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Tales From the Territories co-creator Evan Husney says The Rock was instrumental in getting Jeff Jarrett involved in the VICE TV show.
The first episode, titled Memphis: Where Wrestling Was Real, featured several stories about wrestling in the Memphis territory in the 1970s and 1980s. The panel consisted of Dutch Mantell, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, and Jimmy Hart.
Husney and fellow Dark Side of the Ring co-creator Jason Eisener collaborated with The Rock's Seven Bucks Productions company on Tales From the Territories. In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta, Husney praised the Hollywood star for suggesting Jeff Jarrett as a panelist:
"Great call that he [The Rock] made about wanting Jeff Jarrett in the episode too. Jeff Jarrett, obviously, had grown up in the territory, he had sort of been a part of it at the end, more towards the tail-end, so I hadn't really thought [about Jeff Jarrett]. [The show is based] in terms of getting wrestlers from their heyday, from the golden age of those territories, and Jeff was a later run." [18:51 – 19:16]
Watch the video above to find out how The Rock joined forces with the Dark Side of the Ring co-creators on the exciting new project.
Evan Husney explains why The Rock's suggestion was perfect
Jeff Jarrett is arguably best known for his on-screen performances in IMPACT/TNA, WCW, and WWE. However, his wrestling career began at his father Jerry Jarrett's Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) promotion in 1986.
Evan Husney was particularly impressed with how Jeff Jarrett interacted with the rest of the Tales From the Territories panel:
"It was such a good call that he had to get Jeff on the show because, man, Jeff Jarrett was killer on that show," Husney continued. "He was so good. He was keeping everybody on track. He had grown up, I'm sure, heard these stories so many times. He had this naturalistic way of seeming like he was hearing these stories for the first time, and also being a conduit for the audience, knowing that these guys are gonna short-hand a lot of the stories." [19:16 – 19:45]
Husney added that Jeff Jarrett received a lot of praise online following his panel appearance on the first episode:
"Jeff will be always keeping the audience in mind and sort of translating certain things. He's like this de facto kind of moderator, and he was so good at it. I saw a lot of chatter online about people saying how awesome Jeff was in the episode, so that was a great note from Dwayne, 'You gotta get Jeff Jarrett on there.'" [19:46 – 20:05]
Tales From the Territories airs every Tuesday on VICE TV. The second episode of the new series focuses on the legendary Andy Kaufman vs. Jerry Lawler feud.
What episodes would you like to see in the future? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
