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Jarrett Bringing Fan-Friendly TNA To Town

Posted: Sep 12th 2010 By: CMBurnham

TNA may not be WWE in terms of ratings, pay-per-view numbers or worldwide exposure.

What TNA does have, though, and in ample supply, is a fan-friendly product second to none, says TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett.

?We have truly taken the interactive fan experience to a new level,? says Jarrett, who launched the company with his dad, longtime Tennessee wrestling star and promoter Jerry Jarrett, in 2002.

Jarrett, along with his TNA troupe, will be invading the Lowcountry for an outdoors show Oct. 3 at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. The event marks TNA?s first live event in this area.

And no one is more excited than Jarrett.

A number of surprises are planned. TNA ring announcer Jeremy Borash will hide a backstage pass at the stadium and announce its location on Twitter before the show. The loudest fans also will be invited backstage for a special TNA experience.

Fans who purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA performers one hour before doors open.

The live-event experience is TNA?s ?calling card,? says the third-generation star. ?I can truly say that I?ve never been a part of or have witnessed a professional wrestling show that has become so fan interactive.?

?It?s truly an experience for the fans,? he adds. ?We have a meet and greet for the first few rows at ringside that is really an intimate autograph session. Then the doors open. Don West is working his magic at the merch stand, while different talent is out there meeting and greeting, signing autographs and taking pictures. And then at the end of the night, we give the fans an opportunity to actually get up in the ring and have their picture taken with a TNA star. It?s a really, really cool experience.?

That fan-friendly passion was reflected by TNA president Dixie Carter during an interview last week on the TNA website.

?I think it?s just me. It?s my personality. I love people and I?m a very appreciative person, and I know more than anybody else that TNA would not be where it is today without our fans. So it?s my opportunity to get in front of people and shake their hands or hug them and say thank you, thank you for your support and listen to what they like. They truly have a voice. I take what they say back and we have made a lot of exciting changes based upon that. It means a lot to me personally to do it and it always has.?

Jarrett admits that the company has experienced bumps in the road during TNA?s eight years of existence. But overall, he says, TNA is faring well in a highly competitive market.

?If I said we were batting a thousand and everything was perfect, that would be crazy. But I really am elated,? says the Hendersonville, Tenn., native. ?We?ve had some wonderful opportunities. We just got new programming via the Reaction show. It?s been received very well. We almost doubled the network average in ratings. Are we WWE ratings? Absolutely not. But Impact is good and our live events have really taken on a life of their own. Internationally our ratings are doing very well. So life is good in TNA.?

The 43-year-old Jarrett, who has been around the wrestling business his entire life, has another reason to be upbeat these days.

He exchanged wedding vows with the former Karen Angle, ex-wife of TNA star and former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, in a private ceremony Aug. 21 at Jarrett?s home.

?We had a nice, short ceremony here at the house. Just the immediate family and the kids. It was a very nice service, and it was a special day.?

Jarrett?s late wife, Jill, with whom he had three daughters, Joslyn, Jaclyn and Jerlyn, passed away in 2007 at the age of 37 from breast cancer. Karen?s divorce with Angle was finalized in October 2008. They have two children.

High-octane roster

While TNA may not have the marketing muscle or the production values of WWE, the company boasts its share of household wrestling names along with an impressive array of young talent.

Two of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business ? Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair ? are on TNA?s roster.

Despite criticism from some circles, Jarrett says Hogan has given TNA mainstream exposure and his brand name has brought nothing but more awareness for the organization. Along with former WCW boss Eric Bischoff, says Jarrett, the two have helped give the company a major boost in prestige.

?They?re two distinct personalities with lightning-rod opinions. Hulk?s name has not only opened, but literally kicked in, new doors for us.?

And then there?s the Nature Boy.

?That?s all you have to say. Two words. Ric Flair. He brings a brand name second only to Hulk Hogan. He?s a guy who?s not only been in the business, but been at the top of the business, just about his entire career. That?s a special kind of entity. When you bring him in, you bring instant recognition.?

While Jarrett admits there may never be another send-off like the one the 16-time world champion received at Wrestlemania 24 in 2008, he says what Flair is doing for TNA now is immeasurable.

?His ?retirement? match in WWE will go down in history ... it?s really hard to top that type of retirement setting. To bring everything he has with him and to stand in the ring with a Jay Lethal, or to come out and endorse his new group, Fortune, is pretty special. He brings a lot to the table. He certainly dove in head-first in TNA, and it has been very exciting.?

There?s been a lot of talk over the past few months about TNA negotiating with, and possibly bringing in, the likes of a Jim Ross or Paul Heyman to help bolster the bottom line. To Jarrett, though, the success of TNA hinges on a collaborative team effort.

?Everybody can put their handprint or thumbprint on the product, and get their thoughts and ideas ingrained in the product,? he says. ?But it?s a process. It?s something that I don?t think was a make-or-break proposition either way.?

Jarrett says TNA, like other forms of entertainment, is working its way through this down economic period.

We?re doing very, very well. Our live events are run with the bottom line intact. All facets of our business are doing well. Our e-commerce, which has really taken off in the past 12 to 18 months, is astronomical. TNA?s financials are doing very well.?

Jarrett, who works in public relations, marketing and live events in addition to being one of the company?s top in-ring performers, is particularly excited about the burgeoning live-event business in TNA.

?I?ve got a real passion for live events. Hard ticket sales is a tough business in this economy right now, and that?s just not in the wrestling business. I would love to see TNA live-event numbers go up in 2010-11 just as they did from 2009-2010. That?s one of my goals. Across the board they?re very successful.?

Pay-per-view, however, is another matter.

?Pay-per-view business is not what it once was, but in this age of technology and information and how our product is brought to the marketplace, via I-tunes, with just so many different avenues, it?s to be expected. It?s just not like it was 10 years ago,? says Jarrett.

A promotion?s creative team oftentimes can spell the difference between success and failure of the product. TNA?s creative staff has drawn its share of barbs despite boasting an athletic and talent-filled roster.

Jarrett says he?s pleased with the company?s overall creative effort, although he realizes that it?s a highly subjective matter.

?I?ve been around it my entire life. It?s subjective to say the least. Everybody loves to be an armchair quarterback, and I can do it as good or better than anybody. There are some really cool things going on right now. You?ve got guys like (Jeff) Hardy and Angle and Mr. Anderson. You have a dynamic mix around the world title. You?ve got EV2 and Fortune. There?s a lot of interesting situations that are really starting to culminate.?

Regarding the departure of Jim Cornette from TNA last year, Jarrett says it was a situation that was inevitable. Oil and water don?t mix, and neither do Cornette and Vince Russo.

Cornette and Russo, the current head of TNA?s creative team, have a long history of not seeing eye to eye that goes back to the 1990s when they were on the booking team in WWE. Their mere co-existence in TNA was viewed as a major accomplishment.

?Jimmy brought a unique perspective to the business,? says Jarrett. ?It?s no secret we go back years and years. I?ve seen some of his quotes that I got those two guys to work together, and I guess he was patting me on the back for that one. But there?s such a difference in philosophies with those two guys. Obviously it was a breakup situation.?

The end of the line for Cornette in TNA came when he sent an e-mail to TNA director of talent relations Terry Taylor. Cornette reportedly wrote that he had dreams about murdering Russo and that if he ?could figure out a way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life.?

Taylor, a longtime friend of Cornette, took the message to Russo, and a law firm representing TNA responded with a legal letter to Cornette that said his statements constituted ?terroristic threats.?

?I never did get in the middle of that mess,? says Jarrett. ?I didn?t really understand all that, but it was a mess.?

Jarrett says the company has no plans of leaving the comfortable confines of its TV taping base at Universal Studios in Orlando.

?It?s a very unique situation for us because of the costs. It?s a fixed arena. It?s been good for us from the day we decided to go down there five or six years ago. Instead of us going to the fans and touring, the fans come to us from literally all over the world. The cost-saving measures of having a fixed studio far outweigh any of the negatives. It?s a great place, and we?ve had a great partnership with those guys over the years.?

Proud of the product

Unlike WWE, says Jarrett, TNA doesn?t shy away from the words ?professional wrestling.? Jarrett himself was raised around the wrestling business. His father wrestled, as did his maternal grandfather, Eddie Marlin, while his paternal grandmother, Christine, was employed by a wrestling promotion.

Jarrett and dad Jerry founded TNA in 2002. Unfortunately, personal differences led to a split several years ago, and there?s been no breakthrough in the relationship.

?(It?s) very, very unfortunate. I wish I could say different. I guess it is what it is,? laments Jarrett.

Jarrett?s goal for now is to make Total Nonstop Action the best wrestling company it can possibly be.

?If wrestling fans have preconceived notions after having seen prior wrestling shows with whatever organization how big or how small they may be, I?m inviting any wrestling fan or non-wrestling fan to come out and enjoy the product. I feel with a certainty that they will walk away and say that is the best live professional wrestling experience they have ever witnessed or been a part of.?

Jarrett says he can make that claim because of endorsements from numerous longtime fans.

?There was a guy down in Houston who walked up to me at the end of the night while I was signing autographs. He said, ?Jeff, I?m a 25-year-plus wrestling fan, and I have been to shows literally all over the world. I?ve been to two Wrestlemanias, and tonight was the most fun and best live wrestling show I?ve ever been a part of.? And that really spoke volumes.?

Jarrett also adds one more promise to Lowcountry fans.

?They will not be disappointed.?

Tickets for the Oct. 3 TNA show are on sale at www.charlestonbattery.com, or charge by phone at 1-843-971-4625. Tickets also are available for purchase at the Blackbaud Stadium box office. For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com.

-- TNA president Dixie Carter revealed Thursday night on the company website that TNA recently turned down a ?talent TNA wanted two years ago.?

?There was a talent that we wanted very much a couple of years ago and pursued hard,? Carter said. ?I got a phone call a couple of days ago saying, ?You know, this person might be interested in coming to TNA.? And I go, ?I don?t think we need him, but thank you, though, for thinking of us.? And it was just so interesting to me to go from so ? I won?t use the word desperate ? but it was important that we had bigger stars to build around.?

Carter also said the ?big change? she has been teasing will be revealed on the live Oct. 7 edition of TNA Impact.

?It?s not a surprise. A lot of people say, ?Oh, she always says there?s a big surprise and then there?s not a surprise.? I?ve never said this is a surprise. I said it?s a change. So, on 10/7, that?s when we?ll start to unveil this change. There will be even more.?

She also used the occasion to clear up any misconceptions regarding Hulk Hogan?s position in the company. She said Hogan was an integral part of everything the company does, and regularly attends agent and production meetings while helping young talent up their games.

?He?s brought so much exposure to the brand. He?s just been a great person to work with. It?s been really good,? said Carter. ?I think people thought he was in here for a payday and just to get some time on television. It?s been the exact opposite. He has put so many hours in behind the scenes and traveling for the network and traveling for us, and helping us with licensing and doing media. He has been great and a big help for TNA.?

-- Former WWE star Jim ?The Anvil? Neidhart, father of current WWE performer Natalya (Natalie Neidhart), was arrested last weekend on multiple drug charges.

Neidhart, 55, was charged with felony possession, trafficking, burglary and grand theft after being accused of stealing prescription medication. He is currently in a Florida jail on $138,500 bail. He was found in possession of 55.6 grams of Oxycontin and 17.4 grams of methadone. The prescription pills were in three bottles with the name Mary Cutillo written on the bottles, the sheriff?s office said.

Cutillo, a friend of Neidhart?s, had reported her Hillsborough County home had been burglarized and that her medication had been stolen, according to the sheriff?s office. It is alleged that Neidhart went to Cutillo?s home, pried open a rear door and then stole the pills valued at over $300.

Neidhart, who held the WWE tag-team title twice with brother-in-law Bret Hart during the late ?80s, was apparently causing a disturbance at a gas station and was observed opening pill bottles found in his Pontiac Sunfire?s trunk. Authorities found him in an ?agitated and aggressive? state.

Neidhart?s daughter Jenni told The Calgary Herald that her father?s arrest was ?a serious cry for help.?

?This is something that?s very out of character for him,? she said. ?He?s always had issues with drugs, but it?s only affected him personally. And his family. His (three) daughters love him dearly and we don?t want him to be another statistic.?

Ross Hart, one of Bret Hart?s brothers, said Neidhart has completed two rehabilitation programs through WWE?s Wellness program. ?They?ve offered that to a lot of their wrestlers, yet a lot of them are still dropping like flies,? he said.

?It certainly sounds to me that Jim may well have an obvious drug issue that needs addressing in the form of a long-term stay in a rehabilitation center,? Jim Ross posted on his jrsbarbq.com blog. ?If my assumption is accurate, then 30 days likely won?t do the trick, but be that as it may one thing is for sure, and that is that recovery always starts with the individual truly wanting to want to stay clean and sober.?

-- Hulk Hogan spent several days in a Florida hospital last week after throwing out his back looking for seashells with fiancee Jennifer McDaniel. He later claimed that he was pushing up his wedding date and planned to get married soon.

?First thing that?s going to happen, when we get home, I?m going to have my beautiful fiancee Jennifer shave my legs, brother,? he told TMZ upon his release. ?I need my legs shaved, and now that I?ve had a close encounter with the other side, I?m gonna move this wedding up. I?m gonna get married to Jennifer right away.?

-- Cincinnati Bengals standout Chad Ochocinco has been tabbed to host an upcoming edition of Raw.