“Personal issues draw money”
Jerry Jarrett, one of the most important promoters and figures in the history of the industry, has passed away.
The news of the 80-year-old’s passing was shared throughout Tuesday with many remembering his influence and contributions after a lifetime involved in professional wrestling.
Jarrett was born September 4, 1942, in Nashville, Tennessee, and was indoctrinated into the industry through his mother, Christine “Teeny” Jarrett. It was Jerry’s mother that was involved as a ticket vendor for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch and ascended the ranks of the territory to promote towns in a male-dominated space.
Jerry was around the business from a young age from selling programs and would encompass virtually every role imaginable from office assistant, referee, wrestlers, promoter, and things in between where he gained his education on the job.
After being trained by Tojo Yamamoto and Sailor Moran, he made his in-ring debut in 1965 and teamed with Yamamoto and winning the territory’s version of the tag titles five times. Jarrett also teamed with Jackie Fargo, Johnny Marlin, and George Gulas (the son of promoter Nick Gulas).
However, it was Jarrett’s role as a booker and later, a promoter that cemented his legacy. His booking began for Gulas and Welch and was the period where he helped created the star he would always be inextricably linked with.
You cannot speak about Jerry Jarrett without mentioning Jerry Lawler early in the conversation. Jarrett saw a star in Lawler in his early ‘20s and sent Lawler outside of the territory to gain the requisite experience and return as the area’s top heel in 1974.
Jarrett unleashed the gauntlet, bringing in major names from around the country for Lawler in the summer of 1974 and climaxed with Jack Brisco defending the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Lawler in September that drew a near sellout to the Mid-South Coliseum.
Of the many legendary angles crafted included a ‘Wrestler versus Boxer’ promotion where Lawler was pitted against Rocky Johnson, who was presented in Memphis as a top ten heavyweight boxer when the audience was less savvy to such promotional manipulation. This coincided with the June 1976 bout between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki that aired on closed-circuit throughout the country.
The big break from Nick Gulas occurred in 1977 when Jarrett struck out on his own and secured television on WMC-TV while bringing the area’s top star in Lawler and the voices of Memphis, Lance Russell, and Dave Brown to the new station, which paid Jarrett for the Saturday morning slot.
Continental became the new standard in Memphis beginning on March 20, 1977, with a main event headlined by Lawler and Bullet Bob Armstrong with Gulas’ NWA Mid-American territory ceasing operations within the year.
Memphis was home to the state-of-the-art style of television that featured the adage “personal issues draw money”, which was a sign that hung in the office as a reminder of the device designed to send a fan reaching for their wallet.
Monday nights at the Mid-South Coliseum were an institution in Memphis drawing thousands on a weekly basis and selling out the 11,000+-seat venue when a big program clicked.
After threatening to break away himself, Lawler received a 50 percent stake in the company and would rotate booking duties with Jarrett, who were the two pillars of the territory throughout its glory days.
It was a territory that was not afraid to upset the industry norms and be as loud and off the wall as imaginable with the simple mantra of drawing people back week after week through a cast of characters.
The company ran strong until around 1986 and saw a decline as the WWF’s national expansion continued with the World Wrestling Federation getting television in Memphis on WMKW in early 1984.
In 1989, Jarrett would obtain World Class Championship Wrestling to unify and form the USWA and would continue to run the territory into the ‘90s as one of the last surviving operations by keeping costs low and talent mostly working for small wages. This included his son Jeff, who got his start under his father and would follow in his footsteps as a man of many hats throughout his career in the business.
In 1997, Lawler bought out Jarrett’s half of the business as Jarrett was resigned to running his outside ventures in the construction business and a small television distribution company.
In the mid-90s, Jarrett held consultant roles in both WWF and WCW with Jarrett uprooting and moving to Stamford where he was believed to be on the sidelines to run the company if Vince McMahon was found guilty in the steroid distribution trial in 1994.
In 2001, Jarrett was one of several that were intrigued with the idea of buying WCW and presented his case to the executives in charge but couldn’t get it off the ground with WCW sold shortly thereafter to the WWF.
His last major involvement occurred the following year, launching J Sports and Entertainment in the spring of 2002 with his son, Jeff. This was the parent company of NWA TNA, which began the following month as a weekly pay-per-view offering with the idea that fans were buying up to three pay-per-views per month prior to WCW and ECW going out of business and a weekly $10 show could be viable, but without television, it could not work and the company was nearly dead by the end of the summer.
The company was also thrown off by inaccurate reports of how the early pay-per-views were performing and when the real numbers became known it was a major blow when seeing the reality of the business being generated among mounting losses.
Through the sheer luck of a publicist named Dixie Carter working for the company, her father’s Panda Energy group saved the company and would enter a deal with the Jarretts, who were left to the wrestling end while Panda would run the business and financial end.
At its foundation, Jeff relied on both his father and ally Vince Russo and it was a mixture of oil and water with diametrically opposed views to promoting professional wrestling.
Jerry Jarrett would leave the company in 2005 following a public embarrassment for TNA when the WWE website reported on a meeting at its headquarters involving Jerry and prospect Oleg Prduius, who became Vladimir Kozlov.
Those in TNA freaked out seeing Jarrett meeting at WWE HQ and what it meant for the future of TNA, Jeff Jarrett’s involvement, and many other questions. It was so bad that Jeff did not speak with his father for years after the incident., although they did eventually reconcile and were on great terms the last few years as Jeff has noted on his podcast.
Jerry Jarrett was one of the most influential figures of the past half-century in professional wrestling and there is so much to be learned from his work and contributions.
He leaves behind his wife Deborah and four children.
