Post by Daniel Fullard on Jan 31, 2006 5:30:11 GMT -5
It is fair to say that Jeff Jarrett comes in for a fair bit of criticism. The TNA fans chant ‘boring’ and ‘drop the belt’ and smarks all over the internet criticise JJ for holding onto the TNA title. But surely I cannot be the only one who likes and enjoys Jarrett’s work?
I have admired Jarrett ever since I first saw him in the WWF in the mid-nineties. He played his gimmick, which was both strong and over, to perfection and he was one of my favourites at the time. He gave a sting of top-quality matches with Razor Ramon and HBK and always entertained me, and as I have said he got over fairly quickly and strongly.
As time went on he altered his gimmick slightly, toning down his ring attire and acquiring Debra by his side. Again I though Jarrett was a great worker during this era and had a string of good feuds in the mid-card and even though his overness dipped, and only Debra seemed to keep him over after a while, he was given the IC title, European Title and Tag Titles numerous times throughout this era. I enjoyed this run but JJ was going no where in the WWF and after his time in the mid-card the only way was down if he stayed.
When he crossed to WCW and adopted ‘The Chosen One’ gimmick it seemed to give JJ a new lease of life and we saw some of his best matches in years, particularly with Benoit. To be honest WCW was dying by the time JJ got there and he was not going to be the guy to lead a revival but he did get over and did at least entertain me. Given some of the awful angles he had to work, particularly the one with Arquette, Jarrett did a good job and showed that he could successfully main event a major card. I didn’t enjoy his work in WCW as much as his mid-90’s WWF run but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Then we come onto the issue of TNA. For me Jarrett has always given his best in TNA and dare I say that the company has been the better for it. JJ gave a string of good matches and worked some very good angles in the days of Weekly PPVs and as TNA has transformed JJ has managed to keep up the good work. As a heel he does his job and gets the fans to hate him and even though it may be what some call ‘the wrong kind of heat’ the fact is that Jarrett gets big time heat and the desire of the live crowds to see him drop the belt adds a great atmosphere to his matches. He is good on the mic and the element of old-school I see in him is a nice mix compared with TNA’s fresh talent.
Overall, I guess what Im trying to say is that the high level of criticism Jarrett gets is largely unfair. The guy has had a great career, and having seen some his earlier work pre-wwf, particularly in USWA, he never has had much of a problem getting over.
His ring work has always been fine by me and he is not the most athletic guy, the fastest or technically great but as an overall package he has always been able to put on good matches no matter who the opponent.
So, basically I just want to start a discussion on the career of Jeff Jarrett…..
I have admired Jarrett ever since I first saw him in the WWF in the mid-nineties. He played his gimmick, which was both strong and over, to perfection and he was one of my favourites at the time. He gave a sting of top-quality matches with Razor Ramon and HBK and always entertained me, and as I have said he got over fairly quickly and strongly.
As time went on he altered his gimmick slightly, toning down his ring attire and acquiring Debra by his side. Again I though Jarrett was a great worker during this era and had a string of good feuds in the mid-card and even though his overness dipped, and only Debra seemed to keep him over after a while, he was given the IC title, European Title and Tag Titles numerous times throughout this era. I enjoyed this run but JJ was going no where in the WWF and after his time in the mid-card the only way was down if he stayed.
When he crossed to WCW and adopted ‘The Chosen One’ gimmick it seemed to give JJ a new lease of life and we saw some of his best matches in years, particularly with Benoit. To be honest WCW was dying by the time JJ got there and he was not going to be the guy to lead a revival but he did get over and did at least entertain me. Given some of the awful angles he had to work, particularly the one with Arquette, Jarrett did a good job and showed that he could successfully main event a major card. I didn’t enjoy his work in WCW as much as his mid-90’s WWF run but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Then we come onto the issue of TNA. For me Jarrett has always given his best in TNA and dare I say that the company has been the better for it. JJ gave a string of good matches and worked some very good angles in the days of Weekly PPVs and as TNA has transformed JJ has managed to keep up the good work. As a heel he does his job and gets the fans to hate him and even though it may be what some call ‘the wrong kind of heat’ the fact is that Jarrett gets big time heat and the desire of the live crowds to see him drop the belt adds a great atmosphere to his matches. He is good on the mic and the element of old-school I see in him is a nice mix compared with TNA’s fresh talent.
Overall, I guess what Im trying to say is that the high level of criticism Jarrett gets is largely unfair. The guy has had a great career, and having seen some his earlier work pre-wwf, particularly in USWA, he never has had much of a problem getting over.
His ring work has always been fine by me and he is not the most athletic guy, the fastest or technically great but as an overall package he has always been able to put on good matches no matter who the opponent.
So, basically I just want to start a discussion on the career of Jeff Jarrett…..
