Stephanie McMahon outshined male star in WWE romance storyline, Jim Ross says
Stephanie McMahon began appearing regularly on WWE television as an on-screen character in the late 1990s. Jim Ross, a WWE commentator and talent relations executive at the time, recently gave his thoughts on the former WWE Chairwoman's storyline with Test.
In 1999, Stephanie was due to marry Test before Triple H revealed he had already married Vince McMahon's daughter after drugging her in Las Vegas. The two later started dating in real life and got married in 2003.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said Test lacked charisma compared to Stephanie when the two were paired together:
"Well, it helped make Stephanie a bigger star because she got more screen time and she's a great performer. She's a much better performer than Test. We discovered Test had limited charisma. He had a great look, nice guy, but charisma was not his forte. In their scenes where they both had equal parts, she stood out." [39:30 – 39:57]
Test, real name Andrew Martin, won several titles in WWE, including the Intercontinental Championship. He passed away at the age of 33 in 2009.
Jim Ross on Stephanie McMahon's star power
In the 2000s, Stephanie McMahon cemented her status as one of the greatest heel characters of her generation. She performed as a villainous authority figure and held an important role behind the scenes in the creative team.
While Jim Ross did not enjoy the Test storyline, he is glad Stephanie received an opportunity to show what she can do as a performer:
"I think that's what we discovered, that she was a star, and we could utilize her more if we chose to. All that marriage stuff and engagements and all that s**t, I didn't think people believed it and I wasn't a big fan of it, to be honest with you." [39:58 – 40:16]
In the same podcast episode, Ross revealed he once warned Vince McMahon that two female wrestlers' beauty might distract male WWE stars.
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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.