Jeff Jarrett

Early life

Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett was born on July 14, 1967, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He comes from a family with deep ties to the professional wrestling industry. His father, Jerry Jarrett, was a prominent wrestler and promoter, best known for his work in the Southern United States. Jarrett's maternal grandfather, Eddie Marlin, was also a professional wrestler, and his paternal grandmother, Christine Jarrett, worked for longtime Nashville promoters Nick Gulas and Roy Welch, making him a third-generation member of the wrestling business.

Jarrett attended Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tennessee, where he participated in athletics, including basketball. While still in high school, he began working in the wrestling business, initially serving as a referee for his father's promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA).

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1986–1993)

Jarrett made his professional wrestling debut on April 6, 1986, at the age of 18. The match took place in the Continental Wrestling Association, where he had been working as a referee. In a storyline angle, Tony Falk, who was on an extended losing streak, challenged Jarrett to a match, which ended in a ten-minute time-limit draw. Jarrett received his in-ring training from his father, Jerry Jarrett, and longtime Tennessee-area wrestler and trainer Tojo Yamamoto.

During the late 1980s, Jarrett competed for multiple regional promotions, including the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the Continental Wrestling Federation (CWF). In 1989, Jerry Jarrett purchased the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and merged it with the CWA to form the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), based in Memphis, Tennessee. Jeff Jarrett became one of the promotion's top stars, capturing the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ten times and the USWA World Tag Team Championship fifteen times with a variety of partners.

Jarrett also began wrestling internationally during this period. In 1990, he toured Japan with the Super World of Sports (SWS) promotion, which featured working agreements with American talent. He also competed in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council (WWC), as well as on the broader independent circuit.

World Wrestling Federation (1992, 1993–1996)

Jarrett made his first appearance with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on August 9, 1992, during a live event at the Memphis Pyramid. As part of a cross-promotional storyline with the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), Jarrett sat ringside alongside Jerry Lawler and issued an open challenge to any WWF wrestler. That evening, he faced Kamala in an impromptu match, winning by disqualification. Bret Hart accepted Jarrett's challenge for a future match in Memphis, but the bout was later canceled due to inclement weather.

Beginning in October 1992, Jarrett wrestled several untelevised matches for the WWF, primarily on house shows. Notable victories during this period included wins over Mondo Kleen and Barry Horowitz. On October 28, at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Louisville, Kentucky, Jarrett defeated Rick Martel. After the canceled match with Hart, Jarrett returned to competing full-time in the USWA.

Nearly a year later, Jarrett returned to the World Wrestling Federation. He made his televised return on October 23, 1993, on WWF Superstars of Wrestling as a heel under the gimmick of "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, a country music singer who intended to elevate his singing career through his exposure as a wrestler. Jarrett's character would strut to the ring wearing flashing "Double J" hats and ring attire, while he punctuated his promos with the phrase "Ain't I great?". He ended his interviews by distinctly spelling out his name ("That's J-E-Double-F, J-A-Double-R, E-Double-T!"). He would often win matches by smashing opponents with an acoustic guitar, which was nicknamed "El Kabong" after the cartoon character Quick Draw McGraw. The "Double J" character was a country music version of The Honky Tonk Man.

Jarrett had his first televised match with the WWF on the December 20, 1993, episode of Raw, defeating P.J. Walker. Jarrett made his pay-per-view debut in January 1994 at the Royal Rumble, entering the Royal Rumble match as the 12th participant and was eliminated less than 90 seconds later by Randy Savage. Also at the Royal Rumble, Jarrett participated in attacking The Undertaker and forcing him into the casket, an incident that would be a focal point in Undertaker's rematch later that year. Jarrett was scheduled to wrestle in a five vs. five tag match at WrestleMania X, but the match did not take place due to time constraints. However, the match did take place on the April 4 episode of Raw, with Jarrett's team winning. During this time, Jarrett started having what would be a very long string of matches with Doink (Ray Apollo) during house shows in which he usually won the match. Despite getting past Lex Luger by countout in the first round, Jarrett lost in the second round of the 1994 King of the Ring tournament, being pinned by the 1-2-3 Kid. Only weeks before SummerSlam, the WWF promoted a match as part of a "rap versus country" rivalry that pitted Jarrett against Mabel who portrayed a rapper. There was little buildup for the match until Mabel tried to provoke Jarrett into a fight, but Jarrett simply exited. At SummerSlam, Jarrett won the match by pinfall.

