Jeff Jarrett says he knew his WrestleMania hopes were over as soon as he suffered a back injury in February 1996.
Jarrett was injured in a match against Ahmed Johnson at a WWF show at the Pyramid in Memphis on February 17, 1996. On My World with Jeff Jarrett, he said it happened on a move he did almost every night.
“It’s just a running clothesline. I’d dive off the second and clothesline him down. When I landed with my right leg, I can still remember the flames shooting out my rear end,” Jarrett said.
“I’d done the move probably every match. I used to do it with Scott every night. I just run down the apron, clothesline a guy off the top, land on my feet. When I landed on my right side, it just, boom, and that’s it.”
“I threw my back out. L4 and L5 on this one. L3 actually got sort of tweaked. First time that I had ever been to a real sports physical therapist and all that, but it hurt like an S.O.B., and they said only time will heal this.”
Jarrett said he realized he would miss WrestleMania XII in Anaheim.
“I knew right then. I’m like, oh my god. I knew. Okay. Game, set, match.”
He said a sports physical therapist changed how he takes care of his back.
“He said, ‘I’m going to try to teach you how to sleep.’ He actually gave me sleep pointers, and I don’t even want to call them stretching exercises because they were really just rest. I use them to this day.”
Transcription by Global Force Entertainment.
