10 Insane Lengths Wrestlers Went To Get Revenge For Real
5. Steve Austin Doesn't Forget
Now, on the Broken Skull Sessions broadcast in June 2022, both Steve Austin and Jeff Jarrett were adamant that the "beef" that apparently exists between them was greatly exaggerated and took on a life of its own.
Apparently, Steve Austin found Jarrett's famous line - he said "Keep staring at it, it ain't gonna get any bigger" - amusing. Jeff's father Jarrett had mocked the very idea of a payday to Austin's face.
Perhaps, because old feelings have softened, some white lies were told on Peacock. By two wrestlers; shocking, yes.
Old quotes suggest however that the heat, and the revenge Austin is said to have taken years and years later, was very much real. Vince Russo has revealed that Austin once berated him for pitching Jarrett as an opponent for a second time when he hated the idea in the first place. Not like Russo to do the same stupid thing twice.
An actual reliable narrator said the same thing, even if he pretends otherwise these days: Austin himself.
Speaking to 'Get In The Ring' radio years and years ago - the excellent prowrestlingstories.com exhumed the quotes - Austin claims that he didn't want to work Jarrett because "he can't hit the ropes hard enough to bust an egg". He thought Jarrett was so midcard for life that he would have dragged him down. This is a strange rationale, since Jarrett was hardly Tom Magee in there, and Austin was happy enough to work Kane with his abysmal sidewalk slam.
He didn't say "F*ck Jeff Jarrett and his whole family", but that would have made the generational babyface seem like the petty bad guy.
Further, Jarrett retaliated by mocking Austin's worked punch, questioning whether his own perceived lack of physicality was truly the issue here. Damningly, Austin had also put over his USWA matches with Jarrett on record elsewhere, complaining only about the tassels on Jarrett's boots finding their way into his mouth.
So, for either a tiny payoff or a stray bit of ring attire, Austin might have exacted petty, convoluted revenge after all.