My World : Jeff Jarrett's podcast

[Gertner]

Just listened to it. God Conrad can be so beyond terrible. This is one of those times.

[BigBadMick]

Listening now. Conrad portraying a moody prick gets irritating quickly. 
 

By the way, has ‘chat me up’ any meaning in the US? Here, to chat someone up is to flirt.  

[BigBadMick]

On 10/21/2021 at 7:55 AM, DylanZero said:

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. 

Finished the podcast - what exactly was Jarrett’s complaint in the middle of the show? Something along the lines of the questions he prepared to answer didn’t concern the late 80s and early 90s? Felt weird. 
 

Also, are these episodes live on the video feed? If not, they really should have taken a break to talk among themselves.. 

[SomethingSavage]

Anything that's left in like that is intentional. Come on, guys. Y'all are smarter than that.

As far as Jeff's criticism, it seemed like he wanted to highlight the idea that he and Austin worked well together in Memphis and Dallas beforehand.

 It seemed out of left field because 1) Jeff had already gone over their time working together, and 2) There isn't a whole lot more to flesh out there.

They worked some matches together. Okay. Got it. Move on. They didn't have some deep friendship or anything. They weren't travel buddies. They worked some matches. I think Jeff (and rightfully so) just wanted to illustrate that he had worked with Austin and could have again.

But, other than reading a bunch of results (which Conrad HAS done on his shows), there isn't anything else to be added. The appeal of the story is in the heat, the "blasphemous" promo, and the aftermath. That's it.

Jeff is smart enough to understand that at the end of the day, but I think his pride just got the best of him there. Seemed to me like Jeff just wanted it noted that he could work with Austin, but that's how I interpreted it.

[BigBadMick]

Anyone still listening? I noticed some episodes on Texas/USWA/SuperClash 3 that I might try out….

[cactus]

34 minutes ago, BigBadMick said:

Anyone still listening? I noticed some episodes on Texas/USWA/SuperClash 3 that I might try out….

I've been listening every week and it's Conrad's best podcast. Jeff seems knowledgeable,  likable and Conrad ball-busting Jeff actually comes across as humorous banter between two friends instead of feeling like a forced bit. Unlike Bischoff and Pritchard, Jarrett doesn't go off on bitter rants about Meltzer if Conrad reads something from the Observer that Jeff doesn't agree with. I remember that SuperClash 3 episode being quite informative.

[BigBadMick]

Thanks, I appreciate that - how are the TNA episodes, generally?

[cactus]

I remember the episodes based around a single TNA PPV being fun. The six-episode Creating TNA run did start to burn me out on the podcast for a short while. They get really granular about the backstage stuff and it's something I can only recommend if you are a die-hard TAN fan. 

[Gertner]

Im still really enjoying the podcast. Jeff is fun, although he HIGHLY over-rates how over the Double J character was in 95.

[El-P]

On 2/6/2022 at 12:31 PM, cactus said:

I've been listening every week and it's Conrad's best podcast. Jeff seems knowledgeable,  likable and Conrad ball-busting Jeff actually comes across as humorous banter between two friends instead of feeling like a forced bit. Unlike Bischoff and Pritchard, Jarrett doesn't go off on bitter rants about Meltzer if Conrad reads something from the Observer that Jeff doesn't agree with.

I haven't listened to a Conrad podcast regularly in years, and I don't even remember when was my last attempt at Brucie's. But this prompted me to try Jeffrey's, as really, let's be honest, I've pretty much been a Jarrett fan from day one and still maintained a soft spot for him even at his worst (the Russo WCW stint was rough though) and the guy has a fascinating career. I've listened to the WWF 95 stuff, and I'm glad I did. Pretty much what you said, and Jeff is indeed pretty charming. Gonna keep on diving into this, as of course the TNA stuff interests me a lot too. Really good stuff.

[BruiserBrody]

IIRC they sort of blew the SuperClash/USWA forming pods by not releasing the SC 3 PPV episode a few weeks after covering how Memphis and Dallas merged under Daddy Jarrett and that helped lead to SC3.  

Connie also shit all over the PPV, which was at worst a fun event (based on me rewatching it on Mystery Titans Theater a few weeks ago.) 

[El-P]

The TNA creation episodes are fascinating, because it really goes in detail into the hows and the whys how creating a pro-wrestling promotion (which still exists today !) from scratch in the monopoly era. Also, there's this little gem, when they talk about the guys from the indies he was gonna book on EP2 :

"It annoyed me even back in 2002, "Oh, they're just flippity guys". No, they really aren't." 

Nice. Really enjoying this show.

[SomethingSavage]

Next week's scheduled episode is covering the Moondogs feud from Mempho. Should be good.

[BigBadMick]

I liked the three late 80s episodes. It’s the only Conrad show still in my rotation. 

[SomethingSavage]

Agreed.

And it's not exactly a fascinating subject or anything, but I was happy to hear some of the specifics surrounding Jeff's hot and cold push of mid-nineties WWF. I was always a little unsure on the details of him leaving and returning there.

