Jeff Jarrett Opens Up About Working With Chyna

WWE Hall Of Famer Jeff Jarrett recently appeared on an episode of the Love Wrestling podcast, during which he talked about the death of Owen Hart at the Over The Edge 1999 PPV, winning the Intercontinental Championship a few days later and eventually working with Chyna.

"You can’t really put it into words. At that stage in my career in ’99, I’d been wrestling 13, 14 years and won the regional titles, and [I’d] go to Japan, or Puerto Rico or Texas, and then obviously, the first time I won it against Razor [Ramon]. I didn’t really process at the time, but I know the overwhelming of emotion because [of] what was going on prior to that.

Me and Owen had been teaming, and he was doing the Blue Blazer. I’ll just say that the Intercontinental Title wasn’t in the cards, or wasn’t in the plans. So when that opportunity hit, it was overwhelming and it played out right on [for] the whole world to see.

To me, it’s still, in a lot of ways, the second most prestigious belt in the world. And yes, there’s a RAW belt and a SmackDown belt, and no disrespect to any of that. But the Intercontinental Title for me, and this is for me, has such a special lineage from I mean, we can go on and on, but Curt Hennig and Roddy Piper and Bret [Hart] and Shawn [Michaels] and Razor [Ramon] and just, you know, Stone Cold, and Rock and just how it was through the years. And then in later years, The Miz I think gave it a lot of respect. It’s a special title in the annals of professional wrestling. But, for me to win it under those circumstances. I can’t really put it into words how special it was.

I don’t believe in coincidences. I just don’t. I believe in convergences. I don’t think anything really happens by accident, and when I sit here today, obviously years removed from the situation that when I left the WWF at the time, I had my last match with Chyna. Then, fast forward, Chyna’s last match was against me in a TNA ring. That didn’t happen by accident, and for whatever reason, and I don’t know, but God rest her soul. She really battled her demons.

The fond memories that I had, that Good Housekeeping [match]. That night there was obviously, I’ve gone into a lot of drama about the pay and that whole we’ll say out-of-the-ring situation. But, as far as the creative, and the in-ring, and the match that was laid out, and Pat Patterson, and just the different finishes, and how Pat came up with that creative swerve. I knew in my mind before I got to the building sort of a match that I wanted to layout and building up to that.

The entire story, as you know, sort of goes back several weeks, if not months. Quite a bit because DX, Stone Cold in so many ways identified the Attitude Era, and so did Mick Foley and Hell in a Cell and all that. But, when you look at DX at the real height of the Attitude Era, you know, the New Age Outlaws and Road Dogg and his catchphrases and just the emotion that evokes. But, also a part of that was, to me, just right up there at the top of it all [was] a female for the first time, and her look, and her charisma. That’s Chyna.

I mean, she identified the Attitude Era in so many ways, and the storyline [of] me beating up women, and Cindy Margolis, and [Fabulous] Moolah, and just the whole build-up to that, and the mud match and all those kinds of things. It really was a fantastic creative story. I’ve nothing but fond memories of all that, but man, what a tragedy. The documentary was heart-wrenching in a lot of ways.

A lot of people say, ‘Oh, my God, why’d they document that,’ but if they can help one person, and it can help I can assure you, I feel like it will help a lot of people. Seeing Chyna, the megastar on TV, but realizing in everyday life, she, in a lot of ways, was literally living in hell on earth. That’s tragic in so many ways."

Jeff Jarrett Talks Dropping IC Belt To Chyna & Leaving For WCW In 1999