Jim Ross
Encyclopedia
James William "Jim" Ross (born January 3, 1952) is a professional wrestling
commentator
, former professional wrestling referee
, restaurateur
, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand. Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
in 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commentators in wrestling history. He is known affectionately by wrestling fans as Good Ol' JR. In recent years, he has developed his own brand of barbecue sauce
s and cookbook
s, and opened a restaurant in the Oklahoma City
area, that was closed in 2010.
on the Westville baseball team. Ross was a two-time all-conference football player for the Westville Yellowjackets in 1968–69. His maternal grandparents owned a general store
in Westville, Oklahoma and his paternal grandfather Dee Ross owned an off-sale beer store and was a carpenter. Ross was also President of the Student Body, a 4 year letterman in basketball
, and State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America where he was State Speech Champion in 1968. Ross was also named Honorable Mention on the 1969 High School All State Football team by the Tulsa World as a center.
During his time in college, Ross had spent some time commentating on college radio. With this experience, Ross was given a chance to be a sideline commentator when an announcer in one territory was unable to show up one night. Jim first worked in the NWA Mid-South area as a referee in 1974. He stayed as a referee there until 1977.
Shortly after Bill Watts
bought out the Mid-South territory on 1982, Ross returned to work there, becoming their lead play-by-play man and Vice President of Marketing. The first World Title
match he called was between Ric Flair
and Ted DiBiase
. When Jim Crockett, Jr.
bought the Mid-South (since renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation) and merged it with his Jim Crockett Promotions
group, Ross joined the new company and teamed up doing color commentary with David Crockett and Tony Schiavone
as lead play-by-play man for the National Wrestling Alliance
. Ross continued to hone his skills and build his legacy as Jim Crockett Promotions
became NWA World Championship Wrestling
(WCW). In 1991 the promotion left the NWA and became WCW. Jim was teamed with long-time NWA/Crockett broadcaster Bob Caudle
for a couple of years. In 1992, he also spent one season as a commentator on Atlanta Falcons
radio broadcasts.
Ross worked his way up the ladder, yet along the way had a contentious relationship with WCW
's newest commentator (and future WCW
executive) Eric Bischoff
. According to Ross, Bischoff, who reported to him, did a really good job of "selling himself" to executives of WCW
's owner Turner Broadcasting
. According to Bischoff, Ross mistreated him and others (mostly in deference to Ross' then-supervisor Bill Watts
), and when Eric was promoted to executive producer in 1993, Ross demanded, and received, his release.
Ross had a three year contract with Turner Broadcasting, but he took an immediate buy-out for fear that he would not get work elsewhere if he was taken off television for a long period of time. Mick Foley
claims that Ross resigned from WCW
's booking committee. Ross left WCW after being taken off the air by Eric Bischoff.
(later known as World Wrestling Entertainment and eventually shortened to WWE). He made his on-screen debut at WrestleMania IX
and taking over for Gorilla Monsoon
on WWF Wrestling Challenge
the next weekend. Ross worked alongside Bobby Heenan
on that show until Heenan left the WWF in December 1993. Ross was originally the main voice of the WWF's pay-per-view
events when he was first brought in, calling both WrestleMania IX
and the King of the Ring with Heenan and Randy Savage
in 1993. Vince McMahon
took his position at pay-per-views starting with SummerSlam 1993
.
Ross was then made host of Radio WWF, alongside Gorilla Monsoon
(the man he replaced at WrestleMania IX
), which lasted under a year. In this role, Ross was joined by co-hosts such as Johnny Polo
, and talked to various WWF Superstars
and fans
. Ross and Monsoon called SummerSlam
and the Survivor Series
at the end of 1993 and the Royal Rumble
for Radio WWF.
Ross was fired by WWF on February 11, 1994 two weeks after suffering his first attack of Bell's palsy
. He subsequently became an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling
and the NFL's
Atlanta Falcons
(the second time he was with the Falcons as an announcer). In Smoky Mountain Wrestling
, Ross was reunited with former NWA/WCW announcer Bob Caudle
. The promotion was owned by longtime NWA
Manager Jim Cornette
and featured many former NWA/WCW wrestlers such as the Rock and Roll Express, Eddie Gilbert
, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.
When Vince McMahon was indicted by the United States
federal government
in 1994, he was unable to continue commentating on Monday Night Raw
. After a few weeks of Gorilla Monsoon
on play-by-play, the WWF rehired Ross to fill in for McMahon alongside Randy Savage
throughout that summer. When McMahon was acquitted, Ross was let go by the WWF again. Ross returned to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The WWF rehired him in early 1995 in time for WrestleMania XI
. Relocated to the syndicated WWF programming for the majority of the next two years, Ross would rejoin the primary announce team in the summer of 1996. In September 1996, Ross turned heel
in WWF storylines for the first and only to date time in his career. Following Diesel
and Razor Ramon
leaving the WWF for World Championship Wrestling
and debuting there as The Outsiders
, Ross began to proclaim on television that he was still in touch with "Diesel
" and "Razor Ramon
" and claimed that he would be bringing them back to the WWF soon. Other announcers were skeptical, and WWF President Gorilla Monsoon
said that Hall and Nash were under contract with "another organization", and ordered Ross to cease and desist mentioning them on the air. On the September 23, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, Ross delivered a worked-shoot
promo during which he ran down WWF Chairman Vince McMahon
(outing him as chairman and not just a commentator for the first time in WWF storylines) and debuted his "new" Diesel and Razor, claiming that while working in the WWF "front office" he had been the man responsible for so many people leaving the company as part of his "revenge" against the WWF for how they treated him in the past. While he was kept on the air by McMahon, Ross portrayed himself to be bitter and spiteful, with repeated potshots at McMahon. However, the "New Diesel-New Razor" storyline was poorly received by fans, and Ross' heel turn was quickly dropped.
