Jeff Jarrett Taking Absence From GFW: Big Update w/ Reason and More

Sep 5, 2017

GFW announced today that Jeff Jarrett is taking an “indefinite leave of absence” from 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.

A report by PWInsider shed a lot of light on why this happened, saying that it was a decision by head of Anthem (GFW’s parent company), Ed Nordholm, who had a personal meeting with Jeff Jarrett today in Nashville, TN. Jeff Jarrett seemingly did not see it coming, posting on Twitter that he was excited about the coming month for Impact. Jarrett also apparently was scheduled to host a GFW staff fantasy football draft at his home today, but that is now being moved to GFW headquarters.

Tuesday morning…let's go…super excited about September for @IMPACTWRESTLING @GFWWrestling …

— Jeff Jarrett (@RealJeffJarrett) September 5, 2017

The belief among PWInsider’s sources is that Ed Nordholm was unhappy with Jeff Jarrett’s alleged “erratic behavior” of late, and the reason was not related to the company’s creative direction. There was a situation a few months ago where Jeff Jarrett screamed at TNA staffer Bob Ryder in an “ugly” situation, which may have been the “beginning” of everything that lead to this decision. AAA’s Triplemania event in Mexico last weekend was also said to have been a final tipping point, with the report saying that Jarrett “was not in the best of shape.” There were reports that he got very heated at the Rosemary/Sexy Star situation backstage, but there’s no confirmation that this is related. There were “a lot of people talking about whether Jarrett needed time off” recently, according to PWInsider.

Other Staff

As of now, there have been no public decisions made about the creative direction of the company and Jeff Jarrett’s team of Scott D’Amore and Dutch Mantel remain in place.

If Jarrett does not return, the belief is that his wife, Karen Jarrett, would also likely leave, understandably.

Jim Cornette, who has a good relationship with Jarrett, is still with the company for now.

Ed Nordholm

There is a belief that Ed Nordholm, who will seemingly have a lot more control over the company now, does not “get” the business, and Jarrett frequently had to step in between Nordholm and the wrestling side of things. Ed Nordholm definitely does seem like a very dumb and dishonest guy to me, so this seems troubling for GFW.

There was a situation when GFW first signed Alberto El Patron, where they went to great lengths to hide his appearance and entrance into the building, but Nordholm just tweeted out a picture of Alberto, ruining the surprise hours before the show.

There’s also the whole Hardys situation, of course, with Nordholm infamously playing hardball and allegedly backing out of a deal with the Hardys, then refusing to continue negotiations.

Alberto El Patron

Ed Nordholm has also been said to be the main person behind keeping Alberto El Patron suspended, and seems willing to release him completely, while Jarrett apparently wanted to work things out. Alberto was rumored to be ready to return for GFW’s next TV tapings in November, but with Jarrett out, we’ll see if that still happens.

Global Force Wrestling Name

The GFW/Global Force Wrestling name still appears to be owned by Jeff Jarrett, according to PWInsider, and the GFW/Anthem merger was “nowhere near as completed” as it was publicly stated. If true, if Jarrett ends up leaving, it could mean that Impact would no longer be able to use the GFW name. If true… this all just seems so stupid.

Reby Hardy

Reby Hardy, who obviously has a long-running feud with and understandable hatred of Jarrett, posted this:

Yall trippin if you think imma be anything BUT laughing at the misfortune of someone who went SO OUT OF THEIR WAY to fck w my family. FOH.

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) September 5, 2017