Jim Ross

DD · 02-24-2006, 08:17 PM

James W. (Jim) Ross, also known as J.R., or Good Ol' J.R. (born January 3, 1952 in Westville, Oklahoma), is a professional wrestling executive, and a former play-by-play announcer working for World Wrestling Entertainment on the RAW brand. Ross made his WWF debut at WrestleMania IX in 1993. Despite being hailed by fans and critics for many years as one of the best announcers in wrestling, Ross was "fired" on air by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon (or you could say it was the WWE CEO Linda McMahon who kicked him in the crotch) in the storyline of the October 10, 2005 edition of RAW. It is currently uncertain if Ross will ever return to the announcing booth.

Jim Ross

He is known to be a sufferer of Bell's palsy, which sometimes results in temporary paralysis of Ross' facial muscles. In early 1999, Ross was absent from RAW following the death of his mother. The effects of Ross' grief reportedly worsened his Bell's palsy, thus SmackDown! host Michael Cole, filled in for Ross for the time being. Ross though, was well enough to call the main event at WrestleMania XV. Despite his condition, Ross has established himself as one of the all-time greatest wrestling commentators, often compared to the legendary late Gordon Solie. Ross has his own brand of barbeque sauce and his own selection of cookbooks.

Career

Early career

Ross started as a referee for Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling in the early to mid 70's. When McGuirk's booker Bill Watts split the territory and started Mid-South Wrestling in 1979, McGuirk made Jim Ross his lead announcer on the show. He stayed there until 1982, when Watts bought out McGuirk. Shortly after, Ross went to work for Watts in Mid-South.
In 1986, Ross became the company's lead play-by-play man. It would be re-named Universal Wrestling Federation in the spring of 1986. The first World's Title match that he called was between Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase. When Jim Crockett bought the UWF and merged it with his Jim Crockett Promotions group, Ross joined the new company and eventually supplanted Gordon Solie and Tony Schiavone as lead play-by-play man for the National Wrestling Alliance. Ross continued to hone his skills and build his legacy until his eventual falling out with the NWA.
Ross left World Championship Wrestling in 1993 following a conflict with the upper management. Besides his play-by-play work, Ross had worked his way up to the job of Executive Vice President of Broadcasting for WCW. According to Ross, Eric Bischoff, who had reported to him, had done a really good job selling himself to executives at WCW's then ownership Turner Broadcasting. According to Bischoff, Ross mistreated him and once Eric was promoted to executive producer in 1993, he justly fired Ross from the company. Either way, Ross had an air-tight three year contract with Turner Broadcasting, yet took the buy-out for fear that McMahon wouldn't hire him after a long hiatus.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Having been fired on-screen several times before, Ross was "fired" once and for all as a commentator on RAW on October 10, 2005, as part of a storyline on that night's live RAW broadcast. Vince McMahon had beckoned Ross and co-announcers Coachman and Lawler to the ring to demand an apology for their inaction during Austin's Stone Cold Stunner rampage against the McMahon family on the WWE Homecoming broadcast a week earlier. He accepted apologies from Coachman and Lawler, but refused to accept Ross' apology. Instead, Vince called Stephanie McMahon to the ring so Ross could make an in-person apology. Afterward, Linda McMahon came to the ring, seemingly to admonish Vince and Stephanie for publicly reprimanding Ross, only for her to make her surprise heel turn.
He claimed off-air (after RAW ended, footage is on WWE's unlimited service) that he was fired because Vince did not have the "balls" to fire Stone Cold, but did not harbor ill feelings toward Stone Cold for being scapegoated that way.
It was revealed on WWE.com, that Ross underwent surgery to remove a blockage from his colon recently, which might lend credence to the entire "firing" being a work as Ross would need time to recover from the procedure. Ross has been mentioned or parodied on recent RAW shows (such as Jonathan Coachman mocking Ross by wearing his traditional black cowboy hat, and Vince McMahon's "surgery" on Ross' colon), and wrote a tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero on WWE.com, which would further lend credence to this being a work (prior WWE stars who truly have been fired or released by the company have not been mentioned on later shows).
TV shows leading up to the November 1, 2005 pay-per-view Taboo Tuesday indicated that Stone Cold Steve Austin would face Jonathan Coachman with Ross being "re-hired" if Austin won the match. However, Austin allegedly backed out when WWE decided he would job to Coachman and Mark Henry. Coachman (along with new allies, Goldust and Vader) faced Batista at the PPV instead with Batista winning, but nothing was said about Ross. This makes it uncertain if a Ross "re-hiring" was ever part of the storyline at all; however, it could also have been delayed due to unforeseen complications in Ross' recovery.
Ross was replaced as lead announcer of WWE RAW by Joey Styles on a trial basis in November and permanently in December 2005 after Styles signed a five-year deal with WWE. Styles' hiring as lead announcer for RAW makes it unlikely that Ross will return in his previous capacity.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma was an on-air wrestling character portrayed by former WWE head writer Ed Ferrera when Ferrera was working for rival company WCW, the purpose of which was to mock Ross, down to imitating his Bell's Palsy. The Oklahoma character was eventually retired, but not before winning (in an obvious jab at Ross' obesity problem), the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Ferrera and Russo later apologized to Ross for the impersonation, some years after Ross's friend Jim Cornette had spat in the face of Ferrera in a show of contempt.