After this angle, Ross went on to host various WWF programs such as Superstars
, Action Zone, Raw Is War, and Shotgun Saturday Night
. Ross again became the main voice of the WWF beginning at the 1997 Survivor Series
. At the end of 1998, Ross took a break from Raw Is War, due to another attack of Bell's palsy which came the day after the death of his mother. He eventually returned to Raw Is War as part of a storyline alleging that Vince fired him because of his condition, but that he would not go down quietly and enlisted the services of "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as his personal "enforcer." The storyline went as far as to have Jim Ross set up his own announce table in front of the official announce table labeled "JR Is RAW." Shortly after that, Jim Ross confronted his replacement, Michael Cole
, in the ring. After minutes of Cole trying to convince that he was not trying to steal Ross' job, Ross kicked Cole in the crotch and left the ring. The storyline was soon dropped as the attempt to turn Ross heel failed (the fans ended up cheering Ross and booing Cole) and he took his seat back as "official" commentator of Raw Is War starting with the main event of WrestleMania XV
. Ross' Bell's palsy proved fodder for ridicule by WWF's competitor, World Championship Wrestling, in late 1999. Ed Ferrara parodied Ross, including doing a full impression including mockery of his modified voice due to his medical condition. This was received negatively by fans and wrestlers alike, with Jim Cornette
threatening legitimate physical harm against Ferrara. Ferrara ceased mocking the medical condition after the first week. The angle was soon dropped by WCW
, but not before "Oklahoma", Ferrara's parody of JR, won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, even defending it on Pay-Per-View, at WCW Souled Out in 2000 against female Wrestler, Madusa.
alongside Jerry Lawler
and cemented his legacy as one of the great wrestling commentators as WWE became the sole major wrestling promotion in North America
. After the WWE Brand Extension
, Ross worked exclusively for the Raw brand, cutting down to doing play-by-play on Raw-only pay-per-views, while SmackDown!-only pay-per-views were announced by SmackDown!s announce team.
For most of the next six years Ross was involved in very few storylines. Also during this time, Ross served as an Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for the WWF/WWE, a codified extension of his long-time backstage role (dating back to the mid-'90s) as a key individual in charge of hiring new talent. By 2005, Ross had stepped down from his executive and management roles. According to repeated statements on his official blog, the move away from management proved beneficial in terms of decreased work-load, giving him more time to focus on his health, his family, and his entrepreneurial endeavors.
Still working as the voice of Raw, Ross was again "fired" (kayfabe
) from his play-by-play job by Vince and Linda McMahon
on October 10, 2005. Doctors had discovered a serious issue with Ross's colon, and his storyline termination provided an explanation for his absence. While recovering from his colon surgery, Joey Styles
(best known for his commentary work for Extreme Championship Wrestling
) called the weekly Raw. After recovering, Ross helped produce the Raw announcers from backstage, and was brought back for Saturday Night's Main Event in 2006, then the Raw-brand matches at WrestleMania 22
in Chicago
, before taking back his play-by-play job on Raw on May 8, 2006, after Styles quit Raw in the storyline, declaring his hatred for "sports entertainment
".
Ross' contract with WWE expired in October 2006. At that point, neither side had signed a new contract and instead worked week to week under the terms of the expired contract. In November 2006, Jim Ross stated on his official blog that he had signed a new one-year contract with WWE and would continue to work year-to-year.
On March 31, 2007, Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
by Stone Cold Steve Austin
.
, Ross was drafted from Raw to the SmackDown brand while Michael Cole
was drafted from SmackDown to Raw, trading positions as commentators on each brand. This ended Ross' position as Monday Night Raws play-by-play commentator after a nearly 12 year run. The following day Ross posted a blog on his official website saying initially he was not happy with the move and considered quitting the company since he was not told beforehand about the move, but that he will work "to make Smackdown the best program the WWE produces".
On September 23, 2008 edition of ECW, Ross made an appearance on the ECW brand filling in for a sick Todd Grisham
along side Matt Striker.
On April 5, 2009, WrestleMania XXV
, Ross commented on Rey Mysterio's mask which had been made to represent Heath Ledger
's role as The Joker. His comment was, 'I think Rey's career is alive and well King'. Jim Ross has apologized on his JR's BBQ website explaining that, "it was the wrong choice of words to use and on live television mistakes can happen."
On April 8, 2009, Ross announced on his WWE Universe blog that with the departure of Tazz
from World Wrestling Entertainment
, he would assume the role of SmackDowns color analyst, with ECW announcer Todd Grisham
moving over to the brand as the play-by-play announcer. At Backlash
, Santina Marella
, Santino's "twin sister" revealed that she loves Ross rather than The Great Khali. Ross was not told about the joke but posted in his blog "Let bygones be bygones". October 6, 2009 was his last broadcasting as a full-time announcer for the WWE.
Ross missed the SmackDown tapings on October 13, 2009, as he asked for a day off due to an anniversary. This was the first time he ever asked for a day off. Seven days later, on October 20, Ross suffered his third Bell's palsy
episode en route to Columbia, South Carolina
for a SmackDown taping. After initially planning on working the tapings and reuniting with Lawler, Ross instead flew back to Oklahoma
, missing the show—Lawler and Cole commentated SmackDown—and leaving his plans for WWE Bragging Rights in the air. On October 21, 2009, Jim Ross announced that he would not be commentating the WWE Bragging Rights
pay-per-view, but Grisham mentioned that SmackDown would give Ross the Bragging Rights trophy as a "get well" gift. According to Ross in his personal blog, he will be out of action, recovering from his current bout with Bell's palsy. On March 31, 2010, Jim Ross confirmed on his Twitter
page that his health is in good order. On May 1, 2010, his talent contract with WWE expired but recently has had his contract renewed. He still works for the WWE and is a consultant for the Talent Relations department dealing with talent payroll, scouting and talent development.
in Hershey, Pennsylvania
, Ross made a guest appearance on commentary with Jerry Lawler
and Michael Cole
, calling a match between Daniel Bryan
and Jack Swagger. This was Ross' first television appearance in over one year. Cole would insult Ross throughout the match, which resulted in Ross hitting Cole over the head with his hat after the match had finished.