United States Wrestling Association (1996)

After leaving the WWF in February 1996, Jarrett returned to the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis. He won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship for the third time defeating Jerry Lawler on April 20. He dropped the title back to Lawler in August and left the USWA before the promotion folded in November 1997.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1997)

In October 1996, Jarrett was hired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), signing a one-year contract. Upon debuting in WCW, Jarrett became a "free agent" in the rivalry between The Four Horsemen and the New World Order (nWo). After defeating Chris Benoit at Starrcade, and Steve McMichael at SuperBrawl VII, both by cheating when the referee was distracted, Jarrett was reluctantly inducted into the Four Horsemen. On June 9, 1997, Jarrett defeated Dean Malenko to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.

In mid-1997, Jarrett was kicked out of the Four Horsemen and began feuding with Horsemen member Steve McMichael. Despite aligning himself with McMichael's then-wife, Debra McMichael, Jarrett lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to McMichael on August 21. In October, Jarrett's contract expired and he opted to return to the WWF, despite the dominance of WCW in the ongoing "Monday Night War".

Return to WWF (1997–1999)

Jarrett returned to the WWF on the October 20, 1997, episode of Raw is War, delivering a worked shoot speech in which he criticized both WCW President Eric Bischoff and WWF Chairman Vince McMahon. After briefly feuding with The Undertaker, Jarrett defeated Barry Windham to win the vacant NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. In early 1998, Jarrett joined forces with Jim Cornette and his stable of "invading" National Wrestling Alliance wrestlers, and began defending the North American Heavyweight Championship on WWF television. In March, Jarrett left Cornette's stable, and Cornette stripped him of the title and awarded it to Windham.

On the March 2, 1998, episode of Monday Night Raw, Jarrett reprised his country music singer gimmick, introducing Tennessee Lee as his new manager. At Unforgiven: In Your House on April 26, 1998, Jarrett once again sang alongside Sawyer Brown with their hit single, "Some Girls Do". On the June 1, 1998, edition of Raw, Tennessee Lee introduced Southern Justice as Jarrett's new bodyguards. Jarrett grew a goatee at that time. On the August 9, 1998, edition of Sunday Night Heat, Jarrett fired Tennessee Lee after he had inadvertently cost Jarrett multiple matches in the preceding weeks. Jarrett and Southern Justice then began feuding with D-Generation X (DX), with Jarrett losing to DX member X-Pac in a hair vs. hair match at SummerSlam. Jarrett's long hair was subsequently cut short by DX and Howard Finkel, who had himself been shaved bald by Jarrett and Southern Justice shortly before SummerSlam. Jarrett and Southern Justice were defeated by DX at Breakdown: In Your House in September, and the trio separated shortly thereafter.

Jarrett briefly feuded with Al Snow before reuniting with Debra, who had left WCW for the WWF, and forming a tag team with Owen Hart. Hart and Jarrett were close friends and travel partners for years, so the team jelled almost immediately. Jarrett and Hart won the WWF Tag Team Championship from Ken Shamrock and Big Boss Man, successfully defending the titles at WrestleMania XV before losing to Kane and X-Pac on an episode of Raw. Eight days after Hart died in a stunt that went wrong at Over the Edge, Jarrett defeated The Godfather, who Owen was scheduled to face at the pay-per-view, for the Intercontinental Championship. As he was handed the title belt, he yelled Hart's name in tribute to his friend. In mid-1999, Jarrett exchanged the Intercontinental Championship with Edge and D'Lo Brown on two more occasions. His fifth reign broke Razor Ramon's record from 1995. He held the record until Chris Jericho's seventh reign in 2004.

Return to WCW (1999–2001)

Jarrett returned to WCW on the October 18, 1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, attacking Buff Bagwell and proclaiming himself the "Chosen One" of WCW. Jarrett took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship, winning his first three matches with the assistance of Creative Control. At Mayhem on November 21, he was eliminated from the tournament after losing his semi-final match to Chris Benoit following interference from Dustin Rhodes. At Starrcade on December 19, Jarrett defeated Rhodes in a Bunkhouse Brawl, then unsuccessfully challenged Benoit for the United States Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match. On the following episode of Nitro, Jarrett defeated Benoit in a rematch, winning the belt. In the same evening, Jarrett reformed the nWo with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart and the reigning WCW World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, with the foursome calling themselves "nWo 2000".

