Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Impact Wrestling did another round of rebranding this week, as at television, the new graphics read “GFW Impact! Wrestling.”
So the promotion’s call letters are GFW, for Global Force Wrestling, the name of the promotion Jeff Jarrett attempted to start and ran 13 weeks of television tapings in Las Vegas in 2015, but was unable to sell the show in the U.S. or the U.K. The GFW tapes were acquired by Anthem as part of the deal where Jeff Jarrett became a stakeholder in the new company, and will be used for some of the commitments to “One Night Only” specials in India that will air on PPV in the U.S.
Just about everyone on all sides felt the TNA name had too much negative baggage. When Billy Corgan attempted to purchase the company, he noted one of his earliest moves would be to change the name.
Slammiversary on 7/2 from Orlando was the first show under the new banner, which included unification of the Impact, formerly TNA, and GFW titles with GFW champion Alberto El Patron beating Impact champion Bobby Lashley in the main event, and GFW women’s champion Sienna beating Impact champion Rosemary. The titles are now called GFW titles although the women’s division will be called Knockouts rather than women.
Slammiversary was generally well received, although it likely did very little business. The negatives are that the Orlando crowd is just so dead and gives the show a tired feeling, and the booking seems out of date in the sense every match seemingly had to have gimmicked finishes rather than what is in vogue in the company’s that are growing around the world, which is winners and losers using finishing moves. It feels like those in charge are trying to replicate the wrestling finish and booking style that used to be, because American wrestling was filled with that, but that fan base was dwindling, as opposed to being up on current trends in the business. It felt watching like if it 1990 when the Japanese business changed, and All Japan and New Japan had to follow UWF which went to all clean finishes, that if All Japan and New Japan, the bigger groups, just ignored it and still did all the double count outs. Instead, the clean finishes, while being more difficult to protect the top guys from never losing, ended up leading to a business turnaround because people were tired of buying big matches with old type of finishes.
Those at GFW claim the PPV number tripled that of last year’s show although it’s not like last year’s show did any significant business. But that’s still a positive as far as the TV audience isn’t significantly different, so the build and hype for the show beat that of the year before soundly.
Another issue with this group is that as compared to WWE, ROH and New Japan, the quality of wrestling isn’t that strong. They are getting better and the new hires include some solid wrestlers. That wouldn’t matter so much if they were on Spike and drawing big television numbers and their storylines were working. But they are doing small television numbers and it’s an audience where the bullshit fake pro wrestling stories don’t resonate.
The promotion was trying to push its international connections, and opened the show with Alejandro Morez of The Crash, Yusuke Fuma of NOAH, Dorian Roldan of AAA and Ed Nordholm of Impact/GFW on the stage. Jeff Jarrett has been good with a certain cutting through of politics, because not only did they have someone from The Crash and AAA on the same stage, but also had teams from each promotion in the same match. From a Mexico standpoint, this was like a show in Mexico where you’d have Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman together on the same stage and with ECW and WCW talent in the same tag team match against each other.
They tried to replicate Final Deletion with the Jeremy Borash & Joseph Park vs. Scott Steiner & Josh Matthews match, where much of the match was pre-taped with a ton of gimmicks. But in the end, the decision was made not to change the announcers so the threesome will be Borash & Matthews & The Pope, so the entire reason the feud existed from the start was shelved, likely because Jarrett probably liked Matthews as a heel announcer.
The biggest mainstream story coming out of the show was DeAngelo Williams, a former All-American and NFL Pro Bowl running back with the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers, doing a pro wrestling match, teaming with Moose against Chris Adonis (Masters) & Eli Drake.
To say Williams looked impressive would be the understatement of the year. He had only three days of training with his opponents and Scott D’Amore. Even though his spots were obviously choreographed and the table didn’t break right on the finish, he was significantly better than even guys like Kurt Angle were in their first match. I’ve never seen a guy in his first match close to as good. At 34, he would be old to start, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that if he wanted to be, he’d quickly become one of the best wrestlers in the business. Lots of guys have great athletic ability, but he had a sense of timing that it usually takes guys more than a year of training to get and sold like a guy with several years experience. There are guys in NXT who have been there daily for three years who aren’t as advanced as he is.
But it’s a moot point, as Williams, a longtime fan, only wanted to do it once. Because the current style of pro wrestling is so physically demanding at the top level, unlike in years past when ex-NFL stars would go into pro wrestling, now, for the most part, if you’re an NFL star, by the time you’re out of the game, you’re body is thrashed. With Williams, you’re talking about a running back with 2,699 carries between college and pro football. Like Kevin Greene, who also had great natural aptitude for pro wrestling, when he got out of football, he wasn’t interested in beating up his body more. With Williams, who is now a free agent, he’s still interested in playing football this coming season.
With Borash and Matthews wrestling on the show, Robert Flores, who is a big fan, did the announcing with Don West. West did a good job in putting over the excitement of the matches and I have no idea why they have The Pope and Matthews announcing and not West.
