AEW fans may complain, but Jeff Jarrett isn’t going anywhere

Jeff Jarrett has been a part of professional wrestling for nearly four decades and he continues to find a way to remain relevant in 2023. 

There are three constants in life. Death. Taxes. And Jeff Jarrett getting the check. The 56-year-old professional wrestler continues to find a way to remain relevant in the industry, 37 years after his professional debut. He recently defeated yet another champion, with his win over Eddie Kingston on the October 21 edition of AEW Collision. While many fans roll their eyes whenever his name is mentioned, Jarrett isn’t going anywhere and will always have a place in the pay line.

Wrestling media member, Scott E. Wrestling, posted an interesting tweet on Monday about Jarrett’s 2023 campaign. According to his information, Jarrett’s 25 matches are more than individuals like Kenny Omega, Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Chris Jericho, and other top names have enjoyed this year. Even more interesting is that seven of those 25 were for a title in some form. He’s competed for the AEW International Title twice, the World Trios Title, and the Tag Team Title four times. That’s a hell of a campaign for 2023 at this stage in his career.

Is Jarrett a highly experienced member of the professional wrestling community? Yes. Jarrett has done nearly every job available in wrestling. Whether he’s been exceptional in those roles is another conversation, but AEW CEO and President, Tony Khan sees value in keeping him around. But should that translate to so much television time?

With five hours of television across three shows, AEW struggles to get the talent on TV that fans want to see. This is especially true with the women’s division, who are allotted one match and maybe one segment per show. There are other individuals who explicitly face weeks to months off television without any viable reason such as an injury or requested time off. Now that the “soft” brand split is over, AEW must find a way to get the talent of the current and future more television time to build their long-term value. Jarrett doesn’t quite fit into either of those categories.

Diving into the stats of Jarrett’s 2023 campaign reveals additional bits of interest. According to Cagematch, he has an 11-14 Win-Loss record across those 25 matches. Some of those wins have come over Eddie Kingston, Jeff Hardy, Dax Hardwood, and Brian Pillman Jr. What this highlights is that while Jarrett is picking up wins, at least he isn’t doing so while stepping over the younger talent on the roster. Imagine if Jarrett was booked to defeat individuals like Daniel Garcia, Ricky Starks, or Konosuke Takeshita. Fans would rightfully throw their arms up in disgust. Jarrett has consistently competed against the mid-card talent that is a bit further in age and career, keeping him out of the way of rising stars. Jarrett would be best used as an entry-level to below-mid-card feud for prospects rising the ladder, but AEW seems fit to not use him in that way.

Jeff Jarrett is already a Hall-of-Famer in the eyes of many, but he’s not done. This run in All Elite Wrestling is keeping him relevant, even though fans would like to see that time go to other men and women on the roster. Still, Jarrett is cashing those checks as he keeps finding a way to get booked after all these years.