At AEW Double or Nothing, Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal are challenging FTR for the World Tag Team Championship. All Elite Wrestling's annual pay-per-view spectacular emanates from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 28th, live on pay-per-view.
Since forming a faction with Sonjay Dutt and the 7'2" Satnam Singh, Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, who are both former multi-time World Champions, have torn through the tag team division in AEW. FTR, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Shepard, the current AEW World Tag Team Champions, are "Top Guys" who bill themselves as the best tag team in the world. A wildcard is special referee Mark Briscoe, who has longtime friendships with both teams.
Screen Rant had the pleasure to interview Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal about their big title shot at AEW Double or Nothing, their encounter with Golden Globe winner Paul Walter Ha, Jeff Jarrett's appearance in Spring Breakers, their comedic visit to Mark Briscoe's farm, and the AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium.
Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal Talk AEW Double Or Nothing
Screen Rant: Before we get into Double or Nothing, earlier this year, you stole Paul Walter Ha's Golden Globe...
Jay Lethal: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Time out. Time out. Time out. Okay, so Paul Walter Ha disrespected us. And we got back at him, and we didn't steal anything. In fact, if Paul Walter Ha wants his Golden Globe, he can come and get it. It's not stolen. We're just holding it. So I think you starting us off on the wrong foot here. We didn't steal anything.
Jeff Jarrett: Safekeeping. Mr. What -- his name's Walter Hausen, right? H-A-U-S-E-N?
S-E-R. Water Ha.
Jeff Jarrett: Ha. It doesn't matter. He's really unknown in the acting world, but he's a nice guy. We do have his piece of hardware, you know, in safekeeping, so.
All right, well, I apologize for using the word 'stole'. That was inappropriate. Jeff, maybe you deserve that Golden Globe for Spring Breakers. You're in that movie like 10 years ago. How did that come about?
Jay Lethal: Ain't he great?
Jeff Jarrett: (laughs) It's kind of bizarre, that. Yeah, it literally came out of nowhere. Val Kilmer originally had the spot, and he had to go shoot something and do another movie. And the casting director, she was actually talking to her son, [and] they kind of said, "Hey, we're kind of looking for kind of this youth pastor, but we needed to kind of have a professional wrestling tone." And my buddy said, "I got it". So they emailed me. I was sitting at my desk. I responded.
John, it took about 30 minutes. They sent me a read. I don't know if you a guy named Danny Engler, Rudy Charles. He was working in the office. He's a referee. [He] referees for WWE right now. I said, "Come in here." We went into a conference room. He held the camera. I did a quick screen test, sent it back to 'em. In less than an hour, they said, "Here's the dates. Can you be there? So, [I] went down to St. Petersburg and shot that. It was a pretty cool deal. I got to tell not just Karen but my kids. "Hey, I'm gonna be in a movie with Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez." Oh, they're all excited until the movie came out. "Hey kids, you can't watch the movie." (laughs)
Jay Lethal: It was almost a snowball effect because they almost cast Jeff to be Batman. But again, Val Kilmer, he couldn't make it. But then he came back and said, "I can do it."
Jeff Jarrett: There you go. Here's your inside scoop, John. Next thing you know, we're gonna all be singing, "With My Baby Tonight."
At Double or Nothing, Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, you're challenging for the World Tag Team Titles against FTR. Mark Briscoe is your special referee. With that, do you feel like you've got the edge to bring those titles home, finally?
Jeff Jarrett: We have the edge, or I have the edge because Jay is my partner. Sanjay is in our corner. Karen's gonna be there bringing the emotion. Satnam's there to make sure there's no outside interference. It's just gonna be between the four of us. Me, Jay, Dax, Cash. And when you line us up, and you weigh the abilities, there's absolutely nothing they can do that we can't do. And me and Jay, there's many things we can do that they can't hold a candle to us. They claim to be the best tag team in the world. That's really a lie. It's not accurate at all. So they'll find out Sunday.
Jay Lethal: Yes. And I hope you're the only one out there thinking this. But just the way you kind of laid that question out as if Mark Briscoe is going to be a factor for us. I don't know. It was a weird way you worded it. And Jeff said it right. Mark Briscoe is not a factor in this match. Sure, he's been my friend for over 20 years. But he's not a factor in the match.
