Jeff Jarrett has pushed back against the long-held belief that he founded TNA Wrestling because he had no other career options after leaving WWE.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jarrett explained that while his on-screen firing from WWE became part of wrestling history, the reality behind the scenes was much different.
“Vince did, quote unquote, fire me on TV, but I was still gonna have a contract for the next seven or eight, nine months. The reality was I was paid through the end of October.”
Jarrett said that once his contract expired, he evaluated the wrestling landscape and recognized that WWE had become the industry’s only major player.
“I never made a call to say, hey, man, JR, Vince, you got a job for me. You just kind of look back and know your place in the industry and go, you have no leverage, none. It certainly wasn’t a wrestlers’ market. Without a number two, there is no number one. It was Vince owning the entire game.”
Rather than seeing the situation as hopeless, Jarrett viewed it as a chance to build something new. “That is really the thought process that went through my mind, that, man, there’s a real opportunity here. TNA, just the narrative that is out there, it built out of desperation. I believe it was built out of an opportunity.”
Jarrett’s comments offer a different perspective on the origins of TNA, emphasizing that he saw an opening in the marketplace rather than simply reacting to the end of his WWE tenure.
