Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development.
"Jeffrey Jarrett" redirects here. For the U.S. Department of Energy official, see Jeffrey D. Jarrett.Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett[1]
July 14, 1967[2][1]
Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.[3]
-
Jill Gregory(m. 1992; died 2007)
3
Jerry Jarrett (father)
Eddie Marlin (grandfather)
6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[4]
230 lb (104 kg)[4]
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.[4]
April 6, 1986[3]
Beginning his career in his father Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in 1986, Jarrett first came to prominence upon debuting with a country music star gimmick in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1993. Over the next nine years, he alternated between the WWF and its main competitor, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After WCW was purchased by the WWF in 2001, Jarrett joined the upstart World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) promotion. In 2002, Jarrett and his father together founded NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) (later known as Impact Wrestling and now known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling). After departing the promotion in 2014, Jarrett founded another new promotion, Global Force Wrestling (GFW). After a failed merger of TNA and GFW, he cut ties with TNA. Jarrett then wrestled in Mexico for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide before returning to WWE in January 2019 as an on-screen talent and producer. He departed WWE once more in August 2022, making his debut with AEW that November.
A third-generation wrestler, Jarrett has had over 80 championship reigns throughout his career, among them the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (six times), WCW World Heavyweight Championship (four times), and AAA Mega Championship (twice). He was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2015 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
Professional wrestling career[edit]
Early career (1986–1993)[edit]
Born in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Jarrett became involved with basketball while attending Goodpasture Christian School, but he worked for his father Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association as a referee in March 1986 and trained as a wrestler under his father and Tojo Yamamoto.[5] Jarrett made his in-ring debut at the age of 18 on April 6, 1986, when jobber Tony Falk attempted to end his lengthy losing streak by challenging Jarrett, then a referee, to a match. Jarrett accepted the challenge, wrestling Falk to a 10-minute draw. Jarrett is a third-generation wrestler: his father wrestled, as did his maternal grandfather, Eddie Marlin, while his paternal grandmother, Christine, was employed by Nashville-based wrestling promoters Nick Gulas and Roy Welch.[6][7][8] He also wrestled with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the Continental Wrestling Federation (CWF) in the late 1980s.
In 1989, his father Jerry purchased the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) promotion and merged it with the CWA to create the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). Over the following years, Jarrett won the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship on 10 occasions and the USWA World Tag Team Championship on 15 occasions. Jarrett also wrestled on the independent circuit for seven years, appearing in Japan and Puerto Rico. In 1990, he wrestled his first tour of Japan for Super World Sports (SWS).[9] Jarrett would continue wrestling for USWA full-time until losing the championship to Jerry Lawler on December 20, 1993, but return sporadically for future dates.[10]
Other ventures[edit]
In a December 2021 news release from the Prospect League,[151] Jarrett was among several members of an ownership group to purchase the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, a collegiate summer league baseball team based in Springfield, Illinois, temporarily naming it Capital City Baseball until a name was determined.
In February 2022, the ownership group announced the name of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes after receiving input.[152][153] Since the announcement, Jarrett has been active in the Springfield area promoting the team, which marked its 14th season in 2022 and the first season since its rebrand.
1After AAA retracted their working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Jarrett's win was stricken from AAA's records. However, when the relationship was resumed in 2010, AAA once again began recognizing Jarrett as a former Rey de Reyes.[213]
2 Despite being a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) championship, Jarrett won the title while working for the World Wrestling Federation as part of their angle with the NWA.
3 Upon winning the title for the second time, Jarrett instantly unified it with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.