Farewell to a WWE legend: Jim Ross

Jim Ross retires

If you just so happened to be a 90s kid, you’d be one of the millions of fans who thought professional wrestling was “cool”.

As the industry saw its greatest boom during the late 90s, the performers and the other personnel were witnessing the dawn of a new era. It was the beginning of something unique, something that comes by once in a life time.

You’d have heard about the greatest generation of footballers and other sportsmen, and 90s was professional wrestling’s greatest generation.

The talent pool was amazing, and with the WWF, ECW and WCW putting on great shows with edgy product, professional wrestling was the new “it”, and everybody, especially the teenagers became enticed with the product.

One of the biggest reasons for 90s being so great was the talent at the companies’ disposal. From the Hogans to The Undertakers to Steve Austins, 90s saw some of the greatest performers hit their peak.

But there was one other reason, a major reason why professional wrestling and the superstars were so popular.

It was due to one man behind the booth who called the play by play action, who put the life into the product; not by performing in the ring, but like a true magician who breathes life into his act, he poured his heart and soul into what was going on inside the ring.

There were many great commentators in professional wrestling. From the Gordon Solies to Gorilla Monsoons, many legends lent their voice to the business. But perhaps, the greatest of them all was the simple, verbose yet nonchalant character from Oklahoma, Jim Ross.

A couple of hours ago, WWE announced the following:

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross announced that he is retiring from WWE today, after 20 years of service, to focus on his personal business endeavors.

Jim has had a long and storied career at WWE, both on the corporate staff as well as his television persona, calling some of the most memorable matches in WWE history as the voice of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown for more than two decades.

He made his debut with WWE at WrestleMania IX in 1993 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by his long-time friend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

The man who created the aura of the most beloved era has retired from professional wrestling. Although Jim Ross hasn’t been on TV for many years, he used to make special appearances and worked with the young talent in NXT.

Jim Ross’s immortal words still dwell inside the heads of professional wrestling fans who were fortunate enough to witness one of the greatest announcers do what he does best.