According to a tweet by Dutch Mantell, it has been announced that Jerry Jarrett, a well-known wrestling promoter, has passed away at the age of 80.
“SAD NEWS: I’m hearing reports of my friend and long time booker/promoter Jerry Jarrett died this morning in TN. I last saw him last year when we did the VICE show THE TERRITORIES in Atlanta. Very creative booker. Condolences to Jeff/Deborah and the Jarrett family.”
Jarrett was recognized primarily for his work as a promoter and booker for the Continental Wrestling Association, a Memphis-based wrestling organization that he founded in 1977.
Jerry Jarrett gained his fame from promoting and booking the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), a Memphis-based wrestling organization that he co-founded with wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler in 1977. The CWA was renowned for attracting enormous and lively crowds to the Mid-South Coliseum on a weekly basis.
In 1988, Jarrett became a part-owner of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), a wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas, that Fritz Von Erich established in 1966, where the famous Von Erich family drew in thousands of fans to the Sportatorium each week. Jarrett and Fritz Von Erich jointly founded the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1989, which operated in both the Memphis and Dallas-Fort Worth areas.
This promotion also established a talent exchange program with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where aspiring wrestlers like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Brian “Grandmaster Sexay” Christopher were honed.
Although the USWA ceased operations in 1997, Jarrett remained active in the wrestling industry until the early 2000s, co-founding Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) with his son, professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett, in 2002.
He stayed with the promotion until 2005, when he withdrew from the business. Jarrett was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2018.
The cause of his demise has yet to be revealed.
Mick Foley share the tragic news in a Facebook post.
I just heard the sad news that longtime wrestler and promoter Jerry Jarrett had passed away. Jerry’s contributions to the wrestling business are immense, as are the contributions he made to my own career. Jerry’s Memphis promotion was the first place that I found full-time work – in the summer of 1988 – and it was Jerry’s purchase of World Class Championship Wrestling from Fritz Von Erich that allowed me to move on to Texas in November 1988. Working Texas was such a period of growth for me – without which, I may have not have had the other opportunities that came my way.
I’m so glad I had a chance to talk with Jerry a few months ago in Chicago. He had some really kind words for me, and now that he’s gone, they are words that I can really appreciate forever.
