During the latest edition of his podcast with Conrad Thompson, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross commented on being removed from WCW TV back in 1993. He said it was due to politics. You can check out some highlights below:
On reports that he was demoted because the shows looked alike: “Here’s the thing about that … I never heard until I read this information that one of the big reasons I was in trouble was because all the shows looked alike. That didn’t even make sense. It really doesn’t. I can barely write cursive, much less do a graphic machine, or all that stuff. And you know from you and I working a short time together, I don’t have a lot of irons in the fire on our creative. I’ll tell you if I like it, but I’m not creating it. That’s not my forte. So I don’t play in a game I can’t win or am not good at, to be honest with you. So I never had anything [to do with that]. We had good TV people. Keith Mitchell, who’s now gonna be doing AEW, is as good a pro wrestling producer television guy as there is in the damn business. He was there in place. So he had a lot more to do with the look of the shows. But I’m not blaming him. I never thought the look of the show was that bad. So that, to me, was a cop-out that the look of the shows got me in trouble.”
On claims he was taken off TV because of his accent: “How can a station, as I told Bill Shaw this. We were pretty close face-to-face in that one too. How can a station that built their god-damned reputation on Andy Griffith re-runs, John Wayne movies and bad Atlanta Braves baseball and ‘rassling’ think that I would be too Southern? You’re airing NASCAR, you’re airing SEC football, Andy Griffith re-runs, and all of a sudden I’m singled out as the wrestling guy as being too Southern. Really? I thought that was weak too.”
On why he thinks he got removed: “So my point is, and it might have been justified, the politics of it. But it was a political issue. It had nothing to do with the look of the show. I don’t think it had anything to do with my Southern accent. That’s always the go-to. I’ve had promoters use that more or less for years. ‘Eh, you know, he’s older, he can’t, it’s not his deal, he’s passing by. And you know, he’s Southern.’ It’s like saying, ‘And you know he’s a, uh, pedophile.’ It’s that same old shit that doesn’t make any sense. So I thought it was a political thing all along. And I think Eric had a lot to do with that. But I’m not blaming him. If I were in charge, I would have made personnel changes as well and I’m not sure he would have made [the cut].’
On reports that management was unhappy with him about ‘excessive self-promotion on TV: “I didn’t realize that. I had never heard that. No one from management ever said, ‘Hey JR, you need to tone it down, whatever.’ Right? Nothing. So when I read that, and read it again here with your information, I was still surprised that that even was a topic. Because one would think that even as many TBS people that were listening, and how many were passing through the kitchen to add their little seasoning to the soup, that somebody would have said something to me. Keith Mitchell was always the most honest guy there for me, production-wise. And I promise you, if he had thought I was self-promoting too much, he sure as hell would have said something to protect me. And that never happened. So therefore … I don’t think that it even happened. But maybe, that’s another one of those excuses. The thing is, WCW wanted a clean slate, I had a little bit of influence there because all those years I was there I’d made a lot of friends in upper management. But obviously didn’t make the right friends.”
(h/t 411 Wrestling)
