Jeff Jarrett
I was a fan first; then I became a wrestler, then a promoter, then a businessman and everything that goes with it - marketing, merchandise, licensing, legal, everything. But I've always enjoyed it.Collection: Legal
No matter what the circumstances are in our business - travel, politics, injury - you got to be in the game. And to be in the game, you got to work hard, and you have to know your craft.Collection: Travel
I've seen promotions rush things to market and not be strategic about it. The first impression is the lasting impression.
Whether I'm in the Hall of Fame or not, I can say whatever I like; it just depends on how it's interpreted!
The great thing about wrestling is that it's very subjective. They'll let you know what they like and don't like.
You can connect with an audience by being a conduit. I'm a big believer of connecting wrestling audiences.
When I closed the chapter, I'll say, in the book with TNA in 2013, literally within, it was under 30 days - it was 20, 25 days - I was already into a production agreement with a production company based out of Los Angeles.
My grandmother was a promoter. My father was a promoter.
I've never been a rearview mirror guy. I'm always looking forward, always looking downfield.
In business, what do we do? We compete.
The McMahons are generational promoters, Vince's grandfather was a promoter way back in the day, and obviously, his father was a very, very famous promoter.
My family has been in the wrestling business for over 70 years. I'm a third-generation wrestling promoter, and years ago, when I fist started, there was a wrestling audience in the United States in 22 regions.
In my early formative years, back in the territory days, if a guy didn't get along for whatever reason or didn't get over or things didn't work out, or he just wanted to relocate, he had other territories to go to to make, if not the same amount of money, substantially more or less.
When WWF and WCW came along, they weren't the only game in town, but to make a good living, you had to work for one of the two organizations. Without a true Number Two, there is no such thing as a Number One. You're just it; you're just there.
There was a time, 2006-2010, where there was a roster full of guys that were making a full-time living and many guys in the six figures, and that's a good loving.
To look back and reflect on the career and sort of look at the seasons of it before I got to the WWF, working the territories and Japan and Texas, Puerto Rico, and then the WWF and WCW, then obviously the TNA years - it's been quite a journey, I'll say that.
Basketball was my first love. I still love the game of basketball.
I'm a pack rat. There's only a couple pairs of tights I've worn throughout my career that I don't have. I save everything.
Whether it's a song you write or a television show or a movie or professional wrestling, there are three components to IP law. There is publishing, there are writers, and there are performers. The publisher is always the owner.
Wrestling continues to evolve and change, and we plan to stay ahead of the curve, beginning with 'Slammiversary.'
I was shocked and surprised and very humbled that the Hall Of Fame came about. Going into it and coming out of it, all the support has been amazing; it really has.
I've been approached for views about doing a book, but I never wrapped my head around it in terms of, where does it end? I suppose, after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, that gave me a second thought.
When you look back on my career, my in-ring work has been watched across the world.
Antonio Pena, the founder of AAA, and I worked together in 2002/2003. I have worked with the Pena family for years. I am the longest-reigning non-Mexican Mega Champion.
Being back with Impact wrestling, I couldn't be happier for those guys, but from a professional and business side, it energises me so much to find the next AJ Styles, the next Bobby Roode, the next Samoa Joe.
When you look down in history, whether it was The Rock or Stone Cold, they are the perfect example that you can be given the ball, but you then have to run with it.
John Cena is John Cena - it's really not a character he is playing.
He is Razor Ramon. His athletic ability and mind for business... he knew how to connect. He connected with millions around the world.
Without Roddy Piper, you can't have an equal good. He was a great villain and so believable. He wasn't playing a part ever.
WWE is the 8,000 pound gorilla in the room, and the market share they have is north of 90 percent.
People that don't know Owen Hart or just know his passing... what a great guy above anything - a family man, father, husband - but he had more integrity in his pinky than most people had in their entire body.
Pretty much my entire life has been played out in front of wrestling fans, even the stuff - I guess you could say the legend and lore - which has grown.
Now in the digital age, in the age of social media, all of the wrestling audiences are so much more connected. I cannot stress that enough, how much more connected wresting audiences are around the world.
I go to Mexico quite often, and wrestling the Lucha Libre style, the pageantry - those experiences, you truly have to live. Television or social media doesn't do it justice.
At TNA, I like to promote the time that the doors open. And they open up an hour before showtime, and you have autographs and pictures from the time you come in the door.
During intermission, we reward the loudest, rowdiest fans with backstage passes, so we have a meet-and-greet, and then, at the end of the night, we give all the fans an opportunity to actually get up in the ring and have their picture taken with a TNA star. So we're very, very fan interactive.
Every year, I sort of look at where I've been and where I'm headed. I'm coming up on my 25th year. Rejuvenated, I guess, is one way to look at it. I'm absolutely having a blast with what I'm doing.
Our product, our brand of wrestling fits a videogame better than any other form of wrestling. From our X-Division to our signature matches, just the whole gaming nation, a whole generation of people out there are going to experience TNA for the first time, so we're really looking to do some creative, innovative things with our game.
My favorite TNA match would have to be the first Ultimate X.
I worked seven years in territories in Japan and Puerto Rico and worked my way up to the main events on those cards, then went to the WWF and spent a little while there before I got into the Intercontinental run and a main event runs with Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash.
If I had to give my advice to someone else starting the business, my standard answer is so, so true, and that's to learn the fundamental basics of this business. If you don't have a fundamental base to build upon, your house will fall, and you will never truly achieve the status you desire.
My time in TNA, I was working extensively in the international side of things - India properties, the U.K. properties, Africa, all of that. So, I know the international business side quite well.
It's amazing the footprint WWE has around the globe. When you look at the scope of the amount of live events they run, it's mind-boggling.
The digital component is enormous in not only wrestling but all of entertainment. Every day, you read a new blog or article on Netflix, Hulu, this program and that program. It's where everything is heading.
My grandmother got into this business in the 1940s, so it's all I've ever known. So I've seen a lot of wrestling.
My grandmother started as a ticket-taker and basically became the CFO of my dad's company. It was a very important first impression for me - I've always looked on the business with more eyes than just as a wrestler.
My oldest grew up on Disney, but my youngest is all about Snapchat and YouTube.
When I was growing up, I could tell you everything about the three radio stations in Nashville. My 12- and 14-year-olds can't tell me one radio station here but can tell me three on Sirius.
In the wrestling industry and the entertainment industry, weekends you never have off.
One thing Vince McMahon does, and he does a lot of things great, but he knows how to create great television, very compelling television.