Jeff Jarrett Exclusive: TKO Only Listen To Wall Street, Vince Listened To The Fans

In an exclusive interview with Adventure Gamers, WWE Hall-of-Famer Jeff Jarrett slammed TKO for only “making Wall Street happy” instead of the fans like Vince McMahon did. He also opened up on what it’s like working alongside Tony Khan in AEW and how a rivalry between himself and Ric Flair was never able to fully work in the 90s…

Furthermore, avid gamer Jarrett revealed all about the current titles he’s playing in his spare time when not working in AEW. 

Here are the key headlines from the interview: 

• TKO only wants to make Wall Street happy, Vince NEVER did that!
• Tony Khan’s love for wrestling is reason behind AEW’s huge growth
• The diversity in All Elite is what makes our product so special! 
• A rivalry between myself and Ric Flair was never able to full take off
• I have ZERO regrets about my TNA decision making, it got me to where I am today
• And Kurt Angle was the guy that took TNA forward, he made it a success

Adventure Gamers:  I wanted to ask a few video game questions. You’re a fan of video games right?

Jeff Jarrett: I am. I can’t say I’m a hardcore gamer, there aren’t enough hours in the day. I think maybe I wish I could be. I have a little inside story here. My son Cody is headed to the gym right now, and the last thing he said walking out the door is ‘Dad, me and you NHL tonight.’ So yeah, we’ll play a little NHL ‘26 against each other later on. 

Adventure Gamers: Acclaim, the video company game that you are involved in has a great history in creating wrestling games. Have there been any discussions with Acclaim regarding if they will be the distributor of the next AEW game or any other wrestling games for that matter?

Jeff Jarrett: It’s funny that you say that. When I was brought on to the board of Acclaim, real quickly the discussion turned to how we were going to work with the indie developers and create platforms, and we’re going to do everything we can to support this community and be strategic about the game. So wrestling wasn’t mentioned, but as the weeks and months roll along, it always comes up now and I think you said it best right there. Not just Acclaim, but the video game industry and professional wrestling, they go back 35, 40 years. So it’s kind of in the DNA of gamers and professional wrestling fans and all that. So I think at some point it’ll come around. Right now it is not at the top of the priority list. Of course, I’m always rooting for it to be, but it isn’t at this point. But I can see it in the future.

Adventure Gamers: And what do you think about the current landscape of wrestling games? Do you think there should be more than just the WWE 2K series? Do you think they need to kind of have a rival? 

Jeff Jarrett: I have always said in any form of business that competition is healthy. And a lot of times what sparks a competitive nature is innovation. Thinking outside the box just a little bit. I think that’s coming around the bend. Matter of fact, there’s some things I probably can’t share today. But I think innovation in the gaming space as it relates to professional wrestling is needed. I think it has been needed for quite some time. A little innovation. Something done a little bit different because when you look at Will Ospreay if you will – I could go down the list of who’s who professional wrestlers, our continental classics going on right now. But when you look at today’s professional wrestling compared to just 10 years ago, the athleticism has ramped up. The diversity’s ramped up. It’s faster, it’s a little bit stronger. It moves differently. So I think wrestling in the gaming space, some innovation will be injected to it at some point, then I think we’re going to kinda see a blossoming of another round of gaming. 

Adventure Gamers: What’s it like working with a guy like Tony Khan and how good is he for the wrestling business?

Jeff Jarrett: It goes without saying that his passion is what drives him and really drives the brand. He absolutely loves professional wrestling. I have told this story a couple of different times, but I’ve been on a plane with him and I kid you not, he can bring up details and recall matches from Memphis, Tennessee, the territory that I’m originally from and my father and grandmother and all that. His recall’s phenomenal. It boils down to his passion and his passion for the industry and really sets him apart. It drives him and it drives the brand. It drives everything in the organization. When you look at the meteoric rise from the original launch, we’ll call it the precursor, the prequel. When that show took off, and the next thing you know, the dominoes started falling. It all is driven from, and Tony will say this, he started thinking about booking wrestling matches in his teen or preteen days. And so it’s been an accumulation through the years. So again, I can’t say enough about Tony’s passion within the industry and it drives the brand.

Adventure Gamers: Obviously you’ve been involved in a lot of different locker rooms over the years. What does AEW do so right as a company to make everyone feel appreciated?

Jeff Jarrett: I think the way Tony came into the business, his father and the family own the NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars. Obviously they own Premier League club Fulham as well so their mindset from the beginning was treating talent as if they were sports franchises. So that’s a positive and again I’m from the industry and as the business has evolved from the territory days and all that, the business was done a certain way and Tony came in and pivoted on that. And so there, there is a mindset from just all the things that would come along with Tony looking at the industry as a sports franchise. There’s a lot of upside to that.

