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Jeff Jarrett Reveals Truth Behind Rumors He Held Up Vince, WWE In 1999

Posted: Feb 10th 2020 By: Jim Parsons - Sportster.com

Still a part of wrestling trivia and conversations that start, 'Did it really happen?', Jeff Jarrett holding up WWE for money is a rumor that's never quite disappeared. The alleged incident was rumored to have taken place over 20 years ago and Jarrett finally shares the truth about whether or not he did what everyone thinks he did.

There's been a long-standing rumor Jarrett held Vince McMahon up for around $300K back in 1999. The story goes that his contract was expiring but WWE had accidentally kept The Intercontinental Title around his waist as his deal lapsed. Wanting him to drop the belt to Chyna on his way out of WWE at a No Mercy PPV, the rumor was he said he wouldn't do it unless McMahon gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars up front. Jarrett was then ostracized from WWE until recently when he came back to work as a producer.

Jarrett is finally revealing details of his conversation with Vince and what really went down at the event.

In a recent interview with TalkSport, Jarrett spoke of the rumors and said, "If he didn’t want to pay me, he didn’t have to pay me a cent." Essentially confirming Vince did pay him a huge sum of money, he framed the narrative differently than how most people have heard it.

Jarrett noted that the money he was paid was money he was already owed. He said he told Vince, "Pay me everything that you’ve owed me in the past." He noted at the time Vince owed him bonuses from approximately four months worth of work prior to that October. "I had a lot of money in the pipeline coming," he said.

He explained to Vince:

“I said let’s approximate on the payoffs. I’ve got all these house show runs I was on. Let’s come up with a number and let me get out of your hair. I’m obviously not re-signing the offer, and that’s a whole other set of circumstances [laughs]. You go your way and I’ll go my way. It made it easy on everybody.”

What Jeff didn't say was whether or not he refused to go perform if Vince said no. That he didn't say explicitly that means it's safe to assume he must have.

So Who Was Right, Jarrett Of Vince?

Clearly, it appears Jarrett did "hold up" Vince, in a manner of speaking. At the same time, it sounds like Jarrett was only trying to get what he believed he was already owed and that his concern was Vince wouldn't make good on it while asking him to do WWE a favor.