In early 2000, Jarrett feuded with WCW Commissioner Terry Funk, who forced him to wrestle three veterans – George Steele, Tito Santana, and Jimmy Snuka – in one night. Jarrett was stripped of the United States Heavyweight Championship after suffering a concussion during his bout with Snuka, but the title was returned to him by Nash after he became WCW Commissioner. In order to help him retain the title, Jarrett drafted the Harris Brothers (formerly Creative Control) into nWo 2000. In the following months, Jarrett repeatedly challenged Sid Vicious for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, in the process clashing with Nash and winning the position of WCW Commissioner for himself. Following Bret Hart's retirement, the nWo disbanded.

In April, WCW was rebooted by Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, with all titles vacated as a result. Bischoff and Russo also created The New Blood, a stable of younger wrestlers who feuded with The Millionaire's Club, made up of the older members of the WCW roster. Jarrett joined The New Blood, and at Spring Stampede on April 16, he defeated Millionaires Club member Diamond Dallas Page to win the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Page regained the title on April 24, and on April 25, the title was contested in a tag team match pitting Jarrett and Bischoff against Page and actor David Arquette. Arquette won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after pinning Bischoff. Jarrett hit Page with the championship belt while special referee Kimberly Page's back was turned; WCW official Mickie Jay counted Bischoff out while Jarrett had Page pinned, who kicked out. At Slamboree on May 7, Jarrett defeated Page and Arquette in a three-way triple cage match to win his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Arquette turned on Page.

World Wrestling All-Stars (2001–2003)

With both WCW and the WWF now ruled out as employment options, Jarrett resurfaced in World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) in late 2001, wrestling throughout Australia and Europe. Jarrett won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was later stripped of the title. Jarrett returned to the WWA during his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign; he defeated Sting for the WWA World Heavyweight Championship at the last WWA event on May 25, 2003, unifying the two titles.

NWA Total Nonstop Action / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2014)

In June 2002, Jeff Jarrett and his father, Jerry, established the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the legal entity J Sports and Entertainment. TNA initially aired weekly pay-per-view events, beginning on June 19, 2002.

At TNA's debut pay-per-view, Jarrett competed in a Gauntlet for the Gold match to determine the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, but was eliminated by guest entrant Toby Keith. In the months that followed, Jarrett engaged in feuds with Scott Hall, Brian Lawler, and B.G. James. On November 20, 2002, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Ron Killings, with interference from Vince Russo. Jarrett later refused to join Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.) faction, leading to a storyline conflict involving members of the group, including the debuting Raven. The rivalry continued until Russo's departure from the stable in early 2003.

Jarrett lost the title on June 11, 2003, in a three-way match against Raven and A.J. Styles, who pinned Jarrett following interference from Russo. He regained the championship on October 22, 2003, turning heel in the process. His second reign ended on April 21, 2004, when Styles defeated him in a steel cage match after being named the replacement for an injured Chris Harris. Jarrett retaliated by interfering in a subsequent title match, helping Ron Killings defeat Styles. On June 2, 2004, Jarrett won his third NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Killings, Styles, Raven, and Harris in TNA's inaugural King of the Mountain match.

In early 2005, Jarrett formed the heel stable Planet Jarrett, which included Monty Brown, Kip James, and later Rhino. The group served as a central faction in TNA storylines, with Jarrett referring to the promotion itself as “Planet Jarrett” to emphasize his influence. On April 3, 2005, Jarrett defended the championship in the International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico against Ray González. Although González won the match, the title change was not recognized by TNA or the NWA, and Jarrett continued to be acknowledged as champion. He dropped the title to A.J. Styles at Hard Justice on May 15, 2005.

Jarrett captured the title for a fourth time on September 15, 2005, defeating Raven at a Border City Wrestling (BCW) event. He lost the championship to Rhino at Bound for Glory on October 23, but regained it on the November 3 episode of Impact!, beginning his fifth reign. That title run ended at Against All Odds on February 12, 2006, when he was defeated by Christian Cage.

