One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY Month Of The WWE Attitude Era
18. November 1999 | The Backstage Shouting Match You Might Not Have Heard Of
When the WWF purchased WCW, and revealed the monumental move on Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon made sure to mention - and took great pleasure in doing so - that Jeff Jarrett would not be participating in the upcoming story. In fact, Vince was so eager to impart this information that he forgot to take a minute and make it make sense; Vince tried to ape Jarrett’s catchphrase, in which he spelled out his own name, when he said that Jarrett was “gone”. Vince spelled it ‘GOONNEE’.
You know the main headline already. Jarrett was the reigning Intercontinental champion when he made the decision to jump ship, and he didn’t have to drop the belt. He only did so when he made certain that he would receive every cent of remuneration owed to him upfront. While the extortion narrative is overblown - it’s not as if Jarrett asked for and received eight figures or anything - wrestling apocrypha has it that Jarrett did in fact get the highest estimate of his earnings then and there.
What you possibly didn't know about is that, per the November 1 issue of the Observer, the backstage feud wasn’t just between Jarrett and Vince; a shoot tag team match of sorts played out between Jarrett and Road Dogg and Jim Ross and Bruce Prichard backstage.
Before No Mercy ‘99, Jarrett is said to have “cut a promo” on Ross, who he blamed for his avoidable exit; meanwhile, Road Dogg ranted at Bruce Prichard, presumably because that was less stupid than shouting at Vince McMahon, for the failure of management to convince Steve Austin about working a programme with Jarrett.