this up their ass and go to TNA and be ‘The Blueprint’ Matt Morgan and show them exactly what they missed out on.”

Morgan recently left GFW because the Brand wanted to start touring again soon and he apparently couldn’t do it because of his 9 to 5 job.

While Matt Morgan did win multiple Championships in TNA, he was never considered to be a Main Event talent for the company and he never won any singles title in the promotion either. One could only imagine how different his career would have been if he had stayed with NJPW and later returned to WWE.

We noted before how Alberto El Patron was surprisingly stripped of the GFW World Heavyweight Championship despite no longer being a suspect in the infamous airport incident anymore, though now it appears the whole thing is only the start of a new controversy.

After the news of the suspension broke out, El Patron took on his Instagram account to offer his comments on being stripped and he made some shocking claims while doing so.

According to Alberto, it was actually his idea to strip him of the title and he suggested it just to show that the company doesn’t have any favourites and everybody is treated equally:

“My company Impact and I have come to an agreement that it’s best for both parties if I be stripped from the championships. I came up with the suggestion just to show that Impact doesn’t have favorites and everyone gets treated the same. “
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXyrTz1AqIc/

As previously mentioned, the official statement sent out by GFW stated that they are taking the title away from the former WWE Star because they are “disappointed with the manner” in which he dealt with the situation.

As of writing, Alberto El Patron is still suspended by the company and if he is not reinstated soon, he will be forced to miss the upcoming Impact tapings starting from 17th August.

If it happens GFW Officials will be forced to make major changes to their plans and they will have to come up with a completely new direction for their World title.

The only good news in all of this for the company is that former WWE Star John Morrison is expected to debut on Impact very soon and he is very much capable of filling the shoes of the former GFW World Champion.

In the past couple of months, we have heard many rumours about Rey Mysterio’s future and it was reported by multiple sources that he was in talks with WWE.

However, recently it was revealed that the talks between Mysterio and WWE have broken down and the High Flyer will not be returning to the company he called home for well over a decade.

Now the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has explained how events occurred and why things didn’t work out between the two parties.

According to the Newsletter, things were overblown from the start as the talks between WWE and the Mexican Star never reached a serious stage. Apparently, when the news of Mysterio possibly returning to WWE came, he was actually talking to GFW.

As we noted before, the deal breaker on WWE’s part was his representative Konnan whom Vince McMahon apparently has a grudge with. On the other hand, Rey’s reason for not signing with WWE was their tight schedule.

It’s been said that at this stage of his career, the former World Champion is looking to work a lighter schedule where he could also work on side projects, which would not have been possible in WWE.

Regarding his future, it’s being said that he is expected to receive a significant offer from GFW soon and it’s most likely the next destination of the High Flying Star.

Though it’s worth noting that Rey Mysterio has a non-compete clause due to which he won’t be able to work for GFW for at least 90 days after the current season of Lucha Underground expires in September.

GFW cancels upcoming live event

Global Force Wrestling has canceled their upcoming live event scheduled for Saturday, August 6th in Bridgeport, CT. GFW stated that the event has been canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances and logistical challenges”. The following update was posted on the GFW website:

Bridgeport, Conn. Live Event Update:

Global Force Wrestling regretfully announces that the Impact Live Event at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, scheduled for Sunday afternoon, August 6, has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances and logistical challenges. All fans who purchased tickets for the Bridgeport event will be fully refunded. GFW also will offer all who purchased tickets to the Bridgeport show complimentary tickets to either of the other area Live Event shows that will be held that weekend: Friday, August 4, on Long Island, N.Y., at The Sports Arena in St. James (starting at 8 p.m.), and Saturday, August 5, at Staten Island’s Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George (starting at 6 p.m.). Please bring the original receipt from the Bridgeport show.

Mike Kanellis takes shot at GFW 

A fan took to Twitter to voice his opinion on Mike and Maria Kanellis in WWE. Kanellis responded with the following tweet:

Y'all was a joke in @IMPACTWRESTLING an now ur a joke in the @WWE funny how things stay the same https://t.co/uGpU9bKieE

— Michael J Saxe (@Michael_Saxe91) July 27, 2017

https://twitter.com/RealMikeBennett/status/890618587781636096

Elias Samson loses his last name

Elias Samson’s WWE profile has been updated and his last name has been dropped. “Samson” has also been completely removed from his bio as you can see below.

Aside from his trusty six-string, Elias doesn’t seem like the type of guy that cares about earthly possessions, or even about having a place to call home.

The brawling balladeer debuted in NXT in late 2015 after a series of musical vignettes foretold of his arrival to town. With bruising antics and strength to spare, Elias made an immediate mark inside the yellow ropes, despite the vocal disapproval of the NXT Universe. It was time for the strummer to roam elsewhere, however, after he came up short in a Loser Leaves NXT Match against Kassius Ohno in March 2017.

Following his dismissal from NXT, Elias sauntered onto Raw, strolling through the locker room one week and onstage the next, always strumming his faithful guitar.

Elias’ insulting songsmithing proves that he’s not interested in mass appeal, but when he begins to croon in the middle of the ring, the WWE Universe has no choice but to “walk with Elias.”

