Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer
UPDATE x 13: Jim Ross made comments last week at a Q&A in Scotland that he had no plans to retire and wanted to continue his work in developmental. He said that he would “never” retire and would always be there when WWE needed him. He said the day he retired is the day they would bury him.
As we’ve been reporting, the “retirement” angle of Ross’ departure is WWE trying to spin the story to the media. He was flat out released and basically “forced out” of the company.
UPDATE x 12: TNA President Dixie Carter posted the following in regards to Jim Ross’ WWE departure…
What a class act! @JRsBBQ. Wrestling will miss you!
— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) September 12, 2013
UPDATE x 11: William Regal, JBL and Chris Jericho posted the following on Twitter, regarding Jim Ross’ departure from WWE…
I’d like to thank @JRsBBQ for 20 years of help,mentoring,friendship and above all unwavering belief in me.
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) September 12, 2013
Congrats on a Hall of Fame career @JRsBBQ ! Been great working with u, and for u, over the years & the ribbing between Texas and Oklahoma!
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) September 12, 2013
Thanks to Jim Ross for all he did for me in the early days of my @wwe career! He believed in me when so many others didn’t. @JRsBBQ #respect
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) September 12, 2013
UPDATE x 10: Jim Ross recently posted a new tweet on his official Twitter account confirming that his JRs BBQ products will still be available on the WWE Shop website ………. for now. JR wrote:
“JR’s products still available online at http://WWEShop.com & at http://americansoda.co.uk . Nothing’s changed & I still appreciate support.”
UPDATE x 9: Stephanie McMahon recently posted a tweet on her official Twitter page acknowledging the departure of Jim Ross from WWE. She tweeted:
Thank you for everything @JRsBBQ I’ve learned so much from you. You will always be the voice of the WWE. #halloffamer
The following are some more Twitter reactions to the news regarding Jim Ross:
Howard Finkel: “I wish nothing but the very best to @JRsBBQ. I’ve truly enjoyed my professional and personal association with him through the years!”
MVP: “@JRsBBQ Good luck JR. It was a pleasure to listen to you. It was an honor to have worked with you. Be well.”
Vickie Guerrero: “@JRsBBQ thank you JR for your friendship! It was an honor to work with you. I wish you the best in your career filled with blessings.”
Beth Phoenix: “Thank u @JRsBBQ for doing me the honor of calling my matches & sharing ur wisdom. I was truly one of the lucky ones to b able to work w/ u!!”
Lance Storm: “@JRsBBQ is the greatest announcer to ever call a match IMO. He’s made more matches better than any wrestler ever has.”
UPDATE x 8: WWE’s Jane Geddes sent out a memo (text message & email) to all WWE talent yesterday. The memo pushed the public story that Ross had retired from the company as opposed to having really been released from his contract.
UPDATE x 7: There were some very unhappy people in WWE after the news on Jim Ross’ “retirement” (aka firing) broke. Some went on record as saying the stuff on TV has turned to reality. The basic gist of things is that if you represent the company in a bad way, you get fired for it because representing WWE negatively is “bad for business.” Many also feel that the blame should be placed solely on Ric Flair and not Jim Ross … but WWE’s mindset is that JR didn’t do enough to switch topics and move on when things started going off script. What was Jim supposed to do when Ric got emotional and was talking about the death of his son Reed – cut him off?! The company also feels Ross “wasn’t his normal self” during the panel and that is certainty debatable although Ross denies the claims that he was drunk.
…….. and for those who have asked or questioned JR’s departure, no, it’s not a “work” by any means. There are no plans to have him return and get involved in the current storyline. Several top WWE officials (Vince, HHH, Steph, etc.) were legitimately pissed off and have been since SummerSlam. It just took until now for them to do something about it. For what it’s worth, Ric Flair has been fired as well but he was never under contract in the first place. A Flair cameo planned for SummerSlam was scrapped and the ambassador role they wanted him to be in is off the radar as of now.
You can expect Jim Ross to remain classy as he always does in tweets, blogs, etc. There are numerous people who are quietly rolling their eyes at the entire situation though.
UPDATE x 6: The following is a new blog from Jim Ross courtesy of JRSBARBQ.com:
It’s been quite a day. September 11, 2013 was my last day in WWE.
Its hard to believe that It was over 20 years ago when i debuted in WWE at WM9 & my first ever WWE assignment was doing play by play w/ the great, Bobby Heenan and the unpredictable Macho Man Randy Savage.
Time flies when one is enjoying one ‘s dream job. Heck, it only took me 19 years ti make it to the NFL of sports entertainment. Overnight sensation, right?
So, at the age if 61 it’s time to close this chapter of my life and begin exploring new, adventures while my health is great.
I wouldn’t have changed a thing in WWE except I wish that I’d been able to avoid some health issues along the way. That was the hand that I was dealt and I simply refused to fold it.
Other that health issues my ‘run’ in WWE has exceeded my wildest dreams.
I was fortunate enough to have a key role in arguably one of the most interesting and compelling eras in our business’s history.
Hmmmm….perhaps a book is in order some day. Time will tell. Now I actually have the time to write the autobiography many have asked about over the years.
For the record, I’m not purchasing a rocking chair so I’m not “going away.” I have many interests & I plan on exploring them all.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll continue to support my family’s online shopping efforts at http://www.wweshop.com and in UK at http://www.americansoda.co.uk.
