Jim Ross raised concerns backstage about two female WWE stars' beauty
Jim Ross worked as a WWE commentator and talent relations executive when the company hired several women in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a recent podcast episode, the current AEW announcer recalled how he once warned Vince McMahon about Lita and Trish Stratus potentially distracting male wrestlers.
Lita and Stratus are widely viewed as two of the most successful wrestlers of their generation. In the early-to-mid-2000s, they appeared in several romance storylines and also proved themselves as serious in-ring competitors.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross reflected on how women became a bigger part of WWE during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras. Discussing Lita and Stratus' introductions, the Hall of Famer revealed he had worries about how men backstage would react to the two women:
"I told Vince one time, I said, 'You know, this is gonna create problems for the locker room,'" Ross said. "You can't have a bunch of testosterone-riddled guys walking around with a semi-b*ner and watching Trish Stratus walk down the hallway or Lita or whomever it may be. They weren't the only ones. A lot of love affairs were created in that era, and that gives you something else that could be a pain in the a** for a talent relations guy like me." [46:32 – 47:00]
Stratus and Lita were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The legendary opponents have made sporadic in-ring appearances since returning in the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble match.
Jim Ross on the evolution of women's wrestling
At the start of Lita and Trish Stratus' careers, female WWE stars were often presented as eye candy rather than credible wrestlers.
Two decades on, Jim Ross is pleased that so many women are taken seriously in the wrestling business:
"We saw the transformation of a lot of women's wrestling to physicality, and it's been pretty impressive, in my view. I'm a big fan of women's wrestling, as you can tell. I had a lot of women on my roster." [46:17 – 46:30]
In a separate podcast episode, Ross remembered how he felt about Stratus' chances in wrestling after meeting her for the first time.
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Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.