NWA Hall of Fame 2009: Jerry Jarret

Written By Eric Sax

Jerry Jarrett was born on September 4, 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jarrett was the co-founder of Total Non-Stop Action (TNA). Jerry is the father of 4 children, including former 6x NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett.

Jarrett was a promoter before becoming a wrestler. Jarrett began promoting shows at the age of 14. He left promoting while going to college. Jarrett was trained to be a wrestler by Tojo Yamamoto and Sailor Moran. Jerry Jarrett was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from March 20, 1977 until 1986 promoting the areas of Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Lexington, Kentucky; and Evansville. In 1980, Jarrett took over the area of Nashville when Nick Gulas folded his promotion.

As a wrestler, Jerry Jarrett was a very successful tag team wrestler. During the time frame of between October 19, 1970 and July 19, 1976, Jarrett won the NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Tennessee Version) at total 15 times with 3 different partners. Jarrett won the title 6 times with Tojo Yamamoto, 8 times with Jackie Fargo and once with Johnny Marlin. Jarrett also won the Mid-American Version of the NWA World Tag Team Title on June 12, 1978 with Jackie Fargo. On May 7, 1975 Jarrett and his partner George Gulas defeated Ron Wright and Don Wright to win both the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Title and the NWA Mid-American Tag Team Title in Nashville, Tennessee. Jerry also won the CWA Version of the NWA World Tag Team Title with his partner, Tojo Yamamoto on July 28, 1980 in Memphis, Tennessee. In May of 1974 Jarrett and Yamamoto win the NWA Southeastern Tag Title.

After retiring from the ring, Jerry Jarrett continued promoting. Jarrett merged Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and formed the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1989. Jarrett purchased WCCW from Fritz Von Erich.

Jerry Jarrett’s title history is listed below.

NWA World Tag Team Title (Tennessee Version)
06/12/78 NWA World Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo

NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Tennessee Version)
10/19/70 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto
01/09/71 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto [2]
05/31/71 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto [3]
06/28/71 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo
04/ /72 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [2]
04/17/72 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [3]
01/15/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [4]
02/ /73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto [4]
02/20/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [5]
03/19/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [6]
04/18/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [7]
06/30/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Johnny Marlin
11/26/73 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto [5]
10/07/74 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto [6]
06/14/76 NWA Southern Tag Team Title w/ Jackie Fargo [8]

NWA Mid-American Tag Team Title
05/07/75 NWA Mid-American Tag Team Title w/ George Gulas

NWA Tennessee Tag Team Title
05/07/75 NWA Tennessee Tag Team Title w/ George Gulas

NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title (Southeast/ Continental Version)
05/ /74 NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto

NWA World Tag Team Title (Memphis Version)
07/28/80 NWA World Tag Team Title w/ Tojo Yamamoto