Details On Jeff Jarrett And Toby Keith Almost Buying TNA, How Bob Carter Turned Them Away

- The expected wrestling promotion with Jeff Jarrett and country music star Toby Keith is said to be a long way from happening. The partnership came together when TNA was for sale and Jarrett went through his Nashville music industry connections trying to put together a bid to buy the company. The deal was reportedly very close at one point.

Bob Carter came to Keith to finalize the deal and the two sides were close on a price, although they were not quite there. The belief is they were going to hash it out but Carter only had one request in selling, which was that Dixie Carter would remain with her title, have some power in the company and remain a TV character.

Keith said he wasn't going to buy the company with any creative limitations so the deal actually fell apart because Bob Carter in the end was going to protect his daughter. Someone in TNA close to the situation said, "That's why we all are still here," noting if it was about business, TNA would have never survived after the big move to primetime TV and the Hulk Hogan debacle failed to stop the company from losing money. At that point, the feeling was from Keith and Jarrett that they didn't need to buy the company as they could start their own.

When this story got out within TNA, those who believed Janice Carter's memo about not selling realized they had been had.

Regarding Jarrett and Keith's promotion, one person with knowledge described it as being in step 1 of a 10 step project and that it would likely be late this year at the earliest before it's off the ground.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Subscribe to The Wrestling Observer by clicking here. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus history pieces. New subscribers can also receive free classic issues.