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2004–2006)

Jarrett made his debut for Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide on March 21, 2004, defeating Latin Lover to win the 2004 Rey de Reyes tournament. Over the next two years, Jarrett would make several sporadic appearances for AAA as a member of the heel stable La Legión Extranjera, before the working relationship between AAA and TNA was ended.

International Wrestling Association (2004–2005)

In 2004, the International Wrestling Association (IWA) ran an angle that satirized its main competition, the World Wrestling Council (WWC), by having a heel stable led by Ray González adopt its former name of "Capitol Sports" during an invasion angle. On October 9, 2004, González announced that Capitol had formed an alliance with TNA for Golpe de Estado and that this move would bring in Jarrett, then the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Robert Roode, Konnan and Shawn Hernandez to compete on its behalf. At Golpe de Estado, Jarrett defeated Shane Sewell to retain the NWA title and help the heels gain an advantage in the series. However, González lost with Capitol and IWA tied, ending the angle. Following a face turn, González's association with Jarrett soon concluded, leading to a feud between them. This angle concluded on April 3, 2005, when González defeated Jarrett in a titular contest to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. However, his reign was short, being stripped on the same event and at the time the title change was unrecognized by the NWA, with Jarrett returning to TNA with the belt. Starting in 2015, the NWA recognizes Gonzalez's championship reign.

Return to AAA (2011–2015)

In February 2010, TNA restarted their working relationship with AAA and in early May 2011, Jarrett made his return to AAA television, announcing his and TNA's alignment with Dorian Roldán and his heel stable La Sociedad and their participation in Triplemanía XIX. At Triplemanía XIX, Jarrett defeated El Zorro to become the new AAA Mega Champion. On July 31 at Verano de Escándalo, Jarrett successfully defended the title in a three-way elimination match against Dr. Wagner, Jr. and L.A. Park. Jarrett returned to AAA on March 18, 2012, at Rey de Reyes, where he lost the title to El Mesías, ending his reign at 274 days, which was at the time the longest reign in the title's history. On August 5 at Triplemanía XX, Jarrett teamed up with the debuting Kurt Angle as Team Dorian Roldán in a hair vs. hair match, where they faced Team Joaquín Roldán (L.A. Park and Electroshock), with the Roldáns' hair on the line. Electroshock won the match for his team by pinning Angle, forcing Dorian to have his head shaved bald. However, after the match, the La Sociedad members overpowered the winners and shaved Joaquín bald. Jarrett made a surprise return on December 2 at Guerra de Titanes, hitting L.A. Park with a guitar, after he had escaped a six-way steel cage Lucha de Apuestas.

Jarrett's next AAA appearance took place on June 16, 2013, at Triplemanía XXI, where he, Matt Morgan and Monster Pain defeated AAA World Trios Champions Los Psycho Circus (Monster Clown, Murder Clown and Psycho Clown) in a non-title match. On December 8 at Guerra de Titanes, Jarrett was pinned by El Mesías in an eight-man tag team main event, where he, Daga, La Parka Negra and Psicosis were defeated by El Mesías, Cibernético, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo and La Parka. Post-match, Jarrett took part in the reformation of La Sociedad.

On March 16, 2014, at Rey de Reyes, Jarrett represented La Sociedad in a six-man tag team match, where he, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. and El Texano Jr. faced Cibernético, Electroshock and Psycho Clown. At the end of the match, AAA president Joaquín Roldán hit Jarrett with his own guitar, after which he was pinned by Cibernético. Jarrett was defeated in similar fashion by Electroshock in another six-man tag team match on June 27, after which he was challenged to a Hair vs. Hair match.)

Global Force Wrestling (2014–2017)

When Jarrett left TNA, he created Global Force Wrestling. On June 21, 2014, it was announced GFW had inked a working agreement with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) On August 10, Jarrett made an appearance for NJPW to officially sign the agreement. Later in the event, he joined the villainous Bullet Club stable. Jarrett managed the IWGP Champion AJ Styles at King of Pro-Wrestling, Power Struggle, and wrestled a six-man tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where he and his Bullet Club stablemates Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma.

