Jeff Jarrett Talks Balancing TNA Booking For TV & PPV, Switch To HD Programming

On the latest episode of My World With Jeff Jarrett, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about TNA Wrestling in 2008. You can check out some highlights below:

On Kevin Nash signing a new TNA deal and publicly denying it: 

“Well, yeah, but in 2008, Dixie and Dallas were the final sign-off on all of it. And I was happy to stay out of 95% of all that. But when I read that, I’m thinking, Did Kevin come to us? And I’m saying, Me, Dixie, Dallas, whatever. And we got the deal done. But he’s like, Hey, let’s not make this public knowledge because we knew we were going with the main event or began to know the Main Event Mafia, which was going to be and well. I know we’ve done, Marcus will have to pull this up and, but we’ve done podcasts on the Main Event Mafia, but we all had a good feeling about that storyline. We were going to do the launch of the product. Man, this sounds dated, but we were going from standard def to high def doing a big show out in Vegas. So we knew we had a lot of. Big things coming up and high hopes, and at the end of the day, we’ve everyone really felt good when I say everyone; the most important folks are the five members of Main Event Mafia, and Mick which we’re basically trying to play the balancing act and then the main crew of Storm and Roode and AJ, of course, leading the charge and Eric Young and Samoa Joe everybody felt good about the creative direction That’s a really good feeling for folks to have that it’s not perfect. We’re not all sitting down eating out of the same lunch box and buddy, buddy, buddy. I never think that’s super productive, but I do think the competitive nature, we all felt like, okay, we’re going to be standing on the same page fighting for. The next contract, which I think is healthy. And I think everybody had kind of dug in, and I think most importantly. We took the foundation. A real story like this was really how AJ Styles felt and really how Samoa, Joe and others felt. And it’s really how Jeff felt and really how Mick felt. Mick has always been a supporter of young talent and how do we bring him up and all that kind of mindset and Kevin Nash has no problem, especially in his active days, looking a guy dead in the eye, out in the open and saying, You want my spot? Well, then come take it. But I’m going to do everything I can both in front of the camera and behind it to make sure you can’t. And when you kind of have that mindset.”

On switching from standard definition to high definition: 

“We kind of have glossed over the going from standard deaf to deaf transition. That internally was a massive deal for TNA because everything had to be changed. We had to take our studios just because we used a third-party consulting company and I think that guy rubbed some people the wrong way and it was a process, but it was mandated by Spike, our partner. They helped. Pay for parts of that because. Oh, wow. Yeah. Mean. That’s mean. It was a fantastic relationship. But you know, they were in the process of flipping their switch to all their original content because I think there was a date that all original programming had to be X amount of days anyway.”

On loading up Bound for Glory: 

“So going through that process. So once that was in process, I don’t know, six, nine months in prior when that kind of rolled along and spiked going, Hey, we want to do this tentpole event, we want to do it outside the impact zone. Let’s do it in Vegas. Okay, we’re going to do it at Hard Rock, all that. So then we think, okay, we really need to make sure that, that and I can take myself back to the creative rooms. Hey, guys, I love Spike. I know this. They want to pop a number, but we have to create revenue for Bound for Glory. So let’s give them some creative, you know, sizzle. But we need steak. I mean, we need steak on Bound for Glory. So with the introduction of the Legends title that wasn’t going to draw a penny on Bound for Glory, the formation of a faction might not draw, but it’s all stuff that has good, good, good creative content. But as far as the pay-per-view, we wanted to load that up and create as much revenue as possible. That makes sense.”

On fans chanting for him as he walked down to the ring for his Bound for Glory match with Kurt Angle: 

“For sure. And as long as I’ve been around and I did not. Mentally because I like to kind of walk through, I still do it. Walk through From the time I walk through the curtain to the time I get to the back. Just really think through it all like everything and crowd reactions and maybe A, B, and C, this and that, and I didn’t. Enter into my brain. Kind of the emotional component of, yeah, okay, I’m a baby face, but the story is there, but kind of the overwhelmingness of it that caught me off, guard. But I definitely had my game face on. That’s why, you know, I am so grateful. Here I am. I am 56 years old and packing my wrestling bag tomorrow. But at 41, God, 15 years ago, I had my whole vision from the beginning; starting TNA was wrestling when it’s time to step out and I’m going to be a promoter and executive producer and businessman and exactly the footsteps that my dad did. I mean, he wrestled his entire career really actively. I mean, you can. Add on some one-offs with me or Fargo or whatever, but he really only wrestled full-time less than ten years. It was a very short window. That was kind of in my mind because he always was like my grandmother. You can wrestle but don’t become a wrestler and stay in business and you’re going to be needed much more outside the ring than inside. All the things that go with it. So even at this time, I didn’t really think, okay. Yeah, I think the time is right. Come back and wrestle. But to be wrestling, Kurt and I admired Kurt, obviously before he came to TNA and then to get him, and then I stepped out and he stepped in and carried the weight. I just didn’t expect myself to be in this position. Kurt is more than a man’s man. When the bell rings, you better be ready, cardio-wise. Everything. He’s fast. He is. Execution is like none other. I’ve always said he and Shawn just have a unique ability. And Kurt, especially in finishing sequences and ups and downs and everything that went with it. But I was fired up. And I also thought about this going through the notes. This is a little inside baseball, but I had a couple of buddies that flew up from Nashville that came up and then another buddy, God rest his soul. Rob Bironas, I don’t know if you remember that name. He was the kicker for the Titans. he decided to come up. And yeah, guess now’s as good a time as ever to tell this story. It’s mean kind of only.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit My World With Jeff Jarrett with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.