Braun Strowman may have just gotten himself into some hot water. After last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Nashville, several WWE and Global Force Wrestling (GFW) stars met up after the show to hang out. According to a report from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Karen Jarrett was there as well and approached “The Monster Among Men” to get an autograph for her son, who she said was one of his favorite wrestlers.

Strowman didn’t know who Jarrett was and was reportedly rude to her and might have sworn at her. This then turned into a scene as Karen then “cut a major loud promo” on Strowman in front of the entire bar.

During that promo, she mentioned that she was going to tell her son’s father how rude he was to her, who just so happens to be Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Strowman immediately changed his tune and said that he would sign the autograph, and begged Jarrett not to say anything to Kurt or anyone else.

He then apologized but Karen said she was still going to tell Kurt. This made Strowman say he’d get on his knees and beg. He then got on his knees in front of a bunch of WWE and GFW talents and begged. Karen then said something along the lines of  “you’re acting like that because you found out that Kurt Angle” is her son’s father. She then said that even if she wasn’t the mother of Angle’s son, he still shouldn’t treat the mother of a fan that way. Strowman then agreed and apologized once again.

Global Force Wrestling held another round of Impact Wrestling tapings on Wednesday night from Orlando. These episodes should air on July 20th and July 27th.

– El Hijo de Dos Caras defeated Mario Bokara in a match for Xplosion

– Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer opens the show in the ring with Jeremy Borash. He reads a proclamation, announcing Wednesday, July 5th, 2017 as Impact Wrestling Day in Orlando. Dyer will ring announce for a match tonight. JB brings out Tony Marrero, a survivor of the Pulse night club terror attack that happened last summer, to remember the victims of the tragedy

– JB announces that Grado must get married to stay in the United States as he’s overstayed his visa. Grado comes out and re-shoots the angle with Laurel Van Ness from Tuesday where he asked her out on a date

– Ethan Carter III, Chris Adonis and Eli Drake defeated Impact Grand Champion Moose, Eddie Edwards and Naomichi Marufuji when EC3 pinned Moose. The Mayor was the guest ring announcer for this match. Dyer and Marrero posed with the losing team and a few referees for a photo-op in the middle of the ring after the match

– They re-shoot Unified Knockouts & GFW Women’s Champion Sienna’s non-title win over Amber Nova from Tuesday night. The match didn’t last half as long as Tuesday’s match did and it ended with Sienna’s AK-47 instead of the submission win from yesterday

– Taiji Ishimori defeated Davey Richards to advance in the Super X Cup tournament

– Bobby Lashley comes to the ring and wants a world title shot at Destination X. He calls Bruce Prichard to the ring but Prichard says they already discussed this matter. Matt Sydal comes out but Lashley disrespects him and acts like he’s not there. Lashley tries to hit a cheap shot spear but Sydal drops him and hits a Shooting Star Press

– Sienna retains over Rosemary in a Last Knockout Standing match

– Octagoncito defeated Trevor Lee by count out. Lee still has the stolen X Division Title belt and wrestled with it around his waist again. X Division Champion Sonjay Dutt came out but Lee ran through the crowd, causing the count out

– Another in-ring segment with JB, Grado and Joseph Park. JB calls on the Impact Zone to help convince Laurel that she should marry Grado so he can stay in the US. Grado calls Laurel to the ring and drops to one knee to propose as Allie watches. Braxton Sutter comes out and carries Allie to the back. Kongo Kong is out next to intimidate Park and Grado. Laurel leaves with Kong after calming the big man down

– Dezmond Xavier defeated Drago to advance in the Super X Cup tournament

– JB introduces Trevor Lee, who still has the stolen belt around his waist, and says Lee is demanding respect and if he doesn’t get it, he will leave Orlando for good

– The Mumbai Cat defeated Trevor Lee. The Cat unmasks after the match and it’s Sonjay Dutt. Dutt challenges Lee to a Ladder Match at Destination X on August 17th with the title on the line

– Eli Drake vs. Eddie Edwards is up next but we cut to Kongo Kong beating Eddie up backstage

– Ethan Carter III defeated Moose to become the new Impact Grand Champion. Judges were Bruce Prichard, Dutch Mantel and Scott D’Amore. EC3 won the first round and Moose won the second, then it went to a split decision as Mantel and D’Amore ruled it a tie but Prichard ruled it 10-8 in favor of EC3

– Unified GFW Global & Impact World Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron faced The LAX in a Gauntlet Match main event. Patron squashed Homicide, pinned Ortiz and defeated Santana by DQ when the whole group attacked him. Dos Caras, El Hijo de Dos Caras and The Veterans of War hit the ring to make the save. Patron and the others clear the ring of LAX and stand tall together to end the show.

IMPACT/GFW announced the return of the Super X Cup during their TV tapings on Monday. The following names have been announced for the third iteration in the tournament’s history: Drago, Davey Richards, Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier, Idris Abraham, Ishimori, Sammy Guevara and former Ring of Honor star ACH.

This was ACH’s official debut for IMPACT, his last appearance on a global scale was at the New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier this year. Ever since his ROH departure he has been working independent shows and has mainly stayed away from the major promotions, do you think that ACH has a shot at being a big star in GFW? Let us know in the comments.