On May 24, 2015, Jarrett appeared at AAA's Lucha Libre World Cup event on behalf of GFW, providing English commentary for the semi-final matches of the event and scouting talent for the upcoming GFW events. The next month, in June, Jeff and Karen Jarrett returned to TNA, winning the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary XIII. Jarrett vacated the title when he was appointed Impact Wrestling's new authority figure. Jarrett feuded with Carter over the control of TNA. It was later reported that Jarrett had sold his minority stake to Panda Energy. On the September 16 edition of Impact Wrestling, Team TNA (Galloway, Lashley, Eddie Edwards, Bram and Davey Richards) defeated Team GFW (Sonjay Dutt, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Chris Mordetzky and Brian Myers) in a Lethal Lockdown Match, resulting in Dixie gaining possession of Jarrett's TNA stake and, as a result, full control of TNA.

Jarrett made his in-ring debut for the promotion on October 28, 2015, defeating Nathan Cruz as part of the GFW UK Invasion tour. During GFW's return to the UK, Jarrett defeated the likes of Noam Dar, Doug Williams and Pepper Parks from March 2 to 5.

Second return to WWE (2018–2021)

On February 19, 2018, WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation announced that Jarrett would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Jarrett was inducted on April 6, by his long-time friend Road Dogg. In January 2019, Jarrett was hired by WWE as a backstage producer. He appeared as a surprise second entrant in the Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by Elias, defeating him in Jarrett's first singles match in 19 years the following night on Raw. In March 2019, it was reported that Jarrett was promoted to a full-time member of the creative team. On July 30, 2021, it was reported that Jarrett had quietly departed from WWE in January.

Second return to AAA (2018, 2022)

On June 3, 2018, Jarrett made a surprise second return to AAA at Verano de Escandalo where he unmasked himself as the new leader of the MAD heel stable and inserted himself into the events Rey Wagner vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. main event for the AAA Mega Championship, making it a three-way match. Jarrett would win the match and become the AAA Mega Champion for the second time after Konnan returned to AAA during the match as an imposter masked La Parka with referee attire on, revealing upon unmasking after the match that he was associated with MAD and aided Jarrett in winning the title by counting the pinfall. On July 13 in Querétaro, Jarrett teamed with El Hijo del Fantasma defeating Psycho Clown and Pagano. On August 25, at Triplemanía XXVI, Jarrett lost the Mega title to Fénix in a four-way match, which also involved Brian Cage and Rich Swann. at Héroes Inmortales XII, Jarrett lost to Rey Wagner in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match. at Rey de Reyes, Jarrett, Killer Kross and La Máscara lost to Las Fresas Salvajes (Mamba and Máximo) and Psycho Clown in a Six-man tag team Steel cage match.

On March 31, 2022, Jarret returned to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide at their AAA Invades WrestleCon event, where he was revealed as the leader of La Empresa. At Triplemanía XXX on April 30, Jarret and Rey Escorpion brawled with Latin Lover and Vampiro.

Independent circuit (2022)

For much of 2022, Jarrett had made multiple appearances throughout various promotions. He then made a surprise appearance for Game Changer Wrestling at the promotion's Die 4 This event on January 1, hitting Effy with his trademark guitar shot, debuting a new persona in the process. He was dubbed "The Last Outlaw." Jarrett dressed in all black attire and debuted a new theme song. On January 15, he appeared at GCW Say You Will, attacking Effy's tag team partner Allie Katch with another guitar shot. Jarrett's attacks set up a match with Effy at the promotion's The Wrld on GCW pay-per-view, which Jarrett won. It was Jarrett's first match since 2019.

Jarrett was named an ambassador on February 11, 2022, for the National Wrestling Alliance's Crockett Cup event, which took place on March 19 and 20, 2022. He was later announced as the special guest referee for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match between Matt Cardona and Nick Aldis.

Third return to WWE (2022)

In May 2022, Jarrett rejoined WWE, as the promotion's Senior Vice President of Live Events. At SummerSlam in July 2022, Jarrett served as a special guest referee for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match between the Usos and the Street Profits. He departed WWE in August 2022 and was replaced by Road Dogg.

All Elite Wrestling (2022–present)

On November 2, 2022, Jarrett made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on Dynamite, making his first televised wrestling appearance on TBS in over 21 years since the final episode of WCW Thunder on March 21, 2001. Jarrett aligned himself with "The Lethal Connection" (Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, Cole Karter, and Sonjay Dutt) after attacking Darby Allin. Jarrett would go on to declare war on the entire AEW roster and fan base. It was subsequently announced by AEW president Tony Khan that Jarrett would serve as AEW's Director of Business Development. On November 19 at Full Gear, Jarrett and Lethal were defeated by Sting and Allin in a no disqualification match.

