Jeff Jarrett: TNA “Was A Black-Eye On The Industry” In 2016

Jeff Jarrett has returned to Impact Wrestling and is looking to rebuild what he thought was a mess of a company last year.

Jarrett and Ed Nordholm, the new President of Impact Wrestling, recently made a trip to the UK to see about securing a TV Deal for British distribution of TNA. While there, they spoke to Newsweek, and Jarrett, who is now the Executive Producer of Impact Wrestling, was very critical of the company he is now trying to help improve. 

"It was a black-eye on the industry," Jarrett said. "It wasn't fruitful for anyone—whether you're a fan of, a wrestler, an employee. It was a really ugly, unfortunate situation. It wasn't good for the industry."

Nordholm, added, with regard to former TNA Boss Dixie Carter, "The buck has to stop someplace. The reality is the company got into a dire position and she was CEO. There was never any question [she wouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day operations], but not out of any particular animosity. If we’re going to invest…we’re owner-operators, we’re not passive investors. If we’re going to own it, we’re going to own it."

Since Jarrett got involved with the company again, he has been busy at work trying to rebuild the Impact Wrestling brand. Since ownership was handed over to Anthem, the company began dropping the TNA name, changed its logo and brokered a partnership with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. 

Jarrett said the new partnership can allow both companies to thrive and give fans "dream match-ups."

"WWE is the leader of the marketplace," Jarrett said. "But it's only in the last three months did they start recognizing other wrestling promotions. For years I've been saying that. Just recently we struck up a relationship with [Japan's] Pro Wrestling Noah. It's obvious with [independent tag team] The Young Bucks and [Impact's] The Hardys, there's some unique stuff being developed—that's another extension of promotions working together. Part of the vision is to work within the wrestling community. That's what fans want—dream match-ups."

Jarrett, who also runs his Global Force Wrestling promotion, returned to Impact wrestling earlier this year. He also was one of the creators of the original TNA company, but left in 2014 only to sporadically come back in the following years. The full interview can be read here.