Follow the next chapters in my life, that are yet to be written, on Twitter @JRsBBQ.
You guys are the best….thanks!
Boomer Sooner!
JR
@JRsBBQ
UPDATE x 5: Jim Ross posted the following to Twitter regarding his departure from WWE:
The feedback I’ve received re: my @WWE retirement has been amazing.
Heartfelt thanks to all. I’m ready 4 the next adventure. Stay tuned!
True to his form, JR is taking the high road and staying classy. Did you expect anything else? You knew he’d do just that. Good luck to JR in the future – he’s clearly a great guy.
UPDATE x 4: TMZ has picked up on the Jim Ross “retirement” story. You can read their article on it at this link. The TMZ article mostly consists of the “retirement” announcement and a brief look at some of Ross’ hallmark calls. You can expect many other news outlets to pick the story up as well. It remains to be seen how many of those outlets will refer to it as an actual “retirement” or report how things really went down. See below.
UPDATE x 3: Here are some additional bullet points on how the Jim Ross “retirement” … aka firing went down yesterday.
* WWE is calling the Jim Ross departure a “retirement”. Believe what you will but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
* The entire thing stems from the WWE 2K14 symposium in Los Angeles at SummerSlam AXXESS. Right after the event, there was talk that there was major heat on Jim Ross (and Ric Flair) and both could be released due to it. Flair was pulled from a special SummerSlam cameo and they have no plans to use him in the near future.
* Following the SummerSlam WWE 2K panel, three weeks had passed and nobody thought anything of it. WWE sources thought things had blown over until this past weekend.
* The rumors of Jim Ross’ WWE future started back up again over the weekend and it was the topic of discussion this week at the TV tapings. There was talk that they’d be meeting with JR during the week and that happened on Wednesday.
* Jim Ross arrived in Connecticut on Wednesday. Nobody could confirm why he was there but there was a ton of speculation that he was about to be fired. Triple H, Michelle Wilson, Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon were the very select few people “in the know”. Everyone in Stamford thought “this was it” for JR as they had heard the rumors over the weekend.
* The release stems from Jim Ross “not reeling Ric Flair in” after things went off script at SummerSlam. It should be noted that 2K Sports were THRILLED with the media attention they received and were happy with the panel. WWE was the complete opposite and were EXTREMELY upset. They had something in mind and it went the complete opposite direction. It all stems from WWE corporate being pissed off and all the blame went on Jim Ross and Ric Flair.
* The company was especially pissed when Ric Flair mentioned Reed Flair’s death during the panel. They were also upset when Flair mentioned that John Cena was a “hardcore drinker”.
* The people who put on the event (2K Sports) LOVED what they got as we noted above. This was not a WWE event. 2K was thrilled with the media attention as they got tons of extra coverage due to how crazy things got. Stephanie McMahon apologized to 2K executives after the event and 2K said they were fine with what went down. There are many people rolling their eyes as WWE is extremely pissed and the company that was in charge of the event was happy with it.
* Things got pretty tense over the weekend as the Jim Ross rumors started back up. Many were under the impression he’d be fired once this week’s TV tapings were finished.
* The meeting on Wednesday involved Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. We’re not sure if Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were there but things ended with Vince making the final call.
* It all comes down to this – WWE was pissed that Ric Flair and Jim Ross didn’t represent the company in the manner they should have. All the blame went on the two of them and both are no longer affiliated with the company. It’s well known that you represent the company the way they want you to and Ross and Flair failed to do that in WWE’s opinion. The fact that 2K Sports (the company in charge of the event) loved what they got (including all the extra media attention) makes it even more mind boggling that WWE wouldn’t just let it go and ended up releasing Ross in the end.
More as we get it.
Also, let us know your thoughts below!
UPDATE x 2: As announced earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is retiring after 20 years with the company.
Aside from Jim Ross wanting to focus on “other business ventures” (most notably his JR’s Barbecue company), we’re told that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had a role in his departure.
According to sources, Ross and McMahon met yesterday (Wednesday) to discuss Ross’s future with the company, which led to the decision for Ross to retire.
It’s being said that Ric Flair’s unruly behavior at the WWE 2K14 panel during SummerSlam weekend was a contributing factor in his departure. WWE management felt that Ross, who hosted the event, should have cut off Ric Flair when he went off-script and made several controversial remarks in front of WWE & 2K Sports executives.
UPDATE: Following WWE.com’s announcement that Jim Ross is retiring after 20 years with the company, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon tweeted ‘thank you’ messages to him:
“Thank you @JRsBBQ for 20 years of service with @WWE.”
Triple H tweeted:
“Can’t thank you enough @JRsBBQ for all you’ve done for me personally and for @WWE … Enjoy your time, you’ve earned it!!! #thankyouJR”
WWE.com has re-published video footage from last October’s Jim Ross appreciation night, which you can view here.
“Jim Ross” is also trending worldwide on Twitter and many fans are using the hashtag #ThankYouJR to share their favorite Jim Ross memories.
ORIGINAL: The following is from WWE.com:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross announced that he is retiring from WWE today, after 20 years of service, to focus on his personal business endeavors.
Jim has had a long and storied career at WWE, both on the corporate staff as well as his television persona, calling some of the most memorable matches in WWE history as the voice of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown for more than two decades. He made his debut with WWE at WrestleMania IX in 1993 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by his long-time friend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Jim has made many contributions to WWE and the sports-entertainment industry, and we thank him for his many years of service and wish him well.