On the March 14, 2011 episode of Raw from the Scottrade Center
in St. Louis, Missouri
, Ross made another guest appearance, trying to talk some sense into Cole, who over the last few months began a feud with Jerry 'The King' Lawler
. Ross would get insulted some more by Cole, which made Ross challenge Cole to a fight, only for Jack Swagger to come out and attack both Lawler and Ross.
Ross came back at WrestleMania XXVII
to call the final four matches on the card, including the Cole/Lawler match. He also made an appearance on the following night's Raw program, alongside Jerry Lawler
, whom he called the last three matches of WrestleMania
with the night previous. He left Raw later that night after Cole squirted him with his BBQ sauce, which legitimately got in his eye and caused Ross to need one of his eyes flushed by the Medical Trainers backstage.
Since returning to the Announce Table the night after WrestleMania XXVII
on Raw, Ross once again became an unofficial Raw commentator, reuniting with Jerry Lawler
, then the next week, managing Lawler in his re-rematch with Jack Swagger. Following the match, which King won, thus gaining the right to pick the type of match and stipulation for a rematch between him and Michael Cole
at Extreme Rules
, he chose a tag team match, where he and JR would face Michael Cole
and the man Cole pushed, poked and slapped after losing to King that night, Jack Swagger. JR then called the rest of the show with Lawler and Josh Mathews, serving in the role he portrayed when he was last a full-time commentator on WWE programming providing a mix of both color and play-by-play commentary.
On the April 18 episode of Raw eminating from the United Kingdom
, during Michael Cole
's knighting ceremony, Ross was forced to kiss Cole's fungus-infected foot
and miss the remaining two matches that night after also, once again, receiving an Ankle lock from Jack Swagger.
The next week on Raw, the 2011 WWE Draft
version of the show, Ross faced Michael Cole
in the only match of the night not worth a Draft pick for a Brand. The match was almost five minutes long, most of which was Cole taunting Ross, most notably with the Kamala
belly pat and wearing JR's hat, only to take it off and step on it in the ring and kick it out of the ring. Ross legitimately broke his hand, as well as cut himself on his right knuckle and bust Cole's lip, causing Cole to bleed from inside his mouth. Ross won the match by disqualification when Swagger came in and attacked him. Lawler, who was at ringside with Ross to counteract Swagger's being at ringside for Cole, got in after being attacked by Swagger on the outside of the ring earlier and took out Swagger after Cole whipped Ross' back with his belt, which Swagger took off of him before putting him in the Ankle Lock. Lawler whipped Cole on his behind with the same belt, which prompted the Anonymous Raw General Manager to make the Tag Match between the four at that Sunday's Extreme Rules a Country Whippin' Match, the second of Ross' career. Cole ran off holding his behind as JR showed Lawler his busted knuckle, as well as the blood on his right cheek. Lawler & Ross ended up losing at Extreme Rules, when Cole pinned Ross with a roll-up.
At Over The Limit
on May 22, Ross showed up to gain revenge on Cole for squirting him with his own BBQ sauce a couple of months before on Raw. JR brought his own bottle of sauce to the ring with him and proceeded to pour it all out over Cole's face, hair and clothes. Things only got worse from there for Cole, as Bret Hart
made a surprise appearance and locked in the Sharpshooter
, whilst Lawler made Cole kiss his foot.After that, he joined the announcer's table alongside Josh Mathews and Booker T to call the "I Quit Match" of John Cena
and The Miz.
of WWE, Triple H
re-hired Ross to a full time commentating position on Monday Night Raw to reform the partnership between himself and Jerry "The King" Lawler
(alongside Michael Cole
). On September 19, Jim Ross interviewed Mark Henry on winning the World Heavyweight Championship
from Randy Orton
at Night of Champions
, but only to be attacked by him. Jerry Lawler tried to stop him but he received a World's Strongest Slam Ross and Lawler were replaced by Josh Mathews for the rest of the night.
On the October 10 edition of Raw, Ross was fired by the new RAW Interim General Manager, John Laurinaitis
, for walking out on Triple H the week before. Ross later revealed that he was given no prior notification that he was to be publicly fired like he was. On the October 17 edition of Raw, Ross returned in a tag team match with John Cena
in a win over Michael Cole
and Alberto Del Rio. A week later, Cole would challenge Ross to a "Michael Cole Challenge" match, where if Cole would lose, he would quit. Despite this, on the Halloween special episode of Raw, Ross "no-showed" the "Michael Cole Challenge" due to inflammatory bowel disease
. The Michael Cole challenge was rescheduled for the following week, but again was cancelled. The challenge was yet again scheduled for the November 14 edition, and was slated to kick off that night's episode. In the episode Ross won two of the three challenges which were arm wrestling and dancing but lost the final challenge which was who weighed less. Subsequently, he was fired again.
in a no-DQ match (albeit with help from Batista).
Ross' most notable wrestling appearance was in a tag team match with broadcast partner Jerry "The King" Lawler
against Al Snow
and Jonathan Coachman
at the 2003 Unforgiven
pay-per-view, with their Raw broadcast jobs on the line. They lost the contest to Snow and Coachman due to interference by Chris Jericho
, however two weeks later Ross and Lawler regained their jobs when Ross defeated Coachman in a Country Whippin' match, using a stunner
finishing maneuver. Ross has participated in more contests alongside Lawler and has appeared in a few extreme stipulation matches. Ross competed against Michael Cole
on the April 25th edition of Raw, where he defeated Cole by disqualification after Cole's manager for the match, Jack Swagger, attacked Ross while he had Cole mounted and was landing punches on him.
