My World w/ Jeff Jarrett - Jeff's Rookie Year [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Jeff today we’re going to be discussing your rookie year in professional wrestling!

First off…were you always destined to get into the professional wrestling business?

Did your dad push you to get in - or was he hesitant to get you involved?

What were your goals when you were training?

Walk us through your training - under your father & Tojo Yamamoto.

How long did you train for?

Were you already smart to the business when you first stepped into a ring?

Was the plan always for you to referee than switch over to wrestler?

What did you learn as a referee to become a better wrestler?

Who did you travel on the road with during that beginning process?

Did anyone attempt to take any liberties with you as a referee - or was everyone aware - obviously you’re Jerry’s son…

We talked briefly in our Dutch Mantell episode recently about the hot angle on Memphis TV on March 1, 1986, where Bill Dundee and Buddy Landel beat up 18-year old referee Jeff Jarrett after their match, and also Jerry Jarrett when he tried to make the save for him, specifically targeting his one good eye.

Dutch then comes running out to make the save from the showers in his bare feet, shampoo still in his hair, and ends up picking Jeff up and carrying him out.

2 weeks later on TV, Jeff’s first interview is on TV where he explains why he wants to become a pro wrestler, and reads the “Don’t Quit” poem for his brother Jason, that he would later recite for his WWE HOF 2018 speech:

video of Jeff’s first TV interview

Jeff gives his explanation about how he’d be excited to see his father competing in the ring. He was proud to have his father competing on television and his friends tell him they saw his father on TV. His father was just his dad growing up.

He’d go to the shows and become his fathers biggest fan. Jerry had become his hero.

Jeff wanted to be just like his dad. He hopes that the interview has given the fans an explanation about why he wanted to be a wrestler.

Jeff then talks about being the referee for Dundee’s tag match. He wants to do it again and that’s because his father told him to never give up.

What do you remember of all this?

Did you have any say or power in this scenario or was this all your Dad?

On Memphis TV April 5, 1986, Tony Falk goes over to Lance Russell and talks about issuing challenges to Jackie Fargo and Jeff Jarrett but has yet to hear anything from them.

Falk calls Jeff a coward. Falk wants the match to happen anywhere and any time. Jerry Lawler comes out to confront Falk and Falk hides behind the commentary table. Lawler says that Falk is a coward. Lawler talks about how Falk tossed ink in his eyes when he wrestled Bill Dundee.

He thinks Falk wants to wrestle Jarrett because he’s not yet a wrestler and thinks that’s the only way he can win a match.

Falk backs away from Lawler and gets shoved. Jeff Jarrett comes out from behind and tackles Falk! Jarrett is on top of Falk delivering right hands. Eddie Marlin comes out to pull Jarrett off.

Walk us through Tony Falk - this match - the angle - and do you think it was the right way to launch your career?

This leads to 2 days later:

April 7, 1986 - Jeff’s debut vs Tony Falk at the Mid-South Coliseum. Falk is on a losing streak at the time and he expected a guaranteed victory against Jeff Jarrett, but the match goes to a 10-minute time limit draw.

Jeff’s first match on TV is a rematch with Tony Falk at the Memphis TV studios on April 12, now with a 15-minute time-limit and Jeff wins!

But he is attacked after the match by Dundee and Landel again until Butcher Jos LeDuc makes the save.

Jeff - is it a big deal to win this match on TV? How important is Tony to your career looking back?

This leads to a tag match that Monday at the weekly Mid-South Coliseum show, Jeff & LeDuc win via DQ. How big a moment is it for you to get to wrestle on a Monday night Mid-South Coliseum?

This then turns to a 6-man the following week with Jerry Lawler on your team defeating the team of Falk with Dundee & Landel.

With everything that’s gone on with Jerry in the last few weeks - looking back - how important is he at this young point in your career?

How different do you think your start in the business is if you’re not Christine’s grandson or Jerry’s son?

Do you think the road was easier or harder because of it?

Falk is also the manager of Sheik Abdul Gaddafi and in some of the other cities, you & Lawler defeated Falk & Gaddafi such as on 4/19 in Nashville and 4/25 in Jackson, TN. Early on - what towns were the best and worst to work for?

Into mid May, and after going to all the different cities in the territory and doing different combinations of the above matches, Jeff started teaming with Pat Tanaka on the road in matches vs. Tony Falk & Pat Rose. Was it a tough adjustment going back and forth with different styles and workers?

