WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 I want you to imagine, just for a second, achieving 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:06.299 the absolute pinnacle of your profession. You've 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:08.759 bled, you've broken bones, you've driven thousands 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:11.779 of miles across the country for basically zero 00:00:11.779 --> 00:00:13.619 pay. Quite literally broken bones in this case. 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.460 Right, exactly. All to finally make it to the 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:19.239 corporate top of your industry, you land this 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.160 highly coveted writer's job at the biggest sports 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.920 entertainment company in the entire world. Which 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.489 is incredibly rare. Yeah. You have a corporate 00:00:27.489 --> 00:00:31.250 badge. You have a real salary. And then you get 00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:34.270 fired. Just completely let go. Not for a backstage 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:37.090 brawl and not for a botched performance on live 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:39.750 television, but for walking out into a parking 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:42.570 lot and taking a single Instagram selfie with 00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:44.549 your friends. It sounds made up, but it's entirely 00:00:44.549 --> 00:00:47.210 true. It really is. If I were uploading this 00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:48.789 deep dive right now and had to come up with an 00:00:48.789 --> 00:00:50.829 Apple podcast title for it, I think it would 00:00:50.829 --> 00:00:54.920 definitely be the mind behind the mayhem. Jimmy 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.780 Jacobs, WWE, AEW, and the art of wrestling storytelling. 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:02.359 That's catchy. I like that. Thanks. And for the 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:04.420 SEO description to actually pull you in, I'd 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:07.840 write, in this deep dive, we explore the chaotic 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.700 and brilliantly creative career of professional 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:13.599 wrestler, writer, and producer, Jimmy Jacobs. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.989 Also known as Christopher Scoville. Right. From 00:01:15.989 --> 00:01:18.590 his teenage debut and legendary Ring of Honor 00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:22.209 factions, to his time writing for WWE and producing 00:01:22.209 --> 00:01:25.349 for All Elite Wrestling, we uncover how the Zombie 00:01:25.349 --> 00:01:28.310 Princess mastered the art of wrestling psychology, 00:01:28.950 --> 00:01:31.629 blurring the lines between violence, romance, 00:01:31.989 --> 00:01:35.150 and corporate rebellion. That really is the perfect 00:01:35.150 --> 00:01:37.090 summary for what we're exploring today. Because 00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:40.670 when you trace his entire career path, you quickly 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:42.969 realize this isn't just a quirky story about 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:44.790 a guy getting fired over a social media post. 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:47.510 No, not at all. It's an absolute master class 00:01:47.510 --> 00:01:49.750 in understanding how human psychology works within 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:53.019 a... wildly chaotic, physically punishing industry. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.459 OK, let's unpack this. Today's subject is a man 00:01:55.459 --> 00:01:57.700 born Christopher Scoville. But like I said, if 00:01:57.700 --> 00:01:59.599 you've been anywhere near a wrestling ring or 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.359 watched national wrestling television in the 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:03.659 last two decades, you know him as Jimmy Jacobs. 00:02:04.019 --> 00:02:06.560 The mission of our deep dive today is to track 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.240 an absolutely wild evolution. We're going to 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.219 follow his journey from a teenage kid moving 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:14.699 furniture to pay the bills while throwing his 00:02:14.699 --> 00:02:18.000 body around in tiny Michigan indie rings, which 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.770 is a brutal way to Oh, completely. But we're 00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:25.030 going to see how he becomes the mastermind behind 00:02:25.030 --> 00:02:28.650 some of the most compelling, violent, and deeply 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:31.590 emotional storylines in Ring of Honor. And how 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:33.909 that translates to the big leagues. Exactly. 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:36.469 How he took all of that madness and became a 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:38.729 highly sought after writer and producer for the 00:02:39.399 --> 00:02:43.099 absolute giants of the industry, WWE, Impact 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:45.599 Wrestling, and AEW. What's fascinating here is 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.020 how often professional wrestling is completely 00:02:48.020 --> 00:02:50.840 dismissed by outsiders as just physical stunts 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.199 or choreographed fighting. People just see guys 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:55.180 in spandex jumping off ropes. Right, they look 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:57.189 at it and just see the acrobatics. Yeah. But 00:02:57.189 --> 00:02:59.990 Jacob's career proves that at its core, the most 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:02.210 successful professional wrestling is really about 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:04.689 high -stakes psychological storytelling. 