Jeff Jarrett is out at Global Force Wrestling -- for now.
Global Force Wrestling issued a statement saying “Effective immediately, Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters.”
We're still waiting for reactions, but everyone with the company Fightful spoke to were floored by the news, with one saying "the more things change, the more things stay the same" in regards to the company. Jarrett was to host a fantasy football draft with members of the roster and staff tonight, but that isn't happening. Jarrett has fallen out of favor with Ed Nordholm, to the point to where the company may go back to being Impact Wrestling if the relationship goes further south.
There were several incidents that contributed to the decision, including arguments, disagreements and shouting matches with members of the staff and roster. Couple that with the notion that Ed Nordholm was perceived as being in over his head with wrestling led to an apparent falling out.
The former TNA Wrestling was rebranded to Impact Wrestling before again being rebranded to Global Force Wrestling this year. The last several months have led to a major roster overturn, with one longtime talent telling Fightful that it felt like they didn't know anyone there anymore.
Over recent years, TNA/GFW/Impact has had a carousel of authority figures both on and off screen, with their television program somewhat reflecting the backstage chaos that often occurs. Jeff Jarrett, Dutch Mantel, Dixie Carter, Ed Nordholm and Billy Corgan have all been in positions of power behind the scenes, with the likes of MVP, Bruce Prichard, Jim Cornette and more being portrayed as bosses on television.
Jarrett, technically the founder of both TNA and GFW returned after several years out of the company in 2016. Since then he's had public spats with the Hardy Boyz that have garnered him major criticism. After gaining control of the company, he renamed TNA/Impact to Global Force Wrestling, allowed virtually all of the former agents' contracts to lapse and replaced them with those that he was familiar with.
Former agent Shane Helms reacted to the news on Twitter.
Jarrett created TNA Wrestling before the majority of the company was bought by Dixie Carter. Jeff remained the primary booker for years, but several issues arose that put his power into question. Jarrett would marry the ex-wife of top star Kurt Angle, and later Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were brought in to be a creative force for the brand. Jarrett would quietly be taken off of TV and work on overseeing Indian promotion Ring Ka King.
Later, Jarrett would wrestle for AAA before taking a spot as Executive Vice President of Development/Original Programming in 2013. The next year Jarrett and country music star Toby Keith made an unsuccessful attempt at purchasing TNA Wrestling. That fell through when Owner Bob Carter demanded his daughter Dixie remain an on-screen talent on the show following the sale. This motivated Jarrett to start his own company -- Global Force Wrestling. GFW would tape several episodes of their planned show "Amped," but never gained a television deal. Those episodes would eventually air as an anthology on pay-per-view this year after Impact was rebranded into Global Force Wrestling.
The TNA-Jarrett saga took yet another turn in 2015 when the two sides reached a deal that would see Jarrett and GFW talents appear on TNA TV in exchange for Jarrett's remaining shares of the company. Jarrett was also inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame and given a championship run before leaving again.
Fightful.com will update the story with more details as they emerge.