On the May 10th Memphis studio TV show, Jeff teamed with Billy Travis and, making his return to the territory - UNCLE ELMER.

Elmer had just being fired from the WWF and you defeated the team of Keith Eric, The Patriot & The Blue Demon

(Elmer was renamed The Giant Hillbilly the next week due to a cease & desist from the WWF)...what was the WWF considered to you and your family at the time? Evil Empire?

Jeff defeated Tony Falk in several loser leaves town matches across the territory at the end of May. Is this a torch passing moment in your mind?

Jeff begins teaming up with Tojo Yamamoto on the road vs. The Nightmares or Southern Tag Champs The MOD Squad (Spike & Basher).

To team up with your trainer and start to move up the card - big deal for you is it not?

Jeff and Tojo even won the International Tag Titles from Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto. (they do the same title switch in multiple cities including Memphis on 6/30 and Nashville on 7/5).

First off - your first big title victory - how big is it to you?

Doing it with one of your trainer also had to be a big moment as well right?

Did you do the same matches in all the towns or did you try to switch it up?

Explain kayfabe for Memphis at this time - was no one worried that no one in these towns would talk to each other?

Tojo eventually turned heel and walked out on Jeff in the tag title match - what did you think of the idea of already splitting you two up - with the story of you two winning the titles?

On Memphis TV 7/5/86:

Lance Russell interviews Pat Tanaka and Jeff Jarrett. Russell says that this should be Jarrett’s best day of his life. Jarrett won the International Tag Team Title with Tojo. However, Tojo walked out on him.

Jarrett was able to get a rollup and secure the pin after Tojo tagged him back in when he hadn’t caught his breath. Jarrett has been trying to get in touch with Tojo and hasn’t gotten ahold of him.

He may be a champion, but doesn’t have a partner on his side. Tanaka chimes in and says that Jarrett needs to go after Tojo and not be a nice guy. Tanaka appears to be in Jarrett’s corner for his battles now.

Was this just a way to get you a title and a new heel to work with - seems odd for Tojo to just do this that quickly?

Tojo then became the manager of Sato & Goto, and the titles were held up - why were the titles always held up in Memphis - more than other territories?

-Interview with Jeff from the July 13, 1986 edition of The Tennessean newspaper, based in Nashville

By Sportswriter Tom Wood:

Jeff Jarrett is a lightweight among heavyweights. But the former Goodpasture High basketball star is making a name and developing a following for himself in the glitzy, slam-bam world of pro wrestling.

"I've won the majority of my matches, but it's pretty tough," said Jarrett, who is following in the footsteps of his father, former pro wrestler Jerry Jarrett, now a promoter who books his son's matches. "Some of the guys I wrestle have 10 or 15 years' experience on me and weigh 20-30 pounds more than I do.

One guy I wrestled weighed a hundred pounds more than me. You've got to keep a cool head and not let your temper get away from you or you can get hurt."

***Let’s stop right there - did these writers think it was a shoot or a work? Or were they in on it?***

Right away, one can tell Jarrett doesn't fit the stereotyped image of a pro wrestler — the 6-4, 260-pound behemoth who goes by some silly pseudonym such as Jack the Giant-Killer or Marvin The Magnificent. Instead, the blond-haired Jarrett is just 18 years old, stands "a shade under 6-foot" and weighs a muscular 195 pounds, 20 pounds of which he has added over the summer.

He uses his real name in the ring and plans to go back to college this fall.

***Did you ever go back to college? Was that something that was a goal of yours?***

Last year, he went to school at Aquinas Junior College, where he was a starting guard on the Cavaliers' basketball team.

"This year, I'll go to school and wrestle instead. I had thought about going to Auburn, but I'll stay in Nashville for sure. I don't think I'll be playing basketball, though," said Jarrett.

***War Damn Eagle.***

"Jeff had a lot of smarts on the basketball court, but he just lacked the size to play college ball," Aquinas assistant coach Chuck Anderson said of the former District 11-AA most valuable player.

Jarrett, who averaged 15 points in high school and 8 points per game at Aquinas, is prouder of his grade point average. He says his GPA last semester at Aquinas was 3.81 on a scale of 4, and he is adamant about getting a college education.

***No surprise you’ve been a success in many ways is it Jeff?***

"If I quit school to wrestle, I could get hurt real easy and then I wouldn't have an education to fall back on. I'm not sure what my major will be, I'm just a sophomore."

