"They were bullying him around" - Jim Ross felt bad about The Kliq's treatment of former WWE Superstar
According to former WWE commentator and executive Jim Ross, The Kliq “bullied around” Chris Candido during their time together in WWE.
The Kliq, a backstage WWE group in the 1990s, consisted of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. Candido worked for WWE in 1995 and 1996, and Michaels had an affair with Candido’s ex-girlfriend, Sunny during this time.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross said things got “real personal” between Candido and The Kliq behind the scenes.
“I don’t know how much to believe, not to believe, about his issues with The Kliq," said Jim Ross. "I don’t know how deep those wounds were or whatever, but they were bullying him around and I felt bad for him because they got real personal, and that’s not cool."
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Sunny once said in a Kayfabe Commentaries interview that Kliq members used to guard doorways backstage to prevent Candido from finding her and Michaels together.
Jim Ross explains why Chris Candido’s WWE run didn't last long
#RetroNitro Chris Candido debuts. Damn I miss this guy #RIP https://t.co/qaXRMIZe8g
Jim Ross often mentions on his podcast how several former WWE Superstars, including Chris Jericho and Tazz, were judged negatively based on their height. By contrast, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon immediately liked others, such as Brock Lesnar and Sycho Sid, simply due to their impressive size.
In Chris Candido’s case, Jim Ross believes his relatively short height held him back in WWE.
“He looked great, physique, big barrel chest, all that stuff, and he could work with anybody," said Jim Ross. "But he was gonna be limited in how far he can go, especially as a single in a major company working main events. [It] probably wasn’t gonna happen that often. He needed to be in a tag, I think.... His work was excellent. His size was a detriment."
Candido (a.k.a. Skip) won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Tom Prichard (a.k.a. Zip) in 1996. The former ECW and WWE star passed away at the age of 33 in 2005 after he suffered from acute pneumonia.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.