Jeff Jarrett Weighs In On The Upcoming WWE: Unreal Reality Series

Jeff Jarrett in AEW
Jeff Jarrett | AEW

WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, who currently serves as the Director of Business Development for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), recently appeared on an episode of his podcast, โ€œMy World with Jeff Jarrett.โ€ During this episode, he covered several topics, including the upcoming WWE Netflix series titled โ€œUnreal,โ€ which will provide a behind-the-scenes look at WWE’s creative process.

Jarrett said, โ€œIโ€™m going to use a quote here. I donโ€™t know if youโ€™ve ever heard this, but Dutch Mantell and myself used to joke and everything โ€” I donโ€™t know where this quote was coined, but I heard it from Dutch first. You know how I like my reality television? Because this show is reality TV, quote unquote. But I like my reality television, well-scripted.โ€

On WWE already exposing the business:

โ€œA lot, or all of them [are scripted]? I would say all. So look at the end of the day โ€” it was said three generations ago. Itโ€™s sports entertainment. So hey folks, that catโ€™s out of the bag there. And so Iโ€™m not sure what weโ€™re going to see and what format, and all that kind of stuff. But there will be people that watch this, [who think] that it will be 100% scripted, that go, โ€˜Yeah, thatโ€™s it. Thatโ€™s real.โ€™ And then thereโ€™s going to be some stuffโ€“ flip this around โ€” that is absolutely 1,000% authentic, captured content that weโ€™ll kind of call, quote, unquote real that people are going to go, โ€˜Oh, good God, youโ€™re going to insult our intelligence. You really think we believe that?โ€™ That kind of is the nature and the magic of our industry in that, no matter what they show? I think at the end of the day, itโ€™s going to be real and well-scripted. And I say that out of total respect. I think at the end of the day โ€” because Iโ€™ve been asked quite a bit about this. I think โ€˜insultingโ€™ is the word I keep coming back to. Are we insulting the fans in the presentation of how itโ€™s done? Like, โ€˜Hey guys, you dumbasses, this is scripted.โ€™ Or is it done out of respect? My gut tells me itโ€™s going to lean into โ€” its shoulder programming. So if it doesnโ€™t support the WWE brand 100% across the board, theyโ€™re spitting in the wind. But I just donโ€™t think theyโ€™re going to do that. Maybe weโ€™ll see, but I think itโ€™s going to be excellent support programming.โ€

On the evolution of the business:

โ€œThe next evolution is the format and peeling the curtain back and presenting it in a real compelling, biting way that has a little bit of doc style, a little bit of reality show, a little bit of authenticity. And then itโ€™s got to have pro wrestling. But look, itโ€™s getting a lot of news. Itโ€™s got talent talking. Itโ€™s got the trades talking. Itโ€™s got fans talking.โ€œ

You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.

(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)