The House Of Jarrett

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The last time Jeff Jarrett invaded WCW, the second-generation wrestler considered himself the future of the promotion. The long-haired golden boy used his cunning and wrestling acumen to earn a place in the Four Horsemen, score a several major victories and even the hand of Steve McMichael's then-wife Debra.

Back then, despite all of his efforts, Jarrett felt WCW's power structure made further successes impossible. He left the promotion and won a major belt up north – only to find that company's hierarchy even more oppressive.

But Jarrett did make some powerful friends in the Northeast, and when those "Powers that be" found themselves in control of World Championship Wrestling, Jarrett did the unthinkable: He went from one promotion to the other in a period of 24 hours. For the first time in his career, Jarrett is truly the Chosen One, with backstage stroke to back up his impressive wrestling skills and ever-present guitar.

When Jeff Jarrett stepped out from backstage at Starrcade and accepted Chris Benoit's open challenge for a ladder match, it was a short-term fix as far as WCW was concerned. Scott Hall was hurt, Benoit said he would wrestle anybody, and Jarrett wanted a shot at the U.S. title.

But sometimes, short-term fixes become long-term rivalries.

That appears to be the case with Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett.

Benoit retained the U.S. belt at Starrcade. Jarrett claimed the championship in a rematch the next night at Nitro, then reformed the New World Order with Hall, Kevin Nash and Bret Hart.

The rumor is that Benoit and Jarrett will hook it up again at next month's Souled Out pay-per-view, maybe in a stipulation match or in another gimmick match.

I can't wait. Benoit and Jarrett have unbelievable chemistry in the ring.

The New York Yankees had the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Wilt Chamberlain had Bill Russell.

Muhammad Ali had Joe Frazier.

And now Chris Benoit has Jeff Jarrett.

Both guys are pretty similar, when you get right down to it. Both just kind of set their jaw and go after people. True, Jarrett relies on chicanery and weaponry, more specifically surprising people from behind with a guitar over their head. Benoit prefers to attack straight up and without objects.

But each is very tough. Each is very focused.

And, in a way, each has changed the wrestling landscape.

Benoit is short, but he's made himself into a 5-foot-10 Andre The Giant. He is one of wrestling's most feared men. He combines flying, high-impact moves, brawling and mat grappling in an unprecedented package. Look at his arsenal. Benoit has the headbutt from the top rope - or the top rung of the ladder, or the top of the cage. He has the rolling German suplex where he hits you three times before he drops you. He has the Crippler Crossface, which makes you feel like your head is being pulled off - and that is a possibility.

Jarrett is just insane. He's become a cutting-edge performer by treading a path of rage that harms anyone who dares cross it. Man, woman or Mike Tenay, Jarrett isn't afraid to crush anyone with a guitar shot. I don't know if Jarrett would blast a little kid with his acoustic, but I hope we never get to find out. Not only is Jarrett violent beyond belief, but he's an accomplished technical wrestler. The Stroke is a solid finisher.

Benoit vs. Jarrett could be a rivalry for the ages.

Which is to say, it could go on forever.

Rivalries only end when somebody quits.

Can you see either of these guys quitting?

Benoit nearly killed Jarrett with that headbutt off the top of the ladder at Starrcade. Yet Jarrett couldn't wait to go back after Benoit the very next night at Nitro. Jarrett stole the U.S. championship at Nitro thanks to a gimmicked ladder and a guitar blow. But do you think that's going to deter Benoit? Heck, no. Benoit is already insisting that he fight Jarrett again.

The only way the Benoit-Jarrett rivalry is going to end is if one guy kills the other.

I guess that could happen. But until it does, we're going to see some very intense matches between the Crippler and the innovator of Slapnuts.

Classic rivalries are fueled by many things. The possibility that either side could win on any given night. Similarities. Differences. Common goals. Fan interest. Hatred.

Benoit and Jarrett split their matches at Starrcade and Nitro. Sounds pretty even.

Benoit and Jarrett are both double-tough. Sounds pretty similar.

Benoit has honor. Jarrett doesn't. That's a fairly significant difference.

Each wants the U.S. title. That's a common goal.

And I think the animosity between Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett is pretty obvious.

Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett are in it for the long run.

What a bloody, violent, hate-filled run it promises to be.

Suffice it to say that the wrestling world was shocked when Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett came together to re-form the New World Order this past Monday.

But it certainly didn't shock me.

Approximately eight weeks ago, I came into possession of a top-secret document that was meant only for the eyes of Nash, Hall, Hart and Jarrett. The cover of said document was stamped "nWo 2000." The contents included a frank analysis of what went wrong with the New World Order the first time, and what could be done the second time around to maximize success and prevent a collapse.

You saw the first evidence of that plan on Nitro.

You will see much, much more in the weeks to come.

The reason I didn't reveal the plan in advance of the nWo reformation is because I go way back with Nash and Hall, and I'm tight with Hart and Jarrett, too. I know who my friends are. But now that the cat is out of the bag, believe me when I say that the plan for nWo 2000 is much more well thought-out than the plan for the original nWo was back in 1996.

Don't get me wrong - the original nWo worked. It quickly became a groundswell movement thanks in part to its spontaneous nature and its emotion. The original nWo took over WCW.

But there were holes. There were holes in the original nWo from day one. Those holes weren't readily apparent at the beginning. But they soon became huge. They soon became gaping.

They soon sunk the nWo battleship.

It won't happen that way this time around. Without giving away too much from the "nWo 2000" game plan, here are some things I expect the nWo to do:

*The new nWo will be a small, tight unit. The old nWo clearly expanded too fast and too much. Hall, Nash and Hollywood Hogan were stars. Recruits like Syxx, Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner were top-notch. But then the nWo added a bunch of curtain-jerkers and bums. The old nWo concentrated on quantity. The new nWo will be all about quality. It wouldn't surprise me if the group remained a quartet for the foreseeable future. Then again, it wouldn't shock me if they added a woman.

*I don't know if the new nWo will beat Hogan down if and when he returns to WCW, but I don't think Nash, Hall, Hart and Jarrett will want him involved, either. Hogan was a big problem with the old nWo. He wanted absolute control, and his behind-the-scenes agenda often included backstabbing fellow nWo-ites. His ego made the nWo split into factions. Hogan gave the nWo instant credibility and identity when he joined in 1996. But now the nWo name stands alone. It doesn't need Hogan, especially with all the baggage he brings. Plus which, Hogan isn't even very good anymore.

*The new nWo will be a democracy. Hogan turned the old nWo into a dictatorship. Oh, not at first. He made Nash and Hall feel like equals for a while. But then he started with that "I'm the guy who made wrestling" crap and things fell apart. With a small, elite group, one leader isn't necessary. Nash, Hall, Hart and Jarrett will put their heads together on all decisions. They're all main-eventers who have held major belts. They've all been stars not only in WCW, but in other major promotions. They truly see each other as peers. They all think alike. Sharing the decision-making should be no problem.

*The first time around, the nWo went for power. This time, the nWo will go for titles. They're not interested in taking over the promotion. A lot of headaches go with that. The new nWo is more concerned with dominating WCW, maximizing income and re-establishing the nWo legend. The new nWo is going to be more of a traditional wrestling gang, more like the Four Horsemen than like the original nWo. And boy, didn't Bret, Jeff, Kevin and Scott look like Ric, Tully, Arn and Ole when they were in the ring on Nitro sporting all the gold and causing all that havoc?

*If you were thinking about getting out your old nWo merchandise, don't bother. The new nWo will have a new logo and new colors. Silver will almost certainly be one of the colors. Get out your cash or your checkbook or your credit card and get ready to buy some new stuff.

The new nWo is already providing lots of intrigue. The internet is buzzing. Who will be the next member? What's going to happen if Hogan comes back? What made Nash and Hall put aside their old rivalry with Hart? Will the nWo still use the old "Turkish Wolf" hand signal? Is Jarrett ever going to run out of guitars? Is Nash going to keep swearing on TV? Is the liver a muscle or an organ?

These questions and more will soon be answered by nWo 2000.

This time it's 4 Life.

I remember when Nash first said, "We're putting the band back together!" I knew what was up, but I covered for Kev. I said it was a throwaway line from the original "Blues Brothers" movie.

The sequel to that film, "Blues Brothers 2000," was simply awful.

But nWo 2000 is going to be terrific.

You know where the new, improved nWo is going, don't you?

To the top, Ringo. To the very top.

In his wrestling life, Jeff Jarrett has been a country-western star, a woman beater and simply irresistible. He used to have long hair. Now he has a crew cut. He's worn neon cowboy hats and goofy Aztec robes. He's wrestled in high school gyms in Tennessee and in some of the biggest arenas in the world.

But, despite his diverse past, you can boil Jarrett's very being down to one word right now:

Jarrett makes his Nitro debut Mad.

Jeff Jarrett is mad as hell.

Why, nobody's exactly sure, not just yet, anyway. But that was a fine "Hi, how are you?" that Jeff gave Buff Bagwell on Nitro, wasn't it? And even though nobody saw Jarrett paste Elizabeth, that was a broken guitar laying next to her in the dressing room, wasn't it? Somebody should tell Jarrett to indulge his Pete Townshend fetish on inanimate objects, not people. The guy is gonna kill somebody.

But then, maybe I'm correct to invoke The Who when I write about Jeff Jarrett. Maybe, when it comes to wrestling promoters, Jarrett is determined that he won't get fooled again.

Jeff Jarrett broke into wrestling in 1986 with the regional promotion in Memphis. The company was owned by Jeff's father, Tennessee wrestling legend Jerry Jarrett.

Jerry Jarrett may have been the last honest wrestling promoter Jeff Jarrett ever worked for.

Jeff broke into big-time wrestling in 1994. Since then, his career has been a pathetic trail of broken promises, aborted pushes, and backstage politicking that ended with Jeff getting screwed. Consider the last place Jeff worked before barging into WCW on Monday night. That promotion's big star wouldn't wrestle Jarrett because Jarrett, quite accurately, called one of his catch phrases blasphemous during a TV interview.

So Jeff Jarrett got stuck just below the top of the card. He couldn't get the truly big matches, so he couldn't make the truly big money. In addition, Jarrett had to suffer the humiliation of squiring the big star's girlfriend around to give her a forum to become popular.

Stuff like that can make a decent man wild-eyed and crazy.

Stroke, huh? Jeff Jarrett has come to WCW to forge his own destiny and create his own kind of stroke. We all saw that when he buried Bagwell right in the middle of the ring on Nitro.

Most wrestling stars fall nicely into the category of "good guy" or "bad guy." I don't think that's going to be the case with Jeff Jarrett in WCW.

I think Jarrett hates everybody.

Jarrett isn't the biggest guy in the world. He isn't the strongest guy. But he is an excellent wrestler, the business' foremost practitioner of the figure-four leglock besides Ric Flair. And he is insane. He is hate-filled. He is sadistic.

Hulk Hogan feeds off the fans to "hulk up." But I think Jeff Jarrett feeds off the loathing he feels for everybody in wrestling in equally effective fashion. You have to admit, Jarrett isn't afraid to step to somebody. He broke his guitar over Bagwell's head before Buff even realized he was in his face.

I was Jarrett's friend the last time he was in WCW.

I hope that friendship is still intact.

Because it's always best to be friends with a dangerous man.