Jeff Jarrett - With My Baby Tonight

[Spider2024]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJv3cREyXZw

Loved this song, love it then, love it now, will probably always rank in my top 10 favorite country songs of all time.

But there was something I was wondering about this song.

The storyline of Double J Jeff Jarrett turned into a lip-syncing scandal, where it turns out The Roadie/Brian James/Road Dogg Jesse James really sang the song. And apparently, he really really did sing that song. Like, the voice in the actual song came from Roadie's vocal cords. So I guess they had this planned from the beginning? It's a rare practice of foresight from the usually simplistic storyline world that is pro wrestling.

[Old Baby]

Yes, kinda shows how hard up they were at the time to push such a limited performer with a road crew gimmick. Surprised they didn't bring back Virgil to lead an alliance against the Million $ Corporation.

Edit:
Agree, it's a great song, and I don't even typically like country music.

[Gravedigger's Biscuits]

You can clearly tell from the voice that it's Road Dogg singing.

And I love it too. Right up there with "Rap is Crap" as my favourite country song.

[Deleted]

Just a great jam. Still have that in regular rotation when I go jogging.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

My 5-year old daughter was singing it in the car the other day...lol
I will also admit that it is a great song.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

That angle is interesting, here's Jeff Jarrett, a guy that they probably gave him a big contract, he got vignettes dedicated to him and weeks of tv to build him up...but he couldn't get over. Meanwhile, The Road Dogg, who pretty much got signed for peanuts, didn't had vignettes, was pretty much a jobber, only needed a moment to show his charisma and got way more over than Jarrett.

He wasn't just lucky, he was able to get over again when he created the Road Dogg character, he ended up being a bigger star than Jeff Jarrett could ever hope to be.

Wish the wwe learned their lesson back then, that instead of pushing guys down the fans throats, they should push guys that get over organically.

[Old Baby]

Oct 1, 2015 3:42:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

That angle is interesting, here's Jeff Jarrett, a guy that they probably gave him a big contract, he got vignettes dedicated to him and weeks of tv to build him up...but he couldn't get over. Meanwhile, The Road Dogg, who pretty much got signed for peanuts, didn't had vignettes, was pretty much a jobber, only needed a moment to show his charisma and got way more over than Jarrett.

He wasn't just lucky, he was able to get over again when he created the Road Dogg character, he ended up being a bigger star than Jeff Jarrett could ever hope to be.

Wish the wwe learned their lesson back then, that instead of pushing guys down the fans throats, they should push guys that get over organically.

I am watching through this period now and I think Jarrett was reasonably over.  He was never going to be a main event guy, but he did pretty well as an obnoxious heel.  I think you have to keep in mind that no one was over during this period like they had been years before because the crowds just weren't hot for the product in WWF or WCW.  I'm also not really sure that you could say that Road Dogg was a bigger star than Jarrett ever hoped to be.  They were both successful midcard acts.  Neither guy was going to be a top bread winner, but they were over.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Oct 1, 2015 8:11:49 GMT -5 Old Baby said:

Oct 1, 2015 3:42:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

That angle is interesting, here's Jeff Jarrett, a guy that they probably gave him a big contract, he got vignettes dedicated to him and weeks of tv to build him up...but he couldn't get over. Meanwhile, The Road Dogg, who pretty much got signed for peanuts, didn't had vignettes, was pretty much a jobber, only needed a moment to show his charisma and got way more over than Jarrett.

He wasn't just lucky, he was able to get over again when he created the Road Dogg character, he ended up being a bigger star than Jeff Jarrett could ever hope to be.

Wish the wwe learned their lesson back then, that instead of pushing guys down the fans throats, they should push guys that get over organically.

I am watching through this period now and I think Jarrett was reasonably over.  He was never going to be a main event guy, but he did pretty well as an obnoxious heel.  I think you have to keep in mind that no one was over during this period like they had been years before because the crowds just weren't hot for the product in WWF or WCW.  I'm also not really sure that you could say that Road Dogg was a bigger star than Jarrett ever hoped to be.  They were both successful midcard acts.  Neither guy was going to be a top bread winner, but they were over.

I don't think Jarrett was over at all, also Vince always hated working with him, apart from having little to no charisma, Jeff couldn't cut a promo, Vince said he was worse than Bob Backlund.

