On the latest edition of his My World podcast WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett spoke about nearly brining in the legendary Ultimate Warrior to TNA, a move that never fully came to fruition. Jarrett also touches on how difficult it was to sign talent as TNA did not have the bankroll to offer any guarantees at that time. Highlights are below.
Says he never really had a relationship with Ultimate Warrior:
To put it back in context, I had never done business with him, our paths really never crossed in WWF. Me and [Warrior’s] paths never really crossed other than I met him on Thanksgiving day in 1985 and I met him with Sting. Our paths had never crossed, he was more a business colleague, he was a friend of my dad’s. I reached out, had some conversations but my dad was doing all the business negotiations. He was asking me some questions, very high level.
How he pitched for Warrior to come to TNA:
He has tremendous name value and going into June of 2002, we were only looking at 26 shows. ‘Hey man, come give us a try,’ I gave that pitch to a lot of folks through the first year, whether it was [Mr. Perfect], Rick Steiner or Hacksaw or the Road Warriors. We’re not asking you to sign an exclusive deal, we’re not asking you to do anything. We’re starting up a company, do you want to come work a few shows?
How difficult it was for him to sign talent from WCW:
I can vividly remember thinking to myself talent of 2002 has quite a bit of a different mindset than when [my father] was actively involved in an ownership role, it wasn’t the same mentality. Dealing with talent post WCW and nothing else on the horizon, the underbelly is, am I jumping on this train or not? Who’s doing what, how’s it taking us? There wasn’t really any place to make a living, my dad dealing with the hot-cold switch of any talent, let alone Ultimate Warrior, I became very aware of that.
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.
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