My World : Jeff Jarrett's podcast

[Gertner]

Listened to the first episode. It's was pretty decent. Jeff is either ridiculously honest or ridiculously full of it. Haven't decided yet. I'll definitely be giving it a chance in my rotation.

[cm funk]

I've been catching up on pods and just listened to the first one earlier today.

I loved it.  I think it's generally honest with a healthy load of what you'd expect from someone like Jeff.  That said, I found it fascinating, and Conrad was really good because this era is totally his wheelhouse.

Jeff is an AMAZING get for Conrad considering all the ground he can cover from growing up in the business, to working his way up, to everything in the 90's, to TNA and beyond.  There's so much fucking shit he can talk about, and as a worker who worked with everybody, who was also a promoter, who also grew up in the business I feel he's got a really fucking unique perspective that guys like JR and Bruce simply can't have

And, I've always had a special place in my heart for Ol' JJ due to his first WWF run coinciding with the time period that made me a lifelong fan oddly enough, even though I'm old enough to remember rock n wrestling and the mid 90's pre-Nitro are considered by many to be the worst time in the modern business.  That's always so fucking funny to me because I oddly enough got really hooked in like 92-95

Anyway, I don't want to spoil anything from the first ep, but definitely check it out if you're into this era.  It's long, but it's worth it

[Gertner]

Second episode was great as well, although Conrad line of "Vince liked it when you held him up for money" at the end of the podcast was ridiculous 

[sek69]

5 hours ago, Gertner said:

Second episode was great as well, although Conrad line of "Vince liked it when you held him up for money" at the end of the podcast was ridiculous 

In a weird way I could see that being true, as Vince does have a history of respecting people who stand up for themselves and/or tell him to F off. Like I'm sure he was pissed he had to pay the guy, but I'd 100% believe he'd also go "Goddamn! I like the balls on that guy!" afterwards. 

[SomethingSavage]

This is purely speculation, but I always got the sense Vince held JR accountable for that whole ordeal.

Even reading it in Under The Black Hat, everything came across that way. Yes. Vince was pissed that Jeff took his shot, but it seemed like he held JR responsible for dropping the ball in the first place.

Vince *does* always seem to appreciate guys with a backbone more though. I think that's a common quality in most elite executives or just people in positions of authority in general. You teach people how they're going to treat you. If everything is Yes, sir and No, sir - then you're easy and that's mostly no fun. But when you're challenging and demanding (about the right things, raising the right concerns) then it's more rewarding to engage those types of people. It also breeds competition and critical thinking within the workplace.

So while I don't believe Vince loved losing that money, I do find it easy to understand how he'd appreciate the slick maneuvering that got Jeff to the pay window.

[Gertner]

6 hours ago, sek69 said:

In a weird way I could see that being true, as Vince does have a history of respecting people who stand up for themselves and/or tell him to F off. Like I'm sure he was pissed he had to pay the guy, but I'd 100% believe he'd also go "Goddamn! I like the balls on that guy!" afterwards. 

He didn't seem too cool with Warrior doing it. I just think Vince went by the old promoter saying "just get the match in the ring"

[Johnny Sorrow]

I agree 100 percent with SS up there.
I really like the podcast. They didn't do a test show, and just went for it, so the first ep felt like a shoot interview done by someone who isn't a child predator. I didn't know that JJ has never done one. I honestly just assumed he had at some point. After listening to the second one, it's a show that's evolving and so far I figure it's about 80 percent the truth, 15 percent " how ya look at it", and 5 percent bullshit. 

[Gertner]

4 hours ago, SomethingSavage said:

This is purely speculation, but I always got the sense Vince held JR accountable for that whole ordeal.

Even reading it in Under The Black Hat, everything came across that way. Yes. Vince was pissed that Jeff took his shot, but it seemed like he held JR responsible for dropping the ball in the first place.

Vince *does* always seem to appreciate guys with a backbone more though. I think that's a common quality in most elite executives or just people in positions of authority in general. You teach people how they're going to treat you. If everything is Yes, sir and No, sir - then you're easy and that's mostly no fun. But when you're challenging and demanding (about the right things, raising the right concerns) then it's more rewarding to engage those types of people. It also breeds competition and critical thinking within the workplace.

