Making his shocking AEW debut on the November 2 broadcast of Dynamite, Jeff Jarrett became the latest coup from Tony Khan to draw in older fans. ‘The King of the Mountain’ had appeared for just about every major promotion in existence prior to his arrival in All Elite Wrestling, working for WWE as recently as this year as their Senior Vice President, Live Events.
Jarrett aligned himself with Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Cole Karter upon making his grand arrival in the organisation, smashing a guitar over Darby Allin’s head. This, as was announced on November 9, was to set up Jeff Jarrett’s AEW in-ring debut for Full Gear; he and Jay Lethal will combat Sting and Allin.
Speaking on that episode of AEW’s flagship show ahead of the bout, Jarrett took a subtle shot at WWE’s Braun Strowman. Referring to Satnam Singh, the WWE Hall of Famer stated that the towering star wasn’t a “make-believe monster that wears red skinny jeans.”
Braun Strowman has made precisely that his go-to attire since returning to the sports entertainment giant on September 5. ‘The Monster of All Monsters’ most recently donned the gear to defeat Omos at WWE Crown Jewel.
Jeff Jarrett Was Nervous Prior To His AEW Debut
Speaking on his My World podcast, Jeff Jarrett explained how nervous he was ahead of making his first appearance for AEW. As he told his wife Karen, the moment was “surreal” for him, even after being in the business for a few decades:
“Karen texted me on Wednesday, about 1:00-1:30pm, and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I feel like I’m a 19-year-old rookie pacing around WMC TV Studios. I’m nervous. I’m nervous about tonight. I’m thinking things through and I want them to go right.’
So that’s kind of one of the messages I want to throw out there, folks. I’ve been doing it a long time, but I was as nervous as could be. When the lights were restored in the ring, it was a surreal moment. I had a little fresh coat of paint on, a little red and black guitar. It was really cool. I got a good crack at ol’ Darby. All the faces that I saw backstage, I mean, we can make that a whole podcast. I am super grateful. I’m excited. I’m ready to dig in, in all kinds of ways.”
As well as being an on-screen talent, Jeff Jarrett is also employed backstage as AEW’s Director of Business Development.