All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s07e03 Jeff Jarrett.eng

[Narrator] Previously,
on Dark Side of the Ring...

When the wrestling business
became a

one-company industry,
Jeff and Jerry Jarrett

bet everything on a
new promotion,

Total Nonstop Action,
better known as TNA.

[Jeff] Some people
called me stupid,

naive, an idiot.

[Matt] He had the guts
and the nuts to start

his own promotion,
and TNA was born.

Crowd Chanting:
TNA! TNA!

It really had that feeling
of anything can happen.

They had a strong roster.

They had great production.

They were a
serious number two

contender to the WWE.

[Narrator] What began as
a family business

quickly spiraled beyond
the Jarretts' control.

[Karen] Dixie Carter
is smarter than

what people give
her credit for.

She wanted the power.

[Scott] Dixie pulled me
aside and said,

"You are not to
call Jeff boss."

[Vince] I get a
call from Dixie.

"How did you not tell me
Jeff and Karen are together?

I had no idea!"

[Steiner] She was gonna try
anything to get him out.

Then she finally got her wish.

[Jeff] The whole thing
is nonsense.

[Karen] She nuked his
whole fucking life.

[Narrator] With
Jeff Jarrett sidelined,

Dixie Carter places her
faith in Hulk Hogan

and Eric Bischoff,

reshaping the balance of
power within TNA.

[Jeff] It revealed
to me immediately,

he doesn't have a clue
about TNA wrestling.

Like, zero clue or context
of who or what we are.

[Karen] I think
she thought, "Oh,

I'm gonna bring
Hulk Hogan in here

and everybody's
gonna love me."

"Oh, look
what Dixie did."

Look what the
fuck Dixie did.

?

[Announcer] Ladies
and gentlemen,

please welcome

Dixie Carter!

[Jeff] It's really hard to
put into words how I felt

watching the product while
I was sitting at home.

How's my little baby?
[Laughing]

How's it gonna be?

Is it gonna turn out
all right?

But Hogan was
on the way.

And so for the brand,
I was excited about that.

[Hulk] I'd like to
introduce you to

my new business partner,
Dixie Carter.

This is the company
that's gonna lead the way

in the future.
I guarantee that.

[Crowd] Hogan!
Hogan! Hogan!

[Eric] Hulk Hogan
believed passionately

until the day he died-

It's still hard
for me to say that-

that there was a tremendous
amount of power

and value in the
Hulk Hogan brand.

And he was right.

And I believe that Hulk
believed that

he could bring that value
to TNA and help

the little engine that
couldn't achieve.

[Narrator] With Hulk Hogan
now in the fold,

Dixie Carter moves to
consolidate her power,

issuing the roster
a stark ultimatum.

[Awesome Kong] We get this
notice that there's this

big meeting and there's
gonna be cameras there.

So you know you kind of
have to have your face on

and whatnot and
Dixie comes out.

[Dixie] It's time
for a change.

You can choose
to support me

or you can
choose not to.

But you'll need to find
another place to work.

[Dixie] "And if you
don't like it,

it's my way or
the highway.

And if you're starving,
'Let them eat cake'."

We didn't appreciate that
because we've been

working our asses
off for you

and we're not asking
for anything

we have not earned.

And you wanna
reprimand us for that?

[D'Lo] It was one of those
meetings that single-handedly

pulled a lot of the
morale out of the room.

[David] It turns out that
not only was it recorded,

but we played that
back later in the show.

That's when she lost the
absolute complete respect

from the entire locker room.

[Jeff] It was not
about anything

other than her ego.

[Dixie] I expect you
to support me 100%.

[Jeff] And you can go back
and look at the faces.

Talent really understood

this is who we're
working for.

But I think a lot of them-
and including myself-

Where do things go now?

And then all of a sudden,
I had a phone call

from an attorney that
worked for Panda.

"Hey, Jeff, we want you
to come back."

At that time, that just
rocked my world.

I was just like, wow.

You could see clearly
what her strategy was.

Dixie wanted
a thumb on me

to really know
what I was doing.

I've been around
a long time,

and I knew the cards
they were playing,

but I still was a
little skeptical.

And I said, "What all
do you have in mind?"

[Announcer] Jeff...

Jaaa-rr-ett!

[Jeff] I was brought
back doing live events

and international.

When I returned,
you put on a game face.

I wasn't exactly sure about
the different chess pieces,

but my best strategy is,
let's let this play out.

[Narrator] With Hulk Hogan
and Eric Bischoff joining

TNA's creative team,
they found themselves

once again working with
head writer Vince Russo.

It was a partnership
carrying years of baggage.

