Jeff Jarrett On His Pairing With Debra In WWE, Whether Steve Austin’s Issues With Him Led To Their On-Air Split

On a recent edition of My World with Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Jarrett discussed how his pairing with Debra came about in WWE, whether he thinks Steve Austin’s issues with him played a role in splitting up the pairing with her, and much more. You can read his comments below. 

Jeff Jarrett on his first impressions of Debra in WCW: “I thought Debra, from the very beginning, she didn’t have a background or concept or understanding of the industry, and I say that with complete with respect. She needed a Bruce Prichard, a producer who would take her aside and not spend five minutes – that don’t cut it. I’m not saying write a script for her and hand it off and say do this word for word. That works in reverse. To my knowledge, I never saw Debra produced other than a couple of minutes, and she would come to me and I’m like, ‘I’m not the one to produce you. That’s not my responsibility.’ I knew right away you’re dealing Kevin Sullivan and Mongo, and there’s nothing good that’s gonna come of it. When I saw her talk, I thought she knew where she wanted to go, but I thought her ultimate delivery needed a lot of work, and I say that out of complete respect for the whole process. She needed a Bruce Prichard. He has a unique skill set because he can be Wrestler A personality one minute, then literally jump across the scene and go into Wrestler B personality and jump across and got to Wrestler C and deliver the cadence and timing and all that, which great producers can do that. I never saw Debra produced that way.”

On how his pairing with Debra came about in WWE: “I can remember Vince [Russo] calling me, I’m almost positive it was the day before Raw, and him saying, ‘We’re gonna put Debra with you tomorrow.’ ‘What? Okay, when did all this happen?’ And it was ‘She’s been calling quite a bit.’ I’m like, ‘Calling the office?’ And I’m like, ‘Okay.’ You know me – what’s the plan? Vince is like, ‘I don’t know Jeff.’ So, I’m like, ‘That’s how we’re gonna do it? We’re not doing any fanfare or build-up?’ Nope. That’s how seamless it was.”

On whether he thinks Steve Austin’s issues with him played a role in splitting up the pairing with Debra: “Yes. As the years went by and I saw them appear on camera together, I immediately, and you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from – I thought Mongo and Debra never gelled on camera, although they were real-life husband and wife. I honestly don’t think Debra and Steve on camera [worked]. I say this with all due respect – Steve, literally, his mantra was DTA. Now, all of a sudden you see him on camera with a female, who the world knows she was a beauty queen and showing her assets and then Jeff and Owen and all that – it didn’t gel. I was always very curious how that ever happened…..we didn’t really have a personal relationship, didn’t sit in catering and eat together. It was a business relationship and that whole scenario and my point of contract was the head writer. She did too. I had no point of reference other than, we’re doing this, and in the back of my mind, we aren’t doing this much longer. I see where this is headed. I’ve been around the industry long enough.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit My World with Jeff Jarrett with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.