During the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jeff Jarrett talks on the upcoming three-part episode of Dark Side of the Ring, on being misunderstood, his relationship with Dixie Carter and the story behind Taylor Swift babysitting his kids.
On the TNA/Jeff Jarrett three-part episode of Dark Side of the Ring (Parts One and Two Premiere July 7 on Vice TV):
“What’s bizarre is I have been a fan of the show, but I wasn’t out of the gate. Because look, being a third-generation guy, it has told stories that don’t reflect maybe the best light on the industry. But as you kind of dig in season after season, I remember Dutch Mantel enlightened me, and then, of course, the Owen episode, and just different episodes, and I’ve done a few. It’s done in an in-depth, very respectful way. So when they approached me it was like, oh, wow, I’m being approached about a Dark Side of the Ring, and I’ve watched plenty of episodes, and a lot of folks candidly don’t get the opportunity to maybe talk about the light side. There’s a dark side, but my story, as it sits today, it went through some dark components, but coming out of it, I’m very grateful. So, when they approached me, I thought it was really interesting, and you just assume one episode, and we got into, hey, we may end up doing two episodes, and then hey, we may end up doing three episodes. I first thought it was on me, and then when you hear, I’ll call it the other part of the story, the back story, or whatever it may be, that kind of came to light, Evan [Husney] had planned to kind of do a TNA story, and then maybe a Jeff story. Then as they got into it, the network was like, “Hey, man, this is the story.’”
On if he feels misunderstood:
“You know, one of the things in sobriety that you really have to drill down on is that I can’t control how other people perceive me, whether they understand me or not. But I will say this: my podcast partner, Conrad Thompson, who obviously I’ve done a podcast every week for five years. When he first approached me, he said, ‘Jeff, you are the most misunderstood wrestling personality I believe in the history of the business.’ That kind of hit me, that’s interesting. For better or worse, I see the wrestling business or I see life through Jeff’s eyes, obviously, but the misunderstood part kind of struck me, in that I can see where Conrad, or you, or others would say that. It started before I went national, and going to the WWF. In the territory days, there’s some folks that knew back then he’s the promoter’s kid, he’s got everything easy, if you talk to the ones that were really around, they would tell you different, and me and my father’s relationship paid for that, and he went out of his way. As I sit here today, I’m very grateful, but he made it a point to make it harder on me than any of the other boys, and I know now why, it was based on the promoter he worked for, Nick Gulas. Nick Gulas had a son named George, and Nick gave his son George any and everything he wanted, and kind of saw how that wasn’t good for George, and certainly wasn’t good for the promotion. So that’s part of me being misunderstood started kind of from day one, and so it’s a part of my makeup that I just know you got to roll with it, and it is what it is.”
On his current relationship with Dixie Carter today:
“It has always been strained. Since before my first wife’s passing, I would say it’s been strained, but I had so much respect for her position. That is the investor’s daughter, in the investor Bob Carter, and Janice played a huge role, and that’s where the talk about stuff being misunderstood that you often hear about Bob Carter, but very few people really understand what a role Jan is. They were a team, they’re a husband and wife, but also a team. But I respected Dixie, and knew that, okay, that’s the financial partner’s daughter. I’ve got daughters, I respected that. So I always handled that situation, and despite what she thought, I tried to look out for her over and over and over. But I mean, talking about Dark Side, the producers had tried to get Dixie to be a part of the Dark Side, to my understanding, multiple times, and she said no, or didn’t call back, or whatever it was. We were on a phone call, and I said, ‘Hey, guys, do y’all want me to call Dixie and try to get her on the show?’ ‘Well, yeah, we weren’t going to come out and ask you.’ I mean, Dixie’s kids, and my sister and brother’s kids, and before my dad’s passing, they live in South Nashville. The kids went to school together. They saw each other socially, so I had no problem, and I’ve seen Dixie occasionally. But I just text her and I said, ‘Hey, have you got a few minutes? I’d love to chat.’ She said, ‘Yeah, give me a couple hours or something.’ So we jumped on the phone, and I told her, ‘Dixie, I know you’ve been asked to do Dark Side. All I really want to say is I’m encouraging you to sit down and tell your version, tell your truth.’ She’s like, ‘Well, I’m not real sure.’ She kind of indicated, I’ll paraphrase, you know, that part of her life is behind her, and all this. I said, ‘Dixie, here’s the real reality in this industry, there’s your truth, and they will say there’s multiple people that are on the show, their truth, and then somewhere in the middle, in there, there’s truth.’ I wanted her to understand that I thought it was in her best interest, and she didn’t tell me no, but she never came through.”
The story behind Taylor Swift being a babysitter for his kids:
“Taylor Swift stories. You know, born and raised, lived in Hendersonville since I was a kid, but Scott Swift, Taylor’s dad, in the financial services business, could work out of his house. Taylor’s got a brother, Austin, but she wanted to be a country music star from a really early age, and so they packed up, and they moved to Hendersonville. Moved down here, and you know, she went to the same high school that all my kids went, and all that. So my first wife, Jill, had gotten real sick, and so just friends among friends around town, and that album Tim McGraw had just come out, so she was just breaking, not on tour, anything is around Christmas time. So a friend of a friend asked her to come over and play for the girls and my wife, and so that’s where the relationship started. In that time, TNA had so much going on there. Wife who’s sick, daughters, just a real challenging time, and so in this community one thing led to another, and it started out with seven or eight of us, and Taylor just kept playing. I’ve said this, it turned into a couple-hour concert. She played everything, but that’s when the girls and her bonded. Then, tough time, and a couple of months later, my wife passed away, and Taylor was with them through it all. She would call from time to time, ‘Hey, what are the girls doing this afternoon? I’d like to come over and make cookies. I’d like to just spend time with them.’ She’d come over and there’s a picture floating around playing the piano, but that’s the side of Taylor people don’t see. The little girl’s grown up, gone to the Big Apple and tying the knot, but she just became what you call a family friend, so I can officially say she’s never been on the Jarrett payroll, so she never had a paid gig as a babysitter, but very, very good to the girls.”
All quotes are courtesy of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
Jarrett also talks on the six-sided ring, Chyna in TNA, his WWE Hall of Fame induction and more!
You can watch the full interview below.