Some of wrestling’s best performers never won the WWF/E World Championship. Razor Ramon, Curt Henning, and the British Bulldog all come to mind. Jim Ross believes that WWE may have missed an opportunity with another man: UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast with Conrad Thompson, Ross admitted that WWE were reluctant to pull the trigger on Shamrock as a top guy. Good ol’ JR believes that was a missed opportunity.
Ross stated: “I always thought of Kenny as a top guy. He was hard to manage a little bit, but in the beginning, he wasn’t used to being on the road that much. So he was a great character to build. I have a lot of respect for Kenny, and tough guys – we know, God almighty – he had no problem navigating the locker room cause nobody gave him any s***.
“But he was very underrated in my opinion in the pro wrestling world. So, we may have missed an opportunity with him, no doubt. I’m with you [Conrad]. If Ken Shamrock had become the champion, as I said I would have no problem with that. He is believable. His promos were believable because he didn’t memorize his lines. So it was some good stuff. I’m a Ken Shamrock fan, was then, still am.”
Ken Shamrock made his WWE debut at WrestleMania 13, serving as the special referee for the legendary match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin. Shamrock would hold Intercontinental gold in the Fed, but never the World Championship. Shamrock left WWE in 1999 to resume his career in mixed martial arts.
