Jeff Jarrett‘s first love has come back around.
Across his near-40 year professional wrestling career, Jeff Jarrett has taken on a number of roles, such as promoter, WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events, AEW Director of Business Development, and in-ring competitor. Before all of it, however, came a love for an entirely different sports industry.
During a recent interview with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay, Jarrett noted that his earliest athletic interest lay in basketball, which makes him even more excited to be included in Acclaim Entertainment’s relaunch.
“I wish I would have had a camera on me when I got the roll out, the basketball [game],” Jarrett said. “I like to say this. My first love is actually not professional wrestling; my first love is basketball. My daughter plays college ball. I played college ball. I’m a basketball guy, but when the basketball game was a part of the release, I jumped at it. So I gotta say, that’s near and dear to my heart, no doubt.”
As a part of its revival, Acclaim presented a showcase of the new video games coming and already released under its banner. As Jarrett, a member of the Acclaim advisory board, alluded to, one of the games is Basketball Classics, which gives players a taste of a retro arcade game set on a basketball court.
Jeff Jarrett: A Mario Guy?
Within in his personal collection, Jarrett is a big fan of NBA Jam, an iconic gaming series. Elsewhere, Jarrett says most of his investment has been in Mario Kart.
“The simple ones or any basketball game, NBA Jam, I could go through the years on that,” Jarrett said. “My son Kody is a huge Madden guy. Obviously, I got a place in wrestling games through the year, but if you really want to get down to the to the super hardcore of it, I’m a Mario guy. There’s just something about Mario Kart that I played hours upon hours. I had my little girl sit in my lap, and she used to take a nap in my lap, and I’d kind of get in trouble. Like, ‘Hey, put that baby down, you’re playing too many games.’ But anyway, Mario Kart, that may be the thing that I was most attached to.”
Jarrett Reveals His Reaction To Acclaim Opportunity
In his role as an advisor, Jarrett is widely focused on the marketing aspects of Acclaim and its video games. He also helps to turn good ideas into great ones behind the scenes.
Looking back at how this opportunity came about, Jarrett said he was honored by it. Moreover, he was thrilled to blend his experience in business and gaming.
“As you’re well aware that I’m [part of] three generations of professional wrestling, but going back a long time ago, many, many moons ago, I was a gamer that was more of a fan from a business perspective with my business cap on,” Jarrett said.
“So all these years later, I call it my two worlds colliding. In a lot of ways, it’s an honor to be a part of it because all the pieces of the puzzle that have kind of been layered in here, if you will, it’s just super exciting. So when they approach me, I just kind of sat back and had to pinch myself because, again, I’ve been in video games, obviously in the wrestling space for years, years and years, and way back in the day, the Acclaim game. But as we move forward and just the rebirth, if you will, it’s super exciting.”
Watch our full interview with Jeff Jarrett:
