And away we go!

Double J became friends with the beautiful Pamela Anderson during the Baywatch shooting, and the 2 were often seen together. Double J promised on taped interviews that Pamela would accompany him to the ‘big show', at WrestleMania IV in March. Word traveled like wildfire through Tinseltown about Double J's acting ability, and he was getting several movie deals thrown his way! But before he decided on that, it was time to make his return to WWF action.

During his absence, the nWo had begun to fall apart. Vader was unhappy about the lack of nWo backup for himself and Jeff at the Rumble, and soon took on Jim Cornette as his manager. The 1-2-3 Kid disappeared from action... Alley Kat disappeared totally, only resurfacing much later near SummerSlam as Sable's bodyguard. Lex Luger left for WCW after losing to former manager SB Peterson. Diamond Dallas Page and the Outsider were involved in a bizarre attack, which resulted in the Outsider being fired by Dillon, even though the attack had been ordered by nWo head ‘Mr. Big'. Finally, it was time for Double J's return, and he promised that all questions about the nWo would be answered.

Derrick Stardom had since given up the I/C title, and a tournament was set up to crown a new champion. In his first match back, in the tourney's opening round, Double J was scheduled to face the Undertaker! But before the match, a turning point in Jarrett's career took place. nWo manager JJ Dillon gave an interview, where he seemed to insult his 2 main wrestlers in Jarrett and Vader. Vader and Jim Cornette rushed out to the ring, as Dillon and Cornette argued back and forth. When things got physical, Vader stepped in and repeatedly shoved Dillon back.

Double J then trucked down to the ring, trying to keep the peace. After getting Vader and Dillon to shake hands, Jeff himself shook JJ's hand... and pulled him into a Blackjack! Vader then unleashed several Vader Bombs on Dillon, who was carted off on a stretcher and never heard from again. Jarrett, Vader, and Cornette celebrated in the ring together.

Later that night, Double J faced the man who'd put him out of action... but the Undertaker was too much for Jeff to overcome in his first match back. Though it took THREE of his Tombstones, as well as an unexpected distraction from Sting, the Taker managed to pin Double J and eliminate him from the tournament. That night, after his dumping the nWo and after his great performance against the Taker, Double J began hearing cheers from the crowd for the first time.

That weekend, Double J faced WWF Champion Diesel in a non-title bout. Despite being distracted by the presence of Sting, who again seemed to stalk Double J at ringside, Jarrett came within a half second of pinning the WWF Champion after the Blackjack. Diesel managed to recover and drilled Double J with the Jackknife, though it took TWO of his huge Powerbombs to finish Double J off. In his pre-match comments, Diesel said it was time for Double J to prove whether he was a contender or a pretender... and in the opinion of most, Double J cemented his position as a top contender that night. As Double J left the ring, again hearing cheers from the crowd, Sting struck and nailed him with a Reverse DDT on the aisle.

Later in the show, Double J gave an interview as Sting watched from the rafters. Jarrett said that even though people may not like him, they have to respect what he does in the ring. And if they wanted to cheer for him to show it, that was just fine. It was fine for the fans as well, apparently, as they began cheering Double J even more!

Backstage during this time, WWF Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat had made an offer to Jim Cornette. Saying that if he put his 2 men together and they were able to beat the Hart Foundation, the Heat would give them a title shot after WrestleMania. Cornette did just that, and Vader and Double J met the Harts... but were not successful. Double J ended up being pinned after the Hart Attack, and seemed more upset that usual after the match, having suffered his 3rd loss in a week's time. Double J promised an announcement concerning his future to come in the weeks following WrestleMania.

Double J vs. Sting was signed for WrestleMania, and the 2 brawled at almost every card in the weeks leading up to the match. Sting, a Horsemen, had taken on Eric Bischoff as a spokesman since Sting was always silent. Around that time, the Super Machine made his return to the WWF, and Double J was his first opponent. Despite the advantage of a loaded foot, a suspected loaded mask, and SWITCHING with a double underneath the ring... Double J still got the victory with the Figure Four.

Acting on his newfound popularity, Double J marketed the ‘Double J Gloves', made of red leather with 2 large golden JJ's on the back of the hand. Jeff said that when he saw a fan wearing the gloves, he knew that person was with him. I believe Jeff is still cashing in off that idea even today! Ain't he great?

WrestleMania came and Double J made good on his promise of bringing Pamela Anderson. With Miss Anderson, or ‘Pammy' as we know her, in his corner as well as the support of all the fans in attendance, Double J was primed to win... but was knocked out after a shot into the ringpost. Sting hooked on the Scorpion Deathlock and the referee stopped the match, due to Jeff's being out. After the match, Double J apologized to all his fans, thinking that he had once again let them all down.

Also at WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels made his return to the WWF. The night after WrestleMania, Jeff expressed his opinion that Michaels had set him up at the Royal Rumble to be injured. Double J challenged Shawn to meet him face-to-face that weekend on WWF Superstars. With both men hoping to forget their past deeds and start fresh, Michaels and Jarrett shook hands and ended their feud.

