YouTube Finds: Vince McMahon spells it out for Jeff Jarrett
I have it on good authority that Vince McMahon never viewed Jeff Jarrett, the son of longtime Memphis wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett, as a main-event superstar. The elder Double J had approached McMahon in 1992 about a roster spot for Jeff, who had not only developed into a solid worker in his Tennessee-based USWA territory but had also put on considerable size with a strict regimen of training, prayers and Hulk Hogan vitamins (later known as “ICO PRO”). Jeff had gone as far he could in his father’s territory and was hitting his stride as a performer, so McMahon’s Midas touch was the most logical next step. Those discussions spawned a working agreement between the WWF and USWA, which became a farm system for McMahon, who in return would send his established superstars to help keep Jarrett’s struggling local promotion afloat.
Undoubtedly, McMahon was also very interested in the services of Jerry Lawler as part of the arrangement and quickly made him an integral part of WWE broadcasts, where the King still remains as host of RAW. McMahon also entrusted Jerry Jarrett to help run the WWF while the owner was headed to trial after the goverment concluded its investigation into allegations that McMahon had distributed steroids to several of his stars. In addition to pressure from the federal trial, Jarrett was reportedly persausive in convincing McMahon that he would be would better off continuing his focus on smaller workers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels (two performers Jerry was extremely high on) in the long run. The Tennessee promoter says today that the stressful stint in New York in the early ’90s nearly drove him to alcholism as he was drinking two bottles of wine a night–he appears to be only slightly joking. Jarrett also laughs when admitting that it was he who unleashed on the world the Mr. McMahon heel character, which began in Memphis with his feud with Lawler. The King tried to remain a babyface in his home territory while appearing as a heel in the WWF, but it was confusing for a lot of area fans and probably hurt his credibility to an extent. To explain his nastiness to the hometown faithful, Lawler blamed his erratic behavior on his hatred of the WWF and its fans in New York City, Boston and throughout the Northeast, where they looked down on Southerners and our way of life.
While Jeff had a good look (except for that cheesy ’80s-era hair and the worst outfits of any athlete since Flo-Jo), he couldn’t cut a promo to save his life. Convinced he could make anyone a superstar, McMahon produced a series of videos attempting to get the promo-challenged former USWA star over as a country singer who actually knew how to spell his own name. (Show-off.) After months of production on the vignettes, an exasperated McMahon confided to Lawler (who in turn told me) that Jeff was the worst promo guy he’d ever worked closely with in the business, including former Federation champion Bob Backlund. (Clearly, McMahon had never worked with George Gulas.)
Despite his limitations on the mic, Jeff was capable of having a good match with almost anyone and great bouts with the likes of Razor Ramon, whom he defeated for the Intercontinental title when the belt still meant something, and Michaels, whom he dropped the belt to on PPV. It’s hard to pinpoint: Jeff was always gregarious and a pretty funny guy backstage but his personality was never effectively conveyed on camera. In that sense, Jeff was the reverse of “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant, who was quiet and mild-mannered backstage but (as Memphis announcer Dave Brown recalls) “exploded through the curtain” for his promos.
After a stint in WCW, Jarrett returned to WWE without the hokey gimmick in 1997 in one of those worked shoots that were becoming increasingly prevalent (and annoying) at the time in a misguided attempt to appeal to “the Internet marks.” Although it was the strongest promo of his life, Jeff pissed off Steve Austin, who later refused to work a main-event program with him. (The two had also exchanged words years earlier in Memphis, a conversation I was privy to.)
By 1999, Jarrett was ready to make the jump back to WCW with head writer Vince Russo (a union that would not only help kill WCW but would also doom TNA). The day before Jarrett’s WWE swan song, dropping the IC title to Chyna on PPV, his contract expired. Reportedly, Jeff refused to work the show and do the honors (or perhaps dishonors in this case since the job was for Chyna) unless he received a large sum of money up front (supposedly between $250,000 and $300,000). Given the buildup for the bout and Chyna’s big push as a wrestler (hard to fathom in hindsight), McMahon had no choice but to cave to Jeff’s demands–but he never forgot.
Jarrett went on to have four largely forgettable runs as the holder of the WCW World title, which Russo booked to change hands nearly every other week to pop WCW’s falling ratings, including a victory over actor/savvy ring veteran David Arquette.
After acquiring the dying WCW and winning the Monday Night War in 2001, McMahon evaluated Jarrett’s chances for being retained by the new ownership during the stunning Nitro/RAW simulcast…and as the title of the video implies, indirectly helped to create TNA in the process and ensure the continuation of Russo’s unlikely employment in the industry. Classic McMahon.








Use the Highlighter
KFR Reader Comments