AEW's Jeff Jarrett Discusses Pro Wrestling Tournaments From Creative Perspective

Tournaments have been an integral part of pro wrestling since the dawn of the business, and in recent years they have become annual competitions that some companies build their entire year around. New Japan Pro Wrestling has the G1 Climax and Best of the Super Juniors, WWE recently brought back the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments for its own Premium Live Event, and AEW has the Continental Classic and the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament got underway recently, with the winners of the men's and women's brackets moving on to Wembley Stadium for AEW World and Women's Championship matches. But do the stakes warrant its very own event? Jeff Jarrett, who will be part of the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, was recently asked on his "My World" podcast whether AEW should have a standalone pay-per-view for the competition.

"Tournaments — and I've gone into great detail — are a challenge from a creative perspective because the age of instant gratification. Everyone wants to see who's winning," Jarrett said. "I think you would have to do multiple things around it. I think a standalone [event], I think could be a challenge."

The Hall of Famer believes that the model AEW currently has, where the tournament matches are spread out across multiple TV shows, works well as it gives fans something to look forward to each show. 

Jarrett will get his tournament campaign underway on July 3 at the "Beach Break" edition of "AEW Dynamite" in Chicago. He will face the tournament wildcard, meaning he won't know his opponent until the night of the event. However, given the emotional promo he cut about how much the tournament means to him, Jarrett likely won't care who he faces.

Please credit "My World" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.