GFW - Globally Flopped Wrestling?

Last year I posted an article theorizing that GFW might just have been the best thing to happen to TNA; a wrestling promotion cofounded by the same man who cofounded TNA (and with a point to prove!); another promotion to use the 6-sided ring, and with the potential of a TV deal when TNA's future looked uncertain, a serious commercial rival. It may not have been to the scale of the Monday Night War but I speculated that some real competition over the number #2 spot in American wrestling would be good for the fans and ultimately for TNA booking.

...

Well, despite a cameo appearance on impact wrestling, GFW have yet to secure an American TV deal and with all the other sources of entertainment, both wrestling and non-wrestling consuming our time and attention, GFW feels more and more irrelevant. Coupled with this, despite crowning their inaugural champions, they've already lost Nex Gen champion PJ Black to LU, and now there are rumours that the Bullet Club, one of the tag teams on the GFW roster, will sign with the WWE. If this wasn't bad enough, with the success of NXT and the resources at its disposal indie promotions are beginning to lose their biggest draws. AJ Styles even teased a royal rumble entry just recently as it looks as if he has chosen NXT over ROH/NJPW. If already established promotions like ROH/NJPW are having a hard time securing their roster then how do GFW intend on building a stable roster who fans will want to pay to watch?

All in all with the current wrestling landscape as it is, no TV deal and key members of its roster already jumping ship, I am struggling to see how GFW is going to survive? I respect Jerrett and think he has a cool vision for GFW; creating a network of promotions that pool their talent while offering a fusion of wrestling styles from around the world on one roster.  Yet, for all the reasons stated above, I just don't know if GFW will or even can be successful. If they had a TV deal things might be different, but the longer they go without one and the older the promotion becomes eeking out an existence, it makes things look really bad for GFW.

Have I judged the situation wrong? Will 2016 be GFW's year? Have I spoken too soon? What are your opinions?

Its early days yet so anything can happen, but I never had any faith that GFW would make it anyway. Never had anything to make them stand out in an already over overflowing industry.

Them turning up in TNA was such a bad idea, Jarrett and much of the roster needed a total break from TNA and the mess it had become. Then, before GFW had even made a mark on the wrestling world, they turned up in TNA in a awful storyline. Most of their roster members, had the week before been TNA roster members, it was completely ridiculous. I am sure there will be a number of fans who aren't even aware that Global Force Wrestling is its own promotion, rather than just a thing that TNA made up.

It's led to me believing that Jarrett wasn't really invested in the idea of a networking of promotions, allowing international styles to be showcased in one promotion, therefore benefiting everybody. When we spoke to Jarrett, before they'd turned up in TNA, so many months ago now he was very careful not to talk about it in these terms. I think he allowed that view to be spread because it was beneficial, but he had no intention of making that the case. I think he simply wanted a way to use talents that he normally wouldn't have access to, set up a foundation to work on and then essentially just make TNA again. Those talents that were successful would then sign contracts with GFW, he'd have his TV deal and it'd end up being a carbon copy of TNA.

The problem is that I don't think Jarrett realised the extent to which viewers and fans were tired of TNA. Even Adam, who for so long defending TNA through everything has now been turned off. TNA is tainted and unfortunately anything like it will have a hard time convincing wrestling fans that it is worthwhile. Jarrett would have been better off using Global Force Wrestling in the way that other people thought it would be, because there isn't much appetite for what he was actually offering.

Considering TNA's struggles to find a decent TV deal, and then even more struggles in finding good viewership to go with that deal, I can't see GFW being picked up any time soon, at least not by any network that would make it worth it. I think they missed the boat by maybe not pushing to be part of an on-demand network sooner. With a decent budget, something like Amazon Prime or Netflix could have seen it as a reasonably attractive prospect. As it is, I imagine it'll end up just being a smaller and smaller touring indie promotion before disappearing.

Crimey some excellent points I hadn't considered, and yes sadly that's exactly how it looks. I completely agree about the TNA vs GFW angle, it truly was a lapse in judgement by Jarrett imo. I'm ambivalent at the moment as to how I feel about GFW. In one respect I don't want to see them fail, but on the other hand they could well be the emperor's new clothes - no substance to all their talk of being a global fusion of wrestling styles.