10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: TNA (Part 3)
9. Jarrett Thought Hulk Was A “TNA Ambassador”
This was remarkably naive from someone as experienced as Jeff Jarrett.
He legitimately believed that Hulk Hogan was coming in to give TNA a little boost due to his legacy star power and nothing else. However, Jeff quickly learned that the Hulkster was “being handed the keys to the brand”. That was news to Jarrett, and isn’t something he saw coming at the time. Again, he sounded kinda’ green here, which is surprising for someone with his own legacy in the biz.
Let's be real: This was Hulk f’n Hogan coming in with Eric Bischoff when the former's WWE options were limited. Of course they were going to flex their muscles and seize control. Jeff also didn’t know that Hogan would revamp the TNA roster by bringing in new names and some old pals - Jarrett did, however, know that’d be a failure. Explaining, he said: “They didn’t know the TNA audience”.
The likes of The Nasty Boys and other relics from a bygone era clashed with the exciting X Division action that TNA's core believers had come to know and love. Almost overnight, the product went from 'viable alternative to WWE' to 'rehash of things that had worked for the WWF in the 1980s and WCW in the 1990s'.
Even so, Jarrett admitted that Hogan had zero product knowledge during their first meeting with Bischoff and Dixie, so it's slightly shocking that he was so taken aback by Hulk making sweeping changes that suited his needs and those of his friends. He'd been around Hogan in WCW, and should've known better!