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On the new Wrestling Weekly, you’ll get a unique perspective on Jerry Jarrett from our own Les Thatcher who was with Jerry at the start of his career.
We also give our predictions for WWE Elimination Chamber and NJPW’ Battle in the Valley — both happening this Saturday.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
John discussed his experience booking with the late Jerry Jarrett through MySpace of all places.
We also do our usual thumbs up/thumbs down segment.
Then, we looked at the current AEW Revolution card and recapped Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite.
Finally, we previewed Saturday’s double-shot of NJPW Battle in the Valley and WWE Elimination Chamber.
You can subscribe to The Fight Game Podcast on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Spotify or click below to listen.
Click Here To Listen for free
‘Like leaves driven by the wind, it is a time that is no more’
Jerry Jarrett frequently quoted the movie “Gone with the Wind”, in a phrase he would use to talk about his glory days as a wrestler, booker, and promoter.
Jerry Jarrett, a former territorial headliner, Hall of Fame promoter, and legendary booker passed away on 2/14 at the age of 80.
According to those close to the family, Jarrett was undergoing treatment for cancer of the esophagus and the treatment was too hard on his heart.
Jarrett is one of the key figures in the history of Tennessee wrestling, first as a babyface wrestler, then as the booker for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch, where he turned Memphis into the best drawing weekly U.S. city for wrestling in the country for much of the period from 1971 through the late 80s.
Jarrett opened up his own company, Jarrett Promotions, competing with Gulas & Welch in 1977, with Jerry Lawler and announcers Lance Russell and Dave Brown as the key people who went with him, even though area mainstays and people he thought were close friends, Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto stayed with Gulas & Welch. Lawler had replaced Fargo in 1974 as the territory’s top star. Eventually, Welch ended up with Jarrett, and the company was called Jarrett-Welch Promotions.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson paid his respects to Jerry Jarrett.
Jarrett passed away at 80 years old on Tuesday while undergoing treatment for cancer of the esophagus. He was a Hall of Fame booker and promoter, running one of the hottest territories in the country in Memphis. Jarrett was a full-time wrestler early in his career and later co-founded TNA Wrestling.
Johnson thanked Jarrett for everything he did for his family, including giving Rocky Johnson a job when he was going through a hard time in the late 1980s. Johnson also thanked Jarrett for helping him during his own career when he was starting out in wrestling.
“Memphis wrestling in the late 70s, early 80s, had such a strong influence on my career,” Johnson said. “How I worked the microphone, how I worked in my matches, the storytelling that I would put in my matches, how I decided that I wanted to become a ring general — there was so much of Memphis wrestling that influenced my style. And that was all because of Jerry Jarrett.”
Johnson ended the video by sending his condolences to Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, and the Jarrett family as they grieve Jerry’s death.
With the passing of wrestling promoter and legendary influencer Jerry Jarrett on Tuesday, we went back into our archives to find several of our interviews with him to relive some of his stories and history as only he could tell it.
We have made two of these interviews free (links below) with all four available for subscribers.
February 2010
Jerry appeared on Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez for an hour, talking a general history of his career including the early days of TNA and when Vince McMahon went to Memphis.
Click Here To Listen | Free Version direct or use our free F4W Classic feed in your podcast app of choice
September 2011
Jerry appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio for well over an hour with Dave Meltzer and Bryan to talk the then-new Memphis Heat documentary and his then-new biography The Best of Times — both of which are available on Amazon.
Click Here To Listen | Free Version direct or use our free F4W Classics feed in your podcast app of choice
February 2019
Jerry returned to Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave and Garrett Gonzales to talk about the launch of his then-new podcast and more. The interview starts around the 24-minute mark.
August 2019
Jerry made his final appearance on WOR with Dave to talk the passing of Eddie Marlin and some follow-ups to his February talk.
Dave Meltzer discussed the legacy of Jerry Jarrett on Wrestling Observer Radio.
During Tuesday’s show, Meltzer went into detail regarding the life of Jarrett, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80. You can watch the clip below.
Starting his career as a wrestler, Jarrett would be best known as the promoter for the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, which later became known as the USWA after merging with World Class Championship Wrestling. They were one of the final territories still running shows before their eventual closure in 1997.
“He was the last surviving promoter partially because he wasn’t paying much, and also because he was getting paid by the television station,” Meltzer explained.
While talking about the history of Memphis Wrestling, Meltzer emphasized just how big their weekly television was at its peak.
“Their television ratings were ridiculous. The highest rated wrestling show anywhere, week after week after week. There was a year where the NBC affiliate would not air the World Series because wrestling was so popular,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer noted that Jarrett had attempted to buy WCW, which eventually went to Vince McMahon in 2001. The following year, he founded NWA-TNA with Bob Ryder and his son, Jeff Jarrett. NWA-TNA still exists today under the name Impact Wrestling.
