ZeeWI: Global Force Brings More Than Just a New Name

Coming out of Slammiversary, it is a brave new world in Orlando. Just a few days before the show took place, word broke that Impact Wrestling was going to re-brand once more this year, taking on the name of, to that point, its chief rival in Global Force Wrestling. It was an obvious win for Jeff Jarrett, who has clearly been biding his time to make this all a reality since returning as an official some months ago.

The change in brand name may not be 100% in effect as of now, but getting the word out there helped to brighten what could have very well been a somewhat depressing night for the Impact Wrestling faithful, as both Impact’s World Champions in the men’s and women’s divisions came up short, with Rosemary losing to Sienna, and Lashley was defeated by Alberto El Patrón in unification matches. With fans aware of the oncoming changes, the narrative was instead able to change from “Impact Wrestling fails to stop Global Force” to “Global Force begins new start on the right foot.”

El Patrón and Lashley would meet again this past Thursday on Impact, but a surprise attack by LAX left everything in disarray, with Konnan claiming Alberto to be the newest member of the group. As usual, one should use great caution in believing anything that lying snake says, but I’d never tell someone outright whether or not they should believe what he says or not (which, they *probably* shouldn’t). Clearly trying to sully the pristine name of the Global Force Unified World Champion, we’ll have to wait for El Patrón to verify what I suspect in the coming days – that Konnan is lying.

Further, Lashley’s status is, as of now, unresolved. Left without an actual conclusion to his guaranteed rematch, Walking Armageddon may feel as if he should receive another opportunity, but that will be left up to the haphazard decision making of Bruce Prichard, if anyone can get a hold of him. Even if one could, Prichard’s tenure thus far has seen him lean heavily in the favor of newer acquisitions like El Patrón, while giving “TNA” guys like Lashley, E_Li_Drake, and Ethan Carter, III (known to many as EC3) the raw end of the deal. Lashley may find himself unwillingly placed at the back of the line for the time being, which could also bring about some intriguing, unintended consequences for the rest of the roster.

Slammiversary also saw the debut of NFL star DeAngelo Williams, as he teamed up with Grand Champion Moose to take on the team of E_Li_Drake and Chris Adonis. Unfazed by the pedigree of the opposition, Williams surprised many observers with just how comfortable and fluid he was in the ring. That doesn’t mean he was flawless, as some more astute fans have pointed out that he didn’t get optimal placement on his flying splash that got the win over Adonis, but as he knows from his days on the gridiron, a win is a win, and that was a big win that he got for his team.

If Global Force can convince him to stick around in lieu of returning to football, they could have a completely unexpected star on their hands. And if Williams builds off of the raw potential he displayed, he could easily find himself wearing championship gold in a short amount of time. Hell, it could even be that Grand Championship belt that his partner Moose wears. There was definitely a lot to be happy about if you were on Team Williams heading into the match.

Now, if Team Drake is more your thing, there may finally be cause for concern. More devoted readers know that this columnist fancies himself a fan of Drake, though I don’t always support his most dastardly acts. Overall, though, I see him as a top talent for Global Force, and a future World Champion.

Which is why, if I’m being honest (and I am), I have to wonder why he continues to waste time dragging Adonis along for the ride. Adonis has provided next to nothing for Drake since they locked up – at best being someone to assist in a mugging here or there – while getting the benefit of basking in the brightest of lights in the company. Whatever Drake does is newsworthy, and so Adonis constantly finds himself in the headlines, despite historically being the guy you can count on to drop the ball in the biggest of moments, like a modern-day Lex Luger.

And with every match that doesn’t go his way, Drake continues to fall down the ladder. Unfortunately for him, the record books don’t care if it was you or your partner that was pinned, only that you lost. Drake has not had the best of luck in finding the proper backup, but it might be time for him to realize that he’s all that he needs. He can’t keep paying Adonis’ bills if he’s not getting any type of return on his investment. Losing to a debuting football player has to be considered a low.

Drake has to really weigh his options, and consider the pros and cons of this association. Adonis is only dragging him down, from my vantage point.

For my money, however, what piqued this columnist’s attention was Braxton Sutter this past Impact. Even as he was simply entering the ring for his match with Matt Sydal, something just didn’t seem quite right. He didn’t seem to be loving the fun as much as usual, and there even appeared to be an air of BS around the ring, which is just so shocking considering what we know about Braxton and his lack of tolerance for BS in the first place.

Hell, even his facial hair seemed more pronounced, which can never be a good thing if you’re a good guy in this cruel, dark world of ours.

As I was saying, something just didn’t seem right. And after having a heck of an outing against Sydal, Saxton would find himself on the losing side of things. No shame in falling short to a world-class competitor like Sydal, but for some reason, Saxton didn’t seem to believe that line of thought.

With Allie looking to console him and help him to his feet, Saxton would instead shrug her off, slightly pushing her off to the side. It was, to my knowledge, the first time I’ve seen them be anything but the Absolute Cutest Couple on Earth since they first met last year. Saxton’s irritation may seem hot-headed and over the loss, but maybe it’s been brewing longer than we can imagine.

The two were tortured for months by Maria Kanellis, Sienna, and Laurel Van Ness, before Allie and Braxton finally declared their love and made it official. Since then, however, Braxton has basically had two jobs – professional wrestler, and 24/7 body guard for Allie. Allie isn’t a weak damsel in distress by any means, but the odds are usually greatly stacked against her, and usually done so as a way to draw Braxton into an undesirable situation.

That includes constant altercations with Kongo Kong, who, in case you missed it, is quite large in comparison to Sutter. What was supposed to be their declaration of independence only inspired a hotter fire from Van Ness, who has been hell-bent on destroying the two no matter what.

Perhaps Sutter has started to realize the effect the extracurriculars are having on his actual career. That he’s always injured from some backstage brawl, and that keeps him from performing to his best in his actual matches. Maybe, in his head, he knows he can beat Matt Sydal, and the loss this past Thursday was a sobering wake-up call that love is great, but it doesn’t win matches.

If that’s the case, we could be looking at the beginning of a very sad turn in Global Force. If those kids can’t make it, I just don’t know if I can believe in love again.

Let’s just hope it was a one time thing. Maybe he just had a rough night of sleep. Yeah, that’s probably it.

It’s only been a little over a week, but Global Force Wrestling is already a box of unanswered questions, and it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting clarity any time soon.