WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, who is also All Elite Wrestling’s Director of Business Development, took to an episode of his “My World with Jeff Jarrett” podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including finding out Randy “Macho Man” Savage was leaving WWE in 1994.
Jarrett said, “[I] get to the building early, and my dad was working for Vince [McMahon] at the time and lived in Stanford four days a week and all that. And I can remember him coming up to me when I’d get there, and man, when I think about those days… it’s just a whole different setup. You came to TV, there was a lot of work to be done, I’m not going to say catering was great and all that. But my old man came to me, and he just had the most bizarre look on his face and said, ‘Can I speak with you?’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, if he’s asking to speak with me that’s code word for Jerry Jarrett, ‘This is serious. We got to go somewhere and get quiet.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, what is this?’ So he goes out there, and he just said, ‘Hey, I just want to give you a heads up. Vince and Randy are parting ways,’ And he went into the whole thing, ‘Savage is leaving.’ And my dad was — he wasn’t crying, but he was emotionally upset that he would come to this. Because of obviously, all the respect, but he also — and I’ll just say, completely agreed, or he was going along with the company line. But he convinced me that, I can just hear him say it. ‘Look, son, if Vince is going to go with this new branding and the New Generation, and he wants to get away–‘ And make no mistake about it, he was getting away from the Hogan branding and probably the steroid era, and Hawk and just everything from the ’80s, because I think there was a bad taste, and he had beaten the government. And Vince, more than anything I think, wanted a new day in the WWF. And he was hell-bent on this New Generation. And Bret, and Shawn, and myself, Razor, and just a bunch of new characters. And so the severing of the ties, it was an emotional deal. And I can remember after my father gave me that information, and he — by the end of the conversation, I think he was thinking that I was going to have some kind of reaction. And I just kind of nodded my head and went, ‘Hmm. Okay, business is business. I’ve often heard about Vince being a straight up businessman, but if he’s letting go — in my mind, even in those days, the second most recognizable wrestler on the planet, then he’s all in on this. And he is cutting ties with a personal friend of his because he thinks that’s what’s best for business.’ And that was just the — yeah, I was shocked. I think everybody was shocked that it was really happening. And the Slim Jim deal and the marketability. And again he’s an announcer, but he is the most recognizable talent we had on the talent on the roster. So it was a huge deal. It caught everybody off guard; didn’t see it coming. But I think it was — like our industry. It’s, the cold part of it was, I think this might have been a Raw taping. The next day at Superstars, it was on with business. And that’s just the nature of our industry. You just know, the train never stops for anyone. I mean, nobody.”
On the roster moving on after his departure:
“There was such a respect level for Randy, he was just — and look, maybe this is just my perspective. He’s in a different category. You look at guys that have their own mega-sponsorship deal, and he wasn’t even quote-unquote, ‘a wrestler.’ He was the Raw commentator. It was, ‘Okay, this is a loss.’ But we all not only understood the loss, but you support your boss and go, ‘Okay, if this is what he thinks is best for the product, look at his track record. We’re going to beat that drum that he’s beating right now.’ You know, that that’s where — I don’t want to say the business has changed. I think society and the second-guessing, and I’m going to throw in social media. The day and age of having a cut-and-dried decision and moving on. Like I said, 24 hours later we’re [at] Superstars, and it was pretty much business as usual. Those days are gone because of the way we absorb information, and the news cycle and the narrative that can be created, and the messaging and everything that goes with it.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
