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Post by Tea & Crumpets on Apr 4, 2010 17:30:54 GMT -5
Yes. very underrated. Charismatic, great wrestler, strong gimmick. Don't get the JJ hate, was always a fan of him and as a kid I bought him as a main eventer.
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Post by 01010010 01101001 01100011 on Apr 4, 2010 17:41:16 GMT -5
I love Jarrett more than most on this board but, he was in no way WWF Champion material.
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Post by Slingshot Suplay on Apr 4, 2010 19:09:55 GMT -5
Yes he would have been. I hate the old "he's a mid-carder for life" argument because if Bret Hart didn't help elevate Stone Cold in their feud, he would have been a mid-carder for life too. For whatever reason, Austin didn't want to work with Jarrett, and he was marked for life. Despite what the revisionists in the WWE say, Jarrett was good enough to hold the Euro and Tag titles, and the IC title 6 times for their company. He knew how to work the crowd and he drew alot of heat from them. He WAS over as a heel, and could have taken the next step if Austin did what Bret did for him.
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Post by Dee Jay on Apr 4, 2010 20:35:41 GMT -5
I think as a short term champion it might have worked. No way he should have been a regular main eventer though during his WWF runs considering the main eventers they had at the time.
Could definitely have worked though as a WWE Champ in a similiar vein to how devious and underhanded JBL was during his first reign.
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Post by The Deadly Snake on Apr 5, 2010 1:39:52 GMT -5
People misunderstand the situation. Jeff Jarrett would certainly not have been a good champion during the Attitude Era. He just didn't fit. In fact, he didn't fit in WCW either. He was a very old-school feel about him, and could have certainly been champ during the early 90 or mid 90's in either WCW or WWF, but with his "Arrogant Heel" gimmick AND look, and not his idiotic singer gimmick and long hair (he really looks stupid in long hair).
he made to IC champ, which was good enough for me. I thought Jarrett was a good performer with good mic skills, but he wasn't the cream of the crop during the Attitude Era. He just didn't fit the era. Heck, I can name at least two people that deserved more in WWF, and their names are D'Lo Brown and Val Venis.
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Post by Cry Me a Wiggle on Apr 5, 2010 1:53:20 GMT -5
I thought he worked as WCW champion and would have worked as a WWF champion as well, if not during the Attitude era than definitely after the brand split.
Plus, he stumbled upon a winning catchphrase in WCW with "Slapnuts," so it'd be interesting to see what the WWF merchandising machine could have done with that.
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Post by Kris Kobain on Apr 5, 2010 5:17:37 GMT -5
He would have been a better champ than Rey "I'm only champ because I'm capitalizng on Eddie's death" Mysterio.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Apr 5, 2010 5:19:56 GMT -5
If he pinned the WWF champion while the ref counted to three, yes. Would it of worked? Hell if I know.
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Dave at the Movies
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Apr 5, 2010 6:40:48 GMT -5
Yes. If they had pushed him right before he left for WCW again he could have easily became world champ.
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Post by cabbageboy on Apr 5, 2010 8:20:48 GMT -5
The funny thing about this is that I was easily ready to say "No way" but consider this. HHH had basically zero main event heat when they pushed him to the title around the time of Summerslam 1999. If anything for those few months Jarrett probably had more heat as a heel than HHH, especially during Jarrett's woman beater angle.
Hell, Vince won the title at one point in 1999, so you're telling me Jarrett wouldn't have been believable? He wouldn't have been a long term champ, but he could have held the belt for a couple of months before jobbing to someone (maybe Big Show?).
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Post by seamonsters on Apr 5, 2010 8:48:57 GMT -5
I think that any chance he had at main event legitimacy back then vanished after he lost to Chyna. Had he remained in the WWE, I don't think he would have ever gotten beyond being a mid-card heel, despite his talent. That one loss would have tainted him for AGES. Had that match with Chyna never happened....I could see him doing better. But especially for back then....that would have been Main event poison. But the only reason he feuded and lost to Chyna was because he was jumping to WCW, and the WWF wanted to discredit him because they knew Russo was a big cheerleader for Jarrett. It's also the reason why he left on bad terms, as he was out of contract the day before the match, and asked for a huge payoff to work the match (good business on Jarrett's part, bad on the WWF, but Vince was pissed with Jarrett over it).
