How Is WWE's Jeff Jarrett Able To Wrestle At Ric Flair's Last Match?

The reason why WWE's Senior Vice President of Live Events is able to wrestle outside the company.

by Andrew Pollard
Jeff Jarrett
WWE.com

After months of speculation, it's now been confirmed that the final match of Ric Flair's career will see the Nature Boy teaming up with Andrade El Idolo to battle Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal on 31 July.

That contest was made official last night during the second episode of the three-part docuseries hyping Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair's Last Match as part of Starrcast V later this month. One question many have, though, is how is WWE's Jarrett able to compete outside of Vince McMahon's sports entertainment juggernaut.

WWE is notoriously strict about not allowing contracted talent to perform outside of the company. The reasoning for Double J's involvement in this aforementioned tag bout, is due to the nature of his WWE contract.

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As per Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Jarrett's current deal with WWE is solely as the organisation's Senior Vice President of Live Events. The ten-time World Champion does not have a WWE talent contract, and thus that is why he's able to step into the ring to team with Jay Lethal.

The announcement of the main event for the Ric Flair's Last Match PPV means it'll be quite the busy weekend for Jeff Jarrett at the end of the month. In addition to his role at Starrcast V, the WWE Hall of Famer will also be the special guest referee as the Usos defend their WWE Tag Team Titles against the Street Profits at SummerSlam the night before Starrcast.

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For those wondering, the Ric Flair's Last Match event will take place at the Nashville Gardens, while SummerSlam is set to emanate from Nashville's Nissan Stadium.

Senior Writer
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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, Jamie Hayer, 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.