"I didn't know that I was that ugly." - Jim Ross calls out WWE for his 'disrespectful' release
Jim Ross is a veteran of the wrestling business in the truest sense of the word. The legendary wrestling commentator has been in the business for well over four decades now and is still going strong as the commentator on AEW Dynamite every week, alongside Tony Schiavone and Excalibur. Before coming to AEW, Jim Ross worked in WWE over three decades, although intermittently, as he was often released from the company.
One of the times that he was released was during the early 2000s, and talking about that release during his 'Grilling JR' podcast (h/t Wrestling Inc), in particular, Jim Ross mentioned how it was disrespectful of WWE. The veteran 'Voice of The Attitude Era' mentioned how WWE mistreated him during his time on the commentary team.
Jim Ross was disrespected by WWE
Talking about the time he was released from WWE in the early 2000s, Jim Ross admitted that he had not known that it was happening. He went on to say that no one had told him that he was getting too old because then they would be leaving themselves vulnerable to a lawsuit.
"I found out as the process went along but in the beginning, I didn't know. I didn't know that I was that ugly or that old. I'm not buying into that bullsh**. Nobody ever told me, 'JR you're getting too old'. They're making themselves vulnerable to an age discrimination lawsuit. It was just another bump in the road. I could've easily quit and say I'm not going to be in this wrestling business anymore, bullsh**. Getting rid of JR as the voice of Raw after all the success and years of productivity that we had. And my loyalty meant sh**."
Eventually, WWE had to bring back Jim Ross again, as Mike Goldberg, the person that they had lined up to replace him, was not coming to WWE because people had told him the fans would turn on him as he was replacing Jim Ross. Ross found the entire matter disrespectful.
"It was just disrespectful. Poor communication and too many sycophants surrounding the boss to change his mind about the team. JR and the [Jerry Lawler] King were the solid components always on RAW, there was stability there."
Jim Ross revealed that Todd Grisham had been promised his job by WWE and the young commentator was uncomfortable with the role. However, Ross would not leave WWE at that time. When he was announced for the WWE Hall of Fame, the reaction that he got, led to Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn being blown away, and keeping him on in the commentary position.