Acrylic, spray and paint marker on 24″ x 24″ wood
Even though he’s been an active in-ring competitor for nearly 30 years, Jeff Jarrett’s contributions to wrestling outside of the ring may be even more notable. Born in 1967 Tennessee to wrestler Jerry Jarrett and a mother whose father was also a wrestler, it was never a doubt that Jeff would become involved in the wrestling business. At age 18 he worked his first match, he would go on to cut his teeth on the independent scene as well as in the American Wrestling Association and the United States Wrestling Association, and also in Japan and Puerto Rico.
Jarrett debuted with the World Wrestling Federation in 1993 as a wrestling country singer. In this early run he feuded with the likes of Bret Hart, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels. He jumped over to World Championship Wrestling in 1996, where he largely feuded with Mongo McMichael and briefly became a member of the Four Horsemen. In 1997 he returned to the WWF and had brief programs with The Undertaker and Barry Windham before entering into an extended feud with X-Pac and D-Generation X. He tagged for a bit with Owen Hart shortly before Hart’s untimely passing. Towards the end of his last WWF run he had a notable rivalry with Chyna.
Returning to WCW in 1999, and soon reformed the New World Order stable with Bret Hart, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in the short-lived ‘nWo 2000’ incarnation. In 2000 he defeated Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. His reign ended after losing the title to actor David Arquette in one of the more notorious moments in pro wrestling history. Jeff would go on to face off against Ric Flair with the title going back and forth between them. His time there ended with the purchase of the company by Vince McMahon in 2001.
In 2002 he formed Total Nonstop Action Wrestling with his father Jerry, initially as a Pay-Per-View-only show and soon getting picked up by a succession of TV channels. His time in the TNA ring saw him face off against the likes of Ron Killings, Scott Hall, Raven, AJ Styles, Christian, Sting, Kurt Angle, and many more. Though he has resigned from the company in 2013 in a move that shocked the wrestling world, his legacy with TNA is one that will stand. After WWE purchased WCW, there were less chances for wrestlers to find work with a national promotion. With the formation of TNA, Jarrett created another way for wrestlers to earn a living and gain national, and now even international, exposure. There’s a lot of talk that he may be working towards launching another wrestling company, which can only be a good thing as it’s another opportunity for wrestlers. In-ring, he has the legacy of having held seventy-four championships, including four WCW World titles, six NWA World titles, three USWA World titles and one AAA World title.
About the piece: I first laid down some cool colors for the background, then went over that with acrylic paint markers with the swirling lines. To tone that down a bit I watered down some black paint and splashed that around. With that dry, I painted the figure fairly straight-forward with acrylics, and then gave it a spritz of white spray paint!