Jeff Jarrett says Paul Walter Hauser stood out to him from the first time they met.
On My World with Jeff Jarrett, recorded at 1FW Rumble in Rome, where Jarrett beat Hauser in a tables match, Jarrett recalled first hearing about Hauser ahead of an AEW show at the Forum. Hauser had just won a Golden Globe and talked about wrestling in his acceptance speech.
“Okay, this cat’s different. He is dialed into wrestling, and he don’t give a damn. I mean, but in a very artistic way,” Jarrett said.
He said he met Hauser the next night.
“I meet him with his award, and I’m like, ‘Okay, here we go.’ This is a good one. I’ve got Moolah, I got Beetlejuice, and now I got a Golden Globe winner.”
Jarrett said Hauser understands performing for a crowd in a way some other celebrities did not.
“I don’t think Beetlejuice or Gary Coleman gave two s–ts about listening to the audience… Paul understands we’re about to go do a Broadway play, and we’re going to interact with this audience. And there’s going to be some vaudeville, but there’s going to be some physicality.”
After the match, Jarrett praised Hauser’s commitment.
“Here’s a Golden Globe award-winning actor who certainly doesn’t need to do this… And he’s got a passion for it. He loves it,” Jarrett said. “I had more matches in my first probably month of my career than he’s had in total, and so it’s kind of amazing his desire… But man, he did well.”
Transcription by Global Force Entertainment.