GFW or the erstwhile TNA/Impact Wrestling is a company that is always making news, both good and bad. On the heels of an exceptional Slammiversary 15 show, the company courted controversy, as their champion Alberto El Patron was indefinitely suspended, following an alleged incident in a public setting. We were part of an international conference call with the Chief Creative Officer of GFW, Jeff Jarrett and we bring you highlights from the same below:
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- The conference call began with an introduction to Tony Marrero, a survivor from the tragic Pulse Nightclub shootout in Orlando.
- Sportskeeda Wrestling asked him about Samoa Joe and AJ Styles making waves at the top spot in WWE.
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Jarrett: Personally I couldn’t be happier for Joe, AJ, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, for those guys. In one sense, we were definitely promoting the right guys. They’ve got on, obviously, on a grander and bigger stage. Samoa Joe, this past Sunday night. What really sets Joe apart from a promoter’s standpoint is his tenacity. When you drill it down and you look at his face, he is a tenacious individual. AJ Styles’ athletic ability was truly phenomenal. Very happy for those guys. You know AJ was with us thirteen years. I wasn’t here when he departed. Neither was I with Joe. But those guys, they contributed immensely to the success of this organisation
- A PR person read out the statement that had been issued with regard to Alberto El Patron’s suspension, adding that that’s all that GFW would be saying on the situation. Jarrett added the following comments.
Jarrett: The attorneys would rather I not say anything. But I do want to comment on the Alberto situation...obviously, it is very unfortunate. Over the last 24-36 hours Global Force Wrestling Officials, Anthem, and a host of others, both part of our team and outside are digging into this matter and continue to dig into this matter. At the end of the day, it’s on a case by case basis when you're dealing with athletes and entertainers and public figures. As well as, there’s never an absolutely correct decision to make and there's never an absolutely wrong decision.
- Big Ray from 1Wrestling.com asked about whether or not GFW would be pushing the edge and delivering a more realistic, non-PG product
Jarrett: Well, you know, being a part of the Attitude Era, pushing the edge can mean multiple things, both positive and negative. The most productive storylines, if you can call them storylines, are always reality based. Whether it was Stone Cold versus Vince McMahon, the nWo, the WWE invading WCW, Lawler and Dundee, a rivalry that existed for many years based on their true personal hatred for one another. So quite frankly, when you say push the edge, not in a negative, or language, or smut if you will, but reality-based programs have always been the most successful in pro wrestling. In 2017, going into 2018, you can’t focus on the male 25-34 demo. It has to be much broader to be successful.
- Raj Giri from Wrestling Inc. asked about James Storm not being at the post-Slammiversary Impact tapings
Jarrett: Well, at the post-Slammiversary Impact Tapings, James had a head injury. He said it’s not bad, but you know, that’s James. James will always be James. But the doctors had different opinions.
- Jarrett also announced that the first inductee of the current Hall of Fame class would be announced on August 17, and asked us to stay tuned for that. Jarrett dashed speculations that Storm would be a Hall of Famer this year, by saying that an inductee needed to be in the twilight of his career and he did not believe James Storm was.
- Nick Hausman of Wrestle Zone asked about the dispute between the Hardyz and Anthem
Jarrett: Me and Jeff Hardy’s friendship goes back 20 years. Our families have vacationed together. I've had a healthy exchange of texts with Jeff over the last couple of weeks. We wished each other Happy Father’s Day. So the IP Situation is strictly a...you know the IP language used in our contract is almost identical to the language used in the WWE contract, and back in the day, the WCW contract. Intellectual property law is very cut and dry. You have the publisher, then you have the writers and you have another element, you have the performance. Vince McMahon owned the name ‘The Rock’ until The Rock bought it back. Same with Razor. Same with Diesel. You know The Big Boss Man was never ‘The Big Boss Man’ in WCW but quite frankly, there'll only be one Big Boss Man. It goes without saying. Matt’s performance, there’ll only be one Broken Matt. He did that and it transcended The Hardy Boyz or Matt Hardy. There’ll only be one Brother Nero. Ownership always lies with the publisher, and that's not new to this industry or in effect, intellectual property law.
- Raj Giri from Wrestling Inc. asked if the GFW World Title was considered vacant, in light of recent developments
Jarrett: At this time the situation has not been addressed as it directly relates to the belt because it’s far from the most important, in my opinion.
- TMZ asked if Jarrett had been in contact with Alberto El Patron and he replied to the affirmative, saying that he'd been in contact both with Jeff and his representatives.
- Jarrett was asked if he had been in contact with CM Punk and he said no, but added that he understood that Punk was signed to UFC. He praised Punk for following his dreams in the octagon and called him an unbelievable talent too.
Stay tuned to sportskeeda.com and be up to date with the latest news, developments, and updates from GFW in the days that follow.
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