[Crowd cheering]

[Announcer] Russo, I think,
told Jarrett to lie down.

[Narrator] Over a
decade earlier,

in a shocking moment,
backstage tensions erupted

in front of a live audience,
blurring the line

between reality
and fiction.

[Announcer] I don't think
anybody agreed to that.

[Narrator] Now, the same trio
was together again in TNA.

[Vince] Hogan, you big,
bald son of a bitch!

Kiss my ass!

At the time, the
creative team is myself,

Ed Ferrara,
and Matt Conway.

And what we are told
by Dixie is,

"Guys, Eric is
only involved

in the Hulk Hogan creative.

He's gonna come and he's
gonna sit with you guys

creatively and
just talk about

what's going on
with Hulk."

[Eric] Hulk Hogan had real
issues with Vince Russo,

professionally, creatively.

Was not interested in working
anywhere near Vince Russo.

I had to have a sit down
with Vince Russo

to kind of clear the air,
so to speak.

And we both shook
hands and agreed,

let's try to
make it work.

[Vince] Eric's entire plan,

entire mindset
was to somehow,

someway get
power in the company.

I knew what
he was doing.

[Eric] We're starting over!

[Vince] I knew his game,
and that's-

the rest is history.

[Eric] I mean, creatively,
I was leading the charge.

I just kind of
evolved into that,

partly because I have a
pretty strong personality.

And what we're going to do
is turn this company

upside down,
starting...

I don't know,
right now!

[Jeff] It took a few months
for me to understand

the role that Hulk was
gonna play in TNA.

And I thought he was coming
in as brand ambassador.

I quickly learned he's
literally gonna be

handed the keys
to the brand.

[Hulk] And the change
starts tonight!

[Jeff] I didn't know that
he was gonna be

completely revamping
the roster.

[Announcer] Mr. Anderson
is in TNA!

Thank you,
Hulk Hogan!

[Jim] It was like, if you're
a personal friend of

Hulk Hogan's that works
at the grocery store,

oh, come on, you can be
on the TV show!

[Kong] They let some people
who was famous in the 80s

that did some stuff and
made an impact come in

and tell us that the things
we were doing

were wrong and
unprofessional.

And I felt like
that was bullshit.

[Jeff Hardy] I'm sure there
was a lot of money,

you know, going, you know,
in different directions.

And egos, a lot of egos
coming to the surface.

[Matt] They weren't going
to add to the product.

They kind of came in
and they got a spot

and they got paid.

[Jeff] It became real clear
what Hulk's vision was.

And that was
complete rebranding

of the entire product.

And I knew what a massive
failure it was gonna be.

They didn't know
the TNA audience.

[Hulk] Welcome to the brand
new Impact Zone, guys!

[Jeff] I think the single
biggest thing he did that was

totally ego-driven was get
rid of the six-sided ring.

[Hulk] I got one thing
to say about six sides.

You had it, and it
only got you so far.

[Steiner] That was a
staple, that was a-

one of the hallmarks
of being TNA.

The hardcore TNA fans,
they wanted a six-sided ring.

[Fans] We want six sides!
[Clapping]

We want six sides!
We want six sides!

[Eric] I thought it
was stupid, frankly.

Like, if you're gonna
have a six-sided ring,

use the damn thing!

Create something inside of
that ring that happens

as a result of the fact that
you're in a six-sided ring.

Otherwise, it doesn't
affect anything

that happens
on the mat.

Then it's just stupid.

[Vince] Now do you
understand

why I have problems
and issues?

You are doing
what's best for Hulk,

not what's
best for TNA!

And what, we're all supposed
to sit there and say,

oh yeah, bro, that's a great,
oh yeah, bro?

No, bro,
it's bullshit!

It's bullshit.
We work for TNA.

You work for Hulk Hogan.
That's the difference.

[Narrator] Determined to
put TNA on the map,

Eric Bischoff
turns to the past,

reviving a
strategy that had

worked for him
decades earlier.

[Eric] WCW kicked WWE's
ass for two solid years,

going head-to-head
on Monday night.

I went back to, I won't say
a bag of tricks necessarily,

but I went back to
a strategy.

[Hulk] This is the biggest
night in the history of TNA.

[Eric] Going
head-to-head with WWE

was gonna make
so much noise.

It was about
creating awareness.

[D'Lo] I thought it
was the dumbest thing.

[Pyrotechnics booming]

Trying to go Monday night
live with a company that

spends more on pyro than
we spend on production.

[Vince] When you put our
show next to their show

at the same time,

they are gonna look like
a million bucks and

we are gonna look
like trailer trash.

We didn't have the money

to compete with them.