1. Santana & Ortiz won a four-way over Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid, Taiji Ishimori & Naomichi Marufuji and Drago & El Hijo del Fantasma in 15:10 to retain the GFW tag team titles. Santana & Ortiz, or LAX, held both the GFW and old TNA titles so there was no need to unify. They billed this as stars from three different companies, The Crash, NOAH and AAA as challengers. This was all kinds of moves back-and-forth. Marufuji seemed a little off in the six-sided ring. Drago & Fantasma looked good. Diamante at ringside tripped Fantasma the first time he tried his best tope in wrestling. Drago at one point slipped and fell off the top rope. There was a triple moonsault to the floor spot. Marufuji did a flip dive on Santana. Ishimori did a dove on Drago. Fantasma did his tope on Marufuji. Homicide interfered and hit the ****** killer on Garza when the ref was distracted. Drago did a tornillo dive on Ishimori. Laredo Kid did a Spanish fly on Santana for a great near fall. LAX did a double-team blockbuster on Laredo Kid for the pin. Konnan, after the match, vowed that there would be a new member of LAX coming. ***
2. Moose & DeAngelo Williams beat Eli Drake & Chris Adonis in 10:34. Gary Barnidge, an NFL player and Austin Dillon, a NASCAR driver who won this year’s Coca Cola 600, were in Moose & Williams’ corner. Moose & Williams came out with cheerleaders, which included local independent wrestlers Amanda Keiner and Mila Naniki. Robert Flores kept calling Adonis by his old name Chris Masters. Drake tried a springboard move and slipped off in a real big botch. Williams tagged in and hit a Samoan drop and a standing moonsault on Drake. Moose did a crossbody off the middle rope to the floor on Adonis & Drake. Adonis & Drake set up a table And Adonis put Moose on the table. Drake went to the top rope but Williams shoved him off. Moose put Adonis on the table and Williams splashed off the top, but actually overshot so the table didn’t break. Williams pinned Masters. The announcers pushed that Williams did better than Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone or Jay Leno. I mean, come on. Moose called an audible since the table didn’t break, and brought Drake back to the ring and power bombed him through the table. **3/4
3. Ethan Carter III beat James Storm in 10:37 in a strap match. The angle that set this up was Carter whipping Storm 31 times, so Storm immediately whipped Carter over and over. EC 3 came back choking Storm with the strap and whipping him. EC 3 pulled Storm off the top rope and pulled out handcuffs. EC 3 tried to handcuff Storm to the ropes, but Storm managed to handcuff EC 3 to the ropes. So Storm whipped EC 3 32 times. Brian Hebner came out to unlock EC 3. Storm used EC 3's one percenter for a near fall. EC 3 pulled on the strap and Storm’s head went into the post. EC 3 hit the one percenter but Storm kicked out. Don West pushed that he’d never seen anyone kick out of the one percenter when EC 3 just had a few seconds earlier. Storm hit a superkick, but then collapsed. The idea was it was a delayed reaction from the ringpost spot. EC 3 gave him a pedigree and pinned him. They had medical personnel all around Storm. ***
4. Joseph Park & Jeremy Borash beat Scott Steiner & Josh Matthews in a no DQ match in 10:51. Matthews was billed as the company’s Vice President of Digital Media. Steiner wore a shirt. His arms aren’t nearly as big as they used to be, but he’s still 53 and pretty big. When Borash wanted Matthews, Matthews tagged Steiner. Matthews did a plancha on Park but bounced off him. They all went backstage and then they cut to a pre-taped segment. Steiner & Matthews were chasing Park & Borash, who were on foot, in a cart. Borash & Park sprayed Steiner & Matthews with a fire extinguisher. Later, Steiner threw a guy who was in one of the Hardys videos driving a truck, out of his truck and they took that over. They ended up with Matthews and Borash in a swimming pool. Borash backdropped Matthews into the pool. Steiner and Matthews were beating up Borash in the pool when Shark Boy showed up and bit Matthews in the ass. James Mitchell showed up and gave Park the Abyss mask. They ended up showing back up in the arena, where Chef Robert Irvine (Gail Kim’s husband) shoved down Matthews. Borash speared Matthews but Steiner attacked Borash. Matthews used the Steiner recliner on Borash. Mitchell and Abyss showed up. Mitchell gave Abyss a bag of thumbtacks and he gave Matthews a black hole slam into the thumbtacks. Borash used a frog splash on Matthews and in landing, thumbtacks cut up Borash’s hands something fierce and Abyss got the pin. This was entertaining for what it was.