Jarrett says he got into pro wrestling because, like many sons, it was the family business. "I never wrestled in high school because it was in the same season as basketball. My dad taught me how to wrestle. Throughout my whole life, he has shown me different holds and moves.

***Did anybody give you shit for not doing anything amateur?***

"I think he was happy with my decision, but he never pressured me or anything. We worked all last summer and after basketball was over this year. We went at it real hard. I told him I wanted to go ahead and start wrestling this summer," said Jarrett. "I'd like to wrestle 10 or 15 years and then follow in his footsteps again and promote matches."

***Well if that didn’t ring true…***

First and foremost, however, is his budding wrestling career. Jarrett wrestles across the Southeast practically every night of the week.

"I'm in the ring probably 5-7 nights a week.

You can make a pretty good living. I've found out," he said, declining to divulge his income.

"But you work hard for your money."

***Tell me about the picture money Jeffrey!***

Professional wrestling holds a unique stature in America today. You can't question its popularity with the fans. You can't question its popularity on television. But there are those who question its right to the word "sport," looking upon wrestling as merely an exciting entertainment.

Like most of the pro grapplers, Jarrett is quick to defend against wrestling's tarnished reputation. "There's more showmanship in wrestling than football or basketball, but it's definitely a sport," said Jarrett

"Nobody without athletic ability is going to last long. None of it is pre-planned. It's all happening right there in the ring"

***Look at you…***

Being the promoter's son has been as much a hindrance as it has been a help, he adds.

"I think it makes it tougher," Jarrett said.

"A lot of wrestlers might resent me or they might not like my dad and try to take it out on me.

Some people compare me to my dad and expect me to excel quicker. It puts tremendous pressure on me. It's hard to get in the ring when people expect me to win every time." Although he is a relative newcomer to pro wrestling, Jarrett has already reached envious goals.

***I know this is done in kayfabe - but who gave you the most shit?***

“One of them busted my head open with a head butt and I was covered from head to toe with blood. Another wrestler, Pat Tanaka, had to come out of the dressing room to rescue me. I haven't seen Tojo since, but I want to talk to him. I don't understand what happened."

Welcome to the world of pro wrestling, Jeff.

***Was this your first time getting color? When was the first time you got color? Did you get it yourself or did you rely on someone else?***

Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto win the held up International Tag Titles in matches vs Jeff & Tanaka across the territory in July…

***Working with Japanese wrestlers…any issues with translation or is wrestling just a universal language?***

Jeff teams with Paul Diamond on the July 12 TV show, defeating The Memphis Vice (Jerry Bryant & Lou Winston) but are attacked by Sato & Goto after the match.

***Paul Diamond - any fun stories of the future Kato?***

July 19 TV show:

Lance Russell talks about the Jarret/Tanaka feud with Sato/Goto. The next time they wrestle, Jarrett and Tanaka will have Jerry Jarrett in their corner. Russell recalls Tojo being champions with Jerry Jarrett several years ago.

Jerry Jarrett shares a pre-taped promo and says that Jeff asked him what he thinks happened to Tojo. Jerry has tried to get ahold of Tojo, but each time he has hung up the phone. Jerry thinks he has figured it out. Tojo is older and still wrestles while he’s retired. He thinks that Tojo resents the younger Jeff Jarrett entering the promotion. Jerry doesn’t intend on getting involved in any of Jeff’s matches.

***The association with your Dad - this isn’t something that can be done nowadays could it?

Do you think the business changed too much to have these types of stories help talent?

Later in the show, during The Nightmares vs. Sato & Goto, the match ended when the studio doors burst open to find Fire & Flame (The Southern Tag Champs) attacking Jeff Jarrett in the parking lot. Jarrett takes a rather stiff beating and gets slammed into the trailer that hauls the ring.

The Nightmares eventually make the save.

***This is a pretty classic angle - how stiff was it?

Tojo, Sato and Goto are interviewed by Lance Russell. Tojo says whatever happened outside isn’t any of his business. Tojo doesn’t trust Jerry Jarrett and says as of today their friendship is over with. Tojo is going to draw blood from Jerry’s head.

Tojo never turned his back on Jeff. Goto chimes in and thinks that the whole family is going to be needed at ringside.

***This being your first heavy angle - how much pressure did you have on yourself?

Jeff & Tanaka team with Diamond in 6-man tags or sometimes with Tracy Smothers or JT Southern for TV wins over the Summer.

