Back when TNA/Impact Wrestling was on the selling block, rumors ran rampant that the company might get bought up by WWE. The predominant thinking at the time was that if WWE were to be the buyer, it would pick and choose from the talent roster, shut the company down, and basically just scoop up the very deep tape library and archive and put all that content on WWE Network.
In fact, there were some strong rumors and reports to suggest that WWE was only interested in purchasing the tape library. And one of the frontrunners to buy Impact, Billy Corgan, was reportedly considering selling the archive off to WWE and using the roster and infrastructure of the company to rebrand as an all-new entity that would be free of any TNA stigma.
It all turned out to be a moot point, of course, when Anthem Sports bought out Dixie Carter and took control of Impact, which is now Global Force Wrestling. There were a lot of bumps along the way, beginning with litigation involving Corgan, and running all the way up through this week, when Chief Creative Officer Jeff Jarrett took an indefinite leave of absence.
It’s clear to fans that the tumult is far from over behind the scenes at GFW, and despite the new owners, things may not necessarily work out. With the company rebranding itself as Global Force, there’s still the possibility that they could make a significant amount of money by selling their archive off to WWE and moving forward with a completely clean slate to go with those new title belts. Instead, they’re going the completely opposite direction: GFW is launching its own network.
But during an interview on Wrestling Observer Radio, Anthem Sports Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm talked about next week‘s launch of the Global Wrestling Network, which will feature the full TNA and Impact archive on demand for a subscription fee of $7.99 a month.
Nordholm talked about Anthem being invested in the company, and that it will be a long road to turning the promotion around, but they’re committed to that journey. The platform will also feature content from GFW’s partners AAA and NOAH, and Nordholm is adamant there’s no consideration whatsoever of selling their archive to WWE at any point.
“I know full well how the WWE Network would monetize the content and what they could pay for the library. It makes no sense for me to sell it for that kind of price. I’d rather keep it, put it up on the app, and monetize it myself.”
Apologies to those of you who didn’t want to have to pay a second monthly fee to watch the full saga of the friendship between Scott Steiner and Petey Williams … which is all of us.
