Global Force's TV tapings kickoff four title tournaments

Do not let it be said that Global Force Wrestling isn't interested in kicking things off in a big way. They will have their first television tapings on July 24 and they have already announced four title tournaments with the kickoff as well. Jeff Jarrett's new startup will feature four belts, each with at least one match announced for the tournament. Let's run them down.

The Global Championship: Sharing a name with a previous incarnation of Jarrett's current TNA King of the Mountain belt, the Global championship will be the main event title for Global Force. It will also clearly have the biggest tournament as three of the seven announced tournament matches will be for the Global title. They are:

• Bobby Roode vs. TBA: Roode's appearance in Global Force is a big question mark as he is the only active TNA competitor also working in GFW. He may very well be part of an invasion angle for the company. I would not be surprised for that TBA to be none other than James Storm as I could see either a new feud or a new alliance between the former Beer Money as part of the company's early shows.
• Brian Myers (the former Curt Hawkins) vs. Chris Mordestzky (the former Chris Masters): Two former WWE stars also make their way into the tournament. Myers seems to be way above his bracket for me in this match, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Mordestzky go deep, so an easy first round win against the former Edgehead might make sense.
• Magnus vs. Kongo Kong: Magnus is one of the biggest names Global Force has and I suspect Jarrett will bank a lot on him. But the addition of Midwest star Kongo Kong also proves interesting. Kong has been a dominant monster most recognized for his work in Juggalo Championship Wrestling, but this could bring tons more eyes on a great brawler. 

The Nex*Gen Championship: No more proof is necessary that Jarrett is trying to follow his early TNA formula than the appearance of a belt so similar in narrative to the X Division title. The Nex*Gen title clearly is designed for wrestlers with a high flying style and the first two matches in that tournament are both intriguing.

• PJ Black (the former Justin Gabriel) vs. Seiya Sanada: No mistake was bigger for TNA in 2014 than fumbling the push of Sanada. An incredibly capable Japanese high flyer, Sanada clearly wants to be a star in the United States and he's got all the in-ring capability to make that happen. He certainly doesn't need a knock-off gimmick based on his mentor Keiji Mutoh. Black will look to show off what he was never allowed to in WWE, but he doesn't really have the depth of other South African wrestlers in the American market, like Adam Rose and Angelico. 
• Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw: While I'm sure I'm not the only person still disappointed that Jigsaw doesn't work for Chikara anymore, I cannot pretend I'm not super-excited to see him take the national stage with Global Force Wrestling. Despite a few previous appearances in TNA as Rubix, this could be the start of something bigger for him, but only if he can overcome a member of the GFW booking team in Dutt. Hopefully Dutt will not follow in Jeff's footsteps and book himself to the top of this tournament, but we will have to wait until July 24 to see. 

The Women's Championship: TNA learned from the advent of the Knockout division how much a strong women's division can help a company and it looks like GFW might be trying to follow in that path. The initial matches only give one women's title match, but it is a triple threat with one huge star, one potentially big star and a name definitely deserving of more attention. Mickie James brings tons of star power to the show as she faces the monstrous Lei D'Tapa and the always eclectic Christina Von Eerie in what should be a stellar contest.

The Tag Team Championship: I personally think it might have been better to hold off on a tag tournament until after the other tournaments, simply to allow some repeat stars in both tournaments without much trouble. But GFW has foregone that route to give a first round match despite the lack of the Bullet Club during the G1 tournament. The single match features the team of Reno SCUM, local Las Vegas stars Luster the Legend and Adam Thornstowe. I know next to nothing about these two, but they will go up against a new unit in the form of KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin. KUSHIDA and Sabin's only link is that they've both regularly tagged with Alex Shelley, but with Shelley currently on the shelf it seems GFW figured they would try out this new unit. The Friends of Shelley seem like the obvious winners here, but anything can happen when Jeff Jarrett runs a company.

