On a recent edition of his “My World” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett recalled the female wrestlers of TNA Wrestling taking shots at WWE and Vince McMahon at the time Gail Kim jumped ship.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the TNA Knockouts taking shots at WWE Divas division at a time when Gail Kim left TNA for WWE: “Yes. And because context is king, big time in this scenario. Because I had mixed emotions on the old adage, ‘Okay, we’re TNA, the challenger brand.’ Of course, you punch up, you don’t ever punch down. You got to punch up. But in this case our Knockouts division, compared to the divas; I believe any wrestling fan would have said this during this time frame in 2008. The Knockouts division is far superior, they actually wrestle and they do storylines. And it’s not just bras and panties and pillows and all that kind of stuff, but we took a lot of pride in branding just what it was, the Knockouts division. And that is one of four divisions in TNA. Heavyweights, Tags, and X Division. And when we formed the Knockouts, like I’ve said many, many times on here, we all wanted them to have distinct personalities and no cookie-cutter in there. That was two ladies that were just the same. So branding and doing these spots was a little bit of a conflict for me, but that’s what we were trying to do, brand our division completely different from the WWE, and we knew they were about to come on strong.”
On TNA wrestlers talking about Vince McMahon on television: “Oh, sure. And my gut tells me Vince Russo, Mick and Kurt got in a room and it’s very easy to go down that road. I’ve said a gazillion times here, hindsight’s 20/20, but now here we are 15 years later. It just doesn’t make it even worse than probably when it really aired.”
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In a recent episode of the “My World” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett discussed the time when Gail Kim left TNA Wrestling for WWE and how the female wrestlers of TNA took shots at WWE and Vince McMahon. Jarrett shared his mixed emotions about the situation and shed light on the differences between TNA’s Knockouts division and WWE’s Divas division.
During the podcast, Jarrett expressed his belief that the Knockouts division was far superior to the Divas division at the time. He emphasized that the Knockouts division focused on wrestling and storylines, rather than relying on gimmicks like bras and panties matches. Jarrett and the TNA team took pride in branding the Knockouts division as a distinct and unique part of their product. They aimed to create distinct personalities for each wrestler and avoid cookie-cutter characters.
Jarrett acknowledged that it was a conflict for him to take shots at WWE and Vince McMahon because he believed in the principle of punching up as a challenger brand. However, he also recognized the importance of differentiating TNA from WWE and establishing their own identity. They knew that WWE was about to come on strong, so they wanted to showcase the strengths of their Knockouts division.
The podcast also touched upon TNA wrestlers talking about Vince McMahon on television. Jarrett mentioned that it was easy for individuals like Vince Russo, Mick Foley, and Kurt Angle to go down that road during that time. However, looking back now, Jarrett believes that it only made things worse and didn’t contribute positively to the wrestling landscape.
The episode of the podcast also included a video clip from Bound For Glory 2008, providing additional context for the discussion.
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Overall, Jarrett’s insights shed light on the dynamics between TNA and WWE during Gail Kim’s departure and the efforts made by TNA to establish their own identity in the wrestling industry.