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CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: What a fine mess we have here - it's time to bring back Jeff Jarrett to TNA management Oct 22, 2009 - 9:33:02 AM
Never ever never did I think this headline would make print, but it's time to bring back Jeff Jarrett in a management-only role. Please, no white jeans and t-shirts on my TV, thanks.
TNA is currently in turmoil. Rightly or wrongly, Kevin Nash blew up on management at last night's TNA Impact tapings after Chris Sabin appeared to be injured during a tag match with Team 3D and the match continued. Nash wants someone with balls to step up and police the company he's currently employed by.
I tell you who has a brass set. Jeff Jarrett. Anyone who would bring Kurt Angle's ex-wife into his home has a set. Talk about a volatile, hot-headed wrestler to mess with. Whoa, daddy.
More to the point, Torch editor Wade Keller pointed out in his insider Hotline report last night that Jarrett was the guy to keep wrestlers, staff, and other members of management in line in TNA. He was a "wrestling guy" and not a hired outsider like Vince Russo, who is far, far from being a "wrestling guy."
Currently, the last soldier is Terry Taylor, the VP of talent relations. Taylor is a nice guy. I talked to him at the Lockdown PPV in St. Louis a few years ago and had a friendly conversation. I just wasn't struck that he's a quick-on-the-gun decision-maker ready to make a tough or controversial decision. He's more like me: a good guy with an ear to hear your problem, but not the fastest decision-maker. Just ask my wife.
Jarrett will make the tough decisions. Oh, sure, he'll play politics, move the chess pieces around on the playing board, and plant three separate stories to see which one makes print. Plus, it's his company and he has a vested interest in his legacy. By God, the old man might have started it, but I put it on cable TV!
TNA is a mess right now. Insubordination. No foresight to plan ahead with storylines. No policy on stopping a match for injury. Hiring a wrestler who didn't pass a WWE pre-screening test. Wrestlers taking bumps off 1,000-foot platforms into a small drinking glass of water like a Bugs Bunny cartoon with absolutely zero payoff.
It takes someone with a set to fix the problems. Never did I think Jeff Jarrett would be part of the solution, but enough time has passed since he was sent home. The directionless ship needs a captain. Jarrett might steer the ship into an iceberg, but at least someone will be at the helm to be the "face of management" that Kevin Nash can turn to when he needs to express his anger or frustration with the latest in a long line of safety issues in TNA.
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