Vince McMahon "never had great belief" in current WWE employee, Jim Ross claims
Vince McMahon oversaw WWE's creative direction between 1982 and 2022. Jim Ross, a former WWE commentator and talent relations executive, recently disclosed details about McMahon's view of NXT trainer Terry Taylor.
Taylor wrestled for companies including WCW and WWE during an in-ring career spanning three decades. In 1999, he stepped in as the head writer for the Stamford-based promotion after Ed Ferrara and Vince Russo joined WCW. However, he did not land the job on a full-time basis.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said Taylor likely missed out on the writing position because Vince McMahon for some inexplicable reason never had faith in Terry Taylor, and sure enough it never happened:
"Terry was very opportunistic. I guess, in a nicer way, you could say he's very ambitious, but Vince never had great belief in Terry for some reason. He never took him totally seriously. I don't know exactly why, but Terry was never gonna get that job. Never gonna happen. And it didn't." [38:07 – 38:32]
Taylor, fka The Red Rooster, wrestled more than 400 matches for WWE between 1980 and 1999. The 69-year-old has worked as a trainer in the NXT developmental system since 2012.
Possible reason why Vince McMahon did not want Terry Taylor as a writer
In the late 1990s, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were among WWE's biggest stars. Terry Taylor, by contrast, spent most of his time with the company in lower-card matches.
According to Jim Ross, Vince McMahon might not have trusted Taylor to communicate with high-profile names on the roster:
"I think Vince thought maybe that Terry Taylor couldn't interact with those guys because Terry was always perceived as a mid-card guy, maybe unfairly, I'm certainly not inferring that Terry was not a good worker. He was an excellent worker, excellent, but how is he gonna get along with Stone Cold? How is he gonna get along with The Rock?" [52:13 – 52:35]
In the same episode, Ross explained why Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle headlined WrestleMania 19 instead of The Rock vs. Steve Austin.
What are your thoughts on Jim Ross' comments? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.