100%. 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.150 He managed to transition his sheer genius for 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:10.949 creating these unhinged, deeply emotional characters 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:14.189 for himself into actually scripting the entire 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:16.729 architecture of national wrestling television 00:03:16.729 --> 00:03:19.969 shows for other people. Which is wild. It's a 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:21.930 completely different skill set. But he bridged 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:25.330 that gap seamlessly. And the way he started out 00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:27.189 is just incredible. Take us back to the beginning. 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:29.330 Who is this kid before he becomes a corporate 00:03:29.330 --> 00:03:32.310 mastermind? Well, we have to go back to June 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:37.150 of 1998. He is only 14 years old. 14. 14. He 00:03:37.150 --> 00:03:39.349 gets involved with a local Michigan promotion 00:03:39.349 --> 00:03:42.189 called Pro Wrestling Worldwide, largely because 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:44.229 his brother Nick was already working there. He 00:03:44.229 --> 00:03:46.330 starts out doing anything they need. Just paying 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:48.710 his dues. Exactly. He's a general assistant. 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:50.830 He's doing color commentary on the microphone. 00:03:51.150 --> 00:03:53.430 He's even acting as the company webmaster in 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:56.409 1998. Which, if you remember 1998, that is the 00:03:56.409 --> 00:03:59.030 era of incredibly slow dial -up internet and 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:01.370 basic HTML coding. Oh, yeah. But by the time 00:04:01.370 --> 00:04:05.250 he's 15, in May of 1999, he makes his actual 00:04:05.250 --> 00:04:07.669 in -ring debut against a wrestler named Michael 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:10.289 Stryker. This is after getting trained by a veteran 00:04:10.289 --> 00:04:13.139 named Joe Altano Ortega. Just try to put yourself 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:15.620 in his shoes for a second. Think about what you 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:18.319 were doing at 15 years old. Probably not getting 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.079 slammed on the wooden boards. Definitely not. 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:24.459 He was balancing, subjecting his body to the 00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:26.720 brutal, repeated impacts of the wrestling mat 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:28.939 on the weekends, going to high school during 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:31.819 the week, and working as a furniture mover to 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:34.879 make cash. It's a heavy load. Literally. Yeah. 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:37.120 Imagine trying to finish your geometry homework 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:39.920 on a Tuesday night while nursing a bruised spine 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:42.579 from a weekend match. All while knowing you have 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:45.139 to go haul heavy couches up a flight of stairs 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:47.779 after school tomorrow. It requires a level of 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:50.079 dedication that most adults don't have. It absolutely 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:52.579 does. And it builds a very specific type of resilience. 00:04:52.660 --> 00:04:54.819 You grow up fast in that environment. You have 00:04:54.819 --> 00:04:57.399 to. And that resilience, combined with a very 00:04:57.399 --> 00:04:59.879 stark early understanding of the harsh business 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.579 side of independent wrestling, leads to a pivotal 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:05.259 character defining moment a few years later. 00:05:05.939 --> 00:05:08.860 Let's look at 2005. Okay set the scene. So Jacobs 00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:11.120 has been working for Independent Wrestling Association 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.699 Mid -South or IWA Mid -South. He is highly successful 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:19.040 there. In April of 2005 he defeats Danny Daniels 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.680 to win the IWA Mid -South Heavyweight Championship. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.459 So he's the top guy. He is technically the top 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:27.680 guy in the company but then later that year in 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.379 November at a completely different promotion 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:35.019 show, an AEW show, Jacobs takes that IWA mid 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:37.959 -south heavyweight championship belt, and literally 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:40.259 throws it into a garbage can right in front of 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:42.220 the live audience. Wait, hold on. I want to play 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:44.459 devil's advocate here for a second, because throwing 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:46.680 a championship belt in the trash in front of 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:49.139 a live crowd is the ultimate sign of disrespect 00:05:49.139 --> 00:05:51.160 in this industry. Oh, it's nuclear. Isn't that 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:53.620 essentially career suicide? Why would any promoter 00:05:53.620 --> 00:05:55.839 ever book him after he publicly trashes their 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.379 top prize just because a show got canceled? It 00:05:58.379 --> 00:06:01.459 was a massive calculated risk, undoubtedly. But 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:03.899 you have to understand the economics of the independ 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:05.930 - in a wrestling scene. These performers are 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:08.250 paying for their own gas, their own travel, their 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:10.490 own gear. Right, there are no corporate expense 00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:13.610 accounts here. Exactly. When scheduled shows 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:16.310 for IWA Mid -South were canceled that weekend, 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:19.009 it meant Jacobs was suddenly out of the money 00:06:19.009 --> 00:06:22.569 he was relying on to survive. Oh, wow. By throwing 00:06:22.569 --> 00:06:25.110 that belt in the trash. He made it very clear 00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:28.029 he needed to get paid. He was telling the entire 00:06:28.029 --> 00:06:31.050 industry, this piece of metal and leather means 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:33.990 absolutely nothing if the promoter isn't respecting 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:36.629 my time and my livelihood. That is such a raw, 00:06:36.629 --> 00:06:40.490 real moment. Exactly. If you've ever felt undervalued 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:43.370 by an employer who expects loyalty without providing 00:06:43.370 --> 00:06:45.990 stability, you can understand exactly why he 00:06:45.990 --> 00:06:48.290 did it. Yeah, that's incredibly relatable. It 00:06:48.290 --> 00:06:50.189 wasn't just a scripted wrestling angle. It was 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:52.589 a bold public labor strike. It was a statement 00:06:52.589 --> 00:06:55.050 about respect. He showed he wasn't afraid to 00:06:55.050 --> 00:06:57.110 burn a bridge. The foundation was already rotten. 00:06:57.430 --> 00:06:59.810 And that willingness to blend raw, uncomfortable 00:06:59.810 --> 00:07:02.629 reality with scripted fiction is exactly what 00:07:02.629 --> 00:07:04.689 he brought to Ring of Honor, which brings us 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:07.790 to his legendary run there. The ROH years. Yeah. 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:09.509 Here's where it gets really interesting, because 00:07:09.509 --> 00:07:12.509 Jacob starts pioneering this incredibly strange, 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:16.009 dark, emotional style of wrestling. It really 00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:18.290 kicks off with a faction called Lacey's Angels. 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:21.569 Right. So he forms a tag team with BJ Whitmer, 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:23.810 and they're a managed by a woman named Lacey. 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:27.189 But he doesn't just play the standard role of 00:07:27.189 --> 00:07:29.709 a guy trying to win tag team titles. He takes 00:07:29.709 --> 00:07:32.490 the classic manager trope and turns it into this 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:35.529 weird toxic obsession, right? He completely turned 00:07:35.529 --> 00:07:38.089 the standard wrestling narrative upside down. 00:07:38.290 --> 00:07:40.490 Usually the manager is just a ringside accessory 00:07:40.490 --> 00:07:42.910 to help the wrestler cheat to win the championship. 00:07:43.089 --> 00:07:45.689 The classic bad guy tactic. Right. But here, 00:07:45.790 --> 00:07:47.990 Jacobs's character realized that the championship 00:07:47.990 --> 00:07:51.540 was secondary. What he created was a storyline 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:54.860 about parasitic codependency. Wow. He became 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.420 completely obsessed with winning Lacey's affections. 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.019 He was actively ignoring the matches in the ring 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.060 because he was too busy producing these demented, 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.439 highly dramatic music videos professing his unrequited 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.759 love for her. So he's taking this athletic competition 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:09.939 and turning it into an uncomfortable soap opera. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:12.540 But a soap opera where people are actively hitting 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.500 each other with steel chairs. Precisely. And 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:17.980 he recognized that audiences actually connect 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:23.259 more deeply with vulnerable, flawed, even pathetic 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:26.199 human obsession than they do with a traditional, 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.339 straightforward athletic contest. And when that 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:31.800 tag team with BJ Whitmer inevitably splits up, 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:34.679 it leads to a feud that was terrifyingly violent. 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:37.200 We're talking about taking things to absolute 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.539 extremes. How far did they push this? Beyond 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:43.779 the pale, really. In March 2006, at a show called 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:46.360 the Dragon Gate Challenge, Whitmer attempts to 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.779 lift Jacobs up and drop him to the mat from the 00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:51.519 absolute top rope. Okay. But Whitmer slips. He 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.240 drops Jacobs head and neck first directly onto 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.360 the top rope and the hard edge of the ring apron. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:58.980 Jesus. It's a miracle he wasn't paralyzed. And 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:00.539 the craziest part, they just kept wrestling. 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:03.259 Because of course they did. Right. Then at another 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:05.960 show, Whitmer powerbombed Jacobs completely over 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:07.600 the ropes and directly into the front row of 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.679 the crowd. That is just hard to even visualize. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.940 And this whole horrific chapter culminates in 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:14.299 a steel cage match in Jacobs hometown of Detroit, 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:15.700 where they basically just trying to end each 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:18.500 other's careers. It was a bloodbath. Jacobs actually 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:21.240 wins the match, but the physical toll is staggering. 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:24.240 He lost a tooth and he completely tore his ACL. 00:09:24.419 --> 00:09:27.100 And keep in mind, an ACL tear is a devastating 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:30.059 injury for any athlete, let alone an independent 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:31.879 wrestler with no corporate medical coverage. 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:34.259 Yeah, that's life changing. It usually means 00:09:34.259 --> 00:09:37.059 at least a year on the shelf, completely isolated 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:39.340 from the crowds, the adrenaline, and the paychecks. 00:09:39.940 --> 00:09:42.679 But Jacobs was too smart to just disappear. What 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.379 did you? While he was physically unable to wrestle, 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:47.759 he kept the psychological hook in the audience. 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:51.320 ROH kept the storyline going by broadcasting 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:53.720 YouTube vignettes of him and Lacey taking a trip 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:56.919 to Chicago. He kept his character alive through 00:09:56.919 --> 00:09:59.279 pure storytelling when his body was broken. Which 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.639 perfectly sets the stage for his eventual return. 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:03.940 And his return might be one of the most controversial, 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:06.500 shocking debuts in independent wrestling history. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:09.480 Paint the picture for us. It's late 2007. It 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:12.700 is. And for months, Jacobs had been teasing a 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:15.559 mysterious faction through a cryptic blog called 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.659 Project 161. Really leaning into the early internet 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:21.419 culture. Exactly. He's building an online cult 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:24.740 following. Then, at an ROH pay -per -view, Jacobs 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:28.460 finally returns. But he's not alone. He brings 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:31.440 a terrifying legendary brawler named Necro Butcher 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.659 and a debuting, highly athletic Tyler Black. 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:37.840 Who fans now know as Seth Rollins. Exactly. A 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.559 massive star today. So they rush the ring and 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:42.960 attack the Briscoe brothers, who had just finished 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.080 an exhausting brutal ladder match. They actually 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.960 hoist J. Briscoe upside down, hanging him from 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.980 the lighting rigging high above the ring. That 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:52.940 is straight out of a horror movie. It really 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:55.639 was. And as J. Briscoe is hanging there, his 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:57.659 blood starts dripping down from the ceiling. 