[Jeff] Countless amount of
people came up to me and

would say, "How long are
you gonna let this go on,

Jeff?" And I would say,
"I'm powerless."

Seven years ago,
I founded TNA.

[Hulk] You know
something, Jeff?

So what?
Nobody cares.

With Hulk Hogan
and Dixie Carter,

TNA is going all the way,
brother, to the top.

[Jeff] From the day
Hulk came in,

it was less than 12 months
that we went from

profitability to a
financial death spiral.

Bischoff calling the shots,
ith d

TNA takes its
biggest gamble yet,

moving Impact
head-to-head with

WWE's Monday Night Raw.

[Eric] I don't remember
what the viewership was,

but I think the most watched
Impact episode in history

was some of that
head-to-head competition,

at least the first night.

TNA had never had that
big of an audience before.

I was realistic.

I knew why I was doing it
and I was pretty convinced

that it wasn't going
to work long-term.

[Vince] [Laughs] I don't even
remember how long it lasted,

but yeah, it did
not work well.

[Matt] You had one that was
a major league product

and then you had another
one, which was like

a smaller product,
up and coming.

Unless you both have
that major look,

you can't really go
head-to-head

with the giant
in the industry.

[D'Lo] It killed momentum.

It made us look
like amateurs

trying to play in
the big boy pond.

Our house show
attendance dropped.

Our Nielsen
numbers dropped.

We were the fly
on the ass of a rhino.

[Jeff] To this day,
this is what I believe.

Hulk wanted to come in and
move some chess pieces

to create his next race.

And I'm in a bad place here
in that I can't voice

my opinion because it will
sound self-serving.

[Narrator] With declining
ratings and the failed

attempt to reignite the
Monday Night Wars

hanging over the company,

the creative team
turns to one of wrestling's

oldest formulas,
turning real-life conflict

into compelling television.

Just months after
Jeff Jarrett returns to TNA,

he's asked to step
back into the ring.

[Jeff] I will never
forget this conversation.

And if I could do a good
Vince Russo impersonation,

I would, but I get this,
"Bro?"

[Producer laughing]

"What do you got, Vince?"
"We need this story."

[Vince] My job is to get
as many eyeballs

on that show as possible.

That is my job.

Without a shadow of a doubt,

I was gonna pitch
the angle to them.

If they weren't
good with it, fine.

[Karen] I was asked to be
in a storyline

with Jeff and with
my ex-husband.

In the storyline of
Jeff took me from Kurt.

[Jeff] And I said,
"Okay, Vince..."

[Laughing]

"I know you and
your crazy ideas,

but you gotta get
some sign-off."

"I've already done it."

That's what turned my head.

I said, "Do what?"
"Yeah."

I said, "So Dixie
signed off?"

"Yep."

[Eric] It was obvious to me
that there was a

tremendous amount of strain
between Dixie and Jeff.

And now we're gonna add,
oh, I don't know,

a love triangle with
Kurt's ex-wife

and Jeff Jarrett

on top of that stress.

[Jeff] Kurt Angle, the
1996 Olympic gold medalist,

the father, the husband,
well, the ex-husband.

[Crowd] Whoa!

[Jeff] I just sat back
and chuckled.

Jeff's the bad guy.

And Kurt's this American
gold medalist

that lost his wife.

And here's this
evil bitch.

[Karen] You will not steal
the joy from our lives

for one more day!

[Crowd] Boo!

[Karen] People wanted
to root for Kurt.

It was easy for them
to hate us.

[Kurt] It was only a
matter of time before the

whole world saw Karen and
Jeff for who they truly are.

[Karen] You add the story
to it and just start

stirring the pot.

[Karen] [Screaming]

[Jeff] Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Kong] I can say
I watched two men

put their differences aside

and work for
the betterment of TNA.

And by doing that,

they stepped in that
ring for me, too.

And I have mad respect
for both of them.

[D'Lo] It, by far, to me,
was the most

productive storyline
TNA ever had.

[Karen] I'm sick of you!
[Screaming]

[Announcer] Oh my God!

[Karen] The downfall is
people believed it.

They thought it was real.

[Jeff] To this day, I get
comments online, like,

"Are you and Kurt okay?"
And I'm like- ha-

"You do realize
that we

co-parent kids and
have since 2010."

[Announcer] Oh!

[Karen] Jeff wasn't
screwing Kurt's wife.

Jeff didn't take
Kurt's wife.

Do you think if
that was the case,

Kurt Angle would go through
with that storyline?

No.

[Officiant] You may
kiss your bride.

[Crowd booing]

[Karen] That's not
what happened.

It was a fucking storyline.

[Crowd] Get the axe!
Get the axe!