The current announced card is wrapped up with a six man tag featuring a combination of luchadores and local talent as Bestia 666, Blood Eagle and Steve Pain take on Zokre, Phoenix Star and Misterioso Jr. 

While I'm not sure how many episodes will be taped on June 24 or how long they will be, I would guess these won't be all the matches that night. And while we still don't know when these shows will air, it looks like GFW is already starting to build a unique new roster in modern professional wrestling. 

Wrestle-1 can bring the action

Wrestle-1 experienced a massive down turn in business after their big TNA crossover show last year. The problems cost the company its link with the American brand, as both companies seek ways to improve their fortunes in 2015. But just because TNA and Wrestle-1 no longer have a working relationship doesn't mean that Wrestle-1 isn't able to put on good matches. In fact, they can do so while featuring TNA talent still.

As shared on his own Youtube feed, Matt Hardy had an excellent appearance at Wrestle-1 in a great three way match against former TNA standout Sanada and ECW/WWE cruiserweight legend Yoshihiro Tajiri. They put on a great battle that showed Sanada could hold up against the twenty-plus year veterans.

Global Force Wrestling gets a roster!

After over a year of nebulous promises and only a replay of a stupendous Japanese wrestling event to their credit, Global Force Wrestling has finally moved one step closer to becoming a real entity. On Wednesday, they finally announced the first ten names on their roster, as well as revealing Chael Sonnen will be their color commentator.

Now you can bounce all over the internet for opinions on how good the ten talents announced are, but I honestly think they have built a very solid start from the independent talents currently available to them for use. While it does rely heavily on the gaijin side of New Japan Pro Wrestling, GFW's healthy relation with New Japan should cause little trouble there.

Here is a few thoughts on the announcements:

Chris "The Adonis" Mordetzky and “Darewolf” PJ Black (formerly Justin Gabriel) are two solid former WWE stars that both have shown they were more than what WWE ever gave them. With very different styles in the ring, these two men could set the standard for the singles wrestling style of GFW.

Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows will represent the Bullet Club in GFW, but I am sure if Jarrett gets this way they would not be alone. A very solid heavyweight tag team, they have tons of upside, and can really be introduced to American audiences in a new way. Certainly having AJ Styles or the Young Bucks would help their credibility as a unit, but the Bullet Club could be a very dominant heel unit in the US soon as well.

Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer, a.k.a. The Killer Elite Squad, have their own NJPW pedigree, but they may actually have even more of an upside to Anderson and Gallows. The KES is already heating up the Texas area and with work in New Japan and NOAH right now, they might be awfully busy for too much GFW work, but they will bring a dominating style to Global Force.

Seiya Sanada is probably the least surprising announcement as the recently departed TNA star announced he would remain in the US with an unnamed promotion just a few days ago. But Sanada will now have the chance to show why he wowed fans last year in TNA before stupid gimmicks and some horrible time under James Storm derailed his run completely. Just the chance to see Sanada versus Black should sell at least one of the TV episodes on GFW's slate.

Moose was under contract to Ring of Honor, but that may not be the case as he moves to GFW. He is still green, but his style shows he has a great upside. He has the same mix of power and speed that made Uhaa Nation such a great signing for NXT, although he will need to work harder to get to Uhaa's level in the ring. All of that said, Moose could very well be a major force for GFW's growth the way AJ Styles was for TNA.

Thea Trinidad and Lei D'Tapa both have TNA pedigrees, but they were both critically underused there, so it is anyone’s guess what they can bring to the GFW roster. Hopefully, more announcements will bring a larger women's roster to GFW, as with a few choice signings they could easily change the shape of women's wrestling in the United States today.

Personally, I think these are a solid ten folks that will help brand GFW as a great mixture of underutilized talent and future superstars of wrestling. Now the question remains whether or not they will be able to show it on any major scale. While TV tapings have been announced, no television partner has been, so these could be ten great talents with nowhere to show their skills.

That being said, with Toby Keith helping fund GFW, they could have inroads in places new to the wrestling business. Could CMT be in the future for Global Force?