ACH vs Andrew Everett now #ImpactWrestling pic.twitter.com/OirUgIORjW

— Josh (@joshua7520) July 4, 2017

Shinsuke Nakamura appeared in a rather unlikely place this past weekend…

IMPACT Wrestling held a ‘fan fest’ show before their Slammiversary Pay Per View and the ‘King of Strong Style’ was in attendance. You can see the tweet below featuring Shinsuke, Pro Wrestling NOAH star Marufuji, Ishimori and former Team Canada manager Scott D’Amore.

Although it is patently obvious that Shinsuke was not looking for a new position at the rebranded Global Force Wrestling promotion, it is an odd move for him to make, although a man of his star power is unlikely to see any repercussions from this.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments

https://twitter.com/stoughe/status/881230698656526337

Alberto El Patron became just the second-ever GFW Global Champion by defeating Magnus in the main event of Thursday’s Impact On POP broadcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=589IqURqcl0
Magnus became the inaugural champion back in October 2015 at GFW TV tapings that never aired. The GFW Global Championship appears to be a regular title on Impact Wrestling going forward as GFW and Impact recently merged with Jeff Jarrett’s return to the company.

In the video above, the new Global Champion talks about how he came to Impact looking for a new place to call home and thanks to the fans, he can now borrow a line from fiancee Paige – this is his house. Patron gives props to Magnus and thanks him for the match, then promises to do amazing things for the Impact fans as long as they continue to support him.

Below is video of the match and the post-match celebration with fans at Universal Studios:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97FZGI1_HlU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1kjANSqWZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guoYk6jayeY

Yesterday, a curious link popped up on Wrestling Twitter which also showed up on Reddit an hour later: GlobalForceGold.info. Someone, and I’m not sure who it was, must have gone to the Global Force Wrestling website and seen the pop-over ad that it now serves up:

https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/718485718058799104

For starters,  whatever it is, in the welcome video (embedded above),Jeff Jarrett calls it “GlobalForceGold.com,” which is not a good sign when the domain is actually GlobalForceGold.info. In the video, he says that he, his family, his friends, and his fans are all joining “Team Jarrett” and that we can, too! The website explains that if you enter your name, email address, and phone number, you will be contacted about getting a free autographed photo and get an opportunity to watch a seven minute video.

So what the heck is it? If you just put in dummy information, you get this video, called “Karatbars Explained”:

What the heck is Karatbars? Well, their website has a frequently asked questions page. Apparently,  they’re a German company that is a “bank-independent trading houses [sic] for merchandise and precious metals, especially Gold bullion in form of a card in small denominations.” Uh Oh. It looks like just one of many businesses trying to capitalize on various myths, conspiracy theories, etc. about owning gold…but with some kind of multi-level marketing layer added in. It doesn’t sound completely on the level, does it?

There are a number of websites proclaiming it to be a scam, with one self-proclaimed “scam buster,” Ethan Vanderbuilt, even calling it a “ponzi scheme.” Technically, it sounds more like a pyramid scheme, as it’s based on recruiting affiliates who will recruit more affiliates, with promises of unrealistic financial returns. On top of that, among many other red flags, Vanderbuilt claims that one purported “scam busting” site that’s pro Karatbars is actually a Karatbar affiliate in disguise, and he has this to say about the “Business Packages” that they sell:

[You get a] cardboard box. That’s it! A large, FedEx delivered cardboard box with less than 10% of the value of gold actually contained in the box. For example, the VIP box is almost U$ 2,300 (shipment and transaction ‘fees’ are extra charges) and you get 3 grams of gimmick gold (approximately U$ 180 in value) therefore 90% of what you paid for is the card board box.

There’s a whole lot more at his site and others, but you probably get the gist. Karatbar’s own site has an incredibly convoluted “marketing plan” (PDF) that makes it pretty obvious to anyone with a discerning eye what’s actually going on here. Being involved with something that sure sounds like a pyramid scheme is an absolutely terrible look for Jarrett, especially in 2016 when the general public is more educated about what to look for to identify scams than ever before.

As much skepticism as there’s been about him the last couple years, especially with how nebulous a concept Global Force Wrestling was early on, it’s not entirely surprising to see Jeff Jarrett doing something like this. Still, t’s still a bit sad to see him mixed up in such a blatantly suspicious venture.

Last night (7/24/15) Global Force Wrestling held its first “Amped” TV tapings at the the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas – it’s unclear at present when this will be aired.

Prior to the event GFW had confirmed that Cyrus Fees would handle the play-by-play duties and would join MMA legend Chael Sonnen who had been previously announced back in May.

Below are the results for the TV tapings courtesy of Chris Kelly of PWTorch:

• P.J. Black (formerly Justin Gabriel) defeated Sanada in a NEX*Gen tournament match
• Bobby Roode came out to the ring and cut a promo claiming that he would be the one to take the GFW Global Championship back to TNA after Jeff Jarrett took the King of the Mountain Title away from him and TNA. Magnus came out, put over GFW and was attacked by Kongo Kong.
• Phoenix Star, Zokre & Misterioso, Jr. defeated Bestia 666 & Blood Eagle & Steve Pain
• Kushida defeated Virgil Flynn III by submission
• The Bollywood Boys defeated The Akbars in a GFW Tag Team Title tournament match
• Harvey Maxwell came out to the ring and began singing “America the Beautiful” before he was interrupted by the Akbars who claimed they would win the Tag Title tournament, they were swiftly followed by the Bollywood Boys which led to their match.
• The Bollywood Boys defeated The Akbars as part of the GFW Tag Tournament match
• Karen Jarrett came out to the ring and spoke about the ladies in GFW and explained that she’ll make sure they’re not overlooked. She told the fans that a ladies match would main event the taping tonight which was up next.
• Christina Von Eerie beat Mickie James and Lei’D Tapa in a triple threat Women’s Tournament match.