Jim Ross has been involved in multiple conflicts as well with superstars such as Triple H
, Val Venis
, Jack Swagger, Vladimir Kozlov, Mankind
, Stone Cold Steve Austin
, bloodied in a Match by then-RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff
, and was even set on fire by Kane
. Ross even main-evented the WWF's first-ever show from the Georgia Dome
in Atlanta, GA, an edition of Raw is War that took place on October 11, 1999. Ross teamed with Stone Cold Steve Austin
to take on WWF Champion
Triple H and his partner Chyna.
As part of storylines, Ross has been regularly targeted by Vince McMahon
in rather harsh circumstances throughout his time with WWE: most notably in 2005 when Vince McMahon
's character, Mr. McMahon, featured in a series of segments which made fun of Ross' legitimate colon surgery.
In 2011, after his firing as an announcer by John Laurinaitis
, he returned to team up with John Cena
to face Michael Cole
and Alberto Del Rio in a tag-team match in a winning effort.
He suffers from Bell's palsy
, which sometimes results in temporary paralysis of Ross' facial muscles. In late 1998, following the death of his mother, Ross took a break from Raw as the effects of his grief reportedly worsened his Bell's palsy, and Michael Cole
filled in for Ross. Despite his condition, Ross has established himself as one of the all-time greatest wrestling commentators, often compared to Gordon Solie
.
In 2007, spurred on by sales of his line of barbecue sauces and beef products, Ross opened up J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q, a barbecue restaurant in Norman, Oklahoma
. The restaurant was closed as of May 2010.
He is an avid Oklahoma Sooners
sports fan and is a regular football season-ticket holder; this is reflected in his entrance music, which is "Boomer Sooner
" (OU's fight song). He can be spotted at every OU home game and when the Sooners play top teams around the country.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, former professional wrestling referee
Referee (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...
, restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand. Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
in 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commentators in wrestling history. He is known affectionately by wrestling fans as Good Ol' JR. In recent years, he has developed his own brand of barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
s and cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
s, and opened a restaurant in the Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
area, that was closed in 2010.
Early career
While attending Westville High School, Ross was the first basemanFirst baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
on the Westville baseball team. Ross was a two-time all-conference football player for the Westville Yellowjackets in 1968–69. His maternal grandparents owned a general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
in Westville, Oklahoma and his paternal grandfather Dee Ross owned an off-sale beer store and was a carpenter. Ross was also President of the Student Body, a 4 year letterman in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America where he was State Speech Champion in 1968. Ross was also named Honorable Mention on the 1969 High School All State Football team by the Tulsa World as a center.
During his time in college, Ross had spent some time commentating on college radio. With this experience, Ross was given a chance to be a sideline commentator when an announcer in one territory was unable to show up one night. Jim first worked in the NWA Mid-South area as a referee in 1974. He stayed as a referee there until 1977.
Shortly after Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
bought out the Mid-South territory on 1982, Ross returned to work there, becoming their lead play-by-play man and Vice President of Marketing. The first World Title
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
match he called was between Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
and Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
. When Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr. is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions , a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance...
bought the Mid-South (since renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation) and merged it with his Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
group, Ross joined the new company and teamed up doing color commentary with David Crockett and Tony Schiavone
Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone is an American sports broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves of the International League...
as lead play-by-play man for the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
. Ross continued to hone his skills and build his legacy as Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
became NWA World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW). In 1991 the promotion left the NWA and became WCW. Jim was teamed with long-time NWA/Crockett broadcaster Bob Caudle
Bob Caudle
Bob Caudle is an American professional wrestling announcer most notable for his time with The National Wrestling Alliance-NWA. He started working with Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1950s for promoter Jim Crockett, Sr...
for a couple of years. In 1992, he also spent one season as a commentator on Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
radio broadcasts.
Ross worked his way up the ladder, yet along the way had a contentious relationship with WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
's newest commentator (and future WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
executive) Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. According to Ross, Bischoff, who reported to him, did a really good job of "selling himself" to executives of WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
's owner Turner Broadcasting
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
. According to Bischoff, Ross mistreated him and others (mostly in deference to Ross' then-supervisor Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
), and when Eric was promoted to executive producer in 1993, Ross demanded, and received, his release.
Ross had a three year contract with Turner Broadcasting, but he took an immediate buy-out for fear that he would not get work elsewhere if he was taken off television for a long period of time. Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
claims that Ross resigned from WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
's booking committee. Ross left WCW after being taken off the air by Eric Bischoff.
Early career in WWF (1993–2002)
Ross was hired by the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(later known as World Wrestling Entertainment and eventually shortened to WWE). He made his on-screen debut at WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...
and taking over for Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
on WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...
the next weekend. Ross worked alongside Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
on that show until Heenan left the WWF in December 1993. Ross was originally the main voice of the WWF's pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
events when he was first brought in, calling both WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...
and the King of the Ring with Heenan and Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
in 1993. Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
took his position at pay-per-views starting with SummerSlam 1993
SummerSlam (1993)
SummerSlam was the sixth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 30, 1993 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan....
.
Ross was then made host of Radio WWF, alongside Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
(the man he replaced at WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...
), which lasted under a year. In this role, Ross was joined by co-hosts such as Johnny Polo
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
, and talked to various WWF Superstars
Superstars
Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....
and fans
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
. Ross and Monsoon called SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1993)
SummerSlam was the sixth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 30, 1993 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan....
and the Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1993)
Survivor Series was the seventh annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, 1993 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts...
at the end of 1993 and the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1994)
Royal Rumble was the seventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 22, 1994 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which...
for Radio WWF.
