For years, the place to go for disgruntled or released WWE talent was TNA. A lot of workers unhappy with how they were being used by the WWE or burned out went to TNA, like Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, and Gail Kim. ROH also got a few former WWE superstars, but TNA was the main competition. TNA has not exactly utilized all that talent properly to go to new heights. In terms of ratings, they did see their best year in 2011, but they could not sustain that. TNA now always seems to be struggling these days. They released some workers and failed to re-sign certain others. They have brought in guys that are not helping much at all. TNA no longer seems like the alternative for talent that cannot fit in with the way things are in the WWE.
Can GFW be that new alternative? Will they be able to draw in top talent from the competition? Bringing in all young talent is fine, but how well will that get fans interested outside of just the wrestling fans. You cannot compete with the WWE by just appealing to a small fraction of their overall fan base. It doesn't matter who you have giving you financial backing. TNA currently has financial backing, but it isn't saving them. I doubt GFW can produce any revolutionary wrestling performances or storylines and gimmicks that can draw big for them. They need stars. Mick Foley is showing support for the promotion, but talent a little younger than him and Jarrett would be nice.
Of the people recently released by the WWE, could any of them be a top star in GWF? You have Drew McIntyre. I was always more of a fan of his theme song than him, but he has potential. Will Jinder Mahal be GFW's version of John Cena? Probably not. How about TNA? Any of the guys they have lost could go to Jarrett's new promotion? I can picture AJ Styles going there. He would have been a great choice to groom as the centerpiece of TNA. He can get a few years at the top in GFW.
What will the WWE do about GFW? This is new competition stepping up. It'll probably take years for the new promotion to make any impact, but the WWE has to know they can't hand talent over to them. Their own product is extremely weak right now and running more on hype than anything else. Is the WWE worried about certain men and women going to GFW? I remember coming across a report that the WWE brought in Jim Ross and were nice to him around Wrestlemania because they do not want him jumping over to GFW. I think that is more speculation than actual fact. Jim Ross is a respected figure in wrestling, but how much could he really do for GFW? It would be more scary for the WWE if CM Punk went there. He is still hot. There is controversy surrounding him and people would definitely be interested in tuning in to see what he is doing. I have also come across some interesting reports about the CM Punk situation. They might extend his contract even if he doesn't want to be there? Okay. Fact is, the WWE might very well try to pull some maneuvers to limit top talent from going to GFW.
In general, competition is good. It might get the WWE working harder and better again. TNA has failed to be proper competition. They spend too much time trying to imitate what the WWE is doing and never remain consistent with anything. In time, GFW could be trouble for the WWE, which is already in a bad place. I just hope I'm not still doing this when GFW does become something I would have to talk about on a weekly basis.
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