In a recent airing of his “My World” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett delved into an engaging discussion about Dusty Rhodes’ role during the developmental stages of TNA Wrestling.
Highlights from the podcast can be seen below:
Considering the most valuable advice he received from Dusty Rhodes, Jarrett shared, “He was a strong advocate of the idea that, ‘For those two-hour Asylum shows, you need to focus primarily on one element, one story, one match, one star. What’s the plan to make this person stand out? His idea revolved around building stars.”
Jarrett further reflected on Dusty’s influence in the preliminary stages of TNA: “He firmly believed in the concept, which my father also often used to share, ‘The spotlight must intensify, but also become narrower and narrower so the audience gets a clear understanding of your offer.’ Dusty strongly trusted this ideology and he also liked AJ. He was fond of several of our budding talents as things progressed.”
“Dusty had no idea what he was getting into at first, and this he would frequently admit. Still, he would tell me, ‘Jeff, in those days, when Dusty was on the roster while climbing up as a performer, he was also acting like a guide, sort of a mentor feeding me with ideas – ideas from my dad, ideas from Dutch, ideas from all sorts of people.”
“Dusty served as a mentor, an influencer who was impartial at that time,” said Jarrett, adding, “He was eager to contribute. He was enjoying the process and liked the Wednesday night payoff. But in his capacity as an executive producer, he strongly advised to ‘Remain focused only on that one thing that will yield maximum returns.'”
For more insightful discussions from this podcast episode titled “My World: Dusty Rhodes”, check out the attached video link below.