Jim Ross on Vince McMahon refusing to hire WWE veteran in backstage role
Wrestling legend Jim Ross recently gave his thoughts on Vince McMahon allegedly rejecting Dutch Mantell's offer to write for WWE.
Mantell performed as on-screen characters Uncle Zebekiah and Zeb Colter in WWE. Despite having vast writing experience in territories such as Memphis and Puerto Rico, the 73-year-old never worked as a WWE creative team member behind the scenes.
In 2003, the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported that WWE did not even interview Mantell after he applied for a writing position. Ross, a WWE commentator and talent relations executive at the time, was asked on his Grilling JR podcast why McMahon had no interest in Mantell:
"It's a good question. Going back to the old school, too old school. And, as Vince might say, too 'rasslin,' might have been part of the reason. He just wasn't comfortable with it. He wasn't comfortable with the old school guys. Even though we were doing a lot of old school things, still, it was challenging." [43:09 – 43:31]
Mantell managed several WWE Superstars over the years, including Cesaro, Jack Swagger, and JBL's Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw persona. His last run with the company ended in 2016 following a brief association with Alberto Del Rio.
Jim Ross thinks Vince McMahon should have hired Dutch Mantell
Mantell is widely viewed as one of the greatest minds in wrestling. The legendary booker provides his expertise on the current WWE product every Friday on Sportskeeda's Smack Talk show.
If anyone recals, @ClaudioCSRO and @RealJakeHager were a tag team in WWE as the Real Americans with Zeb Colter
#AEWDynamite #BloodAndGuts https://t.co/ojZEqDM9M5
Jim Ross believes Vince McMahon would have benefited from having someone with Mantell's experience on the writing team in 2003:
"I don't know if he trusted all the old territory guys, I have no idea, but to say that Dutch couldn't help us in the booking area would be a misnomer, in my opinion, because he's a very bright guy, still is, and he could have probably helped us there, quite frankly." [43:31 – 43:51]
Mantell recently predicted a shocking result in one of the featured title matches at WWE's upcoming Night of Champions event.
Do you think Vince McMahon should have hired Dutch Mantell as a writer? 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 quotes from this article.