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Apr 5, 2010 12:41:44 GMT -5
I think he could have been. Not really cut for a long title run. But a month or two he would been fine. People look his TNA reign or terrior and don't think he could been. Take that out and I do believe he could been.
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BxB
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Post by BxB on Apr 5, 2010 12:44:01 GMT -5
Yeah, Jarrett could've been a WWF champ. People hate on the guy way too much. Was he as bad as HHH during TNA's early run? Yes. Does that mean he can't be a credible champion? Nope. Jarrett often got plenty of heat in the 90's.
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Post by Bubble Lead on Apr 5, 2010 13:00:35 GMT -5
Jarrett gets a lot of undue hate. He is a good upper midcarder who could easily have held a WWF Title.
Certainly worse people have held a top strap.
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Post by boomhauer20055 on Apr 5, 2010 15:07:00 GMT -5
yes
He was the last of(youngest) the old school bleach blond types and he put on good matches.
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Post by FrankGotch on Apr 5, 2010 15:56:33 GMT -5
Absolutely, if Austin would have played ball, Jarret would have been one of his best feuds. One of the neatest things about an Austin Jarret feud would have been that their ring work especially early on in their careers was so similar. I honestly think the two of them could have put on some unbelievable matches if they would have put the hatred aside for a few seconds.
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Post by barley96 on Apr 5, 2010 16:05:48 GMT -5
I doubt this is anything new, but I think JJ could be a main eventer in WWE pre or post attitude era. He looked out of place with the like of Austin, HHH, and The Rock.
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Post by rapidfire187 on Apr 5, 2010 16:58:55 GMT -5
I'm not sure if Jarrett would've made a good WWF champion, but it would've mostly depended on the booking. Jarrett was over, but he was also very annoying in WWF. It wasn't so bad after he cut his hair, but before that the guy was just someone that it seemed like nobody wanted to see. I think in his previous gimmick, he would've made one of the worst WWF champs of all time.
However, during his "Don't Piss Me Off" period, I think he could've made a believable WWF champion. The problem was that there really wasn't much room for him. With Austin, Undertaker, Kane, and Mankind as main eventers with The Rock and HHH being pushed into things towards the end of 1998 early 1999, Jarrett really wouldn't have fit. Also, while I think a feud with Austin could've been good, I don't think he would've had good feuds with any other main eventers at the time.
Short answer: They probably made the right decision by not pushing him as a top star.
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Post by crazydom on Apr 5, 2010 17:07:22 GMT -5
Jarrett gets tons of hate for seemingly no reason. He was extremely over in the Attitude Era and held the IC title 6 times in the WWF back when the title actually really meant something. The best people can come up with is that 'the fans wouldn't buy it' which just sounds like pure smark talk when they have no idea what else excuse to use. Jarrett could have easily worked as a cocky sneaky main event heel who cheated to win.
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Post by The Deadly Snake on Apr 5, 2010 23:34:44 GMT -5
I'm not sure if Jarrett would've made a good WWF champion, but it would've mostly depended on the booking. Jarrett was over, but he was also very annoying in WWF. It wasn't so bad after he cut his hair, but before that the guy was just someone that it seemed like nobody wanted to see. I think in his previous gimmick, he would've made one of the worst WWF champs of all time. However, during his "Don't Piss Me Off" period, I think he could've made a believable WWF champion. The problem was that there really wasn't much room for him. With Austin, Undertaker, Kane, and Mankind as main eventers with The Rock and HHH being pushed into things towards the end of 1998 early 1999, Jarrett really wouldn't have fit. Also, while I think a feud with Austin could've been good, I don't think he would've had good feuds with any other main eventers at the time. Short answer: They probably made the right decision by not pushing him as a top star. I agree only party. He could have been a bigger star, but the problem was... he just didn't fit. He was too old-school/traditionalist. It was era where Traditional wrestling wasn't exactly hot. I doubt this is anything new, but I think JJ could be a main eventer in WWE pre or post attitude era. He looked out of place with the like of Austin, HHH, and The Rock. Exactly my thoughts. Post Attitude, I would even say just a bit further, post Austin/Rock, he could been a champion. Certainly a better champion than JBL in terms of in-ring skills. Probably just as good on the mic. Pre-Attitude with his "don't piss off character"? Yes. it was serious case of bad timing.
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