My World w/ Jeff Jarrett - Jeff Wins the NWA Title! [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Jeff - today we are discussing the 20th anniversary of your first NWA World Title victory!

There’s a lot going on and we will actually watch your match with Ron “The Truth” Killings and some of the important clips building to it from that episode - and remember you can watch this full episode over at Impact+ and sign up with the promo code JEFF…

That’s impactwrestling.com/packages and use the promo code JEFF

There’s a lot going in TNA at this point as we are at the 21st weekly pay-per-view - and just the week before features a no-show of Sean Waltman. From the Observer:

“The company heard nothing from Waltman all day and started getting worried about four hours before show time. They checked and found that he had never boarded his flight from Los Angeles to Nashville that left at 7 a.m. . Throughout the day they had called him but he had never called back. Just before the show went on the air, he finally called Jeff Jarrett and was very apologetic, saying that he had overslept due to injuries and hadn’t woken up until 4:30 p.m. Pacific time (30 minutes before the show was to start). Waltman had suffered what appeared to have been a serious back injury taking a bodyslam on an independent date with Jerry Lawler in Connecticut on 11/9. The injury is a severely inflamed SI joint and he had an MRI done during the week. Apparently the injury occurred because he landed different in an attempt to overcompensate because of his hip injury. Even though he was in tremendous pain in the 11/6 match with Brian Lawler on TNA, which is why it was kept short. He reaggravated the hip when he slipped, I believe in the parking lot, before the show and the hip went totally out.  He apparently figured the 11/9 date was a spot show and he’d be working with Jerry Lawler, which is a match that isn’t nearly as physically demanding as a PPV match. Waltman told friends afterwards that he was totally at fault and felt he had let down the wrestlers and the promotion by his behavior.”

It’s not fun being talent relations when you’ve worked with a lot of these guys before is it?

Meltzer would speculate that because Waltman & Scott Hall are the second highest paid performers behind yourself ($2,000 for Waltman & Hall and $3,000 for you) makes it seem like if you’re higher paid and you mess up - you’re most likely going to have issues returning. Was it money based around those issues?

You would win a tournament to become the #1 contender to Ron Killings by defeating BG James - did you enjoy working Road Dogg at this time?

There is also speculation in the Observer regarding - who else but - Vince Russo! “Vince Russo was not at the show again. The idea of him eventually ending up with creative power is not dead. The belief is that he’ll be the go-to guy if Panda believes Jarrett’s methods aren’t working. Jeff is still trying to get Russo and Jerry to work together and Jeff has been trying to sell people in the idea that Russo understands how to get the mainstream audience that aren’t wrestling fans into the product.”

Was that what you were trying to sell? Did you know the previous week you were going to be bringing Russo back?

We will cover your end of the show as a whole at the end but this is one of the more memorable episodes of TNA in history as there’s so much going on.

From the Torch:

(1) E.Z. Money & Sonny Siaki beat Divine Storm (Quiet Storm & Chris Devine w/Trinity).

A typical TNA opener—nonstop action, but not especially polished (*3/4)

EZ Money & Sonny Siaki were starting to get built up in TNA but Divine Storm was part of the car from the Northeast with the SATs. Who was helping find talent and who did you lean on the most during this time in finding them?

Was it more cost-effective to find talent that would drive in on their dime - you know paying their dues - and hoping you found someone to hit on - then booking all these so-called names at the time? The work might not have been major league but if you had something to work with…you could essentially…

The use of indies at the time as a developmental system wasn’t ideal since you had a lot of people getting in the business getting trained sometimes by someone who knew what they were doing and someone who didn’t know what they were doing. You had to have wanted some type of program for this - but it’s just not economically feasible at this point is it?

Jim Mitchell is all over a lot of this show with the New Church. Also making his final appearance in 2002 for TNA was Malice - Jerry Tuite. He was pushed heavily by TNA in the beginning but by now he was just winning squash matches before disappearing after this show. Do you remember the circumstances behind him leaving at this time?

