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WWE commentator Jim Ross still calling the shots

Posted: Nov 21st 2016 By: Jan Murphy

"I have a philosophy that I'd much rather, when my day comes, when my number's called, I'd rather depart this world as a result of wear, not rust."

Those are certainly words to live by.

And words that legendary wrestling announcer and innovator Jim Ross not only preaches, but practices.

Just months shy of his 64th birthday, the man who called some of World Wrestling Entertainment’s most famous spots and gave birth to many of its greatest catchphrases is showing few signs of slowing down.

"(I’m) enjoying every minute of it,” Ross answered about his life during a telephone interview to promote his coming one-man show as part of Survivor Series weekend in Toronto.

And why wouldn’t he? Since officially retiring from WWE in 2013, where he spent more than two decades establishing himself as the voice of the WWE, Ross has been expanding his brand and showing few signs of slowing down.

Besides his popular line of BBQ sauces and products, and his longtime blog, JR has added a podcast, began working for FOX Sports, calling wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, began calling boxing, founded and established his popular one-man travelling show and he’ll be releasing his sure-fire bestselling memoirs in 2017.

"My writing partner is Paul O'Brien, who lives in Ireland,” Ross said when asked about his coming book. “He wrote the acclaimed novels Blood Red Turns Dollar Green. He's a highly skilled, talented writer who I’m blessed to have on our team. We work on this book every day. Thank God for technology because either it's text messages or FaceTime or emails, whatever. We're always in contact, no matter where I am or where he is. We'll hit our deadline and the publisher's goal is for the book to be released next fall so, part of the 2017 holiday buying season."

While his plate is certainly full, Ross does keep a close eye on pro wrestling, something he’s loved since he was a boy. Since his departure from WWE, the company has established its own network, established its white-hot NXT brand, split it rosters, returned SmackDown to a live TV taping format and further widened its global expansion.

Despite its growth, WWE continues to have its share of detractors, something Ross isn’t entirely surprised by, but which he dismisses as asinine.

“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,” said the man affectionately known as good ol’ JR. “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.”

The full-scale changes in the business model have contributed to some of the perceived woes, Ross said.

“I think that the malaise that some people perceive the pro wrestling business to have is nothing more than a direct result of the territory system fading away many years ago, which stopped allowing talents to be developed off-Broadway, if you will,” he said, adding that in the territory days, talent wouldn’t reach the top until it possessed vast experience and skill.

“When I hired Stone Cold Steve Austin, I think Steve had been in the business seven years. When I brought in Mick Foley, Mick was a veteran, eight, nine, 10 years in the business when we signed him. (They had) skill. They had worked in territories, they'd worked in front of various live audiences, they had done ample television work. Now you're getting people that you're training — not all of them, but if you exclude the guys from the independent background — from scratch. And it's not something that's easily learned. It's a challenging vocation. So I'm not surprised at some of the malaise because there is an obvious lack of main event talent depth in the business across the board.”

The end of the territory era prompted Ross, then a driving force behind the scenes as WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s right-hand man, and others to form the WWE’s developmental system, which is now its NXT brand.

“A lot of us in the business saw it coming years ago and when I created the development system at WWE, way back in the ’90s. That was all done because we knew, Vince and I knew, that at some point in time, when the territories stopped producing talents, that we're going to be forced to produce our own. And we had to have a system in place to do so.”

Finally, Ross added, the Internet has increased not only the WWE’s reach and popularity, but its detractors as well.

“There’s so much information flow,” he said. “Everybody has the opportunity to become, in their mind's eye, an expert. Everybody has the chance to be making decisions based on information that a decade ago, and certainly another generation ago, they'd never have had the access to.”

Ross added that some fans have forgotten how to simply enjoy the product.

“We seemingly live in a society of contrarians. It's easier to always look at a glass half empty. I choose to look at a glass half full. I think when you get to my age, when you've had the tenure I've had, and the experiences I've had, you know that wrestling can change in a heartbeat, for the better and the worse, and that sometimes things that you don't foresee were going to be hits, at the end of the day become hits.”