PWTorch note an intermission before the show began again with another Nex*Gen Tournament match.

• Jigsaw beat Sonjay Dutt in a Nex*Gen Tournament match
• Chael Sonnen, former UFC fighter came out and cut a promo, he told the fans that he was the man and they all sucked, he called out Virgil Flynn and said that he was in the Nex*Gen tournament which then brought out P.J. Black who proceeded to superkick Virgil.
• Chris Masters (Chris Mordetzy) defated Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) with the Masterlock
• Reno Scum defeated Los Luchadors
• Bobby Roode defeated Kevin Kross in a Global Title tournament match after making him tap out to the cross-face.
• Jeff Jarrett came out next and thanked everyone for their support, he mentioned that the Bullet Club, Shelton Benjamin and others would be coming to GFW. Bobby Roode came out and told Jarrett he was the man. Jarrett booked him in a match against Eric Young as part of the tournament.
• Magnus defeated Kongo Kong in a Global Title tournament match which was the main event of the night. The show ended with an announcement that the next TV tapings would be August 21st.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpgloHNJwRc

Global Force Wrestling has announced several matches for the various title tournaments scheduled for their July 24th television taping at The Orleans in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Below is the current lineup for the 7/24 taping:

– Brian Myers (formerly Curt Hawkins) vs. Chris Mortedzky (formerly Chris Masters) in a Global Championship tournament match.

– Bobby Roode vs. TBA in a Global Championship tournament match.

– Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis (formerly Magnus) in a Global Championship tournament match.

– Chris Sabin and Kushida vs. Reno SCUM in a Tag Title tournament match.

– PJ Black (formerly Justin Gabriel) vs. Seiya Sanada in a NEX*GEN Championship tournament match.

– Jigsaw vs. Sonjay Dutt in a NEX*GEN Championship tournament match.

– Christina Von Eerie vs. Mickie James vs. Lei’D Tapa in a Women’s Championship tournament match.

– Bestia 666, Blood Eagle & Steve Pain vs. Phoenix Star, Zokre & Misterioso Jr.

• BACKSTAGE NEWS: USA Network UPSET w/ WWE Over Tough Enough!

Global Force Wrestling announced today the creation of four separate GFW Championships, all of which will be determined by four tournaments that kick off on July 24th at the Orleans Arena.

Below is the official GFW press release with all of the details:

Global Force Wrestling unveils name of TV show, divisions

NASHVILLE – Global Force Wrestling’s TV tapings on July 24 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas will carry the name “Amped.”

“Amped will be the show that unites promotions and showcases the very best men and women professional wrestlers on the planet,” GFW founder and CEO Jeff Jarrett said.

GFW also is excited to announce four unique divisions: GFW Global Championship, GFW Tag Team Championship, GFW Women’s Championship and GFW NEX*GEN Championship. These titles will be up for grabs in four separate tournaments that kick off on July 24 at the Orleans Arena.

“There is no doubt in my mind that I will be the first GFW Global Champion, and I will raise that title in Las Vegas,” former TNA Heavyweight champion Bobby Roode said.

When asked about the NEX*GEN division, Jarrett stated, “It’s about the up-and-comers, the fearless new faces in this industry from around the globe. You will be talking about these guys for years to come.”

GFW co-founder Karen Jarrett is excited about the women’s division.

“We want to unite women’s divisions around the globe and give the fans never-before-seen matchups with the best female wrestlers in the industry,” she said.

More Global Force Wrestling “Amped” tapings are set for the Orleans, on Aug. 21 and Oct. 23.

About Global Force Wrestling

Global Force Wrestling is a privately owned professional wrestling and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2014, Global Force Wrestling is changing the wrestling and entertainment industry with an innovative and groundbreaking approach to fan interactivity, storytelling and overall entertainment to engage audiences across television, digital and social media platforms

• BACKSTAGE NEWS: USA Network UPSET w/ WWE Over Tough Enough!

Jeff Jarrett made his big announcement regarding the future of Global Force Wrestling on Sunday evening.

Jarrett announced that GFW will be holding three shows across three months, all of which will be taped for future television broadcasts.

While no cable partner was announced, it was confirmed that Global Force will be taping events at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24th, August 21st and October 23rd.

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The WWE is always harping on about the Attitude Era. If they’re not plugging their “critically acclaimed” Monday Night War series, they are gloating about past successes while subtly bashing a long-dead company. However, despite the company’s love of the Attitude Era, there’s a considerable lack of attitude anywhere within the company.

When the company first announced the WWE Network, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to cash in on nostalgic fans eager to relive the glory days. After all, those kids that grew up in the 90s watching Austin and the Rock were now adults with college degrees and full-time jobs, so it seemed like a no brainer to try to reel in old fans that departed over the past decade.

Cena is still the top guy in the company, but at age 37, it’s obvious his days are numbered.

