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

Austin and Jarrett avoided each other, inadvertently, as their stars rose.

Austin drew critical acclaim for his eye-catching work in the Hollywood Blondes tag team. Alongside Brian Pillman, Austin popularised the impersonation skit and showed bags of the personality that would revolutionise the industry. In singles competition, he worked a blistering series of matches with Ricky Steamboat. He was a tremendous all-rounder years before he reinvented the wheel of episodic wrestling television. Around the same time, Jarrett tasted mainstream success in the WWF as the country singing Double J character, famed for a superb match with Shawn Michaels that, for years, stood as an all-timer before the onset of this quality boom. His strong promo work carried a fondly remembered feud with his Roadie. If not "great," Jarrett was memorable: 'With My Baby Tonight' still pops into the heads of wrestling fans some quarter of a century later.

Austin and Jarrett eventually crossed those paths in 1997; Austin and Jarrett effectively entered and exited the WWF in parallel the year prior. By 1997, Austin had made a mockery of Jerry Jarrett’s ability to scout talent. An hilarious, sinister, totally believable badass, he was the best sports entertainer, and arguably pro wrestler, on the planet. Jarrett attempted to draw inspiration from his persona and the wider shoot season that was the year of 1997 to less than successful effect - creatively and politically.

Austin's ECW shoot promos were incendiary, entertaining and cathartic, and they were justified, most importantly. He was a superstar, and only he recognised that. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart traded lurid, ultra-compelling barbs at one another. Jarrett came off as whiny and boring - Vince McMahon certainly felt as much at the commentary table - and this new means of getting oneself over in a reality-tinged world did not get him over.

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