AEW star "alienated a lot of people" after criticizing Steve Austin, Jim Ross says

Jim Ross was a commentator and talent relations executive during the early days of WWE's Attitude Era in the late 1990s. In a recent podcast episode, he discussed the backstage perception of Jeff Jarrett after he badmouthed Steve Austin.

On the October 20, 1997, episode of RAW, Jarrett criticized the WWE Hall of Famer for frequently saying the word "a**." The current AEW star also controversially accused his former rival of "ripping off the Bible" by using the "Austin 3:16" catchphrase.

Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross agreed with host Conrad Thompson that Jarrett "accidentally put a glass ceiling on his upward mobility" after that promo. He also referenced the 57-year-old's WWE departure in 1999 to join WCW:

"I think he did," Ross said, agreeing that Jarrett prevented himself from moving to the next level. "He alienated a lot of people, and he wasn't hot [popular]. That's the thing about it. His timing was not great, as it worked out. Now, I'm sure he got a nice financial deal from WCW, but he was never gonna be the answer [to WCW's problems]." [9:23 – 9:41]

Austin took exception to Jarrett's RAW promo and refused to work with him again. In 2022, they made amends when Jarrett appeared on The Texas Rattlesnake's Broken Skull Sessions show on the WWE Network.

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Jim Ross addresses Jeff Jarrett's WWE exit

Between 1992 and 1999, Jeff Jarrett held the Intercontinental Championship six times but never won a world title during his combined six years in WWE.

Jim Ross added that he had no choice but to let Jarrett leave if he no longer wanted to work for the company:

"It just was bad timing, bad decisions. I should not have let it get to that point [backstage animosity], but I did, unfortunately, but he wanted to leave. What do you do, Conrad, when you've got somebody that works for you that wants to leave? It's hard to make that decision. They wanna go, so how do we help them? Go." [10:10 – 10:35]

More than two decades on, Ross believes Jarrett is still "a hell of a hand" and "one of the best in-ring performers that AEW has."

What are your thoughts on Jeff Jarrett's WWE run? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.