Jeff Jarrett Reveals How His Royal Rumble Appearance Came About, Talks Working With Elias

– Jeff Jarrett spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview discussing his Royal Rumble appearance and more. Highlights are below:

On how his Royal Rumble appearance came about: “I got the call and I said, ‘What’s the game plan? Where are we headed.’ They said ‘Double J.’ You’re talking about the original Double J? I’ve had a couple of evolutions – Jeff Jarrett in 1986 in Tennessee to WWF to WCW to TNA to AAA and a few places in between to New Japan and Bullet Club and all of that. So, I said if I’m doing Double J, I’ve got to go all the way.”

On still having his old ring gear: “I’m a pack rat. There’s only a couple pairs of tights I’ve worn throughout my career that I don’t have. I save everything. Last year at the Hall of Fame, I had to go to the warehouse and get that stuff because they requested it to put it out at Axxess…Those are the tights that I wore at WrestleMania 11 – me vs. Razor Ramon…. Those were the tights, so 24 years later Nick, I dug them up and put those same tights on.”

On finding out just before the event: “I didn’t have much time to prepare. But they told me, ‘Hey, don’t worry about a hat. We’ve got the hat and it’s working.’ So, I kid you not, that is the original blinking hat. So 24 years later, they put a new set of Duracells in there…that is the original hat with the original tights, just my body is 20 years older.”

On working with Elias: “Stepping out Sunday in Chase Field, and that reaction and the surprise factor, and obviously Elias – what better No. 1 if I’m gonna be No. 2. So, there was some magic made those last two nights. I’ll definitely say that.”