Jeff Jarrett has spent his entire his entire life in the wrestling business.
As a kid growing up in Tennessee, he watched his father Jerry Jarrett as both a wrestler and then as a successful promoter. Jeff got bit by the wrestling bug early and has spent more that 30 years carving out his own successful career.
MORE: Wrestling acts which should be in the WWE Hall of Fame
When the WWE holds its Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 6 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Jarrett will be the most surprising of the names that will be inducted as part of this year’s class.
Jarrett had two stints working for the WWE before jumping to WCW. Then in 2001, WWE bought its competition with Vince McMahon infamously firing Jarrett on live television.
With an opening in the wresting landscape, Jarrett, along with his father, launched Total Nonstop Action in 2002 that has served as a secondary promotion in the United States. The company has helped launch of the careers of current WWE superstars including AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, and Eric Young.
Jarrett left TNA — now Impact Wrestling — in 2014 and started another promotion called Global Force Wrestling. He was back working with Impact last year before personal issues broke up the renewed relationship, something he has since dealt with.
After more than 18 years since he left, Jarrett — with a resume as a four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a six-time NWA Heavyweight Champion, a four-time WWE Intercontinental Champion — is returning to WWE to join its Hall of Fame.
Sporting News recently caught up with “Double J” Jeff Jarrett to discuss his upcoming induction, his early memories of the business, the evolution of his career, and what is to come.
BREAKING: As first reported by @NBCSports, @RealJeffJarrett will be inducted into the #WWEHOF Class of 2018! https://t.co/30BwDTVo4J
— WWE (@WWE) February 19, 2018
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
SPORTING NEWS: Why do think now was the time WWE decided to put Jeff Jarrett in the Hall of Fame?
JEFF JARRETT: Well, you know, some people have asked it in different ways but I think the real simple answer is it really is the very first opportunity. Up through, we'll say from 2002 to end of 2017, there really wasn't an opportunity. When I closed the chapter, I'll say, in the book with TNA in 2013, literally within, it was under 30 days — it was 20, 25 days — I was already into a production agreement with a production company based out of Los Angeles.
We basically just named the company April of 2014 and from then until I went back with Impact, with Anthem (which bought Impact in early 2017), in 2017 and then the merger (with his company Global Force Wrestling) starting to take place. Jan. 2018 it is, without getting into too much long-winded explanation, that's the real fact of the matter. I was contractually bound whether that prevented them or not. On my end, I kind of think it may or may not have been a factor. This January was the first real opportunity, in my eyes.
SN: Did you ever think this was going to happen or, at least, happen this soon?
JJ: No. I don't know if you're following me on Instagram but I'm not just getting into the TNA days, so to speak. Every day in the month of March, I'm posting something about each year of my career. 2001, WCW was acquired. 2002 we launched TNA. I looked at specifically this situation but, you know, the WWE in general, they went one way and I went the other way. We just took different paths. Obviously, both stayed in the professional wrestling industry, sports entertainment, whatever you want to call it, but we both went down a different path and we weren't doing business together.
No, I never dreamed it would happen at all. But, just like WWE says, never say never.
SN: Have you taken that moment yet to sit down and really reflect on your career to this point?
JJ: No. I've never been a rearview mirror guy. I'm always looking forward, always looking downfield. I got the call in early January and, quite frankly, it has basically forced me, mandated me, or pushed me to the point where I do have to reflect. When I sat down and am talking with my kids and Karen ... They announced it on Feb. 19 and that's another whole story, as I was told to keep it quiet. From January to Feb. 19 I was told to keep it quiet. Then it was released and announced and I got calls, texts, emails, direct messages, all that kind of stuff. People were like how did you not tell me?
After talking with my kids, I did think I do sort of want to look back. To look back and reflect on the career and sort of look at the seasons of it before I got to the WWF, working the territories and Japan and Texas, Puerto Rico, and then the WWF and WCW, then obviously the TNA years. It's been quite a journey, I'll say that.
SN: As somebody that has spent your entire life in the wrestling business, what's your first memory of wrestling?