Ross was fired by WWF on February 11, 1994 two weeks after suffering his first attack of Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause facial paralysis, e.g., brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. However, if no specific cause...
. He subsequently became an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
and the NFL's
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(the second time he was with the Falcons as an announcer). In Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
, Ross was reunited with former NWA/WCW announcer Bob Caudle
Bob Caudle
Bob Caudle is an American professional wrestling announcer most notable for his time with The National Wrestling Alliance-NWA. He started working with Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1950s for promoter Jim Crockett, Sr...
. The promotion was owned by longtime NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
Manager Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
and featured many former NWA/WCW wrestlers such as the Rock and Roll Express, Eddie Gilbert
Eddie Gilbert
Edward Gilbert may refer to:*Eddie Gilbert , Australian Aboriginal cricketer*Eddie Gilbert , American wrestler*Ed Gilbert *Edward Gilbert, U.S...
, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.
When Vince McMahon was indicted by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
federal government
Federal government
The federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...
in 1994, he was unable to continue commentating on Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
. After a few weeks of Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
on play-by-play, the WWF rehired Ross to fill in for McMahon alongside Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
throughout that summer. When McMahon was acquitted, Ross was let go by the WWF again. Ross returned to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The WWF rehired him in early 1995 in time for WrestleMania XI
WrestleMania XI
WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Federation at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995...
. Relocated to the syndicated WWF programming for the majority of the next two years, Ross would rejoin the primary announce team in the summer of 1996. In September 1996, Ross turned heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
in WWF storylines for the first and only to date time in his career. Following Diesel
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
and Razor Ramon
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
leaving the WWF for World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
and debuting there as The Outsiders
The Outsiders (WCW)
The Outsiders are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. They first formed in World Championship Wrestling in 1996, and later teamed in the World Wrestling Federation , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX.Hall and Nash were both good...
, Ross began to proclaim on television that he was still in touch with "Diesel
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
" and "Razor Ramon
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
" and claimed that he would be bringing them back to the WWF soon. Other announcers were skeptical, and WWF President Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
said that Hall and Nash were under contract with "another organization", and ordered Ross to cease and desist mentioning them on the air. On the September 23, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, Ross delivered a worked-shoot
Shoot (professional wrestling)
A shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. Contrary to popular belief, the name does not originate from "shooting in" for a takedown, as in amateur wrestling - rather it is a carny term shortened from...
promo during which he ran down WWF Chairman Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
(outing him as chairman and not just a commentator for the first time in WWF storylines) and debuted his "new" Diesel and Razor, claiming that while working in the WWF "front office" he had been the man responsible for so many people leaving the company as part of his "revenge" against the WWF for how they treated him in the past. While he was kept on the air by McMahon, Ross portrayed himself to be bitter and spiteful, with repeated potshots at McMahon. However, the "New Diesel-New Razor" storyline was poorly received by fans, and Ross' heel turn was quickly dropped.
After this angle, Ross went on to host various WWF programs such as Superstars
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...
, Action Zone, Raw Is War, and Shotgun Saturday Night
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast...
. Ross again became the main voice of the WWF beginning at the 1997 Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1997)
Survivor Series was the eleventh annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on November 9, 1997 at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec....
. At the end of 1998, Ross took a break from Raw Is War, due to another attack of Bell's palsy which came the day after the death of his mother. He eventually returned to Raw Is War as part of a storyline alleging that Vince fired him because of his condition, but that he would not go down quietly and enlisted the services of "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as his personal "enforcer." The storyline went as far as to have Jim Ross set up his own announce table in front of the official announce table labeled "JR Is RAW." Shortly after that, Jim Ross confronted his replacement, Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
, in the ring. After minutes of Cole trying to convince that he was not trying to steal Ross' job, Ross kicked Cole in the crotch and left the ring. The storyline was soon dropped as the attempt to turn Ross heel failed (the fans ended up cheering Ross and booing Cole) and he took his seat back as "official" commentator of Raw Is War starting with the main event of WrestleMania XV
WrestleMania XV
WrestleMania XV was the fifteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 28, 1999 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. Ross' Bell's palsy proved fodder for ridicule by WWF's competitor, World Championship Wrestling, in late 1999. Ed Ferrara parodied Ross, including doing a full impression including mockery of his modified voice due to his medical condition. This was received negatively by fans and wrestlers alike, with Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
threatening legitimate physical harm against Ferrara. Ferrara ceased mocking the medical condition after the first week. The angle was soon dropped by WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, but not before "Oklahoma", Ferrara's parody of JR, won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, even defending it on Pay-Per-View, at WCW Souled Out in 2000 against female Wrestler, Madusa.
Raw (2002–2008)
Ross was the "voice of Raw Is War" throughout the Monday Night WarsMonday Night Wars
Monday Night Wars is the common term describing the period of mainstream televised American professional wrestling from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. During this time, the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw went head-to-head with World Championship Wrestling's Monday Nitro in a...
alongside Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
and cemented his legacy as one of the great wrestling commentators as WWE became the sole major wrestling promotion in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. After the WWE Brand Extension
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
, Ross worked exclusively for the Raw brand, cutting down to doing play-by-play on Raw-only pay-per-views, while SmackDown!-only pay-per-views were announced by SmackDown!s announce team.
Still working as the voice of Raw, Ross was again "fired" (kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
) from his play-by-play job by Vince and Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon
Linda Marie McMahon is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician. She is notable for her career developing WWE with her husband Vince McMahon. She was in the company from 1980 to 2009. During this time, WWE grew from a small regional business in New York to a large multinational...
on October 10, 2005. Doctors had discovered a serious issue with Ross's colon, and his storyline termination provided an explanation for his absence. While recovering from his colon surgery, Joey Styles
Joey Styles
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales...
