Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle are no strangers to controversy.
The pro wrestling legends were infamously tied into an intense on-air rivalry in IMPACT Wrestling back in 2011 that centered around the real-life situation of Jarrett getting married to the ex-wife of Angle.
During a recent edition of his "My World" podcast, the TNA Wrestling founder reflected on Dixie Carter dealing with financial issues related to the promotion, which resulted in her using the situation between Jarrett and Angle -- as well as Karen Jarrett -- on television in an attempt to boost Spike TV ratings.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the show where Double J touches on this topic with his in-depth thoughts.
On he and Kurt Angle having no real life heat at the time frame despite Jarrett marrying Angle’s ex-wife Karen: “Vince Russo called me. To defend Russo here a little bit here, or a lot, he knew the reality. He knew as well as anybody that there was no animosity between me, Kurt and Karen. He knew we were raising Kurt and Karen’s kids in my house. Kurt had visited the house on Halloween one year. There was no real life drama. Russo said, ‘I have an idea’ (which was for Kurt and Jeff to feud on TV). I said, ‘Sure Vince, and what did Dixie (Carter) have to say about it? He said, ‘She’s on board.’ I said, ‘Okay, what about Hulk?’ He said, ‘He doesn’t care.’ I said, ‘So what’s the real story?’ He said, ‘Bro, ratings.’ I said, ‘Oh, so you’re circling back to this?’ He said, ‘Yes, we are.’ I said, ‘Well, I think the most important decision maker is Kurt. Where does Kurt stand?’ He said, ‘I’ve had the conversation and he’s up for it.’ I said, ‘Okay, well, you probably need to do your job.’ Karen is going to get paid and work out her own deal, her contract, and all that, so we had to work out the payments and all that kind of stuff.”
On Dixie Carter despising Karen but bringing her on TV despite that fact in an attempt to boost ratings on Spike TV and help the company's financial situation: “The thing that shined a light on it. It’s no secret, and I was oblivious to how deep it was, but Dixie despised Karen. For her to bring Karen on as a character on the show, I thought, ‘This is really interesting.’ I know that now (that Dixie despised Karen), but I didn’t know that then. When I got that phone call from Russo, I’m like, okay, you’re calling me, but at the end of the day, I’m a talent and what am I going to say, no? If my kids aren’t involved, then yeah, let’s go do a job, but you have a lot of other decision makers in this. We can make it work. I’ve seen in my entire career a lot of uncomfortable situations. People would come to me and tell me different things, and in my delusional optimism, I would be like, ‘Oh no. Dixie didn’t say that.’ What I know now, I had no idea back then, so I’m looking at it 10 years removed from this, but she didn’t like her from day one."
Check out the complete episode of Jeff Jarrett's "My World" podcast by visiting RealJeffJarrett.com. H/T to WrestlingNews.co for transcribing the above quotes.
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