On the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jeff Jarrett told the story of learning Kurt Angle was available and the pitch he made to TNA’s financial backer to lock him up long-term. You can check out his comments below:
“I could take you to the Orlando Studios back lot, to my office where I dressed every trip, and how I was leaned over my bag when Dave Hawk, his business manager, said, yeah Jeff, Kurt is going to be available. I turned around and looked at him and said, Dave, I know you wouldn’t bullshit me about this. He said, no, I’m not. I really could not believe it, because it had been such a grind — the investor, moving from the Asylum to Orlando, the uphill climb — but we were having success after success. When Dave told me, I put on my thinking cap and said, okay, we’re going to get him, and I want him long-term, because I knew Hogan had flirted with us off and on, and I get it, I’ve been a talent — if I can use TNA as leverage to get Vince to up my dollars, I’m going to do it. But when I knew I had the opportunity, I knew we needed to get him five years-plus, and we did a five-year deal with two options.”
“I was at the marina here at the lake, and Bob Carter called me, so I walked up into the parking lot, music blaring, so I could talk to Bob. Bob goes, hey Jeff, sell me on Kurt Angle. It caught me a little off guard, but I’m like, okay, here we go. I said, Bob, what’s the name of our company? Total Nonstop Action. I said, if you want a talent that truly personifies a total nonstop action wrestler, that’s Kurt Angle. No BS, Bob, I think he’s the best wrestler in the world today. That’s who we’re talking about. He said, okay. He believed in me, and we had begun to stack up small wins after small wins.”