Jeff Jarrett explains why he booked himself as TNA’s top champion
Jeff Jarrett has addressed how he booked himself in TNA Wrestling.
Jarrett held the NWA World Heavyweight title six times while it was the top championship in the promotion he co-founded with his father Jerry Jarrett in 2002.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet published on Thursday, Jarrett was asked if he has any regrets about how he booked himself in the promotion and responded:
“None. My track record, I’ll say this: our track record speaks for itself. We went from a Wednesday night pay-per-view only, to Fox Sports Net, to one hour on a Saturday night off prime on Spike TV, to a one hour on Thursday nights off prime, to a one hour prime time, to a two hour of prime time under my leadership.
So during that build, and this is what Conrad always gets fascinated by, like, the numbers and the budgets that we worked under. We worked under shoestring budgets. Whether it’s a Conrad Thompson or a Jim Cornette or Dutch or others that work in the middle of it, they understood that the only person that I can guarantee will not walk out and go to the WWE is myself.
Also, my philosophy in booking is the babyface chase. I think you have to look at the landscape, and WWE has always had, for the most part, that babyface champion, a touring champion that’s a babyface. I didn’t necessarily think that it fit our model. We had four distinct divisions, and I wanted a heel champion where the babyfaces were chasing, namely an AJ Styles, as we were developing talent.”
In addition to his six runs with the NWA World Heavyweight title in TNA, Jarrett is also a former TNA King of the Mountain Champion and was inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jarrett is also a four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, three-time United States Champion, two-time AAA Mega Champion, six-time Intercontinental Champion, one-time European Champion, and a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Owen Hart.
Jarrett’s full discussion with Chris Van Vliet is available below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.