In a recent episode of his “My World” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett shared his thoughts on the influence of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall on TNA Wrestling back in 2004.
Here are some highlighted sections from the podcast discussion:
Reflecting on Nash and Hall’s influence on TNA in 2004: “At that point— oh, boy. It’s interesting you frame the scene like this — so, we were two years down the line of weekly pay per views, almost two and a half and about to take the leap to monthly. AJ Styles had been on board with us for two years, as had James Storm and some other homegrown talents. The situation felt as though we were rocking the boat with the Fox Sports Net deal. The feedback for our collaboration with Fox Sports was mixed, but indications pointed toward us doing remarkably well. Despite it being Friday afternoons, we all knew that we needed to transition to monthly pay per views and needed to spice things up.
When I approached Kevin and Scott with my suggestions, I informed them we weren’t offering a year-long deal as we couldn’t afford it, but we could arrange a sequence of dates. The response was positive from both. I recall my conversation with Scott Hall quite vividly… I outlined it as: ‘Hey, it’s six, eight, ten — you guys let me know your availability. But we’re hosting our premiere monthly pay-per-view and I’d prefer your presence — you don’t have to wrestle. But you’d contribute significantly to this entire build-up. Just a few years prior to ’04, you guys were the most challenging yet captivating elements in the business. We hoped to leverage your star power to stir up some excitement and boost the pay-per-view sales.’”
Addressing rumors of disputes involving them in TNA: “Content creators, particularly those hosting websites, needed to churn out engaging stories. As a result, they propagated all sorts of wild theories. It provided good material for their scripts — ‘Hall and Nash creating disturbances in the locker room’, ‘Hall and Nash carrying out such and such’. Despite the circulating rumors, those included in our — shall we say, regular crew, were more than pleased to have Kevin and Scott on board for our program. The rationale was pretty straightforward — ‘Hey guys, these are major celebrities. They can elevate us.’ It was just that straightforward.”