Legendary professional wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett, father of wrestler Jeff Jarrett, has died at the age of 80.
The news was announced by WWE on Tuesday.
“The father of WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, the elder Jarrett was a hugely influential figure in the wrestling industry,” said WWE. “Jarrett wrestled primarily for NWA Mid-America, winning multiple Tag Team Championships before hanging up his boots to focus on booking and promoting.”
Jarrett did some wrestling of his own as well, working as a referee and a wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s, even holding several regional NWA tag belts in his career.
In 1977, Jarrett partnered with Jerry “The King” Lawler to create the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in the Memphis area. CWA later merged with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) to form the United States Wrestling Association (USWA).
Jerry’s son, Jeff, is a WWE Hall of Famer who has wrestled for various promotions and is currently working with All Elite Wrestling. In 2002, the father-son duo formed TNA, though he later sold a controlling share to Panda Energy and left the company in 2005.
The wrestling world came out to celebrate and pay its respects to Jarrett after the news of his passing spread.
https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1625596853273108490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1625596853273108490%7Ctwgr%5Ea23455e4e2d229913e3e9664376c0dba3ba42398%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F10065685-jerry-jarrett-father-of-wwe-hall-of-famer-jeff-jarrett-dies-at-age-80
[WWE]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.