[Announcer] [Beep]!
What the hell?! God!

[Jeff] Less than
12 months ago,

we're gonna send
Jeff home because of

the dastardly
deed he did.

And now, all of a sudden,
we're gonna bring him back.

And only, not only
bring him back,

we're gonna create a
storyline on this tragic

situation that I was
such a horrible person.

Dixie's power play
was never about

her compassion for Kurt,
never about

her concern for the
brand or the company.

It was always about herself-

putting herself in power.

[Narrator] As chaos
grows behind the scenes,

TNA's pursuit of star power
culminates in

one of the most infamous
nights in company history,

Victory Road, 2011.

[Crowd] [Cheering]
[Fireworks popping]

[Jeff Hardy] In 2010,
coming back to TNA,

I mean, Dixie was totally
involved then, right?

It seemed like things
were different.

And that was a real dark
time in my personal life.

I always go back to
that night, you know?

I'm like, oh my God,

because it was such an
embarrassing thing.

[Eric] Everybody backstage
pretty much knew

that Jeff was
involved in drugs.

For the most part,
he had it under control.

[David] I'm in the truck,
I'm directing,

and it's the main event,
it's the last match.

And I tell D'Lo Brown,

he's the agent
on the match,

he's on headsets
by the go position.

What I need to know about
this match, he goes,

"Hold on a second,
hold on, hold on."

[D'Lo] Jeff comes up,
and within seconds of

being around him,

I know he's not in his
right state of mind.

I can just tell.

[Matt] I had
wrestled earlier,

and I remember being so
excited for Jeff to be

in the main event
against Sting,

the guy that he
looked up to,

and it was a very high
profile match, obviously.

Jeff was getting
ready to go out,

and someone had
buzzed me and said,

"Jeff is not in a
good state."

And I just remember
my heart dropped.

I'm like,
oh my God.

[D'Lo] That's when
Eric Bischoff popped up,

and you know, he's starting
to ask what's going on.

?

And then somehow,

we agreed to let him
go to the ring

to see if he could
walk it off,

or when he got
in front of the crowd,

maybe he would pop back
into normal Jeff.

[David] And he comes out,

and I can see that
he's staggering. I'm like,

oh my God, Jeff is fucked up
on something.

[Announcer] Jeff Hardy,
the moment of truth

has arrived.

[David] And he's doing
all this weird stuff,

like taking his shirt off
and teasing the crowd.

[Announcer] What the hell
is Jeff Hardy doing here?

[Eric] Everybody was kind
of looking at each other,

including Dixie, and
it's like, what do we do?

What next?

iew,

what should have been the
biggest match of the night

quickly descended into
confusion and panic

as Jeff Hardy made
his way to the ring.

Backstage, it became
painfully clear that Hardy

was in no condition
to compete.

[Jeff] I had seen Jeff earlier,
and, and seemed okay,

but, but,
you know, I was not

in tune with anything
going on that day.

And I got a call, Russo:

"Bro, get over here now."

[David] Eric Bischoff comes
out right before

they ring the bell at
the introduction.

[Eric] Slight change
in plans.

So I got close to Jeff,
and I told him,

"Turn around and get the
fuck out of this ring.

Walk back to the
locker room.

Just leave now."

Nothing.
Didn't register.

[Jeff Hardy] It's all
pretty much a blur,

but I remember
Eric Bischoff saying,

just like it was like,

get rid of that
piece of trash.

I can't believe he would do
this to these people that

have paid to watch
this pay-per-view

and these people that
have worked so hard

to put this show on.

[Eric] So I went over
to Sting and just said,

"Hit him with your finish."

[Announcer] Oh,
right now... Sting!

Right off the bat!

It's gonna be
a death drop.

Got him!
[Match bell ringing]

[Announcer] Wow!

[Jeff Hardy] What you saw,
that Jeff Hardy that was

in that ring, I mean,
complete, you know,

just drug addict that had
given up on him, himself,

to be that irresponsible
and that dangerous to

go out there with somebody
else's life, you know,

that's in your hands and
that you have to protect.

It was just so
careless and reckless.

[Jeff] I'll never forget

coming back from the hotel.

I went straight to the truck,
went to play back,

and just said, "Hey man,
what actually happened?"

They just showed me
15 seconds,

and I'm like,
"I got it."

I got real angry...
at first.

How in the world could you

let him walk through
that curtain?

And then I began to hear
a few different versions.

I knew the reality that was,

I can only make
things worse, so I left.

[Eric] It was embarrassing
for everybody involved.

[D'Lo] There's a million
right choices and

one wrong one, and we
did the wrong one.