“Years later I remember talking to him and going how could you think this was going to work,” Meltzer recalled. “And he said when you’re older and have a son, you’ll understand.”
Jarrett left TNA in 2005 after a falling out with Jeff over the direction of the company.
“They had a lot of tension,” Meltzer recalled. “Jerry had different ideas than Jeff. Jeff was a big proponent of Vince Russo, and Jerry didn’t hate Vince Russo at first. I don’t know if he ever hated Vince Russo. In time, he did not feel that Russo was a good booker. And I think he was hurt that Jeff chose Russo to be the booker above him because he’s this legendary booker. Russo was not. But that was the decision that was made. “
Tributes have poured in across the wrestling community, including Impact Wrestling and Jeff Jarrett, in the days since Jarrett’s death.
Dave Meltzer discussed the legacy of Jerry Jarrett on Wrestling Observer Radio.
During Tuesday’s show, Meltzer went into detail regarding the life of Jarrett, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80. You can watch the clip below.
Starting his career as a wrestler, Jarrett would be best known as the promoter for the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, which later became known as the USWA after merging with World Class Championship Wrestling. They were one of the final territories still running shows before their eventual closure in 1997.
“He was the last surviving promoter partially because he wasn’t paying much, and also because he was getting paid by the television station,” Meltzer explained.
While talking about the history of Memphis Wrestling, Meltzer emphasized just how big their weekly television was at its peak.
“Their television ratings were ridiculous. The highest rated wrestling show anywhere, week after week after week. There was a year where the NBC affiliate would not air the World Series because wrestling was so popular,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer noted that Jarrett had attempted to buy WCW, which eventually went to Vince McMahon in 2001. The following year, he founded NWA-TNA with Bob Ryder and his son, Jeff Jarrett. NWA-TNA still exists today under the name Impact Wrestling.
“Years later I remember talking to him and going how could you think this was going to work,” Meltzer recalled. “And he said when you’re older and have a son, you’ll understand.”
Jarrett left TNA in 2005 after a falling out with Jeff over the direction of the company.
“They had a lot of tension,” Meltzer recalled. “Jerry had different ideas than Jeff. Jeff was a big proponent of Vince Russo, and Jerry didn’t hate Vince Russo at first. I don’t know if he ever hated Vince Russo. In time, he did not feel that Russo was a good booker. And I think he was hurt that Jeff chose Russo to be the booker above him because he’s this legendary booker. Russo was not. But that was the decision that was made. “
Tributes have poured in across the wrestling community, including Impact Wrestling and Jeff Jarrett, in the days since Jarrett’s death.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the life and times of Jerry Jarrett, ratings from the past week, a full recap of AEW and NXT this week, and tons more. A packed show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Life and times of Jerry Jarrett
33:48: Raquel Welch, Lou Sahadi pass away
38:52: Ratings
42:39: AEW Dynamite recap
1:00:32: NXT recap
1:13:16: AEW Rampage spoilers
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including more on Jerry Jarrett, the NXT show from last night with the latest in the virgin storyline, Sami Zayn, Cody and Roman Reigns, the return of Ring of Honor and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Despite his father passing away on Tuesday, Jeff Jarrett informed AEW head Tony Khan that he will remain on tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
Khan said on Busted Open Radio that Jarrett is in Laredo, Texas, and “wants to wrestle tonight and push forward.”
Jarrett will join with Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh against The Acclaimed, Orange Cassidy & Billy Gunn in a match announced Friday night.
Khan said Jarrett’s decision is a “brave and courageous” one and that AEW would have respected whatever decision Jarrett made about tonight.
Jerry Jarrett passed away Tuesday morning at 80 years old after a battle with esophageal cancer.
Khan said he could talk for hours on how much of an influence Memphis Wrestling had on him, and that so much of what he learned about pro wrestling, he learned from the Jarrett family.
Here’s the current lineup for tonight:
Scott D’Amore has paid tribute to Jerry Jarrett.
Through Impact Wrestling’s website, D’Amore paid tribute to Jarrett, who passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 80.
Today we mourn the loss of TNA/Impact Wrestling Co-Founder and a true legend in our business.” said IMPACT Wrestling executive vice-president Scott D’Amore. “Wrestler, promoter, entrepreneur, and visionary in our profession, Jerry Jarrett is one of the most influential individuals in the history of our sport.
Second generation before that was even a term, Jerry literally grew up in the wrestling industry. His knowledge of professional wrestling was second to none and his fingerprints are in every aspect of modern professional wrestling.
