TOP FIVE LIST: The Legacy of “Double J” Jeff Jarrett and how his podcast made me realize he wasn’t just an annoying guy who dressed poorly and overpushed himself

Legacy of JJ

On the opening episodes of season eight of “Dark Side of the Ring,” the story of Jeff Jarrett was told. Since the start of his podcast, “My World,” I’ve learned about the man and the philosophy behind my least favorite wrestler, who has become one of my favorite wrestling minds.

Jeff was always good in the ring. Precision timing and his ability to work with a wrestler of any style were at the top of the list of what I admired about him. When it came to his character, I didn’t have much love for him. On top for too long, annoying character, and absolutely the worst dresser ever. He was a good, but not great promo. Much like Triple H’s reputation, Jarrett had a way of taking too much screen time to get their points across.

After understanding his motivations for being on top, and learning that a heel shouldn’t be the best dressed or most exciting to watch, I got it a little more. I still see many of Jarrett’s ideas as outdated when creating names, personas, and angles.

His legacy, though, is going to be impressed into professional wrestling as long as the art form is alive. As one who’s listened to every podcast, watched the show, and saw much of his career once becoming a national wrestler, Jeff’s top five things he leaves the wrestling industry.

Keeping ‘Rasslin Alive

Memphis wasn’t a traditional wrestling territory. It wasn’t Lou Thez, Dory Funk, or Nick Bockwinkle that Memphis fans turned out for. It was Jerry Lawler in fights with The Moondogs or Bill Dundee. It was a punch, kick, and brawl through the crowd and even in the concession stand. Jarrett knew how this style worked, and the twists and turns of weekly episodic storytelling, and brought it with him to his main event style in WCW, imbedded it into TNA, and will even break down it’s impact being used in AEW today.

An Eye for Talent

Robert Roode, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, Gail Kim, and AJ flipping Styles. So many other names passed through and had varying degrees of success in wrestling, but many of these names are still making impacts and inspired many of the generation that filled their roles when their time as wrestlers had come to an end.

While how much of this talent may have been used was debatable, but when it came to discovering who could lead the industry and change how people saw a professional wrestling match, Jarrett has a track record that most people should pay attention to.

Another Place to Work

The little engine that is Total Nonstop Action Wrestling has somehow outlived every (valid) prediction of its demise. While it hasn’t always been appointment television, it has served potentially the most important role it was designed to do. Let main event talent who didn’t have another place to work have another option and showcase young talent that WWE had not signed.

We’ve seen wrestlers such as Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Rob Van Dam, and The Hardys all have careers that were revived. All of the names who were mentioned in the section above were not going to find the same audience through ROH and their means of distribution. Then there are the many names who had great careers wrestling for TNA who didn’t fit in WWE. People like Sami Callahan or Moose are great talent with a fanbase, where the talent has stayed with TNA as a valid choice for employment.

Womens Wrestling

When you are the biggest company, you get to write history in the way that favors you. WWE has done that many times over, and one of those times they’ve done that is with the Women’s Revolution. While still too tawdry, women wrestlers started to be treated differently starting with TNA’s Knockout Division.

The legendary matches between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong was a major milestone. The characters who developed had variety in character, wrestling style, and body type, and they were given more length to matches to tell their stories. It was only after seeing the real rating success from this that NXT developed their own women’s roster who would later revolutionize women’s wrestling in WWE.

X Division

The style of wrestling that was imported to the USA by Eric Bischoff was the original catalyst. High-flying cruiserweights bringing in a fast-paced Mexican style full of flips, twists, and dives. In TNA, the thought became, “What if performers were larger than cruiserweights?”

It wasn’t necessarily explained that well. “The X Division isn’t about weight limits, it’s about no limits.” That explanation didn’t explain who was or wasn’t in the X Division. Like many things TNA, you had to let go of the lazy and dumb, and enjoy the only alternative to WWE on national television for many years. It was more than small guys. Samoa Joe had a long and memorable reign with exciting hard hitting, fast paced, innovative matches that resembled a wrestling video game.

Fast-forward to today, and you can see the influence of the style on the main two companies. Almost the entire roster in AEW and many in WWE’s main roster, such as Je’von Evans, you can see the specific influence of X Division wrestlers. Jeff Jarrett knew this was important to have a part of his company, and his decision has influenced an entire industry.

(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)