"He was very offended" – Jim Ross recalls legend quitting after WWE fired his wife
Jim Ross recently elaborated on what happened when Vince McMahon told him to inform Jerry Lawler about Stacy Carter's firing from WWE.
Carter, aka The Kat, was let go by the company in February 2001 due to alleged attitude problems. Lawler, Carter's then-husband, quit his role as a WWE commentator in protest before returning later that year after their marriage ended.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon was wrong to fire Carter. The legendary commentator also recalled how Lawler reacted to the bad news:
"Dominoes started falling," Ross stated. "Lawler walked off, and I hated that because we had such great chemistry and I just felt like, 'This is the only solution we got?' So I told him and he was very offended. He wasn't mad at me. He knew I was just delivering the message. He never got mad at me, but he got mad enough at the situation to go home." [38:26 – 38:58]
Carter worked for WWE between 1999 and 2001. She held the Women's Championship for 49 days after winning the title from Ivory at Armageddon in 1999.
Jim Ross speculates on why Vince McMahon fired Stacy Carter
Although he does not know for sure, Jim Ross believes Stacy Carter was likely given her release from WWE due to an issue with writers.
2/27/2001
Stacey Carter, better know as The Kat, was released from WWE for undetermined reasons. Her husband, Jerry 'The King' Lawler, quit his role in the company in protest of Carter's release. https://t.co/eQ2vJNxcfQ
Ross, who was part of WWE's talent relations team at the time, does not recall anyone in the locker room complaining about her behavior backstage:
"I don't think the talents had any issues with Stacy, that I heard of. She was always on time. She traveled with Jerry. Jerry's old school, he's there on time. I just thought we could have gone on to a better solution, a better route, than we chose to go, and firing her was I thought maybe a little bit too drastic." [37:58 – 38:21]
Ross also spoke on this week's podcast about the possibility of Cody and Dustin Rhodes reuniting in WWE one day.
Do you think Jerry Lawler was right to quit WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.