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When the announcement was made, the world reacted with shock. Jeff Jarrett is the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. The man who has become synonymous with TNA, Impact Wrestling and GFW in the second half of his career is being felicitated by none other than Vince McMahon himself. It is quite astonishing!
Whatever your thoughts about Jeff Jarrett may be, it is impossible to deny that he had quite the prolific career in professional wrestling. Several top WWE superstars today also owe their careers to him. His booking career was just as memorable as his wrestling one.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit the career of Double J again. Here are 5 things about him that you may not have known.
Leave a comment below and let us know your favourite Jeff Jarrett memory, from any of his promotions, feuds or programs.
#5 He was fired on live TV
In 1999, Jeff Jarrett's contract expired a day before he was set to compete against Chyna. He was the Intercontinental Champion at this time, and Vince McMahon had no other choice than to pay $300,000 to Jarrett to get him to do one match. It's no surprise that McMahon wasn't too fond of Jarrett ever since. He decided to punish Jarrett after he purchased WCW.
On the final episode of Nitro, WCW's flagship show, Vince McMahon decided to fire Jeff Jarrett. He mocked Jarrett's typical manner of speaking, by saying Jarrett was Capital G, Double O, Double N, Double E. Gone! Yes, McMahon fired Jarrett on live TV.
Jarrett went on to create TNA and have a great career of his own. However, this remains one of the most savage moments in the history of professional wrestling.
#4 His grandma came up with Slapnutz
One of the terms associated with Jeff Jarrett is 'Slapnutz'. He got the term over at the height of the Monday Night Wars, and it means exactly what you think it means. Many have wondered where the term came from. We found out that it came from his grandmother.
We had a chance to interview Jarrett during the Impact tapings in India and this is what he had to say:
So, Slapnutz was derived from my grandmother Christine Jarrett and she used to call people slappy. A slappy was someone who slapped their gums together. She would say, they know more and more about less and less every day.
So how did a slappy become Slapnutz? We wondered the same and asked Jarrett:
So you put that in 1999 language and you turn it into a slapnut, with a Z. It sort of just took off, sold a lot of t-shirts, had a lot of fun. It’s funny. Here we are in 2017, in Mumbai, India and you're asking me about Slapnutz. You're the crazy one (Laughs).
Well, now you know what Slapnutz are. Hopefully, you don't know more and more about less and less every day. That would make you a slappy!
#3 Despite their interesting history, he respects Kurt Angle
It is no secret that Jeff Jarrett is married to Karen Jarrett, who was once Karen Angle. The two became romantically linked when Kurt and Karen were separated. Dixie Carter became so enraged when she heard the news, she put Jarrett on a leave of absence. Jarrett would return to TNA and use the real-life storyline, to create a compelling feud.
Jarrett has nothing but praise for Angle, even after all that happened. In the video linked above, he talks about how Angle was one of the few amateur wrestlers who transitioned perfectly into professional wrestling as well. He said this to us, during an interview about his favourite match from his career:
If I have to say one match, it’s probably in Cincinnati. The 2/3 falls cage match with Kurt Angle. At that stage of my career, I was training like crazy and really wanted to dive in and have the best possible match. I felt it, not for days but weeks. Yes, Lockdown in Cincinnati against Kurt Angle.
#2 Road Dogg sang his biggest hit
Jeff Jarrett looked like a country music star. He carried himself like one too. Unfortunately, he had no voice to back it up. Wait...who sang the classic 'With My Baby Tonight' then?
Believe it or not, it was Road Dogg who sang the song. Road Dogg, who was known as The Roadie then, even admitted in storyline that Jarrett had been lip-syncing the song when Jarrett left the company to go to WCW. The plan was for the two men to have a long feud.
Another musical performance that Jarrett will be remembered for is 'Some Girls Do', a song that he sang alongside the band Sawyer Brown. Or at least pretended to sing it...who really knows?!
#1 Jeff Jarrett was in a Michael J. Fox movie
Life with Mikey is not a film that will live on in the annals of cinema as a classic. To the best of our knowledge, the film was a flop! However, it did feature a memorable scene. Jeff Jarrett against a masked wrestling superstar.
Guess who the masked superstar was? Why, it was none other than Jerry Lawler. The two men faced each other in the movie, and Lawler picked up the win.
And there you have it. 5 interesting facts from Jeff Jarrett's life that most fans don't know about!
What do you think of Jarrett making it to the WWE Hall of Fame?
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