Jeff Jarrett Cautions Current Wrestlers – “Bitching Won’t Get You Anywhere”
WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett has given his thoughts on how to keep a wrestling roster happy and says that social media has taken complaining into the public domain and that might not be for the best.
Speaking to Jonathan Zaslow on The Zaslow Show, Jeff Jarrett gave his thoughts on how to keep a large wrestling roster, such as the one in AEW, all happy despite limited TV time to showcase them all:
“That’s the nature of the beast. In any sport or any entertainment, if you’re in a Hollywood movie, everybody wants to play the lead. If you’re on a basketball team; Steph Curry changed the game completely. Everybody wants to be Steph. Everybody can’t be Steph. Everybody wants to be Jimmy Butler coming off the Heat win. That’s not a reality.
“What it does do is, people can channel their energy, and that’s where the competitiveness is. Guys not getting enough TV time, guys fighting, scratching, and clawing. You can do two things; you can bitch about it and whine about it and get on social media and complain all you want. That’s not going to progress your career.
“I’ve always been the type of individual where you have to put your nose to the grindstone and be better than your opponent. Be better than the match that happened before you. Be better than you can be from last week. That’s the competitive nature. Like any sport, if you’re going to be in that complaining group, you’re not going to be around long in the business.
“Time will pass you by overnight. That’s what I try to tell other guys; bitching won’t get you anywhere. Excuses and complaining is not a business strategy. Getting in there and busting your butt is.”
Jarrett explained that complaining in wrestling is nothing new but now with public platforms for talents to do so, it gives the audience the chance to make judgements on their character and not the one they see on TV:
“Here’s what I’ve learned through the years, it’s an old philosophical quote, ‘Each and every day, the older I get, the more I understand that I absolutely know nothing.’ It’s the different platforms. I have five kids, all different ranges, my younger ones don’t know a life without social media. It’s the evolution.
“Years ago, talent that didn’t have social media and liked to complain, where did they complain? They complained at the nightclubs, at the gym, in the dressing room. It’s all the same. Now, the double-edged sword is, these guys complain, they don’t understand, they’re creating a narrative of who their character is.
“Guys in the years gone by that complained, when they stepped through the curtain, that’s what the public consumes this as. Now, when you peel the onion back and this guy is complaining or bitching, that kind of defines their character.
“You are literally giving the audience the opportunity to vote yes or no on, ‘Am I going to spend my money and my time and get emotionally engaged in this character?’ That’s the reality. Some folks, as we speak, they learned their lessons the hard way, unfortunately.”
Jeff Jarrett had nothing to complain about on Dynamite where he propelled himself and Jay Lethal into a title conversation when he defeated one-half of the AEW Tag Team Champions, Dax Harwood.