(best known for his commentary work for Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
) called the weekly Raw. After recovering, Ross helped produce the Raw announcers from backstage, and was brought back for Saturday Night's Main Event in 2006, then the Raw-brand matches at WrestleMania 22
WrestleMania 22
Notes: .The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Orton, to earn a World Championship match at WrestleMania. At No Way Out, Orton defeated...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, before taking back his play-by-play job on Raw on May 8, 2006, after Styles quit Raw in the storyline, declaring his hatred for "sports entertainment
Sports entertainment
Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience...
".
Ross' contract with WWE expired in October 2006. At that point, neither side had signed a new contract and instead worked week to week under the terms of the expired contract. In November 2006, Jim Ross stated on his official blog that he had signed a new one-year contract with WWE and would continue to work year-to-year.
On March 31, 2007, Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
by Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
.
SmackDown (2008–2010)
On June 23, 2008 during the 2008 WWE Draft2008 WWE Draft
The 2008 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft Lottery took place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on June 23, 2008. The Draft took place live for three hours on WWE's flagship program, Raw on USA Network. For the second consecutive year, the Draft took place among WWE's three brands: Raw,...
, Ross was drafted from Raw to the SmackDown brand while Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
was drafted from SmackDown to Raw, trading positions as commentators on each brand. This ended Ross' position as Monday Night Raws play-by-play commentator after a nearly 12 year run. The following day Ross posted a blog on his official website saying initially he was not happy with the move and considered quitting the company since he was not told beforehand about the move, but that he will work "to make Smackdown the best program the WWE produces".
On September 23, 2008 edition of ECW, Ross made an appearance on the ECW brand filling in for a sick Todd Grisham
Todd Grisham
Todd Grisham is an American presenter/announcer who is best known for his time in the WWE as a backstage interviewer, play-by-play commentator and occasional ring announcer...
along side Matt Striker.
On April 5, 2009, WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas...
, Ross commented on Rey Mysterio's mask which had been made to represent Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
's role as The Joker. His comment was, 'I think Rey's career is alive and well King'. Jim Ross has apologized on his JR's BBQ website explaining that, "it was the wrong choice of words to use and on live television mistakes can happen."
On April 8, 2009, Ross announced on his WWE Universe blog that with the departure of Tazz
Tazz
Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
from World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, he would assume the role of SmackDowns color analyst, with ECW announcer Todd Grisham
Todd Grisham
Todd Grisham is an American presenter/announcer who is best known for his time in the WWE as a backstage interviewer, play-by-play commentator and occasional ring announcer...
moving over to the brand as the play-by-play announcer. At Backlash
Backlash (2009)
Backlash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 26, 2009 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The 11th and final event under the Backlash banner, it featured talent from all three WWE brands: Raw,...
, Santina Marella
Anthony Carelli
Anthony Carelli is an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and judoka better known by his ring name Santino Marella. He is currently signed to WWE, competing on its Raw Brand...
, Santino's "twin sister" revealed that she loves Ross rather than The Great Khali. Ross was not told about the joke but posted in his blog "Let bygones be bygones". October 6, 2009 was his last broadcasting as a full-time announcer for the WWE.
Ross missed the SmackDown tapings on October 13, 2009, as he asked for a day off due to an anniversary. This was the first time he ever asked for a day off. Seven days later, on October 20, Ross suffered his third Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause facial paralysis, e.g., brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. However, if no specific cause...
episode en route to Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
for a SmackDown taping. After initially planning on working the tapings and reuniting with Lawler, Ross instead flew back to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, missing the show—Lawler and Cole commentated SmackDown—and leaving his plans for WWE Bragging Rights in the air. On October 21, 2009, Jim Ross announced that he would not be commentating the WWE Bragging Rights
WWE Bragging Rights
Bragging Rights was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on October 25, 2009 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the final pay-per-view to take place at the Mellon Arena. It was the first Bragging Rights event...
pay-per-view, but Grisham mentioned that SmackDown would give Ross the Bragging Rights trophy as a "get well" gift. According to Ross in his personal blog, he will be out of action, recovering from his current bout with Bell's palsy. On March 31, 2010, Jim Ross confirmed on his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page that his health is in good order. On May 1, 2010, his talent contract with WWE expired but recently has had his contract renewed. He still works for the WWE and is a consultant for the Talent Relations department dealing with talent payroll, scouting and talent development.
Sporadic appearances and feud with Michael Cole (2010-2011)
On the November 15, 2010, live three hour special Old School Raw from the Giant CenterGIANT Center
The Giant Center is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place in the Harrisburg metropolitan area. It is home to the Hershey Bears ice hockey team, the longest-existing member of the American Hockey League since 1938...
in Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...
, Ross made a guest appearance on commentary with Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
and Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
, calling a match between Daniel Bryan
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand as Daniel Bryan, and currently holds the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase, which enables him to have a World Heavyweight Championship match at any time of his choosing...
and Jack Swagger. This was Ross' first television appearance in over one year. Cole would insult Ross throughout the match, which resulted in Ross hitting Cole over the head with his hat after the match had finished.
On the March 14, 2011 episode of Raw from the Scottrade Center
Scottrade Center
Scottrade Center is a 19,150 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1994. It is the home of the St...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Ross made another guest appearance, trying to talk some sense into Cole, who over the last few months began a feud with Jerry 'The King' Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
. Ross would get insulted some more by Cole, which made Ross challenge Cole to a fight, only for Jack Swagger to come out and attack both Lawler and Ross.
Ross came back at WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII was the twenty-seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia...
to call the final four matches on the card, including the Cole/Lawler match. He also made an appearance on the following night's Raw program, alongside Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, whom he called the last three matches of WrestleMania
WrestleMania
WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in late March or early April by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut...
with the night previous. He left Raw later that night after Cole squirted him with his BBQ sauce, which legitimately got in his eye and caused Ross to need one of his eyes flushed by the Medical Trainers backstage.