Jerry Jarrett in his shoot said that Jeff only got signed because he recommended him to Vince, kinda implying that Vince only signed him as a favor to Jerry.

I also believe that the Road Dogg is the bigger star. I bet that more casuals know who he is if he and Jarrett walked to a mall, I also think he drew more money and sold more merch than Jeff.

[thegatewaydrug]

How about this thought - Why would WWF sign WCW JTTS Brian Armstrong (whose brothers and father were all longtime NWA/JCP guys) unless they realized he was super charismatic and could sing? Maybe even more foresight than imagined!!

Had we not left to join WCW and fight Mongo and the "Who's the real Double J" feud aside, what was the end-game for lipsyncing Jeff Jarrett to get over in WWF?

[thegatewaydrug]

P.S.- I think bad attires and theme songs are what held Jarrett back from becoming a more big time player in the 90's.

Tassled vests and tights and later Aztec trunks were all ugly and didn't allow you to take him seriously as a huge threat. Art Donovan thought he was "a cutie" though...

He was destined for midcard as his skills didn't overcompensate the look. I think this statement parallels D'Lo Brown and his chest protector look [pre-Droz]. As naturally over as he was getting, he'd never be The Rock. Only someone as great as Mick Foley could turn a ludicrous brown get-up (or a torn flannel shirt and sweatpants) into the main event. Or Bret Hart in the color pink.

[CeilingFan]

Oct 1, 2015 12:56:23 GMT -5 thegatewaydrug said:

P.S.- I think bad attires and theme songs are what held Jarrett back from becoming a more big time player in the 90's.

Tassled vests and tights and later Aztec trunks were all ugly and didn't allow you to take him seriously as a huge threat. Art Donovan thought he was "a cutie" though...

He was destined for midcard as his skills didn't overcompensate the look. I think this statement parallels D'Lo Brown and his chest protector look [pre-Droz]. As naturally over as he was getting, he'd never be The Rock. Only someone as great as Mick Foley could turn a ludicrous brown get-up (or a torn flannel shirt and sweatpants) into the main event. Or Bret Hart in the color pink.

I bet Art Donovan said "How much this guy weigh?".

[Old Baby]

Oct 1, 2015 12:56:23 GMT -5 thegatewaydrug said:

P.S.- I think bad attires and theme songs are what held Jarrett back from becoming a more big time player in the 90's.

Tassled vests and tights and later Aztec trunks were all ugly and didn't allow you to take him seriously as a huge threat. Art Donovan thought he was "a cutie" though...

He was destined for midcard as his skills didn't overcompensate the look. I think this statement parallels D'Lo Brown and his chest protector look [pre-Droz]. As naturally over as he was getting, he'd never be The Rock. Only someone as great as Mick Foley could turn a ludicrous brown get-up (or a torn flannel shirt and sweatpants) into the main event. Or Bret Hart in the color pink.

I think those outfits actually helped him.  Before and after the Double J gimmick, Jarrett was always a colorless worker whose attempts to show personality only revealed how little personality he had.  Double J was the only gimmick that was big enough and outrageous enough for him to hide in.  He wore flashy, obnoxious outfits that went along with his exaggerated, obnoxious strut and his outrageous claims of being a country music superstar in the making.  Like Wayne Ferris, he was a guy with very limited mainstream appeal who was fortunate enough to land a gimmick that was loud enough to compensate for his limitations.  

Also, OVO 40 hunched over like he 80, I'm not sure I really buy into the whole thing about Vince hating him that much at the time.  I know Vince hates him now, so it's no surprise he would make comments like that.  But, if Vince hated Jarrett so much, why did he work for him as many years, and why was he hired for a second stint after leaving WWE to wrestle in WCW for a year?  Maybe we have different definitions of "over", but in the shows I'm watching Jarrett gets the crowd booing and seems to be pretty competent in the heel role. 

No doubt the Road Dogg is going to be the more recognized of the two now because his image hasn't been blotted from WWE programming for the last 15 years.  In fact, the New Age Outlaws just finished up a short stint with the company as tag champs.  But, if we were to travel back to 2000 when Jarrett was fresh off a couple WWF I-C title runs and WCW World champ, it would be a different story.

