On the latest episode of My World, Jeff Jarrett broke down the territory-era philosophy on hometown stars, revealing that his father Jerry Jarrett once had Jerry Lawler move out of Memphis to protect his mystique. You can check out his comments below:
“Creative is subjective, but the north star I always use is my dad’s explanation, which he really believed in. Lawler was the top star by far in the territory. I live in a bedroom community, Hendersonville, Tennessee, northeast of Nashville. Lawler lived right in the city limits of Memphis, and my dad, as he was starting his own company, asked Lawler to move out of his hometown — and knowing both of them, in those days he didn’t ask him, he told him. Lawler moved up here into a bedroom community. My old man’s entire logic was, if you drill it down, that he didn’t like your top guy to be seen in an opening match, or work twice in one night — limit the exposure, because when the people see you, it’s got to be special. Why has it got to be special? Because they’re the ones actually paying. If you live in a town where they see you at the grocery store, at the gas station, at the restaurant, they see the human side of it. That was the fundamental belief: limit the exposure, and when they do see you, it’s got to be super special. It’s the same reason Vince McMahon Sr. would have his main event go on at the Garden not last — Bruno would tear the house down, get to the back, get in the car and leave, and nobody saw him leave the building. Just because wrestler A is from a hometown doesn’t mean he’s over and going to sell a lot of tickets there. As a matter of fact, it can be the contrary. In my own history, Louisville was a much better town for me — they loved heat, they loved the babyface. It’s a psychology, a philosophy of promoting.”