When it boils down to it, the tag team match is me and Jeff against FTR. And little-known fact here. Since you're the journalist, you should look into this. Jeff Jarrett and I have been together longer than FTR have been together Jeff Jarrett and I have been together, our in-ring chemistry started in about 2006. So to me when you put us down on paper, this is a no lose for Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett. We're going to become the brand new AEW Tag Team Champions.
Understood. Yeah, I know. You guys go back to TNA.
Jeff Jarrett: We go back to Wayne, New Jersey and a small independent promotion. So if we want to go back, me and Jay have literally been buds for 20 years.
Well, you guys visited Mark Brisco's farm a few weeks ago. One of the best segments in AEW history. I need you to tell me a little bit about shooting that because it was absolutely hilarious.
Jay Lethal: Well, I'll tell you one of my favorite parts about it. We'll give you a little behind the curtain here. Most of the time in professional wrestling once that camera rolls, or any kind of scene that's not taking place in the wrestling rin, as you know, in wrestling, there's writers. Some people write stuff. But no one sat down at a table and said, "Jeff Jarrett is going to say this" and then "Mark Briscoe opens the door and Mark has the baby."
One of the coolest things about that whole thing was nothing was planned except for meeting at Mark Briscoe's farm. And it really showed our camaraderie, and it really showed how close we all really are in real life. Once we got there, we got the cameras rolling and that is what happened. So to me, that was the coolest part about it. This wasn't something that people sat in a room and wrote on paper, and scribbled, "No, that'll never work," and then they change it. Man, it wasn't like that at all. We just had free roam to just do whatever we wanted. And like I said, I personally believe, I share the sentiment as you, that it's one of the best things I've seen on TV in a long time.
Jeff Jarrett: You know, it goes without saying, you can even turn a little slight mistake. I [mistook] the little rugrat, I mean... the little baby to be... is it a boy or girl.
Jay Lethal: Murf's a boy.
Jeff Jarrett: Murf's a boy. So I called it Murf the girl. Look, it's a simple mistake. Jay got tickled on that. But we cut grass, we fished, we cleaned up the farm. I'm looking forward to going back. Karen and Satnam are probably going to cook when we go down. Mark has like seven kids, so who knows what will cook up down there. But I don't think that's gonna be our last visit. I'm just hoping he has name tags or puts the boys in blue and the girls and pink or something along those lines, because Jay embarrassed me by laughing at me but... I'm kidding, John! (laughs) I'm totally kidding, John.
Jay Lethal: I definitely think that another trip to the farm is definitely in the future.
I'm glad you brought up that that whole thing was improv. That's one of the reasons why I love wrestling. I cover movies and TV but no actor can improv and just come up with stuff that way wrestlers can. The way you guys create magic is just unbelievable. It's why I've always loved the art form.
Jay Lethal: Well, I thank you. I don't know if you know what's going on in the world right now but most of the writers for almost every television show, they're all on strike. What's gonna really excel right now is reality television and what's at the top of reality television? Professional wrestling.
In August, AEW is doing All In in Wembley Stadium. Over 65,000 tickets already sold. You've both wrestled in huge venues, huge events in your careers. But how special is All In Wembley for you?
Jeff Jarrett: It's magical. Yes, I've wrestled in everything, I think pretty much. I was a part of the last match in the old Boston Garden, to kind of take it your backyard.
I was there!
Jeff Jarrett: No way! Okay. Yeah. The new Boston Garden, Madison Square Garden, O2, just all around the globe. But I never in my wildest dreams... I watched SummerSlam '92. I'd been in the business about five or six years, but just being in that stadium. So now here we are, 31 years later, having the opportunity. Wembley 100. The hottest brand in professional wrestling. You've already kind of said the ticket count. And that's without a match without a name being d. It is super super.
And I've said this, it is really hard for me to put into words, but I can't think of a bigger statement or a bigger event in professional wrestling. It's got to go back a long time. Because yes, there's pay per views and there's big events. They were just in Cardiff, WWE were, and that was a big, big event. They were in Puerto Rico. You know, we did Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time a couple of years ago, but Wembley. Wembley 100 on the 100th anniversary. London is such a magical city to begin with. It is such a statement not just for AEW, and not just for professional wrestling. I really think it's a pop cultural statement that professional wrestling is going to be held in Wembley Stadium with these kind of numbers.
About AEW Double Or Nothing 2023
AEW Double or Nothing 2023 takes place during Memorial Day weekend on May 28, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena, live on pay-per-view.