Exclusive: Jim Ross on the Chris Jericho Cruise & other upcoming projects
There is no shortage of legends within the history of professional wrestling, but there is a very limited number of wrestling legends who have transcended generations to spend decades at the top of the business.
Jim Ross is in rare company, having broadcasted and/or handled executive matters within the WWE, WCW, NWA, New Japan and Mid-South wrestling promotions. Yet wrestling has been only one facet of Ross' still-budding career, which has also included podcasting, writing a best-selling memoir, creating a popular line of barbecue sauces, performing with a one-man show, and broadcasting as a commentator for other sports.
Currently, Ross can be heard every Friday on the AXS TV network, providing commentary for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He also works for the WWE on special projects, being one of the only WWE-contracted performers allowed to take on non-WWE projects.
While visiting Oklahoma, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Ross for a meal at one of his favourite spots in Norman a few weeks prior to WrestleMania 34. The man was generous with his time, and below are some of the highlights from our chat. More on the man commonly known as "Good Ol' JR" can be found online at www.jrsbarbq.com.
You will be on the Chris Jericho Cruise. Any idea what you will be doing as part of the cruise?
Jim Ross: No clue. Don’t have an idea. Afraid to ask. Me and [Jerry] Lawler, I think we’re the co-MCs. No idea what that means. I’m looking forward to it. Another one of my guys that I signed and recruited out of WCW to WWE, [Chris Jericho] he’s become a multi-millionaire in many facets. He came to me and made me a very generous offer to come on that cruise.
I think part of that is old-school thoughts, the fact that I believed in him at 5’9”. We sold it to upper-management and he came in with all the fanfare in Chicago, interrupting The Rock. Here’s the deal: We helped him set the table, but then it’s all his. He’s done a great job at reinventing himself. He’s a true Rembrandt of his canvas, no doubt.
Do you feel that the business is in a better place now than it was 20 years ago?
Jim Ross: Absolutely. It’s not even close. The medical care available to the average wrestler is better than it ever has been. But in the WWE, for example, it is extraordinary. Every wrestler has a trainer, every wrestler has a doctor, it’s not some commission guy; a gynaecologist sent in for free tickets.
Legit guys who travel on a team, like you would an NHL team or an NBA team, an MD, a licensed physician. The wellness program is totally managed out of the house, it’s really smart they did it that way, and that’s the way you’ve gotta do it. If you don’t have any loopholes and everybody’s judged the same, you don’t have to worry about what’s hidden. Ever...
If guys believe it’s more important to be high than being safe, or be a professional, why are you working here? Give me one good reason. There ain’t one good reason. If he hasn’t drawn any money yet, you still don’t know if he will.
Is there something you wish more people knew about you? They know about you being a WWE Hall Of Famer, they know about you being Mr. Oklahoma, but is there something you wish they knew about Jim Ross the person?
Jim Ross: Probably nothing I would say at this moment would make me cooler or make me hip. I would say it would probably be surprising how normal I am. I like to go to football games, that’s pretty normal, nothing more Americana than that. I like to grill.
I like to have an adult beverage from time to time. I enjoy interacting with people. I’m a people-person, that’s why I take on so many projects because when I’m home, I’m home alone. I’m not ready for that right now, in full disclosure. But the bottom line is that I’m a lot more average than people think, I’m very passionate about everything I do.
I’ve come to the realization at this stage of my life – which I wish I’d done earlier – that I should not have tried so hard to change things that are impossible to change. I worked too many hours, [spent] way too much time, way too much heartache on things I could not fix. I learned later on, at some point, as hard as it is sometimes, you have to step away. You can’t fix everybody’s issues. You just can’t.
No good deed goes unpunished…?
Jim Ross: I’m all about helping talent, but they have to have one thing: They want to help themselves. If this is a reprieve to get out of your judicial issues, or a marital issue, to take the heat off you, then you have the wrong motivation. You’re going to replicate your crime again…
So I’ve lived a very good life. The fans of the genre, being able to say that I’ve done the New Japan brand on Friday nights and the new special like the one coming up on AXS TV… The fact that I’m [also] under contract with WWE and will continue to do projects with them. I expect to be busy during WrestleMania weekend and beyond. They know what I can do, they know that my heart is in the right place, as is theirs…
I come with a little bit of baggage. I don’t want to travel everywhere. They want to give me a weekly show, I don’t want a weekly show. I did that when I was your age! Point being, I’m hard to book and they respect me enough to keep me under contract. If they ever do the UK show weekly, I might be in line to do that…
So finally, Jim, any last words for the kids?
Jim Ross: Two things in that regards… My first writing partner [for Slobberknocker] dropped dead of a heart attack, the great Scott Williams. Then my wife Jan got killed in March. I threw my hands up, “The book’s jinxed, I’m done. Poor me. Woe is me.” Then I just told everybody involved, “I don’t think I can finish it.” I thought of quitting. It made me think of what my dad said, “Son, quitting is the easiest thing in the world to be good at.” I hadn’t thought of that remark in forever. I believe that.
The other one is, I sat at my grandmother’s kitchen table when I was 10. She was cooking and my uncle was sitting at the table drinking coffee, my grandfather the same. I was in school, she said, “Jimmy, what do you want to be this week?” Jimmy – not “J.R.” back then. “Well Granny, I got this transistor radio for Christmas and I want to be a baseball announcer. I want to be the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, like Jack Buck and Harry Caray.”
My uncle almost did a spit-take. My Grandpa mumbled under his breath, “You’ll never get off the farm.” My granny basically said, “Well honey, somebody’s gonna do it. Why not you?” If a chubby kid with an Oklahoma accent, who can’t smile on television, and has had three bouts of Bell’s Palsy, a drawl, the cherub cheeks… If I can make it… Here it is 2018 and I’m still working. Someone’s gonna do it, why not you?
The great thing about living here, nothing is unattainable to any degree. You can always think of exceptions to the rule, I get it. In other words, J.R. would never ride a horse in the Kentucky Derby, I get it, never going to happen. However, most everything, the game is open. Do whatever the hell you want to do.
I tell my kids, “Thank god you don’t want to be in my business.” It’s more challenging. The men and women who select pro wrestling or sports entertainment as their vocation are to be admired. They, I hope, should know that the chances of being successful beyond two or three or four years is astronomical. It’s a very fickle business, it’s the entertainment business, it has to do with looks, delivery, sound, also the fact that you can do your own stunts, telling a story people will like while “play-fighting.”
It’s really hard and those that make success out of it are some of the most talented people in the world. Everybody’s going to say, “I knew he was going to say something like that because he’s a wrestling guy,” but think about it. They do a lot of extemporaneous things, role reversals, no cue cards, they’re their own stuntmen, and they do a series of one-night stands every week, 52 weeks a year.
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