Throughout 2023, Jarrett and Lethal pursued the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but would fail to capture the titles from The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) in separate feuds. During their feud with FTR, Karen Jarrett would join Jarrett in AEW.

In June 2024, Jarrett announced his entry in the men's bracket of the Owen Hart Cup and turned face by dedicating his run in the tournament to Owen Hart, who Jarrett was real-life friends with before Hart's death. Jarrett was eliminated in the tournament in the first round by the wildcard participant "Hangman" Adam Page. After being eliminated, Jarrett began a feud with Page which culminated in a Lumberjack Strap match at Collision: Grand Slam, where Jarrett was defeated.

In early 2025, Jarrett began a feud with MJF. The feud was abruptly dropped following a negatively received promo segment in which Jarrett, who was portrayed as a babyface, referred to MJF's mother as a "call girl." In January 2026, it was reported that Jarrett was no longer serving in a backstage office role within AEW and had transitioned to a talent-only role.

Professional wrestling promoter

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

In June 2002, Jeff Jarrett and his father, Jerry, established the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the legal entity J Sports and Entertainment. TNA initially aired weekly pay-per-view events, beginning on June 19, 2002. Later, the promotion secured a television deal with Fox Sports Net in 2004 for its weekly program Impact!, and transitioned to a monthly pay-per-view model that November. In October 2005, Impact! moved to Spike TV. While Panda Energy acquired a controlling interest in the company in 2002, Jarrett maintained a minority ownership stake and served as both an in-ring performer and executive. In 2013, Jarrett assumed the backstage role of Executive Vice President of Development/Original Programming. In 2009, it was reported that Jarrett had lost all of his backstage power in TNA and would work only as a wrestler. In 2013, Jarrett and Country star Toby Keith tried to buy TNA; however, when both met Bob Carter, he demanded that his daughter Dixie remain in the company as on-screen President. Jarrett and Keith decided to create their own company. On December 22, 2013, Jarrett resigned from TNA Entertainment. Jarrett remained an investor in TNA Wrestling after his resignation came in effect on January 6, 2014.

Ring Ka King

In 2011, TNA announced a project in India. The project was revealed to be an original televised wrestling program intended for the Indian market, titled Ring Ka King. The promotion was managed by Jeff Jarrett. Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Sonjay Dutt helped Jarrett with management. A first season was taped in India and featured both Indian and non-Indian wrestlers performing on the show.

All Wheels Wrestling

In 2011, Jarrett also was part of a TV Pilot called All Wheels Wrestling, a pro wrestling show with motorsports theme which was pitched to Speed Chanel.

Global Force Wrestling

When Jarrett left TNA, he announced intentions to create a new promotion. Jarrett revealed the promotion's name, Global Force Wrestling (GFW), on April 7, 2014. Since the founding of GFW, Jarrett has represented the organization at TNA, NJPW, and other companies' events.

Impact Wrestling

On January 5, 2017, it was announced that Jarrett had rejoined TNA, now under the name of Impact Wrestling under the ownership of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. On June 28, it was reported that Impact Wrestling had acquired Global Force Wrestling. On September 5, it was announced that Jarrett would be taking an "indefinite leave of absence" from GFW. On October 23, Impact Wrestling confirmed the termination of its relationship with Jarrett and his company Global Force Entertainment Inc.

Shortly after the Anthem termination of its relationship with Jarrett and his company Global Force Entertainment Inc, Anthem would still continue to use GFW's tape library with them using the shows One Night Only: GFW Amped Anthology and the promotion reverted to the Impact Wrestling name as Jarrett owned the rights to GFW. During the time of the rebranding, the company had been named Impact Wrestling after its flagship program, and had assumed the name of Global Force Wrestling (GFW). The Global Wrestling Network (GWN) name had been influenced by its connection to GFW. In October Impact Wrestling launched the streaming service named Global Wrestling Network despite Jarrett owning the GFW rights. On August 14, 2018, Jarrett and his company Global Force Entertainment announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Impact Wrestling's parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment in the District Court of Tennessee for copyright infringement over the GFW rights, as Jarrett owned all Global Force Wrestling properties since its creation in 2014. If the lawsuit by Jarrett is successful, Impact would need to immediately suspend the operations of their streaming subscription service under its current name and the company would have to censor the GFW name in their content. A mistrial was declared in July 2020 and the lawsuit was not successful as the belief from the neutral judge was that Jarrett infiltrated the jury. The two sides ultimately agreed to a settlement in January 2021.