JJ: Oh, wow. Going to the matches. What's crazy is I watched my dad wrestle one Saturday. I can remember it was Sergeant Danny Davis, some people know him as Nightmare Danny Davis. My dad was wrestling the Blonde Bombers who were Moondog Spot, Larry Latham who later became Moondog Spot, and a guy named Wayne Ferris who later became the Honky Tony Man. That and going down to Birmingham and I can remember Phil Hickerson. I was sitting on the stage and he's scared the crap out of me and he was a big heel that night.
It was going to the matches and completely being on the outside looking in and then riding with my grandmother, going to the shows on Tuesday night and Wednesday night. You would basically see the same card and somewhat of the same match. Just little by little finding out this is a business. I'm 10, 11, 12 years old back in the late 70's, early 80's, a completely different era. Those are my earliest memories. I can remember sitting on my couch and watching Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler on David Letterman and really being intrigued by that.
SN: Was there any doubt in your mind or your family's mind that you follow along and get into the wrestling business?
JJ: I've got four siblings and I'm the only one that got into the business and made a career out of it. Basketball was my first love. I still love the game of basketball. I went on to play one year of college ball and my plan was to play four years but the bug bit a little early and I got into the industry. I always loved it and knew in the back of my mind, didn't really consciously think when I get done with basketball, I'm going to do wrestling. But I loved it. And I loved not just watching the matches but everything about it. The promotion, the marketing, the concessions, we'll call it production but that was setting up the ring and the microphone and the PA system and everything that goes with the early days when I was introduced to professional wrestling. There wasn't any particular path or journey but I knew I would get into it.
SN: April 6 is the day of the Hall of Fame ceremony and that will be your 32-year anniversary of your first match. What do you remember about that match?
JJ: It was a ten-minute draw. I had no idea about psychology or storytelling or what it meant. I just knew that Tony Falk was my opponent. He was on this enormous losing streak and every week he would come on TV and talk about this week I'm getting a win. Fans will know Barry Horowitz who would go on a losing streak, now there's Curt Hawkins. He was on a losing streak and was going to capture his first win. I was a referee, then Buddy Landell and Bill Dundee beat me up and that instigated (Jerry) Lawler coming back and they had their main event feud but I went back into refereeing and Tony Falk goaded me into a match and the story was that he was going to get his first win. In hindsight, looking at the emotions of going into that story, it was great because the people didn't really care if I won. They just didn't want me to get beat.
So, going to a ten minute draw despite not winning my first match accomplished a lot. I didn't win but he didn't win and by him not winning was a moral victory and it just worked. I remember it and me and Tony are buddies to this day and he can lay out the entire story. I do remember that first series of matches with Tony and how grateful I am as I sit here today and think back and really know in detail and know why and how and when and where it took place. Here we're going to be 32 years later on the anniversary of it and I'm stepping into the Hall of Fame which is incredibly humbling.
SN: Explain what it was like at that time in the mid-to-late '80s to early '90s working in the CWA and the USWA and being in that area with those fans who were intensely passionate about wrestling.
JJ: Obviously, a completely different era. The biggest difference is we had a 90-minute live television in Memphis, Tenn. That 90-minute show aired the following week — they call it bicycling — they showed it in Nashville, Louisville and Evansville. We would have the TV and go to the Mid-South Coliseum on Monday nights and have our show and then the following Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, follow up that same program. We're working six-to-seven days a week, the same opponents night in and night out. It was so unique but that is really, you have to think of the learning curve and how many matches I had in my first year compared to when guys get in the business now. We literally worked six or seven times a week, every week for weeks upon weeks. I did that for seven straight years. In my first seven years in the business, the amount of matches I had, you can do the math, was quite a bit.
Again, you learn so much by listening to different people and understanding that the Memphis crowd is different from the Louisville crowd and the Louisville crowd is different from Nashville. They all had a different vibe and a different feel. A Saturday night crowd can be different from a Wednesday night crowd. It's just the nature of the beast. On Tuesday or Wednesday nights, people have to get up and go to work the next morning. On Saturday night, you let your hair down a little more. It's the little nuances of working a weekly territory. Same with me going from Tennessee down to Puerto Rico and working. Again, a different style, a difference audience, a different travel schedule. Same with Texas, same with Japan. Back in those days, what a learning curve and what a real breeding ground to really hone your craft.
SN: What was the adjustment like going from that to WWF at the time?
JJ: One of the big things, and this is something that a couple of people that have known me my entire career, is for seven years I was the babyface, I was the good guy. I was the blonde hair, blue-eye guy. Lawler was the king and he was the top babyface and I would fluctuate on the card but I was always in his shadows but I was always fighting from underneath. In a matter of about 12 or 13 weeks, I came on WWF television as "Double J" Jeff Jarrett and I was a heel. I was the bad guy. That was the first time I had ever been a heel in my entire life. It was a drastic change from the transition of working the weekly territory to going on a national and global stage of the WWF and working from the good guy side to the bad guy side. Completely different.
SN: Even before you had the idea of creating Impact Wrestling, had you already thought that you either wanted to start up your own promotion or be heavily involved in running a promotion?
JJ: I can remember getting to the WWE in '93 and the trucks, the large scale production, how far things were done on every level — marketing, PR, promotions, just how the machine was run. Then getting to the Turner organization and seeing a corporately run organization. Although in the same professional wrestling industry, the organizations were run almost polar opposites on several levels.
I knew in the early 2000s, I was still young in my career, that I had my wrestling career in front of me but in the back of my mind I always knew that at some point, I wanted to transition into the promoting side, into the marketing side, into the management side. Did I have plans when I was working for WCW to start an organization at 34 or 35 years old? Absolutely not. But when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it and never looked back. I always knew I would graduate into the next stage of my career in the business, I just didn't realize it would come so soon.
SN: As a creator, what's going on with you and what's going on with Global Force Wrestling?
JJ: Very excited. The biggest thing, and I say this because it can be a two-part question: where do I see the business going and where do I see Global Force going? The simple answer is almost the same. Our industry has extreme growth potential international and Global Force is working on two specific projects. One very big, the other is still pretty big. When you look around the world and, through my TNA days and ever dating back a few years before that, the international scene is only going to get bigger. There's no doubt in my mind it's got such growth opportunity. Internationally is where I'm going, where Global Force is going, and I think that's where the industry is going.
SN: I know you've talked about how difficult 2017 was for you both personally and professionally. You went and got some help for some personal issues that you were going through. What convinced you to get some help?
JJ: Life. The short answer is life. I will say this: that decision, that single decision may be the greatest decision of my life. I knew much more so on a personal side as opposed to a professional side that it was time to make a change. I have, and I thank the good Lord, I'm blessed in that if I can't figure something out, I know where I can. And if I don't know where to figure it out, I'm going to ask enough questions. A guy told me while I was in treatment the trade of surrounding yourself with people smarter than yourself really operates in all facets of life. I was a big believer in that mantra beforehand but now more so than ever. If you really surround yourself, and I say I want to be the dumbest guy in the room, that's not a real bad strategy on any level because there's so much growth potential. It's very hard to grow when you're winning. It's very hard to grow when you're always the smartest guy in the room or the most successful.
You learn from losses. You learn from persevering. You learn from getting knocked down. I know the cliché is so old and sometimes people will say it's so worn out but it's the truth. When you really look at life on anything whether it's a ballgame, whether it's a business or family or whatever it is, it doesn't really matter how many times you get knocked down. It absolutely matters how many times you get back up and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
SN: When it comes to Impact Wrestling, do you still keep up with it and what are your impressions of it now that you're no longer a part of that company?
JJ: First off, I keep up with Impact, Lucha Underground, CMLL, AAA, Ring of Honor, WWE, all brands. I'm a wrestling junkie. I'm a wrestling fan long before I was a professional wrestler or promoter. I wish those guys nothing but the best. It's no secret they've had their bumps and bruises and ups and downs but this industry needs as many thriving promotions as it can possibly have.
SN: Do you already have a plan and your speech ready for your Hall of Fame speech?
JJ: I do not. (laughs) I've begun to work on it. I do know this — that the old Double J light-it-up outfit was pulled out of storage. Unbelievable in my mind that they still have it. They pulled it out, put fresh batteries in it and it did fire up. That's going to be at Axxess and Friday is the Hall of Fame. Saturday I'm at Axxess and I get to go to the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, and the only responsibility I have is to put on a tux and go out and wave. I'm pretty damn pleased that I get to go to a wrestling show for the first time in my career with almost zero responsibility.
SN: How about a white tux with some lights on it?
JJ: You never know. You just never know what Double J may pull out of the bag of tricks. I'm excited for the evening. April 6 is going to be special.
Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.
