Jay Leno

* Birth name - James Douglas Muir Leno
* Born - April 28, 1950, New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
* Medium - Stand-up, television, film
* Alma mater - Emerson College (BA)
* Years active - 1976–present
* Genres - Observational comedy, black comedy, surreal humor, insult comedy, deadpan, satire
* Subjects - American culture, American politics, everyday life, pop culture, current events, human behavior
* Spouse - Mavis Nicholson (m. 1980)
* Notable works and roles
	+ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (host, 1992–2009, 2010–2014)
	+ The Jay Leno Show (host, 2009–2010)
	+ Jay Leno's Garage (host)
	+ You Bet Your Life (host, 2021)

## Pro Wrestling History

In an attempt to stay competitive with WWE, Eric Bischoff and WCW brought in 'The Tonight Show' host Jay Leno for a match.

### Why Jay Leno Got Involved In WCW

At the time, WCW was in the midst of the Monday Night Wars, a ratings battle with the rival promotion WWE. The company was known for bringing in celebrities to help boost ratings, and Leno was just the latest in a long line of celebrity guests. When used effectively, celebrity appearances in professional wrestling can have a positive impact on a wrestling promotion. While stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Generation X, and Vince McMahon contributed to the success of WrestleMania 14, it was Mike Tyson's involvement that took the event to new heights, generating significant media attention and helping WWE outperform its main rival, WCW.

However, WCW attempted to replicate this success on a much larger scale, which resulted in a series of embarrassing celebrity appearances at major pay-per-view events. NBA stars such as Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman were featured in high-profile matches despite their limited wrestling skills, and even movie star David Arquette was awarded the World Heavyweight Championship, which damaged the promotion's credibility with its fanbase. Only the most ardent detractors of WWE and its owner Vince McMahon continued to support WCW after these misguided attempts to use celebrities in wrestling matches. Hence, mainstream star Jay Leno was brought in to garner interest.

### How Eric Bischoff Got Jay Leno To Appear In WCW

Eric Bischoff discussed the involvement of Jay Leno in WCW during a 2020 episode of the 83 Weeks podcast. He explained that he pitched the idea for Leno to participate in a wrestling match at [WCW Road Wild 1998|Road Wild]] and also proposed a storyline involving Bischoff and Hollywood Hogan taking over The Tonight Show. He said, "Alan Sharp gave me a call and said ‘Hey, I just got a call from a guy by the name of Gary Considine who’s the executive producer at The Tonight Show.’ I say ‘OK, what’s he want?” He says ‘Well, Jay wanted to get involved, wants to do something in wrestling.’" Bischoff was beyond shocked to hear that. He immediately went to see Jay Leno and spoke very highly of the former television personality.

Bischoff then pitched an idea of how Leno could be involved in WCW. “I said ‘Would you wrestle?’ And he goes ‘Yeah, I’ll wrestle.’ So I said let me go back home and think about this for a day or two and come up with an idea that would make sense. But let me come up with something different that would really get this ball rolling because we didn’t have a lot of time. This was the first of July and the pay-per-view was August 8, so it’s not like we had weeks and weeks to figure this out. So I go home and think about it and go what if Hulk Hogan and I take over The Tonight Show? What if we take Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks – the guy that had the band – what if we throw him off the set? And what if we do it like the nWo would do it where it feels real and believable? There’s no comedy, nobody’s gonna laugh. This is the exact opposite of what anybody watching The Tonight Show would ever expect. I thought if I could sell that to Jay Leno, I could sell anything." And surprisingly enough Leno agreed to do it.

### Why Jay Leno's Storyline Failed In WCW

Leno's involvement was beneficial for WCW as they were able to use his show to build up to the wrestling event, despite criticism that Leno's audience was different from the wrestling audience. The goal was to gain mainstream press coverage for WCW, which was successfully achieved. The decision to feature Jay Leno in a wrestling match at Road Wild 1998 was widely regarded as a desperate attempt by WCW to regain its lost audience.
Despite efforts to use Leno's show to build up the event, the match itself was a complete disaster. Hogan's selling for Leno was cringe-worthy, and Bischoff's supposed martial arts skills were laughable. DDP tried his best to carry the match, but it was nothing more than a publicity stunt that resulted in a poorly executed and embarrassing 15-minute display of garbage wrestling.