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 how he believes could get a big Saudi Arabia-type WWE deal.
Jarrett said, “There is absolutely another opportunity in the Middle East. There is massive opportunities, to me globally… How do I make this concise? Well look — and for better or worse. Obviously, Global Force didn’t get off the ground, but I had a mindset to partner with international promotions right out of the gate. Because I’m not going to say that the United States is saturated; that is not part of — that’s a reality, but it’s not the main strategy. It’s that the world is just so much more connected due to technology. And you know, the pay-per-view world if you will, years ago — I mean, they had no pay-per-view internationally. And I’m not saying that’s where it’s evolving, but the streaming world is taking place. And you just look at — you know, the country of India. Amazon Prime, Apple, obviously Disney, Hotstar, all that. The international markets for professional wrestling. Because at the end of the day like everyone knows, we don’t have seasons. We’re a hybrid form of entertainment that is not true sport, but it can land on — and sometimes that’s been a positive, sometimes been negative — it can land on an all-sports network or can land on a general entertainment. There are a lot of places wrestling can be plugged in. And it always rates, and comparatively speaking, it’s not a — in India, as they call it, a big, shiny dance floor show that’s super expensive to produce and cut, and all that. It’s relatively inexpensive and gets ratings. And as time has evolved and progressed that has, in my opinion, been the future for over 10 years. And you know, you kind of look back at — on your family of podcasts. I mean, I’m sure there’s been a number done on SummerSlam ’92 in Wembley. But you know, as the international markets — I’m surprised it’s taken this long in a lot of ways. I just think that from an international perspective, there’s more than room for — I’m going to say, not just another company, a few other companies. And when you have kind of the nuts and bolts of a AAA, and the amount of talent those guys have. And you know, under 100 and — I think they may be at 200 IP. They just have a depth of talent that you can go develop other countries, and kind of have an international all-star roster. And I just — you know, I think the sky’s the limit in so many ways. And you’ve touched on Saudi Arabia, but Conrad I think I saw that there’s many dates through Europe for Raw and SmackDown that are coming up next. So that’s what I’m saying. I mean, the international money’s there, the audience [is] there, the growth, to me, has been there. So internationally, in so many ways, is the wave of the future.”
On the WWE ID program:
“I think it’s healthy for the industry in that it is shining a light on — you know, if you wanted to relate it to the music business, it’s the bar business. It’s where artists really create. I mean, you look at — I mean, I could list a number of folks in the music business who got their start [in bars]. There’s a huge Texas scene, there’s a Nashville scene, there’s an LA scene, just whether any genre. But it’s really the fertile soul that talent begins to create his own persona. Because the schools, you can only do so much. And that’s almost like literally going to a college or whatever it is. You learn to hit the notes, you learn to strum, you learn to have a little bit of rhythm. You understand just the basics, but you got to get out there and hone your craft. So the more that WWE can rattle the cages of the independent scene. Well there’s — I think, whatever I said. Five, six, seven schools that are being recognized. There’s probably another 30 that aren’t recognized. And I think those other 30 are going to have to up their game and figure out what’s the best response to this, and get some traction. I just think it’s healthy for the industry in so many ways.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
