Jeff Jarrett Praises Alberto El Patron's Work Ethic From Time In Impact Wrestling
Throughout his career, Jeff Jarrett has worked with a number of divisive individuals. There were even instances where the lines between wrestling and his personal life were blurred in an attempt to make cash out of controversy. But a promoter and a businessman, "Double J" has always taken the approach that any press is good press. That's why he didn't hesitate when the opportunity arose to bring Alberto El Patron to Impact Wrestling in March 2017.
On "My World," Jarrett and Conrad Thompson revisited Slammiversary XV, which was headlined by a championship unification match between Impact World Champion Bobby Lashley and GFW Global Champion El Patron. The WWE Hall of Famer had nothing but glowing remarks about the international competitor and praised the former Alberto Del Rio for his commitment to the promotion.
"We hit it off day one," Jarrett said. "He was a megastar for Vince and hot there for a while. For us to get him, it was a big get. Him and Lashley is what we were going to build toward. They both could go and I thought it was going to be a marquee match ... Everybody was excited to get Alberto on. Hard worker. I tell you what, as far as a working relationship, he was always working. He would tell you, 'I want to overdeliver.' Worked his ass off, came with the absolute best can-do attitude, helping others, not selfish ... He was all in and he got over immediately in the Impact Zone."
El Patron's Sordid Past
El Patron was released from his contract after no-showing a Lucha Underground vs. Impact crossover show in 2018, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his issues.
In addition to being known for no-showing or arriving to events late during his post-WWE career, El Patron was constantly in the news for abuse allegations. During his relationship with AEW's Saraya from 2016 to 2017, accusations of domestic violence and threats to his former partner were frequently connected to his name. More recently, he was charged with aggravated kidnapping and multiple instances of sexual assault. The case was ultimately dropped due to a missing witness, but none of this paints the wrestler in a favorable light.
Regardless of all that, Jarrett doubled down on his stance that his experience with El Patron was a positive one. Even after the incident during WrestleMania weekend 2018, the legend maintains that "La Esencia de la Excelencia" did good business.
Friends In Dark Places
"Look, I'm not gonna shy away," Jarrett elaborated. "We go through some dark periods where we do dumb s**t, bad s**t, horrible whatever it may be ... I think he would admit that [he's been in] some dark places. I have no idea where he's at today, but I know my one-on-one relationship. It was a working professional relationship [and] I couldn't have asked for anything anymore in 2017 ... We bonded over generational being in the business. I told him you're the top guy. The tip-top guy, but with that comes all the responsibility. You got to make yourself look good and everybody around you good. He had no [problem] putting that on his shoulders and rolling with it."
While it sounds like Jarrett, as well as AAA's Konnan, have no problem giving El Patron another chance, it might take much more convincing for him to ever show up in WWE again after his disparaging remarks toward the company's Chief Creative Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "My World with Jeff Jarrett" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.