On the road Jeff and Tanaka continue with rematches with Sato & Goto into August, including “Kendo Stick Lumberjack” matches.

***The Southern Boy Tracy Smothers - I love talking about him. Jeff give me your favorite Tracy Smothers story!

August 2nd TV show:

Lance Russell interviews Tojo, Sato and Goto, and wants Tojo to listen to what Jerry Jarrett had to say about the kendo stick lumberjack match.

Jerry Jarrett talks about when he first got started in the business and how he was told to never promise something to the fans unless he can deliver.

Jerry has said the past few weeks that he was going to help Jeff and Tanaka win the tag titles, but he hasn’t helped enough. Jarrett isn’t going to promise the tag titles will change hands. He talks about how himself and Tojo will have a kendo stick and it is legal as long as they don’t get in the ring to use it. Jerry promises to give Tojo a beating and he’ll live up to it. Tojo responds to those comments saying that Jerry listens to the wrong people. Tojo says they legally won the matches. Tojo claims that Jeff and Tanaka can’t wrestle and he wouldn’t let his daddy get involved. Tojo says that Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka are the guys who run away from them…

***Was your Dad serious about getting back involved and possibly wrestling?

We then move into 6-mans and depending on the city, Jeff and Tanaka have either The Giant Hillbilly as their partner or Austin Idol to face Sato, Goto and their partner The Great Kabuki.

***Austin Idol - what can you tell us about him?

Following the six-mans we go back to Jeff & Tanaka challenging Sato & Goto for the International tag titles, but this time Jeff’s hair is on the line.

Jeff & Tanaka win the titles in each city they run the match such as 8/25 in Memphis and 8/27 in Evansville.

***How big a stipulation was the hair stipulation back then in Memphis?

However the following week, Sato & Gato win the belts back in rematches with their hair on the line this time.

***The nature of which titles changed hands - that was only really done in Memphis. Why do you think that was?

Memphis TV 9/6/86:

Jerry Lawler recently sat down with Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka and asked what they like most about wrestling.

Jarrett says that wrestling is a lot of fun and they spend some time working out and hanging out with girls. There’s footage of the duo shopping as if they are best friends. Tanaka says they enjoy meeting all the fans. Jarrett says his favorite thing about wrestling is how the fans are always behind them and give them support.

***White meat babyface huh?

Jeff & Tanaka defeated Memphis Vice (Jerry Bryant & Lou Winston)

Jarrett has new ring gear as he’s wearing purple pant tights. Tanaka gets the hot tag and he cleans house and all four men are in the ring brawling. Sato, Goto and Tojo come out and the champions attack Jarrett and Tanaka with help from Memphis Vice. Tojo gets in the ring and beats on Jarrett with his kendo stick. Tojo whacks Tanaka over the head with the stick and Tanaka has been busted open. Jarrett has been busted open as well. The beating goes on for several minutes.

***Do you think Memphis doesn’t get the credit it should for being “hardcore?”

Jerry Jarrett enters the ring and cleans house to save his son, until Tojo whacks Jerry with the kendo stick. Jerry Lawler runs out and makes the save and hits Tojo with the kendo stick several times.

***Lot of Jerry’s running around…do you think you ever got overshadowed by your Dad and Lawler in these angles? Or do you think it continued to help give you a rub?

***Were you main eventing any of these towns?

The tag title feud continues as Sato & Gato win the next set of matches with two referees.

The following week, they have a “mystery referee” although it’s clear it’s Jerry Jarrett.

***Is that the Midnight Rider story?

Memphis 9/20/86 TV show:

Lance Russell brings out Tojo Yamamoto, Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto. Tojo says that they are not sneaky. Tojo says that they are imperial. Tojo threatens to paint Jeff Jarrett’s back yellow because he’s a coward. He’ll whip Jerry with a belt and paint his back as well.

Then Sato & Goto are wrestling Jim Jamison & David Johnson, Pat Tanaka and Jeff Jarrett come out to ringside and Jarrett dumps yellow paint onto Tojo!

***Obviously something that can’t be done today - but you can tell a lot of wrestling in the next 10 years came from Memphis - from paint down someone’s back to the nWo spray painting - whatever is old is new again isn’t it?

That leads to a brawl between the two tag teams. Tanaka gets hit with the paint can and Jarrett is double teamed. Tojo whacks Jarrett a few times in the midsection with his kendo stick and belt as Goto holds Jarrett open for the shots. Tojo continues to deliver several strikes over Jarrett’s back. Tanaka has been knocked out from the paint can shot. Jarrett is essentially out on his feet at this point. Eddie Marlin gets stopped by Sato on the floor and is held and beaten by Goto.