[Crappler El 0 M]

It might have been the plan all along, but Jarrett and James were fired from/left WWE after they debuted that song. When James returned to WWE while Jarrett was in WCW, that's when they revealed that James was the real vocalist. There was never really a feud over the song or anything.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Oct 1, 2015 19:05:41 GMT -5 Old Baby said:

Oct 1, 2015 12:56:23 GMT -5 thegatewaydrug said:

P.S.- I think bad attires and theme songs are what held Jarrett back from becoming a more big time player in the 90's.

Tassled vests and tights and later Aztec trunks were all ugly and didn't allow you to take him seriously as a huge threat. Art Donovan thought he was "a cutie" though...

He was destined for midcard as his skills didn't overcompensate the look. I think this statement parallels D'Lo Brown and his chest protector look [pre-Droz]. As naturally over as he was getting, he'd never be The Rock. Only someone as great as Mick Foley could turn a ludicrous brown get-up (or a torn flannel shirt and sweatpants) into the main event. Or Bret Hart in the color pink.

I think those outfits actually helped him.  Before and after the Double J gimmick, Jarrett was always a colorless worker whose attempts to show personality only revealed how little personality he had.  Double J was the only gimmick that was big enough and outrageous enough for him to hide in.  He wore flashy, obnoxious outfits that went along with his exaggerated, obnoxious strut and his outrageous claims of being a country music superstar in the making.  Like Wayne Ferris, he was a guy with very limited mainstream appeal who was fortunate enough to land a gimmick that was loud enough to compensate for his limitations.  

Also, OVO 40 hunched over like he 80, I'm not sure I really buy into the whole thing about Vince hating him that much at the time.  I know Vince hates him now, so it's no surprise he would make comments like that.  But, if Vince hated Jarrett so much, why did he work for him as many years, and why was he hired for a second stint after leaving WWE to wrestle in WCW for a year?  Maybe we have different definitions of "over", but in the shows I'm watching Jarrett gets the crowd booing and seems to be pretty competent in the heel role. 

No doubt the Road Dogg is going to be the more recognized of the two now because his image hasn't been blotted from WWE programming for the last 15 years.  In fact, the New Age Outlaws just finished up a short stint with the company as tag champs.  But, if we were to travel back to 2000 when Jarrett was fresh off a couple WWF I-C title runs and WCW World champ, it would be a different story.

People like Scott Bowden (Memphis manager) and Lawler said that Vince thought Jarrett cut the worst promos ever, yeah you're right he was good on the midcard, I'm just saying that Road Dogg was the bigger star, and no, being WCW champion in 2000 when Jarrett won it wasn't that prestigious, f*** their ratings where dying whereas the wwe's were improving each week.

[Deleted]

Every time I hear this song I think back to when I used to annoy my mom and grandma by blasting my WWF Full Metal cassette.

[auph10imitated]

This was actually a really catchy song and country doesnt do much for me.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

I wonder why they didn't actually go ahead and release it as a single. I've never heard anyone say they didn't like it, and if I remember right, country stations were trying to get recordings to play on air so there was demand for it, could have been a nice little money earner at a time the WWF needed it.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Ya have now, TERRIBLE song.

Hell, I love country music, but this attempt is terrible. I'll say it's on par with many actual mainstream songs of that era, no arguing that though.

[thegatewaydrug]

Oct 3, 2015 15:13:30 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

Ya have now, TERRIBLE song.

Hell, I love country music, but this attempt is terrible. I'll say it's on par with many actual mainstream songs of that era, no arguing that though.

Meanwhile I hate country music, but can dig this song any day of the week!

[agent817]

Oct 1, 2015 19:06:54 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

It might have been the plan all along, but Jarrett and James were fired from/left WWE after they debuted that song. When James returned to WWE while Jarrett was in WCW, that's when they revealed that James was the real vocalist. There was never really a feud over the song or anything.

The only time that there was any type of feud was in the fall of 1998, but Jeff Jarrett and Southern Justice mainly feuded with DX as a continuation of the Double J and X-Pac feud that led to their match at Summerslam that year. It only led to Road Dogg after Jarrett had given him a guitar shot, which led an angle about him damaging James's vocal chords. However, for some reason the WWF had incorporated some archived footage on Raw or Live Wire (I don't remember exactly which show it was) that was from 1994 or 1995 when Road Dogg was The Roadie and Jarrett had the country singer gimmick during that time. It even mentioned the song "With My Baby Tonight" in that footage.