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:00.500 Oh, man. Jimmy Jacobs walks right underneath 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.940 him. dressed in a pristine white suit, and lets 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:04.940 the blood drip directly onto him while he holds 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:07.360 a microphone and announces the beginning of his 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.840 new faction, the Age of the Fall. It's pure shock 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.299 value. I mean, it was so intensely graphic and 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:14.320 disturbing that Ring of Honor actually had to 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.549 do a blood edit. They had no choice. Yeah, they 00:11:16.549 --> 00:11:18.629 had to completely remove the raw footage from 00:11:18.629 --> 00:11:20.509 the pay -per -view broadcast and the initial 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:23.149 DVD release because it crossed a line for their 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:25.429 distributors. But the thing is, it worked, didn't 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:28.509 it? The fans relentlessly demanded to see the 00:11:28.509 --> 00:11:31.470 unedited footage. They absolutely did. And it 00:11:31.470 --> 00:11:35.529 really solidified this bizarre, almost... emo 00:11:35.529 --> 00:11:38.230 style of wrestling he was pioneering, we are 00:11:38.230 --> 00:11:40.389 talking about the mid -2000s here. Think about 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:43.149 the cultural zeitgeist. Bands like My Chemical 00:11:43.149 --> 00:11:46.110 Romance, Fallout Boy, this whole subculture of 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.909 teenage angst. Yeah, eyeliner and skinny jeans 00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:51.570 everywhere. Right. Jacobs was weaponizing that 00:11:51.570 --> 00:11:54.009 specific demographic inside a professional wrestling 00:11:54.009 --> 00:11:56.269 ring. He wasn't just a standard bad guy who wanted 00:11:56.269 --> 00:11:58.850 to cheat to win. He was emotionally manipulating 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:01.669 the audience. For example, when Lacey eventually 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:03.710 left him for another wrestler, Austin Aries, 00:12:04.169 --> 00:12:06.230 Jacobs had a complete mid -ring mental breakdown. 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:08.309 The fans were literally in the arena chanting, 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:10.769 cry, Jimmy, cry. Right. And while they are chanting 00:12:10.769 --> 00:12:13.250 that, he pulls out this trademark metal spike 00:12:13.250 --> 00:12:16.049 he started carrying, and he repeatedly hits himself 00:12:16.049 --> 00:12:18.529 in the head with it in this display of unhinged 00:12:18.529 --> 00:12:20.870 despair. He wasn't using a weapon to knock out 00:12:20.870 --> 00:12:23.570 his opponent. He was using it on himself. He 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:26.769 made the audience feel pity, disgust, and shock 00:12:26.769 --> 00:12:29.889 all at the exact same time. That is heavy. And 00:12:29.889 --> 00:12:32.029 it's worth noting he explored these themes across 00:12:32.029 --> 00:12:33.990 different formations, too. If you look at his 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:37.029 brief run in MTV's Wrestling Society X, he and 00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:39.909 Tyler Black actually competed as a literal emo 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:44.309 tag team called DIFH, which stood for Do It For 00:12:44.309 --> 00:12:46.710 Her. He completely understood the cultural moment. 00:12:46.889 --> 00:12:49.309 It's brilliant. He's literally turning heartbreak 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:52.110 and self -destruction into a weapon. And as we 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:54.230 move into the 2010s, he just keeps evolving this 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:57.269 dark persona. He heads over to Insanity Pro Wrestling, 00:12:57.509 --> 00:13:00.450 or IPW, and he gets into a deeply psychological 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:03.149 feud with a young Jon Moxley. Who obviously goes 00:13:03.149 --> 00:13:05.110 on to become one of the biggest, most violent 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:07.529 stars in modern wrestling. Oh, absolutely. So 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:09.990 Jacobs attacks Moxley and then cuts a promo telling 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:11.769 him that looking at Moxley is like looking in 00:13:11.769 --> 00:13:14.370 a mirror. That is a profound statement when you 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:16.700 consider both men's reputations for thriving 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:19.759 in incredibly violent, psychologically taxing 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.779 environments. It set up a brutal dog collar match 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:26.559 in January 2011. Where the two men are literally 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.559 chained together by the neck. Yes. Jacobs actually 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:32.039 won the IPW World Heavyweight Championship from 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:35.059 Moxley in that match due to referee stoppage. 00:13:35.660 --> 00:13:38.740 He was cementing his legacy as a guy who could 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:40.940 push physical and mental boundaries further than 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:43.139 anyone else. And he brings that directly back 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:45.720 to Ring of Honor, fully embracing the darkest 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:47.879 parts of his character. He starts using that 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:50.600 metal spike to literally freeze his opponents 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:53.919 in fear before matches even start. Just intense 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.779 psychological warfare. Exactly. He forms a stable 00:13:56.779 --> 00:13:59.580 called SCUM alongside Kevin Steen, who later 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.139 becomes massive in WWE's Kevin Owens and Steve 