***Tell me about Eddie Marlin and his contribution to Memphis.

This led to some matches with Jerry Jarrett vs Tojo, and Jerry “breaks” Tojo’s arm to keep this feud going EVEN LONGER!

***Having your Dad back in the ring - did any of this mean anything to you? Was the feud going too long or is this just how Memphis does?

The next gimmick match set up is a “strap on a pole match” with Sato & Goto vs Jeff and his father Jerry. This is the first time the Jarretts will team up in the ring.

Jeff says in the 9/27 TV interview that he had always dreamed of teaming up with his dad.

***I’m assuming that was legitimate Jeff?***

Later in the show during a match with Jeff & Tanaka vs the Memphis Vice:

Sato and Goto come out and attack Jarrett and Tanaka, Jerry Jarrett comes out and helps his son and Tanaka. The Ninja comes out and knocks the faces down with strikes. Paul Diamond slides into the ring and cleans house until he gets whacked with a steel chair on the right leg. Jarrett is being hit by Tojo with a chair. They put Diamond’s leg over a steel chair and Sato comes off the top to deliver a splash to the leg.

***Was this what Pillmanizing ended up being?

They are destroying the faces for several moments. Jerry is trapped on the apron and Tojo whips Jerry with his belt. Eddie Marlin has a trash can and decks Ninja but he is hit by the trash can within a few moments. A few enhancement guys try to help while Jarrett is destroying Tojo with a kendo stick on the floor. Tommy Rich and Tracy Smothers enter the ring with steel chairs to make the save.

Paul Diamond is selling his leg on the mat for a few minutes.

***A lot of heat booked back then wasn’t it?

Next week on TV, it is announced that they broke Diamond’s leg. We also have a rematch with Jeff & Tanaka vs Memphis Vice.

Same deal as the week before:

Sato and Goto come down to the ring and attack their rivals yet again. Sato and Goto use a chair and kendo stick, but Eddie Marlin saves Jarrett from suffering the same injury as Paul Diamond. Marlin gets hit with a chair and is knocked to the mat, and is getting stripped of his clothing by Sato and Goto. Goto comes off the top to knee drop Marlin’s leg. Jerry Lawler gets in the ring and cleans house with a kendo stick. Marlin has been laid out and appears to have injured his leg, similar to Paul Diamond.

***What do you remember of the story of them breaking everyone’s leg? Do you know what the plan was and being built to?

Next on the road, Jeff and Jerry team with Tommy Rich to face Sato, Goto & Tojo.

***Tommy Rich - a controversial figure in professional wrestling and former NWA champion - what did you think of Tommy and your dealings with him?

This sets up a rematch the next week, where the losers will receive 10 lashes from their opponents.

***You ever get that done to you?

The following week on the road, they do several “hospital elimination matches”. Similar to a Survivor Series match, however you are only eliminated from the match when you get busted open.

***That’s a hell of a lot of blood isn’t it?

They do a mix of handicap, 8-man and 10-man tags. The main one being a 10-man at the Mid-South Coliseum on October 20, with Dirty Rhodes, Don Bass, Tojo Yamamoto, Akio Sato, & Tarzan Goto defeating Austin Idol, Tommy Rich, Jerry Lawler, Jeff & Jerry Jarrett in the “hospital elimination match”.

***Jeff - what memories of this can you share with us?

The feud goes on…

Up next Jeff has new partners to challenge Sato & Goto for their International tag titles on the road, including Billy Joe Travis in Evansville and Austin Idol in Memphis.

***Billy Joe Travis - chat me up!

They are unsuccessful, so Jeff next has the returning Paul Diamond as his partner to challenge for the straps, and they are successful!

They won the belts on November 3 in Memphis at the Mid-South Coliseum.

***Is this a bigger deal to you than winning them with Tojo considering the angle?

We start building up something different on the 11/8 TV show.