From the Torch:

(3) Ron & Don Harris beat Spanish Announce Table (Joel & Jose Maximo) at 6:02. Don Harris actually dove over the top rope onto the Maximos, which Tenay sold huge by yelling that they wanted to try to beat them at their own game. In the end, they won with a double powerbomb. An awkward mix of styles. (*1/2)

Ron & Don Harris are about to get their biggest push in TNA as the SEX storyline unfolded. But this goes 6 minutes and the Maximos get a little bit of offense. How instrumental were the Harris Boys to TNA?

The Torch at this point stops their review of the show and has this to say:

“Jerry Jarrett isn’t going to win promoter of the year, but he beats out the other Vince for Father of the Year. Right after the big “power struggle” he gives his son the NWA Title, with all the bells and whistles he never used in the previous title matches, and Jerry brought back his son’s buddy. The first hour and 20 minutes of the show was awful. Booking the Harris Brothers vs. The SATs showed a complete lack of understanding of wrestling styles.”

Now the power struggle Wade is referring to here is between yourself & your father and Vince Russo is that correct? Did you think this early in the Panda relationship you were struggling for power in the company?

What say you to the criticism?

Torch:

(5) A.J. Styles (w/Mortimer Plumtree) beat Jorge Estrada and Crimson Dragon in a three-way to an X Title shot next week. Definitely watchable, at times exciting, but mostly a disjoined mishmash of highspots. The finisher was especially good. (*3/4)

Crimson Dragon is Chris Hamrick - someone who is very underrated and doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is. Jorge Estrada…well you know. But getting AJ back into the X Division title picture to go against Jerry Lynn - nothing bad about that is there?

Mortimer Plumtree - Jeff - what can you tell us about him as in the Observer: “They had a good crowd at the show, probably about 1,000. Mortimer Plumtree has taken over from Bert Prentice in handling the papering of the houses and he’s been far more effective at it

Apparently they actually hand out tickets to people, as opposed to leaving stacks at stores.”

Was this a better practice at the time? Was Mortimer an improvement over Bert?

From the Observer: “Styles is pushing to get Christopher Daniels back as a regular. Jarrett for some reason is not high on Daniels, although the reason he hasn’t been around is more due to his Japanese commitments”

Was that the hesitancy for bringing in Daniels at the time?

Torch:

(6) Brian Lee & Slash beat Chris Harris & James Storm at 10:53 via DQ to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles. When Storm grabbed a spike from Lee and used it, the ref DQ’d him. Another good match between these two teams. Good intensity and sense of rivalry. (**1/4)

Slash - Wolfie D - and Brian Lee from the New Church retaining the titles - really it’s a great match between them and America’s Most Wanted - did you see the budding signs of greatness of AMW here.

This is a return match from the week before where the New Church won the tag team titles from AMW. At the time you would do return matches usually the next week - was that the plan because of the weekly nature of the shows?

Torch:

“(7) Jerry Lynn pinned Amazing Red at 9:57 to retain the X Division Title. Great action for ten minutes. Red is going to be very good for a very long time. (***1/2)”

From the Observer: “A strong match on the show was Lynn over Red to keep the X title with a cradle piledriver off the middle ropes in 10:02. Crowd really likes Lynn, as they were quiet early, and even though Red with his size and selling is a natural babyface, they were chanting “Jerry” frequently during the match”

How close was Red do you think to being a big time player if he had stayed healthy - and if he was maybe - 5 inches taller?

How important was it to have someone like Jerry Lynn on the roster for the young guys to learn from and also be great in the ring?

Wade Keller from the Torch also would say:

“I still see no indication of anything that makes me think this promotion has a chance.”

Why do you think that was a constant criticism of TNA at this time? The business plan? The product? What do you think it was?

“West plugged The Disciples vs. Hennig & Syxx-Pac in an NWA Tag Title match for the following PPV…”

Knowing Waltman had no-showed the week before - were you convinced he’d be able to return enough that you were willing to promote him?

Well that all blows up later but we’ll get to that…

Let’s watch along some of the stuff that had to do with you on the show:

***Opening Video Package***

“Mike Tenay & Don West opened the show hyping the NWA Title match. A sitdown interview aired with The Truth about his title defense. He said it boils down to who wants it more.”

(1:55-3:43)

God Tenay is so good in these scenarios. What was it about him that made it feel like he was coming through the screen when talking to these guys…

Do you think Ron was pushed too soon here? He’s not great in this but closes strong.

(1:23:40-to the end really)

“A Jeff Jarrett video package aired. Well produced.”

Who was producing these video packages and the tales of the tape? Was that your influence to someone looking from a sports background to highlight these types of things…

Jeff - what did the NWA Title mean to you at this point in time in your career?

From the Torch:

“(8) Jeff Jarrett pinned Ron “The Truth” Killings to capture the NWA World Title at 17:36. Both men worked their tails off to make this as good as possible, but having not worked together before, it wasn’t as smooth as it needed to be. They wrestled mostly in the ring, but also had a ringside brawl. Jarrett bled heavily. In the end, the ref went down, then Mr. Wrestling III entered the ring and bashed Jarrett’s guitar over Truth’s head. Jarrett fell on top of Truth and got the win. A very good match in many ways, but not always convincing. It seemed a bit forced at times. (***1/4)

Ron Killings still isn’t smooth as he needs to be in telling a story in the ring in order to be taken seriously and become a draw.

Just when I was wishing that Mr. Wrestling III would hit himself with the guitar instead of Jeff Jarrett or Ron Killings, TNA pulled off its first worthwhile surprise in the form of Vince Russo. Make no mistake about it, I have not been a fan of Russo’s booking since he left WWE, but there’s no denying that the guy made a good on-air talent in WCW. Sure, he was overexposed during his short run there, but that shouldn’t be a problem as long as Jerry Jarrett has the book. Still not sold on Russo? Despite the fact that they haven’t had a website for a couple of weeks now, TNA is primarily a web- driven business, and no one gets internet wrestling. Jarrett hasn’t wrestled very often lately and it’s obvious since his timing in the ring isn’t anywhere near where it was a couple of years ago. ”

That’s from Wade - and let’s break this down while we watch this match. Did you think your timing was off? Did Ron still need more work?

Now Meltzer would have this to say: “Largely due to Jarrett’s interviews both on the show last week and on the local television show about the value of the NWA historically and for him growing and it being his dream, the crowd was into the title as the real deal. The two had a hell of a match (***½), largely Jarrett carrying Killings.

There were disagreements regarding the finish, as some felt Jarrett should win clean because it would have been the fitting end for the kind of match the crowd wanted to see. Even though Jarrett has been a heel from day one, the crowd was behind him probably more than any wrestler on any show thus far. He worked the match as the babyface and they introduced him from nearby Hendersonville, TN.

They did the “boxing-style” ring introduction which also added to the atmosphere of the match. It’s so funny because it’s the little things like that in differentiating the world title match from every other match on the show that makes it special. Jarrett even did the Fargo strut early to establish him as the face. It was also the best job Jarrett has done in the ring, as he was able to work it as a serious NWA title match while carrying Killings, who isn’t of that caliber. None of Killings’ prior NWA title bouts, or for that matter, Ken Shamrock’s, had the crowd really taking it as anything other than one of a million indie titles. Crowd was on its feet with an intensity not seen in the promotion for the last several minutes, and lived and died with the near fall when Killings kicked out of the stroke.

Jerry Jarrett was strong on the Russo finish. Most internally believe the two are back working together, even though everyone in the company is being told by management Russo is on-air talent and nothing more. There is a reason to spread this if it’s not true, and that’s because many key people have heat with Russo and they’re probably figuring that when McMahon brought Bischoff in as talent but not creative (which in that case is what happened), that even though people hated Bischoff, there was no morale problem because they recognized used correctly, Bischoff could be an effective character (remember those words used correctly in a year when we review how that one flopped).”

Was there any talk of using Russo as just on-air instead of creative? Do you think that might’ve worked?

Dave would continue about Russo’s reappearance in the company:

“This led to internal fireworks which resulted in Sean Waltman quitting the promotion, and leaving the status of Scott Hall in question. Waltman quit on 11/26 over Russo being brought back. Although he was told that Russo had no hand in creative, he didn’t believe it and had lost trust with the company.”

