10 Things We Learned From Jeff Jarrett On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Sessions Podcast
4. Jarrett Blames Himself For No Mercy 1999
Back to the big time.
Jarrett infamously held Vince up for money at No Mercy 1999. Or, did he? That history has always depended on who's telling it, and Jeff claims he was just standing up for himself and trying to get what he was worth. On 'Broken Skull', he told Austin that he regrets his own lack of communicative skills during the drama.
Still, he was doing well as an upper-midcard heel, and thought he deserved more money than McMahon was willing to pay. Behind closed doors, Jeff told himself: "If they're not gonna pay me now, then they're never gonna pay me". That's why he decided to see if WCW would be interested in a second stab at him.
By the time Vince came back and wanted to talk, he'd already signed on with them. Jeff wondered if he could flee to WCW, main event and maybe even come back to the WWF as a bigger star. He says he got a hug from McMahon at No Mercy, which isn't always reported in the story.
It's all so murky, but Jarrett definitely blames himself for not being clear about what he wanted.