Since returning to the Announce Table the night after WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII was the twenty-seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia...
on Raw, Ross once again became an unofficial Raw commentator, reuniting with Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, then the next week, managing Lawler in his re-rematch with Jack Swagger. Following the match, which King won, thus gaining the right to pick the type of match and stipulation for a rematch between him and Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
at Extreme Rules
Extreme Rules (2011)
Extreme Rules was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on May 1, 2011 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida...
, he chose a tag team match, where he and JR would face Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
and the man Cole pushed, poked and slapped after losing to King that night, Jack Swagger. JR then called the rest of the show with Lawler and Josh Mathews, serving in the role he portrayed when he was last a full-time commentator on WWE programming providing a mix of both color and play-by-play commentary.
On the April 18 episode of Raw eminating from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, during Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
's knighting ceremony, Ross was forced to kiss Cole's fungus-infected foot
Athlete's foot
Athlete's foot is a fungal infection of the skin that causes scaling, flaking, and itch of affected areas. It is caused by fungi in the genus Trichophyton and is typically transmitted in moist areas where people walk barefoot, such as showers or bathhouses...
and miss the remaining two matches that night after also, once again, receiving an Ankle lock from Jack Swagger.
The next week on Raw, the 2011 WWE Draft
2011 WWE Draft
The 2011 WWE Draft was the eighth annual draft held by WWE, which took place on April 25. With a core business of professional wrestling, the corporation held a draft to exchange personnel assigned to one of its two television programs that are independent brands that represent WWE...
version of the show, Ross faced Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
in the only match of the night not worth a Draft pick for a Brand. The match was almost five minutes long, most of which was Cole taunting Ross, most notably with the Kamala
Kamala
Kamala is a common Hindu name, usually meaning Nelumbo nucifera, the lotus. Variants include Kamal and Kamla. It is unrelated to the similar sounding name of Arabic origin meaning perfection or integrity usually spelled Kamal in English but spelled Kemal in Turkish, which appears as the middle name...
belly pat and wearing JR's hat, only to take it off and step on it in the ring and kick it out of the ring. Ross legitimately broke his hand, as well as cut himself on his right knuckle and bust Cole's lip, causing Cole to bleed from inside his mouth. Ross won the match by disqualification when Swagger came in and attacked him. Lawler, who was at ringside with Ross to counteract Swagger's being at ringside for Cole, got in after being attacked by Swagger on the outside of the ring earlier and took out Swagger after Cole whipped Ross' back with his belt, which Swagger took off of him before putting him in the Ankle Lock. Lawler whipped Cole on his behind with the same belt, which prompted the Anonymous Raw General Manager to make the Tag Match between the four at that Sunday's Extreme Rules a Country Whippin' Match, the second of Ross' career. Cole ran off holding his behind as JR showed Lawler his busted knuckle, as well as the blood on his right cheek. Lawler & Ross ended up losing at Extreme Rules, when Cole pinned Ross with a roll-up.
At Over The Limit
Over the Limit (2011)
Over the Limit was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on May 22, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was the second Over the Limit event...
on May 22, Ross showed up to gain revenge on Cole for squirting him with his own BBQ sauce a couple of months before on Raw. JR brought his own bottle of sauce to the ring with him and proceeded to pour it all out over Cole's face, hair and clothes. Things only got worse from there for Cole, as Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
made a surprise appearance and locked in the Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter (professional wrestling)
The Sharpshooter, originally named Sasori-gatame, Scorpion Hold in English, is a professional wrestling submission hold. The move is also known by several other names: cloverleaf leg-lace Boston crab, standing reverse figure-four leglock, and, the most commonly known alternative, Scorpion Deathlock...
, whilst Lawler made Cole kiss his foot.After that, he joined the announcer's table alongside Josh Mathews and Booker T to call the "I Quit Match" of John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
and The Miz.
Brief return to Raw (2011)
On July 25, 2011, the new COOChief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
of WWE, Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
re-hired Ross to a full time commentating position on Monday Night Raw to reform the partnership between himself and Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
(alongside Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
). On September 19, Jim Ross interviewed Mark Henry on winning the World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
from Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
at Night of Champions
Night of Champions (2011)
Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on September 18, 2011 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. It was the 4th annual WWE Night of Champions event and the 11th in the WWE Vengeance overall timeline. Seven matches took...
, but only to be attacked by him. Jerry Lawler tried to stop him but he received a World's Strongest Slam Ross and Lawler were replaced by Josh Mathews for the rest of the night.
On the October 10 edition of Raw, Ross was fired by the new RAW Interim General Manager, John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis
John Joseph Laurinaitis is the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE and appears on WWE's Raw Brand as interim General Manager. He was previously a professional wrestler under the ring name Johnny Ace, and wrestled for such promotions as the National Wrestling Alliance and All...
, for walking out on Triple H the week before. Ross later revealed that he was given no prior notification that he was to be publicly fired like he was. On the October 17 edition of Raw, Ross returned in a tag team match with John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
in a win over Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
and Alberto Del Rio. A week later, Cole would challenge Ross to a "Michael Cole Challenge" match, where if Cole would lose, he would quit. Despite this, on the Halloween special episode of Raw, Ross "no-showed" the "Michael Cole Challenge" due to inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease
In medicine, inflammatory bowel disease is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The major types of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.-Classification:...
. The Michael Cole challenge was rescheduled for the following week, but again was cancelled. The challenge was yet again scheduled for the November 14 edition, and was slated to kick off that night's episode. In the episode Ross won two of the three challenges which were arm wrestling and dancing but lost the final challenge which was who weighed less. Subsequently, he was fired again.