Adventure Gamers: You see how AEW talent is developing first hand. Do you think there’s anybody that’s being underutilized right now or anybody you see who’s going to be a future world champion at the same time?

Jeff Jarrett: The diversity we have, not just males and females, but we have Australian talent, Japanese talent, Mexican talent, and then the best of the best from all these countries, all through the United Kingdom and Europe. When you look at that there’s only X amount of slots. So when you say the word underutilized, I think a lot of times it’s down to opportunity. There’s guys that just need their break. Well that happens in football. It happens in hockey. It happens in basketball. You know, the right thing happens, or maybe I’ll say the wrong thing. An injury may go down, somebody will step up. It just happens. But the folks that continue on the grind, put their nose to the grind stone, work their ass off, week in, week out, the cream always rises to the top. 

Adventure Gamers: Is there anybody you see right now as the next Jeff Jarrett who could eventually be seen as a young version of yourself?

Adventure Gamers: At the end of the day my calling card was being a villain and an antagonist. I think one of the reasons I respect Tony so much, candidly, is because of his passion. I’m one of five kids, I’ve got four siblings. So yes, it’s a family business, but I’m the only one of the siblings that got into the business, because I love it. I really absolutely love it. And so when I look at guys in the dressing room, and look, I could pick out three or four, but it’s probably better off to leave them because then that’s who it’ll be focused on. But I see a lot of talent within AEW that has a passion for the business and is working hard and they will know that if you hang around long enough, work hard enough, you’re going to get your opportunity.

Adventure Gamers: When you look back on the early years of TNA, are there any decisions that you regret now?

Jeff Jarrett: Well, I do a podcast that drops every Tuesday, My World, where we go into the details. In general, I don’t regret anything. Did I make all the right decisions from a creative standpoint? Absolutely not. Did I make all the right business decisions? Absolutely not. But as far as regret, I can honestly sit here and say that every decision I made, good or bad, brought me to where I’m at today. I’m very grateful for the opportunities. But you know, those early days of TNA, not just weekends, I’m in, day in, day out, grinding for survival and getting to the next show and hiring talent and developing talent. It was a massive amount of hard work, but super rewarding. And that just kind of comes with the territory. 

Adventure Gamers: A lot of people say that you overbooked yourself in the early days of TNA – what would you say to people that say that?

Jeff Jarrett: At the end of the day, I stand on my track record. That every year, we became more and more successful, from our pay-per-view only to Fox SportsNet. Despite one hour, two hours, we became more and more successful. I know that I do cover this in detail about the financial and the contractual situations. I also know that, to my knowledge, there’s never ever been a villain, a heel, an antagonist where the whole world says, ‘oh man, I was so happy that he won the title all those times’. That doesn’t exist. The whole nature of a heel being champion is, ‘oh, he held the belt!’ It’s nonsense. I’ll close with this, the day that we hired Kurt Angle, I was never in the world title picture again. I’ll just say one last thing, that is, nobody ever cheers and says, ‘oh, we’re, we’re tickled to death that this bad guy held the title’. But from a business perspective, it was the strategic move that I made. And when we signed Kurt Angle, it goes without saying, I was no longer in the title picture because Kurt was the guy to take the company and make things bigger and better and more successful. And that’s exactly what we did. And so look, the critics say that, and that’s exactly what the critics are supposed to do. Criticize. 

Adventure Gamers: Do you see any comparisons between early TNA and the hardcore style of AEW nowadays?

Jeff Jarrett: Look, at the end of the day, in the early days of TNA, we called it the alternative. Tony likes to call it the challenger brand. There’s all kinds of terminology for it, WWE Lite, same old, same old, whatever it may be. That type of product’s already in the market space. So if you try to do too much like that, you’re kind of going against a real simple business principle. So being a challenger, an alternative, is exactly what the marketplace continues to crave. That is something in any line of business, you need things that are unique or innovative or outside the box.

Adventure Gamers: I imagine you’ve seen Chris Jericho’s comments recently about TNA and how it’s now the second company behind WWE. What, what did you make of that? 

Jeff Jarrett: In the world of clickbait, that was good clickbait. But you know, the realistic side of things is, AEW has two hours on TV, two hours on TNT, monthly pay-per-view stadium shows. I think that absolutely speaks for itself.

Adventure Gamers: I wanted to ask about producing in AEW, do you feel you’ve had more control being a producer in AEW than you did back in WWE? 

Jeff Jarrett: You know, Kyle, you’re getting the wrong information. I’m not a producer in AEW. I have done business development, but not as far as producing. I host Zero Hour, I’ve done commentary, bits and pieces here and there, and some business development projects. Obviously, an ambassador. I do quite a bit of media, that type of stuff. And then in-ring product. 