Personally Jerry was such a massive influence on my career and my life. The lessons I learned from him I still use to guide me every day in and out of the pro wrestling business.Our deepest condolences to his wife Deborah, Jeff, and the entire Jarrett family.
Let’s take a moment to mourn his loss but let’s not lose sight of the fact that Jerry let a life that deserved to be celebrated.
Impact on Twitter wrote the following: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jerry Jarrett, a co-founder of TNA/IMPACT. His legacy in the wrestling industry is decades-long, multi-generational, and he certainly played a key role in today’s IMPACT. Deepest condolences to Jeff Jarrett, Jerry’s family and fans.”
In 2002 Jarrett, along with his son Jeff, founded NWA Total Nonstop Action, which later became Impact Wrestling. He left the company in 2005. Jarrett was also the promoter for Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, which later merged with World Class Championship Wrestling in 1989 to form the United States Wrestling Association, which ran weekly television in the Memphis area through 1997.
Jerry Jarrett, a booking genius whose style of television (with the emphasis on interviews and skits as opposed to matches) was in his era the closest to modern wrestling, passed away this morning at the age of 80.
He had been battling cancer of the esophagus, and passed away undergoing treatment this morning according to a family friend.
Jarrett, whose mother worked in the wrestling office with Nick Gulas and Roy Welch and later became one of the first woman wrestling promoters in the United States, was around wrestling his entire life. He promoted spot shows as a teenager, worked in the office, and was one of the youngest bookers in the country by the late 1960s.
After a run as one of the top three babyfaces for Gulas & Welch, with perennial partners Tojo Yamamoto and Jackie Fargo, Jarrett stepped away from the ring full-time.
After feeling he was swindled in a business deal by Gulas, Jarrett started up his own promotion in 1977. By this point Jerry Lawler was the top star in the promotion with Jarrett doing his best work in creating Lawler as the King in 1974. With Lawler and announcers Lance Russell and Dave Brown siding with Jarrett, and Jarrett getting the NBC affiliate, WMC-TV to take the television show, they dominated the Memphis market, the most lucrative city. After a few years, Gulas’ company closed down and Jarrett controlled the market until times changed and territorial wrestling was basically done.
Because unlike most promoters, who either paid for their own television production and would give the stations a tape, or years later, actually had to buy the TV time, which in the long run became economically unsustainable, Jarrett was paid for television because the show drew big ratings. For most of the period Jarrett promoted, the Championship Wrestling television show on Saturday mornings was a local institution. During the late 70s and early 80s, more than 20 percent of the homes in the metro area watched the show and more than 70 percent of the television sets on during that time period were watching the wrestling show. It was by far the highest rated wrestling show in the country on the back of Lawler, the announcers, and the unique cast of characters and booking.
Jarrett and Lawler would rotate as bookers, usually every six months. Eventually, after Lawler made a power play with Russell, Jarrett cut Lawler in for 50 percent of the promotion.
Jarrett remained in the promotion until 1997 when he sold the company. He also booked in Georgia during a hot period in the 70s, promoted the Dallas promotion, and along with son Jeff, started TNA Impact Wrestling. The Jarretts had to sell the majority interest in that company to the Carter family after a few months due to heavy money losses and Jerry had a falling out with Jeff and was gone three years later.
Jarrett had many different ideas through the years to get back in wrestling, but none materialized. He ran a construction company after selling his Tennessee company, which folded shortly after. He attempted to purchase WCW in 2000, but was unable to do so. When Vince McMahon feared he was going to jail after being under a federal indictment for steroid distribution charges, he brought Jarrett in with the idea that if he was convicted, Jarrett would run the company. But McMahon wasn’t convicted.
Jarrett was voted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2018.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the death of Jerry Jarrett, Rampage ratings and what they likely tell us, tons of thoughts on Sami and Cody and Roman, your RAW report and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio returns today with special guest Jerry Jarrett.
We talk a number of subjects including:
This was an awesome show with Jerry, so check it out~!
Figure Four Daily returns with a huge guest in longtime promoter, wrestler and TNA co-founder Jerry Jarrett.
We talk his history from the very beginning, promoting in Tennessee, Jack Brisco, Jerry Lawler, his relationship with Vince McMahon including when McMahon went to Memphis in the early 90s to first play a heel, how he tried to buy WCW, the early days of TNA and why he finds it ridiculous for the company to claim they are a success, how they nearly went out of business a few months in as had been predicted, his thoughts on Vince Russo, the falling out with Jeff Jarrett, and so much more.
Enjoy this hour-long talk with a wrestling legend.
