AEW's Jeff Jarrett Opens Up About Emotional Owen Hart Tournament Interview
Following the announcement of the men's and women's brackets for the Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament, some wrestling fans questioned the inclusion of Jeff Jarrett to the men's side. Those questions were answered Saturday on "AEW Collision," when a tearful Jarrett recounted his friendship and history with Hart, who he won the WWE Tag Team Championships with in 1999, months before Hart's tragic death. The video drew such acclaim that AEW released a 9 minute uncut version just a day later.
On Tuesday's episode of "My World with Jeff Jarrett," Jarrett spoke about the video with co-host Conrad Thompson. Jarrett admitted that he at first didn't know if he would make the tournament, but upon being told he would be included, plans for the promo came together quickly last Wednesday at "AEW Dynamite."
"They wanted me to a do sit down and really just answer one question; what's it mean to me?" Jarrett said. "So me and Karen were at catering, with Jay, and just sitting there, talking. And I was doing, I'll call it my day job, my business development job. So I was in and out of different production rooms, and moving out of that.
"I ran upstairs to get a bite to eat, and they said 'Hey, we're going to try and schedule this later in the night...What time works for you?' They let us know 'Okay, we're going to do the dark match before the show starts,' and that's for Sonjay [Dutt] and all of that. So, [I] had a blast doing that, and afterwards, I came through and they said 'Hey, when you get cleaned up, let's go do it.' And Karen said something to the effect [of] 'Guys, it's the only thing that he cries about every time.'"
Jarrett Is Grateful To Wrestle In The Owen Hart Tournament
Jarrett revealed AEW later asked him for permission to air the promo uncut, which he granted, and admitted he felt the video was more helpful to him than AEW, due to allowing him to express his emotions about Hart. As such, Jarrett hopes that the promo allows people to realize it is okay to grieve and not push emotions down. Jarrett also admitted he was somewhat surprised he made it into the Owen, comparing it to the chances of his wife and son winning the lottery one week ago. Regardless of how he got there, though, Jarrett is happy to have the chance to honor his friend.
"I'm grateful for it," Jarrett said. "It's not easy. It's painful at times. But you know, it is my opportunity to talk about him, to talk about Owen, and just...you know, I had this thought over the weekend that...when I think about everything that with...out of all the people that were part of that show that night in May of 1999, the one individual that...nobody deserves to have a work accident...But of all people, and I think that's one of the things that I've wrestled with. 'Why him? Why Owen? Why?'
"And I said that in the interview in the uncut version. We both bought our...what you'd call...the dream home. I got to move into mine, he didn't. I got to live on with life, his was cut short. And just, all that emotion just came up, and I really am...I look at this and yes it's professional wrestling, but the business that I give my life to, is that I get to actually participate in a professional wrestling event, 25 years later, that honors my friend Owen. That's special to me."
To quote this article, please credit "My World with Jeff Jarrett" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription