WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, who is also All Elite Wrestling’s Director of Business Development, took to an episode of his “My World with Jeff Jarrett” podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including whether Shawn Michaels knew he was leaving the company after their match at WWE In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks.
Jarrett said, “[He knew] nothing. And I didn’t know until really that day… I remember doing the interview. And kind of the unfiltered part of Jeff was… and look, ‘Hey Jeff, you signed up for it.’ But we were ten on, three off, four on, three off. It’s just how the schedule was. And then on top of that, I was IC champ starting in January. And so appearances, they knew that I could do on-sales. It’s funny, the Pittsburgh SummerSlam that I never was at because I walked out, you know I did the on sale for that. So in those days, video games and on-sales, and I was just a constant, constant, constant grind. I didn’t realize it but man, in the old proverbial, I was running myself into the ground, burning out. But no, the answer to your question is Shawn didn’t know. Brian (James) didn’t even really know. He didn’t even really digest it until in the ring. I mean, he knew, but like, he would have been there. When I didn’t get up and finish executing the story, he’s like, ‘I’m out with you, brother.’ He said, ‘We’re out.’”
On the match:
“Me and Shawn have had this conversation. And we were both — we did a watchalong at WWE a couple of years ago on — maybe that would have been the 20th anniversary. But here’s kind of two old vets sitting around talking about it. But we knew it at the time. And Conrad you’ll be able to relate to this. And I don’t know any other way to say this, though — this match wasn’t anywhere close to a storyline blowoff match. Not anywhere close. I mean, it is our first matchup. It’s not like we did this angle on TV where The Roadie and Jeff beat the hell out of Shawn Michaels and put him on the — you know what I’m saying?”
“This was, I don’t want to say thrown together. But this was a transitional title switch. Like end of story, we don’t need to say anymore. The plan was that Jeff and Roadie are going to go do their personal storyline, and Shawn is going to head down and he’s going to go recreate some magic at SummerSlam with Razor Ramon, and Kevin’s gonna go on his way. So it was a In Your House, the second one ever, just kind of transitional. So when I look back and like, ‘Jeff and Shawn tore the house down.’ I’d like to say, can you imagine if we really built a storyline arc, and maybe the next one I win, and then we have the rubber match? Like really built? And me and Shawn have had that discussion, and we both knew. It wasn’t any blow-off angle, storyline match and that makes a difference in the performance. It just — when you make it for all the marbles on the table, not that the IC title wasn’t on the line. But again, it was a transitional title switch, and man. So the regret I may have is, can you imagine what we could have done with a real blow-off match?”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