Let’s stop right here - this seems to be something that has plagued TNA throughout the run of the company. Denying Vince Russo had a hand in creative to people, while he was involved. I mean there’s the infamous email Mike Johnson was sent “by accident” that supposedly ended the Spike-TNA situation…and here’s Waltman feeling like he was worked and quit. Did the talent have a right to be angry about being worked?

Were you surprised Waltman had issues with this?

Once again from the Observer: “In addition, they were hopeful that Joanie Laurer would be able to come in, because it’s felt she has the ability to garner mainstream publicity than none of the other wrestlers in the company can. Waltman blew up over the Russo angle, because he didn’t like the idea of a company that works its own wrestlers on angles, and more because of his hatred for Russo’s philosophy of wrestling. He didn’t believe that Russo was only talent, which is the prevailing viewpoint among many in the company despite the constant denials from management. Waltman had gone to bat for Jarrett with the Panda people in his battle with Russo, noting to them he wouldn’t be part of the company if Russo was given creative power. When he had asked if Russo was still with the company, he was never outright told “no,” but was told he would not be part of creative, and felt double-crossed when hearing about the angle on 11/20.”

Was that true about Waltman going to Panda?

“The original plan was to put Hennig & Hall, who were AWA tag champs in the 80s, back together and put them over for the belts. When Hall couldn’t appear on the show, Waltman was booked into the spot and there was serious talk of putting the belts on them, perhaps partially to pacify Waltman, who had expressed his unhappiness vocally many times.

Waltman refused the match, saying the match he owed them was with Jarrett, and wanted to put Jarrett over clean in an NWA title match on his last night in.”

How much of this is moving pieces around and trying to make things happy?

“A lot of wrestlers were upset that the Russo thing was done as a work on the boys as well, especially those who had formerly worked in WCW, because it reminded them of falling into that company’s patterns. While a lot of the locker room was negative, there was a huge party atmosphere after the show among the Russo clan after the show like they’d pulled off the angle of the year.

Russo’s return was inevitable, and he and Jarrett had made peace at least a week earlier because Jim Mitchell did the promo of old school wrestling vs. sports entertainment on that show which was designed to be the first hint of the new program. The stories that nobody knew about Russo coming in weren’t true, but it’s doubtful that any of the wrestlers, except Jarrett., and perhaps Killings, knew, but everyone in the office did and it was a debated topic over whether it was the right ending for that match. Russo really was Panda’s choice to run things except several people complained about Russo on behalf of Jarrett (who never complained himself, and some feel double-crossed those who stuck up for him by working with Russo).

Reports that Mike Tenay would quit over Russo being in a position of power aren’t the case, although the two have had problems in the past (in WCW, Russo wanted Tenay to do a match with Midajah and Tenay refused, and because his contract was as an announcer and not a wrestler, management couldn’t force him.  Russo never forgets, which at some point will mean he’ll attempt revenge). Most close to the situation and plugged into wrestling (and almost nobody is as plugged into wrestling as Tenay) knew Russo was with them from the start. It also could be that Jarrett was fully aware of the big situation if you look into the future.”

Two weeks ago we talked a lot about Russo in our Meeting Dixie Carter episode…but did it feel like this was a trap for yourself to continue with dealing with this type of stuff?

“He could either turn things around, which is an impossibility because weekly PPV without television back-up doesn’t work (the key flaw in this from day one), or fail, which was inevitable, and be replaced by Russo. Or he could make peace with Russo and the two could keep power. Until their next falling out, which if you remember Bischoff & Russo, is also inevitable.”

I mean…the whole time will tell thing and SEX trying to take over TNA - but this was inevitable right?

Did you Dad ever object to having Russo back?

Now that the match is over - Russo is back - you’ve won - what did winning the NWA Championship mean to you? Was it special? Important?

Were you concerned over the optics of giving yourself the title?

Answer this directly Jeff - was Vince Russo doing creative at this point in time?