WWE News - Vince McMahon received a special demand from The Rock and Stone Cold before WrestleMania match

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Austin, The Rock, and Vince McMahon

WWE Hall of Famer and current All Elite Wrestling announcer Jim Ross recently did a Q&A session with Inside The Ropes. Ross opened up on the main event of WrestleMania 17, featuring The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE title.

Ross believed at the time that the show would be his last hurrah as a commentator. Fans might be aware that Ross has battled with Bell's palsy for the better part of his career, and the condition deemed him unable to smile. Ross further stated that both The Rock and Austin approached Vince McMahon and said that they wanted him to call their WWE title bout. Ross added that he still gets emotional while talking about that instance, and how the two in-ring legends respected his work.

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I thought at the time that would probably be my last show. My facial paralysis was not improving and the world of WWE is a very looks type business and the fact that this paralysis made me not smile is disconcerting to some. So I thought 'This is probably my last hurrah but luckily it wasn't. That's because The Rock and [Steve] Austin went to Vince McMahon and said 'We want JR to call our match, he's our guy.' I still get emotional talking about that. They respected my work I guess after all those years, they knew that I respected them. I was a fan and always will be a fan.

Jim Ross on a special memory from 2001:

WrestleMania 17 is widely regarded as the greatest PPV of all time. The historic event was chock-full of memorable encounters, with two of the greatest closing the show. Jim Ross and Paul Heyman took on announcing duties for the event. Austin joined forces with Vince McMahon at the end of the show, in a moment that many dub as the end of the Attitude Era.

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