5. Eddie & Alisha Edwards beat Davey Richards & Angelina Love in a Full Metal Mayhem match in 8:35. A lot of spots here. The stuff with the women didn’t look good at all. Alisha did a crossbody off the top onto everyone. Love hit Alisha with a garbage can. Edwards & Alisha used garbage can lid shots o both of them. They put a garbage can over the head of Richards & Love and started nailing the garbage can with a kendo stick. Edwards power bombed Alisha on Richards for a near fall. Richards gave Edwards a brainbuster on a chair for a near fall. Love brought out thumbtacks for the second straight match. Richards put thumbtacks in Edwards’ mouth and Richards kicked him in the mouth but Alisha saved. Love was bleeding from the bridge of the nose. Alisha power bombed Love off a ladder and through a table. Richards and Edwards were both near the top of the ladder when Edwards gave him a sunset flip over the top of the ladder into a power bomb through a table and got the pin. *1/2
6. Sonjay Dutt won 2/3 falls to retain the X Division title over Low Ki in 18:14. Low Ki worked the match in a suit and tie, as he has at times of late. He did that at a Tokyo Dome show and New Japan people were furious and have claimed they would never use him again. Low Ki won the first fall when Dutt did a springboard huracanrana, but Low Kid turned it into a sunset flip and then used a double foot stomp at the 7:28 mark. In the second fall, Low Ki tried a double foot stomp but Dutt cradled him at 5:11. The third fall was at 3:35. Dutt kicked out of a Ki Krusher. Low Ki dropped him on the top turnbuckle and went for the Del Rio double foot stomp, but Dutt grabbed him by the tie and threw Low Ki off he top rope. Dutt then used a moonsault double foot stomp on Low Ki for the pin. This was a good match, but it was marred by the quiet crowd and trying to do a wrestling match after two straight matches with tons of weapons. ***
7. Sienna beat Rosemary to unify the GFW and Impact Knockouts titles in 10:32. Gail Kim came out before the match. Rosemary came out with some weird looking women, who were played by local indie wrestlers Kaci Lennox, Raegan Fire and Shaniah Arlynna. They tried to make it look like Rosemary was a star with the entrance. It was tough putting the women in this position as the crowd was dead. Plus, the wrestling itself was bad. KM (the former Kevin Matthews, but not using the name because of Josh Matthews) and Laurel Van Ness came out at the start of the match but Sienna told them to go to the back. Rosemary did a plancha off the top to the floor. Sienna used the silencer, which used to be called the pounce period by Monty Brown, for a near fall. When
Rosemary kicked out, they said nobody had ever kicked out of it. Rosemary used the red wedding. Van Ness came back out and pulled referee Earl Hebner out of the ring to stop the count. Van Ness was hitting on Hebner. Allie came out with a kendo stick to chase Van Ness to the back. They were both sprinting. Sienna used a belt shot but Rosemary kicked out. The kicking out of the belt shot got a good easy pop. Rosemary went for the mist, but Sienna put her hand over Rosemary’s mouth. The idea was that Rosemary blew it and it burned Sienna’s hand. Sienna then put her hand with the mist in Rosemary’s eyes and put her in a guillotine. The finish was clever as far as old finishes went, but just came across as out-of-date. *1/4
Jeff Jarrett came out and talked about his family being with him, and told the fans they were his wrestling family and how his family has been in the business for 70 years. It was Jarrett doing his charming politician speech thanking the audience. They were lukewarm as far as reacting. He told Bobby Lashley and Alberto El Patron that they’d better bring their
A game after what had already happened.
8. Alberto El Patron beat Bobby Lashley in 18:07 to retain the GFW title and win the Impact title. Alberto came out with his father, Dos Caras, and his brother, El Hijo de Dos Caras. Lashley came out with King Mo Lawal, Dan Lambert, the owner of American Top Team (Lashley’s manager and the gym that he trains at), as well as several ATT fighters including Jeff Monson and Marcus
“Conan” Silveira. Once the match started, everyone left ringside except Dos Caras and Mo. Alberto tried a dive but Lashley hit him with an uppercut. Mo slammed Caras’ head into a table. Caras chopped Mo, who sold it like a pro. Lashley powerslammed Alberto on the steps. Lashley missed a charge into the post. Alberto used a superplex off the top rope. Lashley did a power bomb for a near fall. The crowd was dead for this. Alberto used a back stabber for a near fall. Alberto missed a tope and crashed on the floor. Alberto used an armbar but Lashley did a one arm power bomb to get out of it. Lashley used a Death Valley bomb off the middle rope for a near fall. Alberto got a near fall with a double foot stomp. Lashley finally hit the spear but Alberto kicked out. Alberto tackled Lashley through the ropes. Mo was after Dos Caras, but in Mexican tradition, Dos Caras nailed Mo with a low blow. Lashley shoved and slapped Dos Caras. Alberto posted Lashley and pinned him after a double foot stomp. After the match, Jarrett, Scott D’Amore, Ed Nordholm, Marufuji and El Hijo del Fantasma gave both a hand, but the crowd just wasn’t with hit at all. ***1/4
