Jeff Jarrett Explains Why He Booked Himself To Be The World Champion In TNA

Jeff Jarrett was often TNA's reigning world champion during the early years of Total Nonstop Action, holding the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title for over 1,000 days across six reigns between November 2002 and Bound For Glory 2006 in October of that year.

As the booker of TNA Wrestling and one of the major shareholders of the promotion, Jarrett booking himself as the top star of TNA was criticised at the time and has been criticised retrospectively, too, but Jarrett defended the booking while appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.

After being asked about winning the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title so many times during the multi-year period, Jarrett stated:

"That is something that internally, even Dixie [Carter] weighed in as we got going along in that I would always stop folks when it really got into a discussion. Dutch Mantel, Vince Russo, Jeremy Borash, Scott D'Amore, folks that were in the room, they were well aware. But when I had to really have that conversation when I knew that it probably needed to be said, I would look at somebody and say, 'Do you really think that Jeff Jarrett, who has the most money at risk, is going to make a decision based on ego rather than dollars and cents?' My money's at stake. I'm the single largest shareholder of the promotion. I have a fiduciary responsibility to my investors. It was such nonsense and the thought process that he is making himself champion for glory is laughable, especially me being a third-generation guy, and being around the business since a little kid, and it was always so laughable. But again, it was something I couldn't control, so it was what it was."

Jarrett has zero regrets about how he booked himself in TNA, however, and JJ giving himself the title so many times was because he knew he wouldn't be leaving TNA Wrestling while the promotion was operating on a shoestring budget. The WWE Hall of Famer also believed a heel champion with a babyface chasing the belt was more effective for TNA than booking a babyface to be NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.

"None. My track record, I'll say this: our track record speaks for itself. We went from a Wednesday night pay-per-view only, to Fox Sports Net, to one hour on a Saturday night off-prime on Spike TV, to a one hour on Thursday nights off-prime, to a one hour prime time, to a two hour of prime time under my leadership. So during that build, and this is what Conrad always gets fascinated by, like, the numbers and the budgets that we worked under. We worked under shoestring budgets. Whether it's a Conrad Thompson or a Jim Cornette or Dutch or others that work in the middle of it, they understood that the only person that I can guarantee will not walk out and go to the WWE is myself. Also, my philosophy in booking is the babyface chase. I think you have to look at the landscape, and WWE has always had, for the most part, that babyface champion, a touring champion that's a babyface. I didn't necessarily think that it fit our model. We had four distinct divisions, and I wanted a heel champion where the babyfaces were chasing, namely an AJ Styles, as we were developing talent," Jarrett added.

Jeff Jarrett and TNA Wrestling will be the subject of three episodes in season seven of VICE's Dark Side of the Ring that premieres on July 7.