So while I don't believe Vince loved losing that money, I do find it easy to understand how he'd appreciate the slick maneuvering that got Jeff to the pay window.

Yeah I got the same feeling that Vince blamed JR.

[Gertner]

1 minute ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

I agree 100 percent with SS up there.
I really like the podcast. They didn't do a test show, and just went for it, so the first ep felt like a shoot interview done by someone who isn't a child predator. I didn't know that JJ has never done one. I honestly just assumed he had at some point. After listening to the second one, it's a show that's evolving and so far I figure it's about 80 percent the truth, 15 percent " how ya look at it", and 5 percent bullshit. 

Lol are we ever getting 1983-84 finished by the Titans of Wrestling. I still listen to old shows and it's what got me into that Era.

[Ricky Jackson]

Glad you enjoyed Titans and got into the era. Never say never but...Well, I guess a better cliche would be "you can't go home again" 

[Gertner]

The Owen Hart episode was outstanding. Especially the end. This podcast has shot up my ranks. 

[SomethingSavage]

I could've done without some of the cheesy religious stuff, but I get that it's Jeff's personality. Jeff mentioning how Owen died on the same date his wife passed, then Conrad going all whisper somber with the, "It's all connected, man." got a cringe from me.

Also couldn't help but get a kick out of how many times we heard him pronounce SHON Michaels' name. "That was Shon? What was Shon doin there? Why Shon?"

[Gertner]

Yeah as a non-religious man I felt the same but I get it. 

[SomethingSavage]

Don't get me wrong. I don't begrudge anyone for their religious beliefs. Faith is a powerful concept, and it can do incredible things for people. But Conrad playing into it with his Michael Cole somber voice was what put it over the top for me.

It's all connected? What does that even mean? What are you referring to? A higher power decided it would be nifty to take this man's wife on the same date several years later after he lost his close friend? It's just... A bizarre comment, plopped out there in such a phony, melodramatic tone I guess.

[Gertner]

This weeks episode about WWA was pretty good, although his claim that Borash and Lawler doing commentary over house mics went well was absurd lol

[SomethingSavage]

My God, this show fell off a cliff for me in record time. The Creating TNA series has *some* appeal and a few nuggets in there, but it's mostly skippable stuff.

I really wish they would've wrapped this one up in one long show & then got right to TNA operating as a promotion. Instead, we were treated to all this talk about banks and loans and finances and other endless shit. It feels almost entirely self-indulgent on Conrad's part.

Jeff: Do people find this boring? You sure do like to get granular with this stuff.

Conrad: This is what the people wanna hear!

... Not even close.

I found some talk about the early saying of the roster to be interesting, but there's little else of value since the WWA episode. I don't need to hear the whole lineup of who Jeff and Jerry considered as early investors or whatever. It's just something I could see Bischoff covering in a single episode and thinking it was just alright.

But when it's stretched out this way, it just becomes borderline intolerable - even as background noise.

I'll be glad when they get back to discussing other time periods from Jeff's career. I love me some TNA discussion, but this has burnt me out completely on that early TNA stuff.

[Gertner]

Listening to Jeff defend the first TNA show was incredible lol

[DylanZero]

How goofy was Conrad this week? Jeff just explained why JH lied so much about the PPV numbers early on because it kept himself getting his 20k paycheck and then Conrad suddenly has this hard shift into "So like...do ya think he had drug issues to make him do this?" HUH? Like, that totally came out of nowhere in context of the story.

 

I agree with the above and it's humorous that literally every episode of this Jeff is all like "Is this show boring? Does anyone really care?" It's fitting this is a WCW/TNA show as we have the guy on air saying his own show sucks.

[Gertner]

Conrad reading posts from  the Wrestling Observer message board was cringeworthy. You could tell Jeff was uncomfortable. 