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:06.200 Carino. SCUM stood for Suffering K. chaos, ugliness, 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:08.379 and mayhem. They win the tag team titles, they 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:10.480 completely wreck the company. But the really 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.940 fascinating part comes after SCUM disbands. Jacobs 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:16.399 forms a new group called The Decade. If we connect 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.799 this to the bigger picture, the formation of 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.139 The Decade is an absolute masterstroke of meta 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:23.610 storytelling. The storyline reason for the group, 00:14:23.970 --> 00:14:26.269 which included Jacobs alongside veterans like 00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:29.529 B .J. Whitmer and Roderick Strong, was a shared 00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:32.649 incredibly bitter grievance. They were completely 00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:34.730 sick and tired of watching younger wrestlers 00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:37.049 use Ring of Honor as a mere stepping stone. Oh, 00:14:37.090 --> 00:14:39.289 I see. They were angry that guys were leaving 00:14:39.289 --> 00:14:41.409 for bigger companies and being celebrated by 00:14:41.409 --> 00:14:44.090 the fans for it, while the loyal veterans who 00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:47.090 stayed behind and bled for ROH year after year 00:14:47.090 --> 00:14:49.470 were completely underappreciated. Think about 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:51.509 a time you felt completely overlooked. at your 00:14:51.509 --> 00:14:53.730 own job. You've been there for years, putting 00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:56.049 in the long hours, doing the heavy lifting, and 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:58.850 then you watch the flashy new hire walk in, take 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:01.250 the credit, and get the promotion you desperately 00:15:01.250 --> 00:15:04.009 deserved. It's infuriating. Jacobs took that 00:15:04.009 --> 00:15:06.950 exact universally relatable workplace frustration, 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:10.370 that genuine locker room anxiety, and weaponized 00:15:10.370 --> 00:15:13.110 it for television. He was continuously blurring 00:15:13.110 --> 00:15:16.250 the lines between real backstage politics and 00:15:16.250 --> 00:15:19.649 in -ring storylines. He took the genuine anxieties 00:15:19.649 --> 00:15:22.070 of the independent wrestling scene, the concept 00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:24.570 of loyalty versus selling out, the devastating 00:15:24.570 --> 00:15:27.490 physical toll versus the lack of financial reward, 00:15:27.870 --> 00:15:30.230 and packaged it into a perfectly compelling television 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:33.370 narrative. And it worked. Amazingly well. And 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:36.490 that specific skill, the ability to weave reality 00:15:36.490 --> 00:15:39.090 into fiction so seamlessly that the audience 00:15:39.090 --> 00:15:41.730 forgets they are watching a scripted show, is 00:15:41.730 --> 00:15:43.990 exactly what finally caught the eye of the corporate 00:15:43.990 --> 00:15:46.350 big leagues. Which is exactly what gets him the 00:15:46.350 --> 00:15:50.029 corporate job. This brings us to 2015. After 00:15:50.029 --> 00:15:52.509 years of destroying his body, of tearing ligaments, 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:54.690 losing teeth, and bleeding for the art in places 00:15:54.690 --> 00:15:57.389 like armories and high school gyms, Jacobs gets 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.710 the call. The big one. He joins WWE's creative 00:16:00.710 --> 00:16:02.889 team as a writer. But what does it actually mean 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:05.409 to be a writer in WWE? Because he's trading a 00:16:05.409 --> 00:16:07.370 bloody metal spike for a corporate badge and 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:09.929 a laptop. It is a radically different universe. 00:16:10.330 --> 00:16:13.549 WWE is a publicly traded multi -billion dollar 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:16.029 media conglomerate. Being a writer there means 00:16:16.029 --> 00:16:18.950 producing 52 weeks of live, high -definition 00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:22.269 television a year. No off -season. Zero off -season. 00:16:22.669 --> 00:16:25.649 You are sitting in sterile conference rooms formatting 00:16:25.649 --> 00:16:28.049 scripts to the minute and pitching ideas directly 00:16:28.049 --> 00:16:30.370 to corporate executives. You aren't just thinking 00:16:30.370 --> 00:16:32.690 about your own character anymore. You are mapping 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:35.870 out the psychological beats for massive stars 00:16:35.870 --> 00:16:39.210 like Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. That's a 00:16:39.210 --> 00:16:42.070 huge shift in responsibility. Massive. They didn't 00:16:42.070 --> 00:16:45.009 hire Jimmy Jacobs to take physical bumps. They 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:47.889 hired his brain. They recognized that the guy 00:16:47.889 --> 00:16:50.210 who architected The Age of the Fall and SCUM 00:16:50.210 --> 00:16:53.690 understood episodic television and audience manipulation 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:56.210 better than almost anyone else available. So 00:16:56.210 --> 00:16:58.769 he goes from bleeding in dog collar matches to 00:16:58.769 --> 00:17:00.929 sitting in endless production meetings, wearing 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:03.190 a suit and navigating the corporate labyrinth. 00:17:03.289 --> 00:17:04.970 And he does this successfully for a couple of 00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:06.630 years. He's well respected behind the curtain. 00:17:07.049 --> 00:17:10.549 And then we get to October 2017. The selfie. 00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:13.710 The infamous firing. Let's set the scene for 00:17:13.710 --> 00:17:16.309 you. There is a massive international wrestling 00:17:16.309 --> 00:17:19.089 faction called the Bullet Club operating completely 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:22.009 outside of WWE. They're hugely popular on the 00:17:22.009 --> 00:17:24.690 independent scene and in Japan. Huge merchandise 00:17:24.690 --> 00:17:28.730 movers. Yeah. Massive. And they decide to stage 00:17:28.730 --> 00:17:31.529 a rebellious tongue -in -cheek invasion right 00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:34.369 outside the arena where WWE is taping their flagship 00:17:34.369 --> 00:17:37.170 show, Monday Night Raw. They literally show up 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:39.849 in the parking lot with megaphones, rallying 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:43.069 the fans, and making a huge scene. Which is a 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:45.750 massive corporate taboo. When you work for the 00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:48.349 industry leader, the number one unwritten rule 00:17:48.349 --> 00:17:50.710 is that you do not publicly acknowledge the competition. 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:54.099 you maintain the curated corporate reality at 00:17:54.099 --> 00:17:56.779 all costs. But what does Jimmy Jacobs do? He 00:17:56.779 --> 00:17:59.180 walks out of the building, finds his old indie 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:00.920 wrestling friends who are currently leading this 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:04.019 invasion, smiles, takes a selfie with them, and 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:06.319 posts it directly to his Instagram account. And 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.799 WWE fires him almost immediately for it. They 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:10.980 let him go because he publicly associated with 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:13.420 an invading independent group shattering that 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.779 corporate wall. Now I have to ask, was he just 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:18.099 not thinking? Was it a momentary lapse in judgment 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:20.920 from a guy happy to see his friends? Or did he 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.740 know exactly what he was doing? Because getting 00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:25.240 fired from WWE is usually a devastating blow 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.059 to a career. But he doesn't go on a bitter rant 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:31.200 online. He doesn't hide away in shame. He instantly 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.119 monetizes his own firing. He monetizes it. That's 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.779 the brilliance of it. Just days later, Ring of 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:40.519 Honor is holding a pay -per -view event called 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.200 Global Wars in Chicago. At the very end of the 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.319 show, Jacob suddenly appears in the crowd. And 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:50.289 what does he do? He takes another selfie with 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:52.069 the members of the Bullet Club who are performing 00:18:52.069 --> 00:18:54.710 in the ring. Of course he does. He leans entirely 00:18:54.710 --> 00:18:56.670 into the controversy, returning to the indies 00:18:56.670 --> 00:18:59.650 with a brand new gimmick, calling himself the 00:18:59.650 --> 00:19:02.609 Zombie Princess. He took a moment that would 00:19:02.609 --> 00:19:05.289 have ended a lesser person's career, being publicly 00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:07.509 fired from the biggest company on earth, and 00:19:07.509 --> 00:19:09.690 instantly spun it into a marketing triumphant. 00:19:09.769 --> 00:19:12.049 His creative genius just couldn't be cut down. 00:19:12.329 --> 00:19:15.009 But he doesn't just stay an indie wrestler taking 00:19:15.009 --> 00:19:17.210 selfies, he immediately jumps back into the production 00:19:17.210 --> 00:19:19.549 side, right? Yes, almost immediately after the 00:19:19.549 --> 00:19:23.289 WWE release, he joins Impact Wrestling. Initially, 00:19:23.349 --> 00:19:25.769 he's an on -air talent managing a terrifying 00:19:25.769 --> 00:19:28.650 monster named Kongo Kong, but he very quickly 00:19:28.650 --> 00:19:31.150 transitions back into a vital backstage role. 00:19:31.750 --> 00:19:34.109 He becomes a senior producer and a key member 00:19:34.109 --> 00:19:36.109 of their creative team. And what does a producer 00:19:36.109 --> 00:19:39.730 actually do? You have to understand. A producer 00:19:39.730 --> 00:19:43.009 in wrestling is the essential bridge between 00:19:43.009 --> 00:19:45.569 the writers who dream up the story and the physical 00:19:45.569 --> 00:19:48.170 athletes in the ring. They map out the match 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.690 so that the physical moves perfectly align with 00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:52.789 the psychological story they are trying to tell 00:19:52.789 --> 00:19:55.170 on television. Got it. Because Jacobs had been 00:19:55.170 --> 00:19:57.089 both a bleeding edge performer and a corporate 00:19:57.089 --> 00:19:59.970 writer, he was the perfect man for the job. He 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:02.549 stays at Impact for years, deeply shaping their 00:20:02.549 --> 00:20:05.210 television