Jeff Jarrett: 'Wrestling in Owen's Memory Means More Than Any World Title Win'
Jeff Jarrett's career may be laden with wrestling world championships, but none of those victories can compare to competing in the Owen Cup.
This year's Owen Hart Foundation Men's tournament and the winner will advance to a World Championship match at AEW All In: London 2024. Of the eight participants, none of them had a more personal connection to Owen than Jarrett. The pair teamed together in the WWF and had held tag gold mere months before Hart's passing.
On this week's AEW Collision, an emotional Jarrett spoke candidly about being in the Owen Hart Cup. Fighting back tears, Jarrett recalled being asked to participate and what Owen means to him a quarter-century later.
"When I was asked initially about being in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, all the emotion came back. It's hard for me to imagine, it's been 25 years, but there's so many things about Owen that I remember like it was yesterday. In the late 90s we would become tag team champions and I look back on those days as the favorite days of my career."
Jarrett also spoke about making a promise to himself during the Raw is Owen tribute show to make sure Owen's kids know their father was a great man. Double-J concluded by making clear just how much being in the tournament means to him.
"I'm a 12-time former World Heavyweight Champion. I'm a two-time Hall of Famer. The Owen means more to me than anything I've ever done. Earlier this year, Toby Keith passed away, another good buddy of mine. And he had that song 'Ain't as good as I once was but I'm good once as I ever was.' To get the opportunity to win three matches and stand in the middle ring in Owen's hometown of Calgary, I'm absolutely going to do it."
Jarrett's opening match in the tournament will see him face a wild-card entrant who will not be revealed until match time. If successful, Jarrett's second match will be against the winner of the Rey Fenix Vs. Jay White opening match.
The finals of both the Men's and Women's tournament matches will take place on the July 10, edition of Dynamite. So far, Pac has advanced in the Men's brackets while Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale have advanced in the Women's tournament.