It was supposed to be Jeff and Billy Joe Travis vs Rough and Ready, but the latter are paid off by the Sheepherders (who are Jonathan Boyd and Rip “Bigfoot” Morgan here) to replace them:

All four men are in the ring brawling as soon as the bell sounds. Travis and Bigfoot go to the floor and Jarrett whacks Boyd with a chair on the floor. Travis and Bigfoot continue to trade strikes. Jarrett gets sent face first into the ring post and appears to do a blade job. Travis is sent into the post as well and Boyd is busted open. Bigfoot sends Jarrett into the post as well. The bell has sounded and the match has been thrown out quickly. It looks like all four men are bleeding at this point. Jarrett uses a chair on Bigfoot on the floor. There’s nobody coming out trying to break up the fight. Travis scoop slams Bigfoot on the floor while Boyd chokes Jarrett. There are pools of blood all over the floor. Eventually, several wrestlers come out and try to help stop the fighting. The amount of blood on the floor is an interesting visual.

***This is one of those Memphis bloodbaths we touched on in our Moondogs episode…why was Memphis so blood heavy do you think?

The week after on the 11/15 TV show, and we thought it was over but it must continue - Sato & Goto defeated Jeff Jarrett & Paul Diamond to win back the International Tag Titles in a rare switch at the Memphis TV studios:

***The push was always to drive people to the live events - was that the reason why we didn’t see so many title changes on TV?

Tojo throws salt in the eyes of Diamond after a distraction from the Sheepherders, and Sato gets the pin, and he and Goto are International Tag Champs again.

Jeff now has his sights set on the Southern Tag Titles, and he and Billy Joe Travis defeated the Sheepherders to win the belts on November 17 at the Mid-South Coliseum.

Then a week later also defeated them in matches where the Loser of the fall leaves the promotion.

***The loser leaves town matches happened a lot in this era - was it mostly money based?

On the November 29, 1986 show, and many years before the WWF started doing them - we are setting up casket matches. Or as they are known here the “New Zealand Death Box Match”:

Jonathan Boyd of the Sheepherders is still here, and comes out and he has a casket with him. Boyd says he is outsmarting everyone. Boyd thinks he may have underestimated Jeff Jarrett and he’s out here eating his words. Boyd wonders if Jarrett is actually a man. They will be having a New Zealand death box match. You have to put your opponent into the death box to win the match.

***Jeff - where did this idea come from?

Boyd has the contract and wants Jarrett to sign the match. Jeff Jarrett makes his way out and confronts Boyd. Jarrett says he hasn’t backed down from any challenge and he’ll sign the contract. Jarrett understands the rules of the match and signs the contract. Boyd makes Russell look over the contract and he asks if Jarrett read the contract. Boyd wonders if Jarrett read all the conditions. Boyd tells Jarrett that you won’t be in there alone and proceeds to take a python out of the death box and puts it on Jarrett for a moment. Jarrett lays on the commentary table and is able to eventually get free. Boyd puts the python back into the death box. Eddie Marlin comes out and tells Boyd that the match isn’t going to be happening. Boyd tells Marlin that he signed the contract. Boyd tells Marlin that the python bites and scared Marlin away.

***My goodness Jeff - a python. What can you tell us about this?

The Jarrett vs Boyd match is a bonus match on the cards where they are doing title vs title matches of Jeff & Travis (Southern Tag Champs) vs Sato & Goto (International Tag Champs).

The tag matches end in no contests and Jeff wins the New Zealand Death Matches

***Working twice - double the payday?

On Memphis TV 12/13/1986:

AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis are interviewed by Lance Russell. They talk about not backing down from any challenge. They have a match coming up with the Rock N Roll RPMs (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane), and Jarrett knows that nobody is believing that. Jarrett doesn’t think RPMs deserve a title shot and there are other teams that do. Of course, that brings out the RPMs to respond to the claims. RPMs shove the champs and issue a challenge to them for a match right now. The champs didn’t bring their ring gear, but the RPMs bullied them into a match. RPMs start to backtrack when the champs get in the ring and they ask if they want to do this, and the match is on.

***AWA Southern Tag Team Champions - how often were you traveling out of Memphis to other promotions at this time?

***What was the best relationship your Dad had with another promoter at this time that you can think of? Worst?

The RPMs win the belts when Davis decks Travis with a chain from his trunks while the ref is putting Jeff out of the ring, and Lane pins Travis.

To finish off the last few weeks of December 1986 and Jeff’s rookie year, he and Billy Joe Travis challenge Southern Tag Champs The Rock N Roll RPMs for the titles but are unsuccessful each time in their quest to regain the titles.

What can you sum up about your rookie year?

How fondly do you look back at this time?

You ended up being announced as Rookie of the Year by the AWA…was that a big honor to you?

Was your goal - at the end of the day - to work a WrestleMania or MSG type event?