10 Superstars Who Burned WWE Bridges… But Still Returned

4. Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett
WWE.com

Forget J-E-Double F J-A-Double R-E-Double T, for Jeff Jarrett was well and truly on Vince McMahon’s S-H-*-T L-I-S-T for years.

These days, Double J is a WWE Hall of Famer who works behind the scenes as a producer and agent, but the working relationship between Jarrett and WWE was in the deepest and darkest toilet bowl for the longest time.

Jeff initially left the then-WWF to jump ship to WCW in 1996 following a contract issue, yet McMahon welcomed the six-time Intercontinental Champion back into the company a year later. That wasn’t the end of the problems between these two parties, of course.

By the time of 1999’s No Mercy PPV, Jarrett was in the enviable position of having Vince by the balls. The current IC Champ who was scheduled to lose the gold to Chyna at that show, it turned out that The Chosen One’s WWF contract expired one day before that PPV. As such, with that ace card in his back pocket, Jeff demanded (and was paid) $300,000 to lose to Chyna.

So soured was the relationship between McMahon and Jarrett, Vince fired Jeff on live TV after Vinny Mac had purchased WCW in 2001. And from there, Jeff Jarrett was left out in the wrestling cold and forced to start up his own company in the form of TNA.

It took a total of 19 years and for hell to freeze over, but this four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion now finds himself back in the good graces of WWE.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.