[Jeff] At that time,
I felt confused in that,

how did Jeff get himself
to a spot that

he couldn't go perform?

I had no comprehension of

what the disease
of addiction is.

It's cunning, it's baffling,

and it's powerful.

[Jeff Hardy] I hope that
people have forgiven me,

you know.

Forgiveness is such a huge
thing in recovery, man,

and forgiving yourself
can be super hard,

you know, when it comes-
and took me a long time

to forgive
myself for that night,

but ultimately,
that was me,

but it's not me,
you know.

That's what I was,
but not what I am.

It was like the
drug addict Jeff Hardy

died that night because,
in a way, I kind of,

I needed that to realize
how bad I was.

[Matt] That was the wake-up
call that it took for him to

totally stop taking
pills altogether,

so that is the only positive
that I can say

came out of it when it was
all said and done.

[Jeff] I hate that
it happened for Jeff.

I hate that it
happened for the brand.

I hate that it happened
on Dixie's watch.

She moved me out,
and she's in,

so no matter who you
put under her,

she's ultimately
responsible,

and this happened
on her watch.

[Narrator] By the
end of 2011,

a sober Jeff Hardy redeems
himself by defeating

Jeff Jarrett in a
loser leaves TNA match,

allowing Jarrett to step
away from the ring and

focus on new ventures,
including Ring Ka King,

a TNA offshoot
based in India.

[Announcer]
[Indistinct commentary]

[Jeff] By this time,
the financial situation

was beginning
to get bad,

and it was going from
bad to worse.

[Narrator] With the company's
financials trending downward,

Hulk Hogan's time in TNA
comes to an end

less than four years
after it began.

[Dixie] I know that a lot of
you are not happy with

some of the decisions
I've made lately.

[Eric] I just remember when
Hulk made up his mind

that it was time for him
to leave.

We wanted to do it
within the context

of a storyline, as opposed
to Hulk just leaving.

[Dixie] Hulk Hogan,
we have some business

in the ring now.

[Eric] It was probably
my idea to have Dixie go

as far as she did, trying to
get Hulk Hogan to stay.

[Hulk] It's an amazing offer
for somebody else,

not me,
because I quit.

[Crowd] Oh!
[Microphone dropping]

[Announcer] What? What?!

?

[Steiner] All angles,
it's embarrassing.

[Hulk] Just let me go.

[Steiner] Just brutal, man.

But, you know, Dixie probably
thought it was great,

because she was on TV.

[Vince] That's
Eric Bischoff's character.

I- [stammering] I don't
even want to know

the amount of those checks

that she wrote to both
of them. And then,

because Hogan's got
"creative control",

they're going to write him
out that way to

completely 1,000%
humiliate her.

Humiliate her.

That shows you
his character.

That is disgusting.

[Jeff] What an incredible
masterpiece of a job that

Hulk and Eric and
whoever else was involved

convinced her to do that.
[Dixie] You are fired!

[Jeff] I would have never
done that if I was Dixie.

It said everything

about her knowledge
of the industry.

[Narrator] As the company
slips deeper into

financial trouble,
Jeff Jarrett turns to

a legendary country music
artist for help.

[Jeff] My old buddy,
Toby Keith.

You know, Toby saw the little
engine that could in TNA

month after month and
year after year

grow to heights.

I saw him at a show,

and he asked how things
were going, and I said,

"Toby, it's a
financial death spiral."

He's like, "Damn, and you
don't have no power?"

I said, "Zero." He said,
"Let's get it back."

And I said,
"You're serious?"

He said, "I am dead
effing serious."

The attorneys met Toby
at his golf course and

went into their song and
dance about, "Mr. Keith,

we sure would like to
get you on board."

He said, "Folks, there's no
doubt I know

what Toby Keith's
brand can do,

but are we talking about
with or without Jeff?"

They hemmed and hawed
and stammered around

and said, "Well, we can
kind of talk about it."

He said, "We have
nothing to talk about.

Jeff's my guy, and if
Jeff's not running the show,

I'm out."

And he got up and
walked to the tee box.

So that's when I knew

that the nose
wasn't coming up.

So I said, "Yeah, I've spent
enough time on this,"

and that's when I hit
send on the email

that I resigned
from the company.

Jeff Jarrett departs TNA,

he remains determined to
make his mark on the

wrestling business,
launching a new promotion,

Global Force Wrestling.

[Jeff] I kind of got my
head together and

named the
company in 2014.

I ran the Grand Slam Tour,

the 20-something
baseball shows,

and... and my old
Canadian buddies

from Anthem acquired TNA.

Dixie was essentially

reduced to a few points,
if you will.

[Jim] There came a point
where Bob and Janice Carter,

Dixie's parents,
had had enough.

"We've spent
enough money."

So Dixie was out, and Anthem
took the company over.

And they had wanted to change
the TNA name for years,

and they changed it
to Impact,

because at least that
was less offensive

than the childishness.

The new owners of TNA

get together with
Global Force Wrestling.

[Jeff] I'll never forget
Ed Nordholm from

Anthem Sports and
Entertainment.

He said, "Oh, I know
you got Global Force,

but is there a way to take
the old brand and

merge them together?"
Karen was very skeptical.

[Karen] [Scoffing]

I get PTSD from
hearing that.

I think Jeff thought,
"Hey, I did this once.

I can do it again."

A lot changed
in the world of wrestling

and network TV.

[Jeff] I'm like,
"Man...

we can make this
thing run again."

I'm taking the joint
back over.

The place that I built.

[David] When Jeff
came back with Anthem,

it's probably the

darkest I ever saw
of Jeff Jarrett.

And I think one of the
mistakes Jeff made

when he came back
was that

he was kind of like on
a revenge tour.

He wanted to
stick it to Dixie.

He wanted to stick it to
everybody who he felt

was not on his side
when he left.

[Jeff] I kind of knew in
my heart of hearts

that I was,
I was struggling.

In less than two months,

the realities became
crystal clear.

I was fed a bunch
of bullshit.

That here I am now
merging the brands

and there is no money.

And so if people thought
I was angry or upset,

they were right.

[Karen] He was a shell of
the human being

that he was before.

It wasn't the same Jeff.

He was so broken.
I felt sorry for him.

He was worried about
taking care of me,

taking care of our kids.

Part of me justified
his drinking.

[David] He was battling
some substance issues

and he was trying though.

We didn't say anything
because it's Jeff Jarrett,

he's the boss, but we kind
of knew and it saddened us

because we felt he wasn't
making the best decisions

for the company
in that moment.

[Scott] I pass no judgment.
I come from,

I come from a family that's
had a lot of addiction

problems, but clearly
at that point in time,

Jeff was not in
a great space.

[Jeff] A cardinal rule that
I had for years is I would

never drink until I knew

not only that my
match was over,

is that I would not be
really in public.

And I started breaking
that rule and having

a little bit here and
a little bit there.

[Karen] I tried to get him
to get help several times,

but he just, "I don't
have a problem.

I don't have a problem."
He def- he had a problem.

[Jeff] And you know,
I'll never forget that, uh-

man...

I was at a pool party

in my backyard

and I looked down at my gut

and I go,

not on my watch.

I'm never gonna
have a beer gut.

?

And that day I
switched to vodka,

literally that day.

That was not a
good decision.

[Karen] He would start
drinking at 10 a.m.

or he would drink all day.

I wasn't just watching
from the outside.

I was living it.

He was killing himself.

[Narrator] With his
drinking problem worsening,

Jeff leaves Karen behind and

travels to Mexico for
AAA's Triplemania,

one of the country's biggest
wrestling events.

[Jeff] I mean, I have
processed this scene

so many different times.

Flew down on a
Friday morning,

show on the Saturday.

That entire Friday I was
called to the building:

"Hang out in the
dressing room,

and we'll come get you
for rehearsals."

Well, I had the bottle in my
bag and noon came along

and had one drink
and two came along

and another drink
and another drink

and another drink and
another drink.

And it got 9 or 10 o'clock
at night on the Friday

and I'd never done
a rehearsal

and it was time for me
to go to the hotel.

So we loaded up and so
that's when

that drunk started,
on the Friday midday.

And I woke up the next day,

like any active alcoholic,

get up, have a
good breakfast,

and I'm gonna
have me a drink

before I go to
the building.

And one thing
led to another.

Jeff, you gotta
go in the ring.

- Come on.
- No! [Laughing]

[Jeff] It was, you know,
very obvious to folks

that I was in no condition
to perform.

[Blowing a raspberry]

Before I knew it,
I went out,

had no business
going to the ring.

[Announcer] He's throwing
some promotional-

Wait a minute.

Is that what
I think it is?

He's throwing out
tortillas.

Amazing that Jeff Jarrett
would travel all the way

to Mexico City from
Hendersonville, Tennessee

to disrespect
and mock this crowd.

[Jeff] It's fucking bullshit
is what it is.

Get the fuck out of here.

Fuck you, motherfucker!

[Staff & Wrestlers]
No, no, no, no!

[Indistinct shouting]

[Jeff] It was an
ugly situation.

[Jeff] Come here,
you little cunt!

Come and get me!

