Jeff Jarrett On Why Abyss Is One Of TNA’s Pillars, If TNA Had Too Many Gimmick Matches

On the latest episode of My World With Jeff Jarrett, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about gimmick matches in TNA Wrestling, the importance of Abyss, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On whether TNA had too many gimmick matches: “So I think that opens up a bigger question of discussion, or a bigger topic of discussion that could produce all kinds of questions. I think that — I mean, going back to prior to social media, if you really listen to the fans that maybe hung out out back or in the early days of AOL chat lines — well no, because then that gets into the reporting on people who actually didn’t watch and it’s not their cup of tea. And so I think when you weigh it right down to people actually being in the arena watching it vs. people that heard about it, it just kind of breeds discussion that kind of almost gets out of, ‘Now wait, are we complaining that we don’t understand this gimmick match or that there are too many of them?’ I think TNA, I think the wrestling industry in general, at times confuses, doesn’t do the best job, maybe glosses over it, maybe assumes the audience understands. I think there are sometimes gimmick matches made that might not have the most — you know, is there enough story to warrant giving a match?

“But I also think if you turn that coin over, your alternative is just to have another match. And I think that’s worse than not trying. I think action breeds discussion. And look, did we have too many? I think that’s, I mean, so subjective that I think you could poll ten TNA fans — and I say TNA fans, I’m talking about customers who watched the TV show, bought a pay-per-view, went to a live event, bought merchandise, the true consumer. I think you would get a mixed bag of answers, even from the most diehard of TNA fans. Me personally, I think we had too many? I think at times, I don’t — no, I don’t think we had too many. But did we do the best job promoting it or explaining it? Maybe not. But I always erred in the way that — you know, hypothetically speaking Connie, if you’re going to have a guitar on a pole, okay, that’s probably the easiest. It’s a way that the folks know, ‘All right? A guitar is going to be used in Jeff versus AJ Styles. Let’s make that a focal point.’ Because if it’s just Jeff and AJ in another single that we’ve seen three weeks before that, well that doesn’t have as much been on the bone other than, ‘Okay, man, I want AJ to climb that pole and hit Jeff with the guitar.’”

On Abyss being a TNA pillar: “Without question. And you know, he was on the very first one in Huntsville [inaugural TNA show]. And then he went away to Puerto Rico with Dutch, and Dutch did to. And he — I’ll say this: his name was Prince Justice, I think, at the first TNA pay-per-view. And when he came back as Abyss, as a seasoned performer who really understood the concept of telling stories, getting himself and others over, long-term storytelling. I just kind of think the rhythm that he helped create, not just himself but X-Division matches, tag matches, Knockouts matches, just kind of the cadence of it all. I just had a conversation on my baseball side, and we just kind of talked about culture. You’ve talked to me and you have talked about it. [Nick] Saban creates a culture. He wins every day, he doesn’t just win on Saturdays. He creates that culture that we’re going to have a winning mindset every day of the week. Abyss did that for sure from 2003 to 2009, and [20]10. And I’m not saying he didn’t afterward, but he’s just a big part of creating a winning culture. And I think that speaks volumes…

“And you’re always going to have bad apples here and there, and people that are disgruntled… But if you kind of have as a part of that whole cog, guys that really put thenose to the grindstone day in and day out, and come to TV or come to work every day to win. It goes a long, long way. He was a big part of creating the culture at TNA.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit My World With Jeff Jarrett with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.