Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal are set on leaving Las Vegas with the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal ahead of their match with FTR at AEW Double Or Nothing. Jarrett and Lethal are new to the tag team ranks of AEW, but they have a history that dates back nearly twenty years.
They’ve been opponents several times over the years, including three matches in TNA early on in Lethal’s career. Lethal and Jarrett said their chemistry has been there from the start and they’re fully confident in each other getting the job done on Sunday.
Lethal: “I think that started in 2006 when I wrestled Jeff Jarrett for the first time. I think we had two to three matches almost back-to-back, and I was sitting under the learning tree most of those matches, but I felt like our chemistry was right there right from the start, so our chemistry goes way back. I don’t think we had to sit down and talk about it much or work out some kinks, although we’re just trying to do a mesh of styles. I’m bringing the new age style of wrestling mixed with Jeff’s, what he grew up on on wrestling, and mixing it and we’re making a perfect pairing to win the AEW Tag Team Championship.”
Jarrett: “At the end of the day, I’ve always looked at whether I’m working with another partner like Owen Hart, or I call it producing or promoting guys, I think the one common theme when you have a good tag team, not everybody has to get along, not everybody has to sit down and eat a steak dinner together, but they’ve got have confidence in one another, confidence in one another’s ability, and not only confidence, but respect.”
Jarrett noted his history with Lethal went back even further, citing Mama Lethal chasing him around the ring at a Cyberspace Wrestling (later known as NWA Shockwave) event. He says he’s always had respect for Lethal, but the catalyst for their team really started last summer. The duo teamed up in the main event at Ric Flair’s Last Match in Nashville, and Jarrett’s arrival in AEW allowed them to explore things even more.
Jarrett: “The confidence and respect that I certainly have in Jay is something that I’m positive shows through on camera. The people at home and in the arena, they know not only do we have confidence in each other. I think it shows that people have confidence that not only they’re going to see some great wrestling, mainly out of Jay, but they’re going to be entertained.”
Lethal: “And I will tell you this too, especially in tag team wrestling, the longer two guys are together, the better they get. I will go out on a limb here and say that Jeff Jarrett and I have been together way longer than FTR has been together, which is another reason why we are leaving Las Vegas with the AEW Tag Team Championship.”
Jarrett spoke about how he and Lethal complement each other in the ring, comparing the situation to other great duos in sports history.
Jarrett: “[Look at Karl] Malone and [John] Stockton. Stockton could do things, it’s a basketball analogy, maybe it’s [Tom] Brady and one of many receivers, they complement each other. I can do things that Jay can’t do, and Jay can do a whole lot of things that I can’t do. But when you — I call them bookend tag teams — they’re the same guy, you know, Road Warriors, Demolition. They have the same look, which has been a huge box-office attraction through the years. I believe the success of our team is because we are truly two different individuals but come together and really complement each other.
“I think that also goes with Sonjay. Sonjay’s had a brain for this business since the early days of TNA, but he had to go back home and get his degree from George Washington. My wife, Karen, she brings a different element. It goes without saying Satnam, in so many ways, is under the learning tree of Jeff and Jay, but you cannot coach, you cannot create a talent that is truly one in a billion. A seven-foot-four former NBA basketball player with his athleticism, his passion. The unit is so diverse but so complimentary of each other, I think that is the box office attraction of it.”
One other variable that was recently added to the mix was Karen Jarrett, who made her presence felt on the May 17 episode of AEW Dynamite. Asked if fans could expect to see Karen in AEW again, Jarrett didn’t confirm or deny her status but noted where she’ll be this weekend.
Jarrett: “Just stay tuned, Bill. You really think we’re going to give you those kind of trade secrets? I’ll say this… she’s in Las Vegas.”
Watch the full interview with Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal below:
