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Jeff Jarrett: Wrestling fans’ bitter tribalism creates cash

Posted: Mar 20th 2025 By: Jay Reddick

So much of the world these days is built around arguments. I’m right; you’re wrong, with no room in between for debate and discussion. If you have a take and share it, you can be certain it will be criticized.

This sort of tribalism has infected the pro-wrestling community, especially the battle between All Elite Wrestling and the WWE. An increasing number of fans on social media not only promote their side’s success but hope for the other side’s failure.

It can be a toxic environment, but for a veteran wrestler like Jeff Jarrett of AEW, conflict smells like an opportunity.

“I love tribalism,” Jarrett told the Sentinel last week. “I embrace it because it is the nature of what pro wrestling is — home team vs. away, good vs. evil, black, white, shades of gray. So many aspects of this world are super-divisive and super-tribalistic. But in wrestling, with that ability to evoke emotion, you create more chatter, you create more passion and you create more revenue.”

If that sounds like a true promoter, Jarrett comes by it honestly — his family has been in the wrestling business as promoters and performers for 80 years since his grandmother was a ticket-seller at small shows in Nashville.

Jarrett’s newest promotional venture is in the video-game industry as a member of the advisory board for Acclaim Entertainment, a game publisher that is being resurrected from an early-2000s bankruptcy. Jarrett has experience with wrestling-focused games (as performer and adviser) but this is his first step beyond that. Since the new company was announced last month, Jarrett has focused on building the brand and directing prospective game developers to playacclaim.com.

“I don’t really call it a big jump because at my very core, I’m an entrepreneur and a promoter,” said Jarrett, who is also a podcaster and minor-league baseball team owner, among other ventures. “It’s storytelling. It’s fan engagement. It’s producing emotional, compelling content. When they asked me to be on board, I jumped at the opportunity.”

Jarrett, 57, has wrestled for nearly 40 years in every major U.S. promotion and others worldwide. Today in AEW, he wrestles, occasionally appears as a broadcaster and serves backstage as director of business development.

He recently signed what he said was the last in-ring contract of his career, a decision he said he has doubted and wavered on in the months since.

“Do I think this is my last talent in-ring contract? I do. But I’m still of the mindset I’m going to go out swinging,” he said.

Even as he embraces the “home vs. away” tribalism of the wrestling business, he remains a fan of the entire sport. The talk of WWE is John Cena’s recent turn to the dark side after more than 20 years as a fan favorite when he attacked and bloodied champion Cody Rhodes at the behest of Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson. The whole scenario played out like a mob movie, and Jarrett said he loved it.

“The stars completely aligned,” Jarrett said. “It’s [Cena’s] last year. He’s never been a heel. The Rock is the moral compass. Cody has the true underneath groundswell of babyface momentum that this business hasn’t seen in years. More than anything, I think it’s great for the industry. The more people talk about professional wrestling, the better it gets.”

At AEW Revolution on March 9, Jarrett worked as a studio analyst on the pregame show, then sat back and watched the action with a smile on his face. He made special mention of Will Ospreay, whose cage match with Kyle Fletcher tore the house down and reminded him of a standout former colleague.

“Will is, I believe, the greatest athlete in the ring today,” Jarrett said. “I was around a young AJ Styles, who amazed me with his athletic ability back in the day. Will is cut out of that same mold and even more so because the athlete you know of today is better, bigger, faster, stronger. That’s just the nature of the beast. Their match was off the charts.”
How to watch a match

Jarrett has seen it all during his time in the business, so he was asked: How do you watch a match? As a peer, as an analyst, or just a fan? Here’s his thoughtful answer:

“It’s all of the above,” Jarrett said. “One of the great mentors in my career, Jackie Fargo, would tell a young Jeff Jarrett, ‘Pally, never, ever, ever forget to have fun.’ He had such a great sense of humor, but he could get low down and dirty and do the most powerful ass-kicking promos. But he knew the essence that you’ve got to make [the fans] feel all different ways.

“My father [Jerry Jarrett, a longtime promoter] loved to preach, ‘Jeff, it doesn’t matter what I like, it doesn’t matter what [wrestler/co-promoter Jerry “the King”] Lawler likes; it damn sure don’t matter what you like. We have to produce — and then we have to go promote — what the fans like.

“Lawler is the other one that really leaned into me and gave me the teaching lessons. Lawler is very artistic. From an artist’s point of view, me and you could listen to a song, then you could bring in a studio musician and they’re going to hear things we don’t — this is a little sharp, a little flat, could use a different key. So I try to listen intently. Sometimes I’ll stand behind the curtain and as the [entrance] music hits, I’ll close my eyes to hear different things; you’ve got to observe it. You really have to put yourself into the execution, the flat-out nuts and bolts of a match.

“I think the young wrestler breaking in today, that should be a real cornerstone of their career: to have the ability to watch a match through multiple lenses.”