February 20, 2023 Observer Newsletter: The life & career of Jerry Jarrett

‘Like leaves driven by the wind, it is a time that is no more’

Jerry Jarrett frequently quoted the movie “Gone with the Wind”, in a phrase he would use to talk about his glory days as a wrestler, booker, and promoter.

Jerry Jarrett, a former territorial headliner, Hall of Fame promoter, and legendary booker passed away on 2/14 at the age of 80.

According to those close to the family, Jarrett was undergoing treatment for cancer of the esophagus and the treatment was too hard on his heart.

Jarrett is one of the key figures in the history of Tennessee wrestling, first as a babyface wrestler, then as the booker for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch, where he turned Memphis into the best drawing weekly U.S. city for wrestling in the country for much of the period from 1971 through the late 80s.

Jarrett opened up his own company, Jarrett Promotions, competing with Gulas & Welch in 1977, with Jerry Lawler and announcers Lance Russell and Dave Brown as the key people who went with him, even though area mainstays and people he thought were close friends, Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto stayed with Gulas & Welch. Lawler had replaced Fargo in 1974 as the territory’s top star. Eventually, Welch ended up with Jarrett, and the company was called Jarrett-Welch Promotions.

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