A week or so later, Double J followed through with his announcement. Since he felt he couldn't make himself or his fans proud in the ring, he had decided to pursue his acting career in Hollywood, and that he'd be leaving the WWF effective June 1st. Jim Cornette, who still managed Jarrett at the time, rushed to ringside and said that Double J wasn't going ANYWHERE! Jarrett said that he could do what he pleased, which angered Cornette, eventually causing him to slap Double J.

Jarrett shoved Cornette to the ground, which brought out Vader! Vader attacked Double J from behind, hammering him down and delivering a Vader Bomb. As Vader prepared for a 2nd assault from the ropes, Sting repelled down from the rafters and leaped off his harness from 20 feet in the air, dropkicking Vader from the top rope to the floor.

Vader was scheduled to defend his newly won I/C title against The Blizzard at Thursday Night Titans later that week, but Roddy Piper yanked the Blizzard out of the match for anti-WWF comments. Piper awarded the title match to Double J, and in a classic encounter, Double J defeated his former best friend Vader with the Figure Four Leglock to win the title! On his first try, Double J brought home the gold! And the world celebrated!

A week later on Tuesday Night Titans, as the show was now called, Jarrett defeated The Blizzard and Bret "Hitman" Hart in a triangle match. For months, Double J had been challenging Hart to a one-on-one encounter, but the match never was inked. Jarrett teamed with the Blizzard to wear down The Hitman, though Bret eliminated the Blizzard with a sleeper. Jarrett easily pinned a tired Hitman shortly afterwards.

Double J was questioned for his actions in the match, which Bret Hart claimed was Double J showing his "true colors". Jeff said he'd done the same thing he always has, which is whatever it takes to win, but apologized to the fans stating that without them to support him, the I/C title was meaningless.

Around this time, Double J began receiving notes from a secret admirer. After Double J's first title defense against JoBo, Miss Elizabeth approached the ring and handed Jarrett a rose. That weekend on Superstars, Double J announced Elizabeth as not only his secret admirer but his new manager as well. Jarrett went on to get caught in a small package by Bret Hart in their singles encounter, but the 2 shook hands afterwards to show the respect that was there.

Double J having the I/C title got him several challenges, but they mostly came from Razor Ramon, who now was known as Scott Hall. Jarrett began keeping an eye on Hall once more, but denied his request for a title shot, citing their past and what Razor Ramon had done to him before.

A rematch between Double J and Vader was signed for Qualify: 97 in May. As Jarrett prepared to enter the match he was attacked by Demolition, who had recently come under the management of Jim Cornette. Jarrett was injured as he went to the ring, and Elizabeth had the match declared a No Contest, rather than a forfeit to Vader. Jarrett was irate that he was not able to fight, and demanded a match with Vader on the 31st of May, Jarrett's last day in the WWF.

Before that, though, Jarrett defended his title against the Ultimate Warrior at Championship Raw on May 19. The strength of the Warrior was too much for Double J to overcome, though, and a new I/C Champion was crowned. Jarrett took the belt up into the ring and handed it to the new Champion, seeing the belt he'd worked so hard to get go around the waist of another. Also that night, Vader defeated Psycho Sid to capture the WWF World Championship.

Jim Cornette suggested a special match up for May 31st Superstars, which became known as Superstars Revenge. A thunderdome cage surrounding the ring where EVERYTHING inside was legal, known as a Chamber of Horrors match. Jarrett accepted, and the match was made to headline the "Revenge" card. Around this time, Double J called Sting out during an interview and told him that the way he carried himself was wrong, and wasn't earning him any respect. Double J said for Sting to return to the fans, since the fans had helped him become I/C Champ. Sting said he'd think about it.

The Raw before the 31st, a special Wednesday Raw, saw Double J attack Demolition backstage as a bit of revenge from their attack at Qualify. Double J did commentary for the event, as well. This event also saw Sting follow through on Jarrett's advice, ditching his Crow look and attempting to change his ways.

On Superstars that weekend, a tribute was held to Jarrett's career, narrated by Bob Costas. Superstars such as the Warrior, Sting, Corey Major, Heart Attack, Roxanne, and many others gathered in the ring to pay their respects. As the interview concluded, a voice rang out over the P/A that Jarrett wasn't leaving at all! It was the nWo's Mr. Big, the man who'd led the nWo in secret... Eric Bischoff!!

Bischoff claimed to have Power of Attorney over Jarrett, but quick thinking by Roddy Piper and a quick right hand by Elizabeth put Bischoff on the outside of the ring. Jeff then signed his release papers and claimed it was JARRETT time! Double J went into the non-title Chamber of Horrors match against his biggest enemy, and in one of the BIGGEST matches of 1997... Double J defeated the WWF Champion Vader with the Figure Four! Ain't he great?

Jarrett held the WWF title aloft, even though the match was non-title, then made his way out, giving a good-bye wave to the fans as he went.

Is that it?! Did he ever come back? Well, if you really wanna know, click here to continue!