All Elite Wrestling

In November 2022, Jarrett signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring talent and as a Director of Business Development. According to Jarrett and Khan, one of Jarrett's responsibilities as Director of Business Development was to help expand AEW's live event schedule and prepare the company to run house shows, and on February 1, 2023, AEW announced they would begin house shows titled AEW House Rules. AEW's first House Rules event took place on March 18 at the Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio. In January 2026, it was reported that Jarrett was no longer serving in a backstage office role within AEW and had transitioned to a talent-only role.

Other ventures

In a December 2021 news release from the Prospect League, Jarrett was among several members of an ownership group to purchase the Springfield Sliders, 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. 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.

On March 4, 2025, Jarrett is among the investors of the revived Acclaim Entertainment, a video game publisher that originally existed from 1987 to 2004.

Jarrett was named managing partner of the Nashville Kats arena football team in March 2026.

Other media

In 1993, Jarrett had a small cameo role in the Michael J. Fox movie Life With Mikey, appearing alongside Jerry Lawler as a wrestler named "Evil Eye".

In 2005, Jarrett made a guest appearance on the comedy show Blue Collar TV.

TNA announced that on April 14, 2009, the first-ever Jarrett DVD release would be a four-disc set, including his best TNA matches and moments, a lengthy and candid interview on his life, career, and TNA Wrestling, rare photos, and guest commentary, among others.

He is a playable character in WCW vs. the World, WWF Attitude, WWF WrestleMania 2000, WCW Backstage Assault, TNA Impact!, and TNA Wrestling Impact!.

In 2018, Jarrett appeared in the music video "Dr. Dare Rides Again" for the pop punk band Send Request.

In May 2021, Jarrett along with co-host Conrad Thompson began the podcast My World with Jeff Jarrett discussing a wide variety of subjects from Jarrett's professional wrestling career.

Personal life

Jarrett married his "high school sweetheart" Jill Gregory on November 14, 1992, with whom he had three daughters. Jill died of breast cancer on May 23, 2007. In 2009, it was reported that Jarrett was romantically linked to Karen Angle. This resulted in TNA president Dixie Carter placing Jarrett on a leave of absence. In 2009, Jarrett returned to TNA, using the real-life situation briefly as a storyline. On April 6, 2010, Jarrett and Karen announced their engagement; they were married on August 21, 2010.

Jarrett and his father Jerry reconciled in 2015 after years of estrangement following a falling-out over the business in TNA.

In October 2017, Real Canadian Wrestling promoter Steven Ewaschuk had claimed that Jarrett had shown up to their event late and intoxicated, and then continued drinking until passing out in their locker room prior to his match. Jarrett went on to wrestle the first of his two scheduled matches, but boarded a plane home before the second event. Later that month, Jarrett entered an in-patient rehabilitation facility. The rehab was set up by Karen Jarrett and WWE.

While Jarrett was living in Nashville in the 2000s, he became family friends with Taylor Swift when they were neighbors through mutual friends, with Taylor babysitting for Jarrett's family when he was busy with meetings with TNA. "Taylor would come over and get the girls and take them back to her house and they'd bake cookies and all kind of stuff. One day, Taylor brought over Joe Jonas... Not only is she uber-creative as an artist, she thinks like a businesswoman. Those two skillsets combined, you rarely see. She deserves all the success she has."

Championships and accomplishments

All Elite Wrestling

Texas Chain Saw Massacre Deathmatch Championship (1 time)

American Wrestling Association

Rookie of the Year (1986)

Continental Wrestling Association

CWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (5 times)

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Billy Travis (3) and Pat Tanaka (1)

CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Pat Tanaka (1) and Paul Diamond (1)

European Wrestling Promotion

EWP/CWP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

Frank Gotch Award (2026)

Lucha Libre AAA World Wide

AAA Mega Championship (2 times)

AAA Rey de Reyes (2004)1

NWA Cyberspace

NWA Cyberspace Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NWA: Total Nonstop Action / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling