WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrettmade his on-screen return to the company at the Royal Rumble on Jan. 27, making a surprise appearance as the No. 2 entrant in the Men’s Rumble match.
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The former Intercontinental Champion quickly wound up in a feud with a now-heel Elias, who quickly dumped him out of the ring after the two teased a musical duet. A night later on Monday Night Raw he attacked Jarrett again, this time by interrupting a duet between he and Road Dogg, ending in him smashing a guitar over Jarrett’s head.
The two are booked to face off in a match on Raw this week, but behind the scenes Jarrett admitted he’s a big fan of Elias’ work. In a recent interview with Wrestling Inc., the founder of Impact Wrestling said there’s just one thing “The Drifter” is missing in his career.
“I was a fan of his beforehand but I think he’s got charisma and an aura,” Jarrett said. “I said that the one thing missing for him is a big rivalry…. Not that we’re a rivalry by any stretch, but I’ve carried the guitar and he’s got the guitar. Here we are at the beginning of Royal Rumble…. For me to kick that off with Elias, it was really, really special.”
Despite starting up a competing company and having an infamous initial departure from the promotion in 1999, Jarrett was welcomed back into the WWE with open arms in 2018 when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. News broke in late January after his Rumble appearance that Jarrett had signed a new deal with the company as a backstage producer, but would also make appearances on-camera.
Elias would go on to last 15 minutes in the rumble before being eliminated by Seth Rollins, who eventually won the match as the No. 10 entrant by lasting 43 minutes and last eliminating Braun Strowman.
Rollins decided the following night on Raw that he would use his Rumble victory to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. The show closed with Lesnar hitting Rollins half a dozen F-5’s to prove his dominance over the former WWE Champion.
Over in the women’s division, Becky Lynch won the Women’s Royal Rumble earlier in the evening after inserting herself in as the No. 28 entrant after an injured Lana was unable to compete. She managed to eliminate Charlotte Flair to win the match, and challenged Ronda Rousey for her Raw Women’s Championship the following night.
