Jeff Jarrett has defended his controversial reigns as NWA World Heavyweight Champion during the early years of TNA, rejecting criticism that he booked himself on top out of ego.
Ken Shamrock became the inaugural champion on June 19, 2002, before Jarrett won the title later that year. The Hall of Famer went on to win the title a total of six times during his TNA career, but the multiple reigns attracted backlash from some fans. Because Jarrett was both TNA’s owner and booker, some fans viewed his title reigns as self-serving. Critics argued that Jarrett remained at the top of the card while homegrown stars such as AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels struggled to break through.
Some fans have compared Jarrett’s lengthy run at the top of TNA to Triple H’s much-criticised “Reign of Terror” in WWE, arguing that the company should have elevated stars from its acclaimed X-Division instead.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Jarrett was asked about balancing his role as TNA’s booker with being the company’s top star. Jarrett noted that he was the only person guaranteed not to walk away because of his financial stake in the company. Jarrett also said that he based his decisions on financial impact as opposed to his own ego:
“That is something that internally, even Dixie weighed in as we got going along in that I would always stop folks when it really got into a discussion, Dutch Mantel, Vince Russo, Jeremy Borash, Scott D’Amore, folks that were in the room, they were well aware. But when I had to really have that conversation when I knew that it probably needed to be said, I would look at somebody and say, ‘Do you really think that Jeff Jarrett, who has the most money at risk, is going to make a decision based on ego rather than dollars and cents?’ My money’s at stake. I’m the single largest shareholder of the promotion. I have a fiduciary responsibility to my investors.”
The Hall of Famer added that such claims that he was booking for his own glory were “laughable”:
“It was such nonsense and the thought process that he is making himself champion for glory is laughable, especially me being a third-generation guy, and being around the business since a little kid, and it was always so laughable. But again it was something I couldn’t control, so it was what it was.”
Jeff Jarrett Says He Has “No Regrets” About His TNA Booking
Jarrett was then asked whether he had any regrets about how he booked himself in TNA. Responding, Jarrett stated that he was happy with how things played out for himself and the promotion as a whole. Despite the criticism, Jarrett has long maintained that keeping the championship on himself was a business decision rather than an ego-driven one.
“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.”
Featured image: TNA