[Jeff] Flew home
on Labor Day,

came into the office on
that Tuesday and

Lynn Asper and Ed
were at the office.

And then Ed just said,
"Hey, we want you

to go to outpatient
treatment."

And that really
caught me off guard.

[Scott] When the decision
was made to

send Jeff to rehab,

at that point, I think
Jeff was pretty mad at me.

And I said, if Jeff
never talks to me again,

but gets clean,
I'll be okay with that.

?

[Karen] Him being sent
home that second time,

disastrous for him.
Absolutely disastrous.

The canoe tipped

and completely
fucking capsized.

[Narrator] Once again,
sent home from

the company he
helped build,

Jeff Jarrett enters
outpatient treatment

for alcoholism.

[Jeff] I cleaned
my office out.

They said,
"You got six weeks

and let's get this thing
under control."

I went to outpatient
treatment for

four hours a day
for six weeks.

I sat at the front
of the class,

took the best notes,

put on the mask of Jeff,

the outpatient that's
gonna kick this

drinking problem's ass.

And there was a double shot
in Calgary and Edmonton.

The following Friday's
when I got on the plane,

sit down in first class,
the stewardess came by

and she's got her
little notepad.

And she said,
"Mr. Jarrett, can I get you

anything to drink?"
And I literally said,

"I'll take a double
rum and Coke."

At the time I had no idea
how much of a denial

I was in. I drank all
the way to Calgary.

And after it was over,

get on the plane,
continue to drink.

Went home,
woke up on Sunday,

continue to drink.

[Jeff Hardy] The scariest
thing about like

places like that, the rock
bottom places is,

man, it's just like, how am
I gonna survive this?

How am I gonna
get through this?

So I'm sure Jeff was in that
spots where like, oh my God,

how am I gonna come
back from this?

[Karen] There were two
different times that

I had to call 911

because I couldn't
get him awake

and was worried that
he was dying.

Just, it got so bad.

[Jeff] I was out of my mind.

And on that Monday
morning, I woke up,

she had gotten the
kids to school and

I was sitting in my
recliner, TV on.

She walked back in
and she just said,

"Jeff, what are you
going to do?"

?

And you can call it a
moment of clarity.

I call it God
speaking through me.

I said, "I'm going
to treatment."

And she just kind of
looked at me

and she said,
"Are you serious?"

I said, "Yes."

I couldn't really believe

how things had transpired.

Like how in the hell did I
get myself in this position?

She started making the calls
and finally she got

the WWE Wellness folks
on the phone.

[Karen] Then we got on a
plane and we flew to Tampa.

I was scared and

I was worried just
leaving him there

and not being able to
be there with him.

I didn't want
to leave him.

[Jeff] I didn't even know
what an alcoholic truly was

before I got
to treatment.

For me, it all started

as the little, scared
5-year-old boy

who was sent to
go to private school.

The only one there that
the dad never showed up.

The dad was on
TV wrestling.

When I came to the
realization

that I had resentment

at my dad,

estrangement on any
relationship is painful.

And I liken it to dragging
a massive ball

around on your ankle.

You're pulling that anger.

You're pulling
that resentment.

You're pulling that
bad relationship.

But we knew that
wrestling had,

specifically TNA had
really driven a wedge.

And you know, since that,
we had time to reconnect

and he knew that I
had a problem.

[Karen] When Jeff
reconciled with his dad,

it was definitely
a tough thing.

I'm grateful
that it happened.

[Jeff] Understanding that
when Owen fell 82 feet

to his death and I was
in the ring

and walked
through the crater

that his body left

and me sensing it,

but stuffing it and

putting on an
emotional mask that

I had no idea
I had on...

[Cheering crowd]

Dealing with

the passing of my first wife
with three kids

and knowing that I've got
to run an organization.

I gotta be a dad.

I've gotta wear these
different masks.

I didn't even know who
I was at this point.

?

In those 56 days,
I finally got really

rigorous, honest
with myself.

Got out a few days
before Christmas.

I was super grateful

just to be home and alive.

[Jeff Hardy] To see him, like,
you know, go to treatment

and just be the
greatest human being

he possibly can be,
it's just so inspirational.

[Jeff] The first
Sunday of 2018,

the phone rang

and it was WWE.

?

Went into the
bathroom.

"Karen, I just got
a phone call,"

and she just stopped
in her tracks and

we connected eyes through
her looking in her mirror.

"Vince wants to put me
in the Hall of Fame."

I was completely overwhelmed
with emotion.

The journey that I had
traveled since 1993.

WWF runs and
the WCW runs

and the IC title and
the world title

and the TNA years

and treatment, and this
is how 2018 started.

I was blown away.

Karen and the kids,

we've been through a lot.

You guys are my rock.
- [Applause]

And to my dad, we've had
our ups and downs,

but I thank the good Lord
that we're on a up.

Thank you for what you've
done for me in this business.

Without those valleys,

it's impossible to have
the mountaintops.

Jeff Jarrett is at in 2026,

I work for AEW,
and AEW is founded

by a guy who at the very
end of the day,

we're so aligned
in one thing.

And that's the passion of
professional wrestling.

[Tony] Jeff has so much
experience in pro wrestling.

He's been involved
in thousands of

wrestling live events
all over the world.

And so I love having
Jeff in the office.

[Jeff] I don't even really
know how to put it into words

because when I started
at AEW, I was a heel.

[Announcer] Watch out!

[Jeff] And then
all of a sudden,

I'm asked to be in the

Owen Hart Invitational
Tournament.

Producer sat me down.

Much like the camera
in front of me now.

They ask,

"Hey Jeff, what does
Owen mean to you?"

?

And to this day,
I'm getting emotional.

It's hard for me
to imagine.

It's been 25 years...
[Sniffling]

but there's so many
things about Owen

that I remember

like it was yesterday.

And there was no
wrestling storyline.

There was no angle.

There was none of that.

And that resonated
somehow, someway.

Enter the tournament
and quote-unquote,

I was walking through
the curtain as a heel.

But the people that
night in Chicago,

I'll never forget that.

They accepted me
as a babyface.

There was a massive

full circle moment
for myself that...

the kid from Hendersonville...

[Clearing throat]
It was special.

[Tony] I think Jeff Jarrett
is in a great place.

He's sober.
He's healthy.

He's happy.
He looks great.

For all the hard hitting
action and wrestling

he's been through and
the great matches,

Jeff still moves around
like a young, young man,

whether it's competing in
the ring or helping

train the young wrestlers
where Jeff has

great ideas and
great insights.

[Karen] I think Jeff's
greatest joy is

working with
younger talent.

He loves teaching.

He loves watching

people grow,
become stars.

There's a certain
gratification in

contributing to the
making of a talent.

[Jeff] I'm more excited and
engaged and passionate

about professional
wrestling today

than I ever have been.

[Karen] Jeff will
never retire.

He will be 90 years old
and somehow

still contributing to
this business.

[Matt] I'm very grateful
for Jeff Jarrett

taking the chance,
rolling the dice,

starting TNA himself and
making that into a place.

Like, it's- He's changed
the business.

I mean, there's
no doubt about it.

And he has been heavily
influential in the business.

And I think he will be
for a long time to come.

[Vince] Between
Jeff's understanding

of the business,
Jeff's eye for talent,

Jeff's dedication,

Jeff's commitment,
Jeff's hard work-

If Jeff would have never

lost control of
that company,

God knows where TNA
would be right now.

I mean that from the
bottom of my heart.

[Announcer] Nashville,
Tennessee has been the

home of TNA Wrestling for
more than two decades.

[Steiner] It should have died
a thousand deaths already.

But it's, yeah,
it's still kicking.

[Jeff Hardy] To be a
pro wrestler in TNA

here in 2026 and
the last couple of years

has been so great
for my brother and I.

Whoever said that they
wouldn't last, I mean,

they are proven wrong.

[Eric] I hope the fact
that TNA is still

alive and kicking
makes Jeff feel proud.

The entity that's
called TNA today,

although it is a completely
different company,

wouldn't exist had
it not been

for Jeff and Jerry Jarrett.

[D'Lo] TNA is absolutely
thriving today with

everything
it's gone through.

It feels like TNA is just
a microcosm of

Jeff Jarrett's life...

still standing somehow.

[Jeff Hardy] The story of TNA
is the story of Jeff Jarrett

because TNA is
Jeff Jarrett.

[Scott] If Jeff Jarrett
would have disappeared

when Jill got sick
and passed,

if Jeff Jarrett would
have disappeared

with all the drama
with him and Karen,

if Jeff would have
disappeared in 2017 and

wouldn't have kept just
fighting and coming back and

believing when there's no
rational reason to believe,

then we don't have one of
the greatest success stories

that's ever transpired.

[Steiner] It's not how many
times you get knocked down

it's how many times
you can back up.

And a lot of people get
knocked down in life.

Everybody has setbacks,

but every time
he's gotten knocked down,

he's gotten back up and
coming back stronger, so...

[Jeff] Some people
called me stupid, naive,

an idiot, but I
bet on myself.

And that is something that

I can look my children
in their eyes:

Get up to bat,
get in the game.

It makes life
so rewarding.

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