WWE legend addresses his alleged 19-year animosity with Vince McMahon
Jeff Jarrett has played down long-standing rumors that he held Vince McMahon up for $300,000 before leaving WWE in 1999.
The WWE Hall of Famer’s contract expired a day before he faced Chyna at No Mercy 1999. On the day of the show, the out-of-contract star was offered $150,000 to make up for the pay-per-view pay-offs that WWE owed him.
Speaking on his new My World podcast, Jeff Jarrett said he negotiated a deal that saw him receive $300,000 instead of $150,000. Jarrett also confirmed that he and Vince McMahon resolved the matter amicably.
“I went and got dressed and when I got dressed I came out and Chyna is going over this, whatever, and Vince walks up in his three-piece suit, and I’ll never forget the look,” Jarrett said. “It’s kind of those moments that, look, this wasn’t in his highlight reel, I’m not saying that, but in my personal highlight reel, it absolutely was because he came up, opened up his shirt pocket, got out a while envelope, and said, ‘Thank you, I appreciate it, now freaking…’ He didn’t use that word but he used another word. ‘Go tear the house down.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir, boss, looking forward to it.’ He handed me the check.”
Chyna defeated Jeff Jarrett later that night to win the Intercontinental Championship. One day later, Jarrett made his WCW return on Nitro.
Jeff Jarrett got emotional while discussing his conversation with Vince McMahon
Contrary to what has been reported over the last two decades, Jeff Jarrett insisted he did not fall out with Vince McMahon in 1999.
The six-time Intercontinental Champion emotionally recalled how he bid farewell to people backstage after the match, including the WWE Chairman.
“I told everybody that I saw that I rode up and down the roads with for two years… goodbye, which was cool,” Jarrett added. “I got the opportunity to do that. Then I walked straight up to Gorilla and just sort of stood there because, you know, Gorilla is lots of moving parts, all kinds of stuff going on. Then I just waited for my moment and I stuck around the table, pat Vince on the shoulder. He looked over, took off his headset, got up, and we had a huge hug and embrace. I carried that emotion.”
After a 19-year absence from WWE, Jeff Jarrett was inducted into Vince McMahon’s Hall of Fame in 2018. He even returned to work for WWE as a backstage producer in 2019.
Please credit My World with Jeff Jarrett and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.