On a recent edition of his “My World” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett discussed AEW running Wembley Stadium for All In, a potential AEW event in Mexico, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On whether he thinks AEW could run a show in Mexico: “Without question. And here is what is — I think lost so much of, and I guess kind of the first-hand experience I have is just because I’ve been going down there for 20 years… in Mexico, wrestling is a part of the culture in so many ways. And so Mexico City -— that was another thing that you know, Karen didn’t realize. I said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘I think the greater area is like 20, 21 million people or something along those lines. Like, that’s the size of Mumbai.’ I mean there is an enormous population. But you can get all the different small towns, and I don’t want to call Monterey a small town, but wrestling’s all over the country and it has been for multiple generations.
“So the short answer is, it’s not like you’re bringing professional wrestling to a brand new market, and those actually still exist. I mean, like the country of India, and I could go on a few others. South Africa, they got a little bit here and there, but different countries around the world, it’s not a part of the culture. It’s a part of the culture in Mexico. And the AEW style of wrestling is very, very applicable to the market in so many ways. Because you kind of look at — you could name any one of, I don’t know, lots of AEW stars that have bits of lucha in their repertoire. And so you’ve got stars that are big business and have done big business. [Chris] Jericho, in a lot of ways, in his early days learned a ton down there and there. I could go on and on and on. But the short answer is absolutely yes. I’m looking forward to hopefully being a part of making that all come together. But I would say we’re not too far off in heading in that direction; in seeing AEW in the market.”
On AEW running Wembley Stadium: “So I’ve had this running thought. And these are the kind of moments Conrad, that I wish I could kind of jump out of this seat and let my old man, old Jerry Jarrett, sit down. And I would say, ‘Conrad, ask him this question.’ Because I never understood his psychology. He was never, ever — now this is counterproductive, and I’m not saying I agree with it, but I understand the psychology. And I know it’s a different generation. I’m just kind of going to share the inside baseball of Jerry Jarrett’s mindset and kind of why. And then I’ll extrapolate out of it. He was never a big fan of — and I’ll say this, not THE big show. He wanted a big show. If you go back generations and promoters, every Wednesday night or every Thursday night, the greatest card ever signed. It kind of got as a joke and repetitive. But my old man was not the biggest fan of THE big show, because by design, it’s impossible to follow. And you promote it that way, the biggest card ever signed. I mean, for years and years and years, [Wrestle]Mania happened, and then the international tours were set up. Because the live event business and everything that goes with it — I mean, you look at TV ratings. After Mania, down. After the big show, down. Because everything, there’s a benchmark and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
“Walking from Wembley because our hotel is just right around the corner last year — Gosh, it was me, Karen, something like that. I said, ‘It’s impossible to follow. Next year is — I mean, you can’t top that. I mean, you just can’t.’ Because you can spend a fortune and upgrade sets, and you can maybe even bring in a boatload of talent, or you can bring in all kinds of influencers and celebrities. Nothing follows the first. And so you hit it. 50,000 fans is a — last year Conrad, when Wembley was announced, people literally projected, ‘Man, if they can get to 30 or 35, that’s going to be fantastic.’ I heard those words externally and internally.”