Matches

Ross has participated in six wrestling matches during his time in WWE, and has a current win/loss/draw record of 4/2/0:

On December 23, 2002 during WWE RAW Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross defeated William Regal and Lance Storm with help from the Dudley Boyz and some brass knuckles.
On February 17, 2003 during WWE RAW Eric Bischoff defeated Jim Ross after Chief Morley interfered, and Bischoff smashed a cinder block on J.R.'s face.
On September 21, 2003 during WWE Unforgiven The Coach and Al Snow defeated Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to win the right to announce RAW on Mondays.
On September 29, 2003 during WWE RAW Jim Ross defeated The Coach in a "country whippin'" match to reclaim the announce position with Jerry "The King" Lawler.
On November 24, 2003 during WWE RAW (one of its "RAW ROULETTE" editions) Jim Ross was the inadvertent winner of the "Capture the Midget" contest.
On April 18, 2005 during WWE RAW Jim Ross, who had been badly beaten, defeated Triple H in a no disqualification match when Batista knocked Triple H out and placed Ross' arm over him to make the cover.

Other storyline confrontations

Ross has suffered multiple (kayfabe) injuries and indignities, mainly during in-ring interviews, including:

Being punched in the face by Triple H.
Having his arm broken by Triple H.
Having his eye cut after Tazz broke the window of a car with Ross inside.
Being physically forced by The Undertaker to kiss Vince McMahon's buttocks.
Being knocked out by Jonathan Coachman.
Being low blowed by Ric Flair.
Being attacked and choked by Muhammad Hassan and Daivari.
Being set on fire by Kane.
Being punched by Paul Heyman the evening after the Survivor Series.
Being Stunnered and busted open by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Being mandible clawed by Mankind.
Being slapped in the face by Stephanie McMahon.
Being kicked in the groin by Linda McMahon as he was "fired."
After Ross was "fired", WWE aired a sketch on RAW in which Vince McMahon, dressed as a physician, performed "colon surgery" on a mannequin portrayed as Ross (Ross' face was not shown but his trademark hat was; Ross' "Oh my God!" quote was also being played back during the sketch). During the "surgery", McMahon pulled several props out of "Ross's" rectum, among them a bottle of Ross' barbecue sauce, a University of Oklahoma football helmet, a Stone Cold sippy cup, a bloody hand, and a rubber likeness of Ross's head. This skit drew harsh criticism from many viewers for being in poor taste; Jerry Lawler even remarked on-air he'd like to "forget about" what he had just seen and Christian Cage referred to it in his introduction speech at TNA iMPACT! as to why he was glad to be in a promotion that concentrated on wrestling. This skit later received Wrestlecrap's Gooker Award as the worst moment in North American professional wrestling in 2005.

Job titles

WWE Executive Vice President of Business Strategies
Former WCW Executive Vice President of Broadcasting
Former WWE Executive Vice President Of Talent Relations
Former WWE Pay-Per-View Play-By-Play Announcer
Former WWE RAW Play-By-Play Announcer
Former WWE SmackDown! Play-By-Play Announcer
Former WWF LiveWire Show Host
Former WCW Saturday Night Play-By-Play Announcer
Former UWF/Mid-South Play-By-Play Announcer

Championships and accomplishments

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1999)
1988 Best Television Announcer
1989 Best Television Announcer
1990 Best Television Announcer
1991 Best Television Announcer
1992 Best Television Announcer
1993 Best Television Announcer
1998 Best Television Announcer
1999 Best Television Announcer
2000 Best Television Announcer
2001 Best Television Announcer

Trivia

January 24, 2005 was officially named "Jim Ross Day" in Oklahoma by Governor Brad Henry.

Jim Ross

This is a discussion on Jim Ross within the General Pro Wrestling : Classic & General forums, part of the Wrestling Forums category; James W. (Jim) Ross , also known as J.R. , or Good Ol' J.R. (born January 3, 1952 in Westville, ...