During the lead-up to the Network launch, it was promised that every pay-per-view and episode of Raw would be available within a few months of launch. Nearly a year later, the Attitude Era is practically nonexistent. Sure, the pay-per-views are all there, but the most controversial and memorable moments of that era typically occurred on Raw.

By even the most conservative estimates, the Attitude Era started in 1997 (some would say it started at the 1996 King of the Ring, but I won’t go back that far). As of today, there are 20 episodes in total from the years 1997 through 2001, including the episode where Vince McMahon purchased WCW, which essentially marked the end of the era. A lot of the most controversial and memorable moments are also conveniently missing, such as Brian Pillman pulling a gun on Austin, the infamous Bret screwed Bret promo, and Bret Hart’s profanity-laced tirade in March of 1997.

In contrast, there are 45 episodes from 1993 alone, and it’s not like the company is uploading the episodes in order because they also uploaded the entire year of 2012 and random episodes from various years. It undoubtedly takes time to convert old episodes of Raw into a format that is suitable for widescreen televisions, but it seems like there is really no rush to upload the content.

Instead of creating the same episode of Monday Night War 20 times, they should instead show the stories that inspired the mind-numbingly boring series. While uploading the content, the company should also take a moment to revisit the past, because there are a lot of similarities between today’s product and the era that immediately preceded the Attitude Era, which I refer to as the In Your House Era.

Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett recently spoke to Brian Fritz of SportingNews.com about the rollout of his new promotion.

Below is an excerpt from the interview.

“It’s live event programming or it can be live event programming and in today’s world that’s very important. Global Force is doing the rollout and we’re strategically looking at the distribution models because brand awareness is everything and the wrestling business is very healthy and Global Force is ready to do the rollout in 2015.

Timing is everything but brand awareness is at the very top. You have to very strategically roll out. In business, the bottom line is all that really matters. So when you put the pieces together of talent, of live event shows, of sponsorships, of distribution, legal and finance go with all of that but brand awareness sits on top of all of that. First impression is a last impression, so I think to roll it out strategically, you got to do it the right way. Patience is not in my DNA but thus far I’ve had some good patience and I’m taking it step by step.”

Check out the complete interview at SportingNews.com.

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Below are complete results of the New Japan Pro Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling “Wrestle Kingdom 9” pay-per-view event, which featured U.S. commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker. Results are from Dave Meltzer and F4WOnline.com.

NEW JAPAN RUMBLE MATCH

We’re opening the Rumble with Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata. Guys are coming in every minute. The building is really empty at this point, but then again the advertised start time is 40 minutes away.

Yuji Nagata pinned Yoshi-Hashi with the bridging back suplex in a long Rumble match. It wasn’t very good. They are shooting right into the tarped off sections which makes no sense at all. Crowd wasn’t that hot for it. There were a few surprises, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Great Kabuki and Hiro Saito. Saito gave everyone sentons and Fujiwara gave everyone head-butts. Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu did some good stuff and Tama Tonga went for a Stinger splash on Yoshi-Hashi when he was one of the last three, Yoshi-Hashi ducked and Tonga flew over the top to the floor. This was a Battle Royal where you could be eliminated by over the top rope, pins (mostly gang up pins) and submissions. Japan has never done Battle Royals well and this was the epitome of a get everyone on the show match.

Great video package to open the show.

BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY VS. YOUNG BUCKS VS. ALEX SHELLEY & KUSHIDA VS. ROCKY ROMERO & ALEX KOSLOV FOR IWGP JR. TITLE

Fish & O’Reilly won when O’Reilly pinned Koslov after Chasing the Dragon. Great match with all kinds of super moves. Really cool spot where Romero gave a Doomsday Device onto the Young Bucks who did a flip bump and landed on their feet and hit. All the dives, superkick party, Meltzer driver, Forever clothesline and all the stuff you’d expect. Really fun, hurt a little because the juniors have a hard time getting heat in a building this large.

SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN & TOMOAKI HONMA VS. JEFF JARRETT & BAD LUCK FALE & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI

Karen Jarrett and Scott D’Amore were at ringside. Surprise ending as Honma pinned Yujiro with a diving head-butt off the top rope after Jarrett went to hit Honma with the guitar, but he moved and it hit Yujiro. Solid match built around Honma. Match was really rushed.

TORU YANO & MIKEY NICHOLLS & SHANE HASTE & NAOMICHI MARUFUJI VS. TAKASHI IIZUKA & SHELTON BENJAMIN & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. & LANCE ARCHER

Another rushed match when Marufuji pinned Iizuka with a Tiger uppercut kneelift. Good athletic action by Nicholls & Haste, who worked a lot with Smith & Archer. Benjamin did a leap to the top and threw overhead belly to belly on Marufji all the way across the ring. Good for what it was.

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS. MINORU SUZUKI IN UWF RULES

Jim Ross put this match over so big like people have waited a lifetime for this, the best protege of Karl Gotch against the best protege of Billy Robinson.

Suzuki won with a choke after a choke suplex. The story of the match is that Sakuraba may have broken Suzuki’s arm with a Kimura on the floor. So Suzuki worked the rest of the match with one arm. There were super hard kicks and slaps back and forth, teased knockdowns, and great early matwork. They played UWFI music for Sakuraba after the match even though he lost. The match would have been better with five more minutes but they are rushing through things. For what they were doing, this was really good.

TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. TOGI MAKABE FOR THE NEVER TITLE

Super match mostly stiff elbows and elbows. Makabe worked on the injured left shoulder, including a German suplex on the shoulder. Makabe won the title after tons of near falls and one count kick outs after a kneedrop off the top right on the bad shoudler that Makabe worked on the entire match. This was the best thing so far.

Next is the announcement of the big shows for the year

2/11 New Beginning in Osaka
2/14 New Beginning in Sendai
3/5 New Japan Cup show final in Tokyo
3/15 New Japan Cup in Hiroshima
4/15 Invasion Attack in Tokyo
4/29 Big show in Kumamoto
5/3 Fukuoka Internatioal Center Wrestling Dontaku
May Ring of Honor tour
6/7 Best of the Super Junior tournament in Tokyo
7/5 Dominion in Osaka Jo Hall
G-1 Climax 25
7/20 opener in Sapporo
8/14 at Sumo Hall
8/15 at Sumo Hall agian
8/16 finals at Sumo Hall

The following are highlights of a new U.K. Mirror interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:

On working Global Force Wrestling’s English-language presentation of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 this weekend: “Jeff Jarrett made the inroads, he and my business manager worked out the deal, it was a win-win for both of us, so I said ‘I’m in.’ I’m excited about it. I’ve been in this business for 40 years, so when you get a chance to do something new after being around that long, it’s pretty motivating. I look at this as a new adventure, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

On if he will call another event after this weekend: “I don’t know if I’ll do any more, I don’t know that I want to do any more. If there’s anything after that it’ll be a bonus. But I’m going to do this show, I’m preparing to do this show, like it’s my last major pay-per-view lead play-by-play.”

On his WWE departure: “I had 21 years there – it wasn’t like I had a brief little run and everything was over. I had a great run in WWE, I went into the Hall of Fame, there were a lot more good days than bad ones. Was it the ideal way to exit? Probably not. I assumed a level of responsibility in that SummerSlam symposium, I was driving the train and the train got off the tracks, so the decision was made that it wasn’t a good thing and I moved on.”

On Vince McMahon saying he would be open to working with Ross again on Steve Austin’s podcast: “There’s an old expression in wrestling that says ‘never say never’, when you are in my stage of my life, where I’ve been so blessed with this career, I’m not going to tell you that I’d never go [back] but it’d strictly depend on my role and how much time away from home it would demand. I leave the door open. Would I say definitively no, I would never work for WWE again? Absolutely not. It would necessitate me to give it some thought and it would depend on what the job description was and what they wanted me to do. I’m 62, I’ll be 63 in January, I have to be conscious of jobs.”

On whether or not TNA tried to hire him: “No. They know I don’t have any desire to get back in the weekly grind of that. Dixie and no-one else has asked about me coming back full-time and that’s why this opportunity [with GFW] was so fit really – it was a one-time deal, a one-off. I like knowing I don’t have any pressure on me beyond that, I can focus on this one big event, really try to nail it without any pressure that I’ve got to do something tomorrow, or next week, or next month.”

On agreeing with Vince that no WWE Superstar has grabbed the brass ring since John Cena: “Since we signed John Cena, no-one has outworked John Cena. John Cena’s work ethic is beyond reproach. It’s been phenomenal to see what he does and he’s made himself a brand. John was willing to do things that had not been done, he was willing to take a chance – his wrestling attire was non-traditional, he was a Caucasian rapper and that was unique for wrestling, that was bold. Vince made a good point, Cena did all he could to become the guy. Has anyone else since John Cena worked in every phase of their game to get really good? I think the argument could be made that some have worked as hard as Cena in some areas, but not across the board as he has.”

“Sometimes if you look at your talent as athletes, not entertainers, they need to be challenged occasionally – we need you to play better, I need you to lose 20 pounds, I need you to work on your tan, as silly as that sounds. From an athletic point of view, every coach has those heart-to-hearts with their team at some point in time. If you’re going to go down the athletic road, every now and then they need a pep talk, and every now and then they need to ask themselves, ‘What have I done to make myself better than I was last week? What am I doing to make myself a more valuable player?’ I think Vince is sending a subtle message there, or not-so-subtle, that Cena was the last guy that went the complete distance to grab the brass ring. And then when he grabbed the brass ring he didn’t quit growing, he kept trying to get better. He’s their guy right now, lord knows what they would be without John Cena.”

Check out the complete interview at Mirror.co.uk.

The following are highlights of a new WNS Podcast interview with GFW founder Jeff Jarrett:

ON THE PRESENTAYION OF WRESTLEKINGDOM 9 AND HOW IT ALL CAME ABOUT

It goes back to late March-April right around the time I launched the company’s name April 7, 2014. New Japan reached out and they knew they wanted to bring New Japan to the North American market. And so we sat down and strategized and it became obvious real quick that what better way to make a splash than to enter the North American market with their biggest show of the year the TokyoDome. WrestleKingdom 9, I believe this is the 24th year they’ve had this event. It was real obvious that this was the event so we put the wheels in motion and made it happen and we couldn’t be happier thus far with the promotion, the hype and just everything coming together.