It's amazing how long he was trying to make that entourage a thing. I don't think it's the worst idea or anything (I still say Bob Holly's Pit Crew should've been a thing), but that seed for Planet Jarrett was something he planted and nurtured for a long time in various people and numerous places before it ever actually clicked.

And say what you want about Jeff (and I have, at times), but I actually think he went on to excel with the Dog & Pony, Smoke & Mirrors style. Once he was able to surround himself in that main event match formula, along with the complete trappings of Planet Jarrett, I think he was much more tolerable as a heel. I put him right up there with Raven and Hunter in terms of knowing where those puzzle pieces fit - at least as far as overbooked matches go.

None of that touches his fiery, fouthern fried babyface stuff for me. But it's still miles ahead of the typical Double J stuff.

[Gertner]

Jeff just sounds like the biggest pain in the ass during his WWE runs lol

[SomethingSavage]

Jeff certainly seems to have overestimated his own value and his over-ness at times, but there's a number of factors for exactly why he would lose that sense of self-awareness.

On the other hand, I'm absolutely enjoying the shit out of the USWA and World Class series. There's a little bit of a slant to some of it, for sure. But it's still really engaging and very cool to revisit that transitional time period. I honestly think this has been Conrad's best hosting work in YEARS. Hands down.

The Moondogs episode took a couple of detours that I didn't quite dig (too many rants about blading and whatnot), but ultimately I still found it to be entertaining overall. It was disappointing to a small degree, but in the big scheme of things I'm glad they tackled the topic.

This week's episode is about Jeff's return to USWA in the mid nineties with his entourage stable finally coming to life fully, and the Smoky Mountain invasion on the horizon. I'm looking forward to the listen.

[El-P]

Funny how Jarrett comes off as the most forward thinking and progressive guest of Conrad's podcast. Which, in a way, should not be surprising, considering his company choose to showcase the X-division and serious women wrestling way before stuff like this became the norm. But still, it's kinda delightful to hear him talk about how he *wanted* the X-division guys to go full speed and get over doing crazy spotfests, because it was the alternative. In one of the latest ones : "No one in the 50's thought this was real". What really separates Jarrett from the other interview, is that he's both a worker and a promoteur, so he always takes both sides in consideration, and the TNA episodes really are totally fascinating to me. 

[SomethingSavage]

It's amazing how much Jarrett has managed to babyface himself through this podcast. Say what you want about Conrad, but the guy has been career CPR for so many of his co-hosts in recent years.

Still digging Jeff's show the most though. He's really rewriting and reshaping his image, which is a pretty neat thing to see in itself, but we're also getting wonderful shows along the way with the USWA and Memphis coverage. It's not peak PWO for me, but it's mainstream and isn't that far off the mark. I ain't mad at it.

But whoever taught Jeff the word "episodic" should be forced to crab-walk on their hands and knees through broken glass and a dozen dirty dumpster fires, because whew. He looks for ways to say "episodic" in damn near every response, even to the point where I'm not sure he ever even knows what it truly means.

"Episodically. Episodic storytelling. Episodic nature. Episodic booking. Episodic episodes. In so many ways, the episodic shows..." blah blah blah.

Play a drinking game with the word and you're guaranteed to get sloshed before they reach their first ad read.

Fun shows for the most part though.

[Gertner]

His podcast is my favourite under the Conrad banner.

[SomethingSavage]

Jarrett's new Q&A episode is solid stuff when it's just Jeff answering, but buyers beware. It's Paul Bromwell with the hosting duties, and oof.

Nothing sums up Paul Bromwell better than him referring to the concession stand brawls as the Wayne Ferris "cafeteria brawls" and causing Jeff to scoff and correct him.

It truly takes an actively bad personality to bother me as a host, because it's mostly just a matter of guiding the conversation along. But this goof just comes across as such a try-hard. Listen to anytime he tries to involve himself with an inside joke or something & you'll know exactly what I mean.

Jarrett continues to do well here though. I thought the AJ episode was great, and I'm looking forward to the Monty Brown coverage in similar fashion.

[Gertner]

Paul is SO friggen bad. This week's episode was the first I skipped. I saw Paul was hosting and immediately hit the delete button. 

[strobogo]

I tried this out because I've been doing house remodeling and ran out of podcasts and just kind of got tired of my normal rotation of shows. I don't listen to wrestling podcasts, never liked Conrad, always thought Double J was trash outside of MMA Double J and that stretch of aging Southern babyface guy towards the end (?) of his TNA run. Can not believe I'm enjoying a Double J podcast. 

[Gertner]

Blaaaaah, more Paul this week.

[SomethingSavage]

Paul Bromwell trying to bust Jeff's balls about being a faux Horseman is just the dirt worst. Paul is that guy at your job who is vaguely aware of all your good inside jokes and tries desperately to make himself a part of them, which in turn instantly kills those inside jokes.

Not sure if anyone noticed, but Bromwell also gave a (weak, limp-wristed) backhand shot about Kurt Angle needing to read his responses from a strict script over on the other show. He doesn't reference Kurt by name, but it's obvious enough to connect the dots.