Adventure Gamers: You’ve spoken before about your relationship with Vince McMahon – do you think that you would’ve wanted a stronger relationship or does it really not bother you anymore?

Jeff Jarrett: The McMahon-Jarrett family relationship… My father was peers with Vince’s father. So it goes back to the 70s. And then obviously in the early-90s, my father and Vince worked together. I went to work for him, worked off and on multiple contracts. Went back to work for him in 2018. And he hired me to be SVP of International at one time. SVP of Creative. And then my last stint was SVP of live events. So, a long running relationship between the Jarretts and the McMahons.

Adventure Gamers: And obviously you was a part of the Four Horsemen for, for a short while, right?

Jeff Jarrett: Oh, yeah, that story continues to get twisted some 25 years later. But that was a timeframe in my career that I had an absolute blast. It’s one of those situations that at the time, Ric was having some inner ear issues, he was having a shoulder issue, obviously the turmoil within WCW. There was a lot going on backstage in the business, the nature of it. But there was a lot of fun with Mongo, the Four Horsemen had a lot of fun during those times. Me and Ric got to wrestle on my 30th birthday in Orlando, a main event on Nitro, so we had a lot of fun. I just kinda wish that story would’ve had the opportunity to maybe play out a little further.

Adventure Gamers: Did Ric ever want to do more with it or was it more him that was kind of the creative mind behind the four horsemen?

Jeff Jarrett: Kevin Sullivan, God rest his soul. It was his original seed and he really had a vision for it. But like I said, does Ric ever not have a good time? But he had two different health issues that were going on simultaneously, he had a shoulder injury and he also had some inner ear issues. So, the nature of that entire storyline was, I was put into the four horsemen, but it was an instant rivalry kind of between me and him that never got the opportunity to come to a blow off. We both talked, we did Ric Flair’s last match and I was his final opponent and kind of put a bow on that storyline some 25 years later but no, we’ve always had a working relationship and always felt that I was a good heel to his baby face role in those matches.

Adventure Gamers: You said that you weren’t surprised that Brock Lesnar was brought back to WWE but are you excited to see him next year? So what do you think of his return and how it’s gone so far? 

Jeff Jarrett: The thing is creative is subjective, who knows where they’re really going with it. When you have an organisation, I’ve said this multiple times on the podcast, when me and Conrad get into the discussions, there has been a paradigm shift in the way they do things. Ari Emmual is at the very top of TKO and he answers to Wall Street, Vince McMahon, obviously the founder, but also he was the final decision maker in that organisation. Believe it or not, people contrary to some people’s beliefs he answered to the wrestling audience, Ari answers to Wall Street. There’s a black and white difference, Ari’s gotta make Wall Street happy and the only thing that makes them happy is dollars and cents. And so Brock has a unique set of skill sets, a legacy, there’s only one Brock, and so that’s why he’s fitting the bill, but what they’re going to do with them creatively, who knows?

Adventure Gamers: So who would be the strongest wrestler you ever got in the ring with? 

Jeff Jarrett: That always comes down to a tie for me, Scott Steiner or Mongo McMichael. I could elaborate on both but Mongo, his line of work, he was a football offensive, just defense. The interior lineman guy, they just throw each other around, incredible upper body strength. Scott, a really good buddy of mine through the years, I think people don’t realize how agile and quick, but how much inhumane strength he had, he’s a really strong dude. 

Adventure Gamers: What about the funniest Wrestler you’ve ever met?

Jeff Jarrett: Funniest, there’s a lot, but as far as the best practical joker, nobody comes close to Owen Hart. He was the best practical joker out there.

Adventure Gamers: The stiffest wrestler you’ve ever been in the ring with?

Jeff Jarrett: Oh boy, stiffest, I don’t know, I know one thing, when you got done wrestling Kurt Angle, you knew you were in a match.

Adventure Gamers: The best technical wrestler that you’ve ever been in the ring with?

Jeff Jarrett: Kurt ranks right up there, but best technically, Dean Malenko ranks right up there at the very top of them. Really, really smooth. I’d have to see a list of all my opponents to really think through, but Dean ranks right up there.

Adventure Gamers: What about the most painful finish you’ve ever taken?

Jeff Jarrett: Oh boy, painful finisher. Nathan Jones, six foot eleven, massive size, was in Glasgow, Scotland and he literally tossed me from one side of the ring completely to the other in the air with a toss so he threw me around like a ragdoll. I don’t know about painful, I’d have to think about that for a while.

Adventure Gamers: Who’s the most underrated wrestler in the industry right now?

Jeff Jarrett: Everybody nowadays with social media, you get some type of push and notoriety. But let me think, Kevin Knight is coming on the scene, he’s in the Continental Classic, he’s really, really good. Obviously Kyle Fletcher, but he’s getting his flowers right now.