WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with Jan Murphy for Toronto Sun to promote his upcoming one-man show in Toronto this weekend. Here are the highlights.

On possibly going back to WWE:

“(WWE knows) that if they got into a bind somewhere down the road and they need my services for something that I’d be there in a heartbeat, and I would. But to go back and work full-time for anybody, at my stage of life, isn’t something I worked all of my life to do at this age. I always wanted to have some level of independence, from a financial standpoint and from a professional standpoint as far as my skills are concerned so that I could kind of pick and choose these projects so I wouldn’t have to be on the road every week and I could enjoy my life, I could enjoy my wife, I could enjoy my football, my sports passions, we could travel some, we could enjoy things that we’ve earned. They know that I’m always there if they needed and I know they’re always there if I need them, but we all had to grow and they’ve got to prepare for the future. Jim Ross is not the future. Jim Ross is a viable part of the past.”

On the current state of the wrestling business:

“The good news is that the majority of the wrestlers who are in it full time — who really are pursuing it the right way — are earning more money now than they arguably ever have. I think that that’s a good sign. WWE’s healthy financially, Ring of Honor is healthy financially, we know that TNA is having some issues but hopefully they’ll get back on their feet and continue to attempt to be viable in the marketplace. There’s plenty of room for them, in the big picture. New Japan seems to be healthy. The long answer is that the business seemingly on virtually every level, for virtually all of the talent, is more financially lucrative now than maybe ever, across the board. I think that’s positive.”