ON BRINGING JIM ROSS ON BOARD TO DO COMMENTARY AND ANY POSSIBILITIES OF WORKING TOGETHER ON A REGULAR BASIS

How it came about is a two part question. New Japan and Global Force sort of had to cement their relationship and we did and we made it official back in August. I went over there and made a formality. But we had our agreement in place and then we turned to the pay per view providers as it relates to the TokyoDome show and put those 8, 9, 10 contracts in place and then the Flips guys came onboard and then the next logical step was if we’re going to present to the North American english speaking market we need to find two announcers. So when you start looking around, it was a no brainer. Jim Ross, in my opinion, has no peers. He’s the voice of this wrestling fan’s generation. He’s had a main event run that goes back to The Clash Of Champions. I mean he’s been on top of this game, this business and what he does in this business for over 20 years and so you know it’s like I said. It was a no brainer. I’ve done business with his representation on and off for years. Great group of people. Fair, honest, stand up guys and so we communicated then got into negotiations and Jim stayed out of it. It’s funny because in years past Jim dealt with the agents of the talent and the talent tried to stay out of it. And now, years later, I used to be a talent. Still a talent but in this situtation I was negotiating with Jim who’s the talent. So, we closed the deal, we got down to work and I cannot tell you. I knew that it was going to be big. I knew that Jim was going to take the event to another level to the North American market. I knew that we were going to get some positive feedback. But it’s blown me away. Just the media reach it’s like every day there’s a new media hit or multiple media hits and mainstream stuff. And so, the online advertising and feedback has gone through the roof. Man it just keeps growing literally daily. I can’t wait for January 4th and we’re a couple of weeks away and we couldn’t be happier with the signing of Jim Ross.

ON NOT ONLY SECURING JIM ROSS BUT THE ADDITION OF MATT STRIKER AS WELL AND ON TOPMOF THT ACTION IN THE RING AS WELL

I’ve done a bunch of media and still got several more heading into January 4th. But talking about that and then we’ll be 20-30 minutes into a podcast or interview and they’ll say, and we haven’t even begun to talk about the matches and that’s a GOOD THING. Matt Striker, if I can just for a minute, he just blew me away and I’ve been asked why Matt. Literally, six or secen not great but good candidates. But the pre-requisites, Jim’s the one who’s going to be driving that bus. He’s the one who’s going to be steering that ship. And so I needed someone that really, two things, one can they compliment Jim? Can they get out of Jim’s way when need be? They’ve worked together in the past Jim felt real comfortable and I felt real comfortable. The second thing was you gotta know the product. You gotta immerse yourself in the product. And Matt, anybody can study up on these 10 matches and sort of wing it and get by. But Matt blew me away with by his in depth knowledge of just how good Japan came about 42 years ago and the stories and the ebbs and flows and different ownerships and just all the american talent and the japanese talent through the years. Matt, I think he’s impressed people with his Lucha Underground work. He’s going to blow people away with his knowledge of that product

ON IF WE WILL SEE GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLONG WEEKLY TELEVISED PROGRAMMING

Yes. In 2015 you will

ON A PREFERAVLE TIMETABLE FOR WHEN IT WILL HAPPEN

One thing I understand is the anticipation and the excitement and some people the anxiety, the aggravation. Not enough information has been given out. But we’ve done that on purpose strategically. I have learned from past things, watching things, being a part of things. Not just wrestling. Any type of product, brand. When you really rush something to market before it’s ready, you can potentially have fatal mistakes. And so we at Global Force have a real strategic holdout mindset. April 7, I announced the name of the company. April 30 I announced the agreement with AAA. June 23 was New Japan. In Europe, we made the announcement in July. In South Africa, August, late August was Australia. Spreading the brand, rolling things out piece by piece. Getting brand awareness. Just brand awareness and I love it. “What is Global Force?” You said the majority of the questions in some shape or fashion was “What is Global Force?” What are we gonna see?”. That’s great. I love that. I love that feedback tha there’s anticipation that the fanbase cares and they want to know. And so the next strategic step obviously was announcing the New Japan pay per view. Then the addition of Jim Ross and Matt Striker. We’ve got an announcement coming up soon from our South African partners. And so we have our eye on the ball. From January 4th you back up 8 weeks. This has consumed us and this is what we want the world to know about Global Force Wrestling is that we’re representing this event. After the event, we’re going to have to keep rolling out and make the correct announcements

ON WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WILL STAND OUT IN GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING

Well I don’t want to get into too much show specifics. I’ll save that for the viewers and when the show actually rolls out. But you can obviously see some fundamental differences in our presentation that in years past promotions act like other promotions don’t exist. And if they do recognize them, they degrade them or talk bad about them. In Global Force, we’re 180 degrees different. We’re not only going to recognize other promotions around the world we’re going to help promote. Just a couple of weeks ago on Ring Of Honor’s pay per view. That Sunday, we used our digital station and social media to help promote them. Ring Of Honor is part of the New Japan Dome show. So, we believe that it’s healthy for the industry, it’s healthy for Global Force, it’s healthy for the other promotion to recognize and help promote and that is a big fundamental difference.

