The Real Reason We Never Saw Steve Austin And Jeff Jarrett Wrestle

Steve Austin ECW
WWE

Part of that story stems from the very discrepancy between Austin and Jarrett’s breaks. Jarrett was the promoter’s kid. He was looked after. Austin in contrast alleges that he wasn’t taken care of by Jerry Jarrett. The man named as the best rookie in the game so quickly after his debut wasn’t perceived as such by his old USWA promoter. To Jarrett, Austin was "mediocre," green, didn’t connect with crowds, and benefitted mostly from a simpatico relationship with Vince McMahon. Speaking to Hannibal TV, Jarrett said "They would’ve never been who they were, if they hadn’t been together and against each other. Wouldn’t work under any other circumstance."

Any other circumstance?

This is quite easily countered: the sheer personality Austin displayed in the early ’90s proved that he was, inherently, a star: WCW just didn’t, couldn’t, or wouldn’t recognise what they had in him. Austin’s mere four-month ECW ’95 run is remembered to this day as a revolutionary cult classic. Austin got over everywhere but Memphis. Jarrett said this in a 2018 shoot interview, and these words, arguably, were stated from a defensive position.

The relentless pace at which wrestling ages may not have been lost on Jarrett; because so many wrestling fans know so much more about Austin than Jarrett, Jarrett is known in shorthand as “That guy who paid Stone Cold in potatoes”. Few modern fans are aware of Jerry Jarrett’s seminal, influential legacy as a booking great.

And while Jarrett didn’t literally pay Austin in vegetables, he paid him so poorly that Austin had to subsist on a diet of boiled potatoes. Austin was so incredulous at the size of his pay cheque that, apocryphally, Jarrett witnessed him staring at it backstage. “Keep on staring at it, boy: it ain’t going to make it no bigger!”

This ruthlessness informed Austin’s resentment of—and refusal to work—his son.

CONT'D...(2 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!