product. And then in 2023, he makes 00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:07.930 another massive leap. He joins AEW All Elite 00:20:07.930 --> 00:20:10.630 Wrestling as a producer and writer. Which is 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:14.319 an entirely different environment than WWE. AEW 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:18.099 at that time had this incredibly chaotic, collaborative, 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:20.799 almost startup -like energy. Right. It was the 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:22.859 perfect playground for a guy whose entire career 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:25.519 was built on harnessing chaos. He brings his 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.140 brilliant mind to yet another massive national 00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.819 television product, helping agent matches and 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:33.059 format live broadcasts for a global audience. 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.119 He works at AEW until late 2024. And then in 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.480 a beautiful full circle moment, he makes his 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.940 return to Ring of Honor, the place where he made 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:44.259 his name. He even steps back into the ring for 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:46.599 a match against a seven foot three giant named 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:49.400 Satnam Singh. Which is just wild. It really is. 00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:51.759 And it just proves that he never truly left the 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.039 performer side of himself behind, even while 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:56.539 operating at the absolute highest levels of television 00:20:56.539 --> 00:20:59.220 production. It's a remarkable trajectory. He 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:01.539 never lost that fundamental connection to the 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:04.019 canvas, no matter how high up the corporate ladder 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:06.420 he climbed. So what does this all mean? When 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:08.559 you look at the entirety of Christopher Scoble's 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.079 career. Jimmy Jacobs is a testament to the sheer 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.980 power of reinvention. You have a 15 year old 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:16.660 kid taking brutal bumps in front of tiny crowds 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:19.500 in Michigan armories who somehow transforms himself 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:22.500 into the architectural mastermind of modern wrestling 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:25.220 television. It's an inspiring pivot. It really 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:28.640 is. He proves that understanding human psychology, 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:31.799 knowing exactly how to portray love, betrayal, 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:34.880 corporate rebellion, and raw angst is the most 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.799 valuable skill you can possess. Whether you are 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.079 bleeding in a dog collar match, producing live 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.779 television on the fly, or sitting in a sterile 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:45.339 corporate boardroom pitching a script, if you 00:21:45.339 --> 00:21:47.460 know what makes people tick, you can control 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:49.880 the narrative. This raises an important lingering 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:52.200 question when you look back at his entire body 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:55.309 of work. We are talking about a creative genius 00:21:55.309 --> 00:21:58.549 who spent his entire life meticulously scripting 00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:01.650 suffering, chaos, ugliness, and mayhem for other 00:22:01.650 --> 00:22:04.349 people to perform. He blurred the lines between 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:07.509 reality and fiction for decades, constantly manipulating 00:22:07.509 --> 00:22:09.950 audiences into feeling exactly what he wanted 00:22:09.950 --> 00:22:12.670 them to feel. So what happens when the line between 00:22:12.670 --> 00:22:15.269 a scripted storyline and a real -life act of 00:22:15.269 --> 00:22:18.130 rebellion completely vanishes? That is the million 00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:20.609 dollar question. Think about that infamous selfie 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:24.480 in the WWE parking lot in 2017. Was it truly 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.660 just a genuine mistake by a guy who was happy 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:29.799 to see his friends? Or, knowing the brilliant, 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.480 calculating, deeply psychological mind of Jimmy 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.519 Jacobs, was it the master storyteller deliberately 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.400 booking his own spectacular, highly profitable 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.180 exit? That is something to really think about. 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:41.819 You never really know where the character ends 00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:44.000 and the man begins. Thanks for taking this deep 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:44.500 dive with us.