Wrestling career
Although Ross' career has predominantly been as a commentator, Ross has participated in matches, with some notable success, including a victory over Triple HTriple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
in a no-DQ match (albeit with help from Batista).
Ross' most notable wrestling appearance was in a tag team match with broadcast partner Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
against Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
and Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer...
at the 2003 Unforgiven
Unforgiven (2003)
Unforgiven was the sixth annual Unforgiven professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on September 21, 2003 from the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania....
pay-per-view, with their Raw broadcast jobs on the line. They lost the contest to Snow and Coachman due to interference by Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
, however two weeks later Ross and Lawler regained their jobs when Ross defeated Coachman in a Country Whippin' match, using a stunner
Stunner (professional wrestling)
A stunner is a common term in professional wrestling referring to the seated three-quarter facelock jawbreaker maneuver, predominantly used by Stone Cold Steve Austin and named for his Stone Cold Stunner finisher...
finishing maneuver. Ross has participated in more contests alongside Lawler and has appeared in a few extreme stipulation matches. Ross competed against Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
on the April 25th edition of Raw, where he defeated Cole by disqualification after Cole's manager for the match, Jack Swagger, attacked Ross while he had Cole mounted and was landing punches on him.
Jim Ross has been involved in multiple conflicts as well with superstars such as Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
, Val Venis
Sean Morley
Sean Allen Morley is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with World Wrestling Federation, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment...
, Jack Swagger, Vladimir Kozlov, Mankind
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
, bloodied in a Match by then-RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, and was even set on fire by Kane
Kane (wrestler)
Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury....
. Ross even main-evented the WWF's first-ever show from the Georgia Dome
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the...
in Atlanta, GA, an edition of Raw is War that took place on October 11, 1999. Ross teamed with Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
to take on WWF Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
Triple H and his partner Chyna.
As part of storylines, Ross has been regularly targeted by Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
in rather harsh circumstances throughout his time with WWE: most notably in 2005 when Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
's character, Mr. McMahon, featured in a series of segments which made fun of Ross' legitimate colon surgery.
In 2011, after his firing as an announcer by John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis
John Joseph Laurinaitis is the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE and appears on WWE's Raw Brand as interim General Manager. He was previously a professional wrestler under the ring name Johnny Ace, and wrestled for such promotions as the National Wrestling Alliance and All...
, he returned to team up with John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
to face Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
and Alberto Del Rio in a tag-team match in a winning effort.
Personal life
Ross is married to his wife Jan and has two daughters (from a previous marriage) and two granddaughters.He suffers from Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause facial paralysis, e.g., brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. However, if no specific cause...
, which sometimes results in temporary paralysis of Ross' facial muscles. In late 1998, following the death of his mother, Ross took a break from Raw as the effects of his grief reportedly worsened his Bell's palsy, and Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
filled in for Ross. Despite his condition, Ross has established himself as one of the all-time greatest wrestling commentators, often compared to Gordon Solie
Gordon Solie
Jonard Frank Labiak , better known as Gordon Solie, was a Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for World Championship Wrestling...
.
In 2007, spurred on by sales of his line of barbecue sauces and beef products, Ross opened up J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q, a barbecue restaurant in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
. The restaurant was closed as of May 2010.
He is an avid Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...
sports fan and is a regular football season-ticket holder; this is reflected in his entrance music, which is "Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner
The Boomer Sooner Fight Song is the fight song for the University of Oklahoma written by Arthur M. Alden in 1905. The tune is taken from "Boola Boola", the fight song of Yale University...
" (OU's fight song). He can be spotted at every OU home game and when the Sooners play top teams around the country.
In wrestling
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "J.R."
- "Good Ol' J.R."
- "The Voice of Raw"
- "The Voice of the WWE"
- "J.R Is Wrestlemania*"
- "Rossie" (During his days with World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
) - "Buckethead" (During his days with World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
)
- PhrasePhraseIn everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
s- "Bommer Sooner"
- "Good God (Almighty)"
- "Slobberknocker"
- "Business is about to pick up"
- ".... is being whipped/beaten like a government mule"
- ".... is running like a scolded dog"
- Job titlesStandard Occupational Classification SystemThe Standard Occupational Classification System is a United States government system of classifying occupations. It was developed in response to a growing need for a universal occupational classification system. Such a classification system would allow government agencies and private industry to...
- NWA Mid-South referee
- UWF/Mid-South play-by-play announcer
- UWF/Mid-South Vice President of Marketing
- WCW Executive Vice President of Broadcasting
- WCW play-by-play announcer
- Atlanta FalconsAtlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
play-by-play announcer - Radio WWF host
- WWE RawWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
play-by-play announcer and color commentator - SMWSmoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
play-by-play announcer - XFLXFLThe XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
play-by-play announcer - WWE SmackDown play-by-play announcer and color commentator
- WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations
- WWE Executive Vice President of Business Strategies
- WWE Talent Relations Consultant
- Wrestlers managedManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- KaneKane (wrestler)Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury....
- Ezekial Jackson
- Kane
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "Boomer Sooner" by Jim Johnson
Awards and accomplishments
- Cauliflower Alley ClubCauliflower Alley ClubThe Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
- Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- Stanley Weston Award (2002)
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Hall of FameWWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
(Class of 2007)
- WWE Hall of Fame
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1999) - Best Television Announcer (1988–1993, 1998–2001, 2006–2007, 2009)
- Worst Feud of the Year (2005) vs. McMahon FamilyMcMahon wrestling familyThe McMahon wrestling family are the founders and owners of WWE.It began when Roderick McMahon, known as "Jess", started promoting wrestling shows in 1925. When he died in 1954, his son, Vincent J. McMahon, took over the business. Vincent J. had two wives, Victoria and Juanita, with Vickie still...
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame