My World with Jeff Jarrett - Ain't I Great: WWF Debut [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Jeff today we’re going to be talking about your WWF debut here on My World!

We’re going to get real granular because not only are we going to talk about your debut vignettes and your first TV matches...we’re going to talk about your dabbles with the WWF before all that happened!

The first time you interacted with the WWF was something we touched on in our Remembering Owen episode which you can check out in the archives.

On August 8th, 1992 at a USWA show in Memphis you cut a promo on the WWF being in town the next night at the Pyramid and that it was your territory.

This is the beginning of Jerry Lawler, your dad & the USWA working with the World Wrestling Federation happens when you are sitting ringside at a WWF event in Memphis, TN at the Pyramid on August 9th, 1992. During the event you hop the rail and challenge any WWF wrestler which is answered later on by the Intercontinental Champion at the time Bret Hart.

There’s so much to unpack here Jeff. Let’s start with this...Jerry Lawler had said up and down and for many years he would never work with Vince McMahon yet here we are. What changed?

How much did your dad have to do with putting this deal together?

Wade Keller of the Torch would reach out to Jerry Lawler who claimed ignorance of the angle. Did Lawler really not know?

What was it like being in the ring with Bret that night?

Bret would go on to lose the Intercontinental title at Wembley Stadium later on in the classic match with Davey Boy Smith but was that always the original plan for you to work with Bret at some point in Memphis?

It’s reported in the Torch that you & your father met with WWF officials on August 11th at their TV tapings to strike a deal regarding using the USWA to help promote shows down there and possibly use the USWA as a “feeder league” of sorts...a pre-cursor to the developmental days. What do you remember of this meeting?

Was this your dad’s way of attempting to land you a spot with the WWF?

Did you or your father fear that working with the WWF would hurt your business?

You end up on the Northeast loop for the WWF in early October working Iron Mike Sharpe at the Meadowlands and the Baltimore Arena and also Barry Horowitz at the Springfield Civic Center AND the Boston Garden. What was this loop like and how did it come to be?

Any fun memories?

You end up doing one more show for the WWF and it’s at a TV taping in Louisville, KY at the Gardens where you pin Rick Martel with a DDT. That’s a big win even in a dark match Jeff. What was Martel like and was he professional about putting you over?

What kind of feedback were you getting and from who?

Jerry Lawler finally does end up working for the WWF in late 92 as an announcer. What do you remember of the feedback from the fans back then regarding Jerry appearing on their TV?

You don’t go back to the WWF for a long time after this. You’re working the USWA for most of 1993 with the occasional match against WWF superstars like Doink until we get to the tag match which we also talked about in Remembering Owen, you & Lawler vs. Bret & Owen.

You work Giant Gonzalez for the USWA. Tell us what it was like working with El Gigante!

You’ve long told the story about how Vince told you he wasn’t going to book you for a while so you make an impact when you debut. How long were you in talks about the debut? How does the deal come together?

How important was JJ Dillon to bringing you in?

On October 16th, 1993 on Superstars your first vignette aired promoting the debut of Jeff Jarrett. Who came up with the idea of them? Who shot them? How much input did you have in them?

It starts with the familiar guitar that would be your WWF theme for many years. There’s you at the Country Music Hall of Fame. You talk about how you were born into a wrestling family and you were destined to become the greatest professional wrestler of all time. You talk about how what brings you to the WWF is your true love...country music. You cut a promo on Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks! Finally you get around to talking about some wrestlers including Randy Savage, Lex Luger & Bret Hart.

Double J. Jeff Jarrett Debut Promo at the Country Music Hall of Fame (WWF)

Who came up with Je - double f - j a - double r - e - double t? Who came up with the familiar guitar and did you know it was going to be played in the background of all your promos and be your eventual ring entrance music?

Your teeth with the sparkle noise at the end...who came up with that silly shit?

Jeff, you're 26 here. This is a big push for such a young guy at the time in the WWF. Were you ready?

Your vignettes focus on the corrupt politicians in the country music business about how you can’t get a break. You can’t get a record deal. Is this how you expected to be presented? You’re trying to get into Buddy Lee Attractions and they won’t let you in.

2nd Vignette - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNRyCCp6oA0

In the middle of these vignettes airing...and there’s a lot which we will get into...Vince McMahon is indicted for distribution of steroids. How in the know were you and how in the know was your father?

It’s always been said that JJ Dillon recommended your dad to come in while Vince was going through the trial. Is that how you remember it?

It’s a simple story in each vignette, you think you’re the best but you never sing to prove it. What was the payoff expected to be? It’s not like you have the Roadie at the time as he’s working with Smokey Mountain & doing WCW jobs.

The Buddy Lee Attractions office vignette...explain who Buddy Lee is and what his impact is on not just professional wrestling but country music. Ronnie P Gossett...USWA referee...was involved in that vignette as well. How did that all come together?

Jeff Jarrett invades Buddy Lee Attractions: Raw, Nov. 29, 1993

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Billy Ray Brooks, your driver pulls you up in a 68 blue convertible Cadillac in front of the Grand Ole Opry. Who’s car was it and who was Billy Ray?

Join "Double J" Jeff Jarrett in the recording studio: Raw, Nov. 15, 1993

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It certainly seems as each one airs you’re getting more and more confident is that fair to say?

When did you come up with “Ain’t I Great?” or was it someone else?

You have a vignette where you discuss Tootsie’s... & the Undertaker! Who gives you that type of direction?

Jeff Jarrett runs down the Grand Ole Opry and The Undertaker: Raw, Nov. 8, 1993

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What did your father think of how you were being presented at the time? Did he have a say or hand in your career in the WWF at this point?

One of the vignettes features Miss Texas, which we would all know later on as Jacqueline. How did she come into play?

Join "Double J" Jeff Jarrett in the recording studio: Raw, Nov. 22, 1993

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Jeff you had 12 vignettes to air to hype up your debut which had to be the most I could remember for a character. Does that add to the nervousness you may have?

Your first match on WWF TV was on Superstars on December 18th, 1993 and you get the win over Chris Duffy. You do...a strut sort of in your debut. Definitely not the Jackie Fargo strut as you would later on do. Who came up with your outfit or as Eric Bischoff calls it the “Dick Dancer Outfit”? Did you have any say in it?

During the match you rub Duffy’s face into the mat and call out the Undertaker, Bret Hart & Randy Savage. Is that something you were told to do and was the assumption at some point you’d have a program with any of them?

You get the win with the DDT and you get promo time before & after the match. In your post match promo you say you’re going to rename the WWF the Double J F. How did this go over in your mind and what’s the reaction you get after the match in the back?

Next up is Monday Night Raw which aired on December 20th, 1993 and you’re taking on PJ Walker...the future Aldo Montoya & Justin Credible.

Shawn Michaels is at ringside on commentary with Vince for your match. First thing Vince says, “You’d think a country music star would have blue jeans and a cowboy hat.” As Shawn and Vince discuss country music and Vince asks Shawn what he knows about country music Shawn responds with...I’m from Texas and Vince’s reaction is, “ZZ Top all the way!”

They talk about Walker getting a win recently over IRS to give him some credibility and they discuss the upcoming Royal Rumble. You’re doing a lot of play to the camera and talking which is something that’s really frowned upon now in the WWE. Do you think that’s missing in the current product?

You get the win over PJ Walker with a DDT again.

Were you happy with your first two TV matches and the way you were presented?

When was the decision made to move your finish to the Figure Four Leglock?

You close out 1993 by working a lot with Bret Hart on house shows. San Diego, Anaheim, San Francisco, Austin...what was that like?

To start 1994 you’re working Bret again and head to Madison Square Garden and in your Garden debut you face off with the Intercontiental Champion Razor Ramon which ends with Razor winning by DQ after Shawn Michaels interfered. What was it like to debut in the Garden in such a high profile match?

Later on that night you participate in a Royal Rumble where you last about 7 minutes before being eliminated by Randy Savage. Was this a run through for the Rumble later on that month?

You go on to the 1994 Royal Rumble and you’re one of the heels involved in the debacle that was the Undertaker - Yokozuna Casket Match. Then you enter the Rumble 12th and you’re eliminated in 90 seconds by Randy Savage. Is that a disappointment?