ON WHETHER THE INDY CIRCUIT WILL FEEL MORE PRESSURE TO PUSH THEIR TALENT FURTHER AND TOO MUCH

The short answer to your question is no I don’t think it’s going to put additional pressure because there are guys who are going to flat out do what they want to do. Some get good advice, some get bad advice. The term ‘indy’, I believe, is almost passe. I think it’s somewhat a negative connotation. The word I’m using right now which I really like which is true is free agent. Guys that are free to work for any promotion and I believe, like you said, guys like Steen, Prince Devitt, these guys that have come from the ‘independant scene’ is just a testament. The independant scene, the free agent market is very very healthy. And Inthink it shows. In North America you have Ring Of Honor with their syndicated deal, congrats to TNA they got their Destination America deal, Action Spring in New Japan, El Rey with Lucha Underground. Global Force will be on the scene in 2015. So, the business is healthy, the free agent market is healthy and I thinkit didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken many years but as a promoter I couldn’t be happier.

THOUGHTS ON STORYLINES PRESENTED IN WRESTLING

Global Force Wrestling has aired numerous videos on our youtube channel and in one of them Jim Ross refers to not overthinking it. The basics, the fundamentals. Global Force is going to have a real core fundamental that guys are going to step in the ring. Sure you’re going to have characters larger than life. That’s what the business has always been about but it’s going to be about competition and a 1…2…3. In New Japan over the last 36-48 months it all culminates at the Dome on January 4th. They do very fundamental basics and every person that’s ever been a part of matchmaking, creative, booking, whatever you want to call ittend to outthink themselves at times and that NXT show wasn’t outthought and it didn’t surprise me when I saw Pat Patterson. Pat Patterson knows what he’s doing. The matchmakers at New Japan, they certainly knew that Okada and Tanahashi are mega stars and they’re going for the title and let’s not outthink it. Jim said it, it may be the best main event he’s ever called. That takes in alot of ground. I mean, when you really think about that one statement. “it may be the best main event Jim Ross has ever called”. That’s 15-20 Wrestlemanias, that’s Clash Of Champions, that’s umpteenth Royal Rumbles, Summerslams, many Monday Night Raws. Fantastic main events. When you think about that then to me it almost says it all. January 4th is a can’t miss event and it’s about the basics of wrestling

ON SOME OF THE MATCHES ON THE CARD INCLUDING YOUNG BUCKS VS RED DRAGON

When you talk about “it may be the best main event Ross ever calls”, it’s going to be interesting to hear Jim Ross call that Four Corners Match because those four guys, it’s non-stop. Young Bucks are the best tag team in wrestling today. They’re wrestling 2015 and beyond. That match, on a different spectacle may be one of the best tag matches the world has ever seen. Those guys can live up to the hype, they’re all very competitive individuals. As trams as well as individuals. People ask me what match are you looking forward to? The main event and even if you don’t know who Okada and Tanahashi I tell the wrestling fan that asks imagine your most favourite rivalry. I don’t care if it’s Flair-Steamboat or Savage-Steamboat, Hogan-Andre or Austin-Rock. Cena-Orton, Jarrett-Angle whatever your favourite rivalry ever was imagine these two guys Okada and Tanahashi then the opening match, the Four Corners match. Then the third one to me and this is a little bit near and dear to my heart but it is sort of a cap of the year of AJ Styles. What he had. AJ steps away from his comfort zone, he went out on his own and he took over and he rose to the occasion. I think this is probably the best year of AJ’s career and so his match in the Dome against Naito. Naito is a main event player but he’s really trying to break through to that Okada level and so those two guys that will be a matchfor the ages as well

ON THE ONE MEMORABLE LINE FROM JIM ROSS, “THIS IS A SONG, THE GUYS IN THE RING PROVIDE THE MUSIC. HE’S JUST HOPING TO PROVIDE THE CORRECT LYRICS”

That lone has resonated with a lot of people, me included. I’ve repeated that line on a few of my podcasts, print interviews, digital interviews and that is really what this event has ccome all about. Global Force and New Japan and the pay per view and the Flipps app. The stars have aligned and then Jim Ross and the main event. And just everything it comes down to is if you’re a wrestling fan, you can’t miss it. You truly cannot miss this event. Sure there’s tv shows and other pay per views and different things that you go ‘it’s not going to be the end of the world if i don’t see this’. I’ve told a lot of people that I’ve done interviews with and business associates and people that I’m dealing with some sponsorships that are a little bit new to this business so to speak and I ask them are you gonna watch it and they’re like hell yeah and you don’t have to lie to me I can’t check your cable bill. When ARE you gonna watch it and about 9 out of 10 say ‘I’m watching live’. That’s where it resonates deep in my promoter’s soul is that ‘yep, it truly is a can’t miss event’. We’re gonna stay up all night to watch. 4hr event and priced right. When all those decisions were going on there was a strong contingent internally and externallysaying that’s really going to be the price?. It’s not going to be $44.95 or $49.95 because society with the UFC and boxing fightsthet’re $69.90 way up there. No, for the wrestling fan $34.95 is the right price in my opinion

ON THE ORIGINS OF ‘SLAP NUTS’

It’s simple, my grandmother is the one who got us into this business. She sold wrestling tickets to make extra money and work her way up in this business. She did everything but wrestle. She ran the back end of the business and she was around all kinds of characters and she’s a woman who made it big time in a man’s world and she said the one tning that agitated her was she’d say I don’t like people who talk more and more about less and less and she called them slappys and so i took slappys and tirned it into slap nuts

Check out the complete interview at WrestlingNewsSource.com.