Jeff Jarrett Shares Insights On Jeff Hardy’s Special Appeal
On last week’s ‘Fight For The Fallen’ themed episode of AEW Dynamite, Jeff Jarrett defeated Jeff Hardy in a ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch.’
Speaking on the latest episode of his “My World” podcast, Jarrett discussed meeting Hardy for the first time, what’s special about him, his appeal, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On first meeting The Hardy Boyz, sharing how Scott Hall handpicked Jeff to be his enhancement talent: “So the first time I met Matt and Jeff — and this is 1994, and this is when I got there at the end of ’93. And you know, the Double J push and all that. But back in those days, we did Raw on Mondays every three weeks. And we Superstars on Tuesdays, three weeks’ worth of taping, and Wednesdays would be three weeks worth of Challenge tapings. And Challenge tapings, and Superstars tapings, were the enhancement matches. And that’s when — I’ll just say Scott Hall, he was taking me under his wing, so to speak. And Kevin and I’d known Shawn for years, but we were not just traveling together, just hanging out. That was the group.
“But I remember getting to TV and hearing Scott Hall come in. Him saying who he wanted to work with on Tuesday and Wednesday, and he would say, ‘Hey, man, I want ice. I want ice. I want that kid. I want this guy.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay. So there’s a trick of the trade.’ Scott’s going to hand-pick his enhancement guy. That was like a little learning, like you go, ‘Okay!’. He’s gonna make the bad guy look good, because he can do all of his stuff. And Jeff is a spectacular bump taker. But I can remember, and Scott would — people that know Scott, Scott don’t mind telling the same story a couple of times. But Scott was into, ‘Yeah, he’s a good bump taker.’ But he’s like, ‘Hey man, that dude’s got charisma. There is something about that guy that, he’s got charisma, he’s got charisma.’ So hearing Scott call him, ‘Hey, I want ice, and this and that,’ and kind of handpicking. That’s when I first noticed Jeff. And I’m like, ‘Man, Scott’s right.’ And I was at that stage of my career, show up. Whoever Tony Garea or Rene Goulet or Chief Jay Strongbow. Whatever agent, however it happened, I was just, ‘Okay, this is who you’re working with.’ You know, maybe Bruce was pairing things up, I don’t know. But I’m like; ‘Okay, I’ll go to the ring and have the best enhancement match with whatever opponent they gave me.’ But Scott told me to go after a guy I wanted. And that’s the first time I laid eyes on Jeff. Watch Jeff, and Scott was right.”
On what’s special about Jeff Hardy: “He has the Charismatic Enigma. And I don’t want to — we’re just talking about it, so I’m not getting out of chronological order. Jeff to me, and I’ve said this and this is a professional comment on him. But if you went up to any fan over the last 30 years, would you say, ‘Man, that Jeff Hardy, what a hell of a promo guy!’ No, probably not. ‘Jeff Hardy, man, what a great in-ring wrestler, if you will.’ No, probably not. But there is something about — and then the people in the music industry totally dialed into this. The uniqueness sets him apart. He is charisma, uniqueness like the Rock. ‘Oh, man, he’s a great talker and movie star looks and this and that.’ And we could go down the line of Hogan, ‘Say your prayers,’ all that. Jeff’s uniqueness and relatableness — and I believe this attracted me, him as man to man — his human nature. His energy sets him apart. And I think that has been his cash card, calling card, ticket to success is that I think people can look into his soul and go; ‘That dude is cool. I like him.’ And you cannot bottle that up. It’s hard even to describe, but the proof is in the pudding. He is a mega-star over the last 30 years. And when he walked on stage last week in Bridgestone, the building erupted. I mean, it’s really that simple.”
On Jeff Hardy’s appeal to the fans: “You know when you look at Jeff and get to know him on a much deeper level, you begin to ask more questions than you have answers. But you know, at an early age Matt and Jeff lost their mother. And you know, just — I’ll call it the gentle soul. I think he’s always carried that 12, 13, 14-year-old little boy in him. And it comes out. That’s getting a little deep there. But he’s not just different. Because I think you can be different and be an asshole. I think you can be different and be aloof. I think you can be different, and quirky or weird, or whatever. I think there are different shades of being different. But that’s why I always like to say ‘Jeff is unique’ in a very positive way. He is unique. And when you see that uniqueness climb to the top of a scaffold or a ladder, and the other night off the top of the rope. Swanton through the table. There’s something about — Jeff knows how to create moments just by — you know, he’s got that ability to create moments. And I can remember being in the studio in TNA. When you when you put a clip reel together of magical moments, man. You have to almost go to a challenge, ‘Hey, man, we got too much Jeff Hardy in here.’ But he knows how to climb to the top of the rope, the top of the ladder, or the top of the scaffolding, whatever. Pause, looks at the people, let it soak in. You kind of feel his emotion… Jeff has an endearment that we all, I believe, taking a breath. At some point, you feel, ‘Man, I’m different. I don’t belong here. And Jeff kind of embraces it.”
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