[DylanZero]

I have to say, I enjoy JJ a lot on these shows and he comes across pretty strongly almost all the time in these latest episodes. I wish Conrad would let this fiction writer stuff go though. You can guarantee Jeff hadn't thought 2 seconds about that comment after he said it, and it's been like 10 weeks of Conrad bringing on about it every week. I get that a lot of his shows are built around burying Dave and all that but Jeff just comes across like that's by far his least favorite part of the show. On top of it Jeff has been pretty much completely open to talking about money and how profitable things were and weren't and every time it comes up Conrad acts like Jeff has kept everything completely hidden and is all annoyed for some reason "So wait, you're talking about '94 right? Do we have that number somewhere?" "you don't have to give me a number, dammit, just make a ballpark estimate!"

 

I wasn't a big fan of this week's questions episodes but did enjoy his recap of his debut vignettes from the Ain't I Great episode. Love the idea of him shooting a 2 minute video at the Grand Ole Opry and having to run away immediately because they didn't actually rent the building. 

[SomethingSavage]

I got really burned out on wrestling podcasts (and wrestling) sometime last summer. I've dabbled back in here & there, with Cornette still being my favorite to listen to & Jeff still being the best of the bunch from Conrad's crew.

I'm catching up on these shows and really finding them to be an effortless, enjoyable listen. Jarrett always comes across as joyful and appreciative of his experiences in the business, almost to a fault. There are times when I want him to dig a little deeper or divulge a little extra info, but it doesn't ever detract from the flow of the show or anything.

I agree. Jeff seems like an open book with a clear memory of most things. That should be a refreshing change for Conrad, who mostly works with guys who can't recall shit or simply won't talk numbers (which apparently is the single topic that rubs Conrad the right way on these discussions, for whatever reason).

In any event, I'm digging Jeff's shows. Even the WCW stuff is worth listening to, even if I never want to revisit any of those cards.

I haven't seen anything over on Eric's feed since the Nash and Hall interviews that strike me as worthwhile, but I've got plenty of catching up to do on Kurt's podcast, which was another fairly easy listen for me before.

[SomethingSavage]

The episode about Jeff's WWF debut was definitely a standout. I dug how Conrad peppered in some of the debut promos and vignettes.

I tend to avoid the watch-alongs, because I hate how Conrad will abruptly cut off a story or a talking point to play some sound byte or an audio clip. He does that a couple of times here, but at least the clips were worthwhile and not just the same stuff you typically hear all the time.

I watched a lot of the early New Generation stuff in real time, but I didn't realize how hard they were actually pushing Jarrett as it was happening. Looking back and hearing the results, they gave him a pretty solid start with meaningful matches and wins over established names.

I could see how Vince would view everyone on his roster around that time as an actual investment. They just don't seem to take the same time or care in creating characters anymore. Even when they do, the booking isn't there to solidify a guy. It's just win, lose, get your win back, but only so you can lose in the return, win the blowoff, except it's not a blowoff because we need more content so here's another match.

Even the mid-card guys, who were clearly designed to hover around the IC Title level, seemed to be provided more careful attention and better booking than the "top guys" receive today.

There's never a sense of momentum or guys being brought in with any sense of steam or direction. It's just warm bodies piling onto the train and hoping it stays on the track until it reaches the next stop.

[DylanZero]

So this week's show got heated, with Jeff pissed about a lack of research. On one hand it was a little small to go off during the show about something like that. On the other hand Conrad's defense was super lame, claiming that the show was just about the Austin 3:16 promo when he was the one who literally started off back in 1987 talking about JJ taunting Steve for being upset about Jerry's low payouts.

 

In general, I find Conrad awful as a co-host, particularly with Jeff who actually has credibility to talk on his own rather than Bischoff's Meltzer focused podcast and if I were in JJ's shoes I'd probably feel the same and it was eventual something would blow up, I just didn't think it would actually be on the show itself.

 

Somewhere, Austin was probably laughing his off to see Jeff get rattled a bit like that though. 

[MoS]

What was the agenda for the show? Austin and Jeff's heat?

[Gertner]

Conrad trying to start fake arguments with Jeff is so beyond lame.