Global Force Wrestling issued the following statement in regard to Jeff Jarrett taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer for the company.
“Effective immediately, Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters. Jeff will be available on a consultative basis as needed.”
This short statement is a real surprise, as Jarrett was posting this morning a positive tweet about what is going to be aired this month on Impact Wrestling. The GFW roster is constantly praising their new Chief Creative and his impact on the rebuilding process of the company. But according to PWInsider, the situation seems to be a little more complex.
The decision was made today by Ed Nordholm, Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports and President of Global Force Wrestling/Impact. Jarrett was about to host a NFL Fantasy Draft with members of the GFW staff yesterday night but was nixed and replaced by members of the staff.
Jeff Jarrett’s “erratic behavior” and the unhappiness coming from it is said to be a driving factor in Nordholm’s decision. Anthem was not happy with the company’s creative direction with Jarrett as Chief Creative Officer. And it seems like the situation had been starting months ago.
Another factor is said to be related to the recent AAA’s Triplemania event. Jarrett was set to appear in a match, representing GFW along with Moose and Bobby Lashley, but he was not in the best of shape and apparently stumbled down the ring steps right before wrestling in a battle royal for just a few minutes. He was also reportedly heckling fans and throwing tortillas into the crowd.
Nordholm witnessed Jarrett’s condition at TripleMania, which led to a lot of people wondering if he needed time off. There was also an incident at a GFW TV taping last April, with Jarrett yelling at GFW multi-task man Bob Ryder, that is said to be the beginning of the problems that led to Nordholm’s decision.
But PWInsider claims the situation may be “far uglier” than anyone realizes. If Jarrett is “not blameless” in this situation, there is “blame to be thrown in all directions” of the company. It seems like Jarrett is paying the price of just him towing the company line and following “marching orders” out of loyalty to Anthem, like with The Hardys issue.
Ed Nordholm is said not to be understanding the wrestling side of the business the way Jarrett does. Jarrett is said to “desperately want his company back and prove to everyone he was right all along with his vision.” Because of that, Jarrett had been “bending over backward” to try and balance things between Anthem and GFW, and so needed a break.
The GFW – Anthem merger is also reported to be “nowhere near as completed” as trademarks for Global Force Wrestling and GFW are still under the ownership of the Global Force Wrestling LLC that Jarrett launched in 2014. So if Jarrett wasn’t returning to the company, the GFW letters would disappear from Impact Wrestling name.
No decision has been made regarding creative changes and the writing team, which Jarrett put together and involving Scott D’Amore and Dutch Mantel. But the company is working to determine who would tend to Jarrett’s duties while he’s gone. It is said John Gaburick, who still works with the company as a consultant, was retained as a back-up plan in case the Jarrett regime did not work out.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Alberto El Patron had been discussed for Bound For Glory PPV in November but Alberto El Patron’s status with the company is still up in the air after last July Orlando airport incident. His return on November next set of tapings seems to be on jeopardy as Jarrett was the one trying to make him come back, while Anthem was not keen on it.