Ross believes the future is bright in the pro wrestling business.

“I think it's going through a significant transitional period that can be really exciting, notwithstanding some fans who have no patience and who think they have more knowledge than they actually do. Let's see how this thing evolves.”

Ross’s departure from WWE, following his hall of fame career in the broadcast booth and developing talent behind the scenes, didn’t sit well with many of his fans. That, in turn, created a perception that Ross didn’t have a good relationship with WWE, which could not be further from the truth, he said.

“I do not have an adversarial relationship with WWE,” Ross stated emphatically. “I communicate with them at the highest level on a regular basis and enjoy it. But it's not something that I throw out there for public consumption. My relationship with WWE, I believe, is very positive.”

In fact, a few years away from the company have helped Ross appreciate that period of his life.

“I had 21 wonderful years there,” he said, adding his WWE experience opened the doors for many of the opportunities he’s had since, and some still to come.

“If it hadn't been for WWE, the work that I'm doing on a variety of levels, whether it be boxing, I did at two-hour ITV special a couple of weeks ago, it's one of the biggest television companies in the world. And they have a massive footprint throughout the United Kingdom and through many parts of Europe. And they're looking at reinstating their World of Sport wrestling show, (which) aired from 1965 to 1985 and if they do, I'm going to be the voice of World of Sport,” he revealed. “If I hadn't had the success at WWE that I was fortunate to have, I wouldn't get a smell of these wonderful opportunities.”

Passion bubbles to the surface when Ross reflects on his time with WWE.

“WWE was the best job I ever had,” he said. “The smartest move I ever made in my career was going to work for Vince. And I'll say that until, as Bobby Heenan would say, I take the last dirt nap. I'll always be indebted to Vince McMahon.”

Lest his lavish praise and reflective ways prompt anyone to think Ross is lobbying for a return to WWE, he is quick to shoot down those possibilities, too.

“I'm not looking for a full-time job. I don't know how I would. I'm 64 years old, I'm in good health, but I've got commitments with CBS and boxing for 2017, I hope to have a major wrestling opportunity with ITV in 2017, my contract with Mark Cuban's network at AXS has been renewed for 2017, I’m trying to finish our book and then market and promote our book. I don't know where I would have the time.”

Ross said that he’s now simply enjoying the fruits of his labour.

“(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.”

The present for Ross involves his next one-man show, Ringside with Jim Ross, his second in Toronto, which takes place Sunday at The Second City, at 2 p.m., hours before Survivor Series down the road at the Air Canada Centre. Ross first brought his show, during which he holds a meet-and-greet prior, recounts road stories and hosts an extensive Q&A, to Toronto in 2014. The show, he said, has evolved over time.

“I'd like to think that much like you when you started writing, if you go back and read something you submitted when you were a pup or rookie, it's probably better now than then,” Ross said. “I just saw (some of my earlier work) this morning because I was doing some research for a chapter in our book and I went back and YouTubed some Mid-South stuff and God I was cringe-worthy. I find it incredulous that some people actually thought I was pretty good then. I listened to me and I think, 'Oh my God.' ”

His one-man show is a work in progress, Ross said. “I like to think that I'm getting better at it. I'm really working at it. I have fun doing it, which is really the key,” JR said. “I love, love to interact with the wrestling fans.”

Ross said he’s constantly changing the show to keep it fresh, for himself and for repeat customers.

“I started customizing my opening salvo a little more to the market that I'm playing,” he said. “For example, I will probably talk some about some of my observations, hopefully in a humorous way, and maybe even in an informative and enlightening way, to events like WrestleMania 18, for example. That was really big for the market, it was really big for the business and it was really big for me. I tell some stories in pretty quick fashion so we can spend more time with the audience interactions and the Q&As. Just know that for anybody who has come to my show before, they will hear a different opening than they will have heard before because it's Toronto. Even when I did play Toronto a couple of years ago, I was still just getting my feet wet, so now they'll hear a different show.”

Ross’s show, the first of its kind by a former WWE personality and which has been imitated by the likes of Mick Foley, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and others, relies heavily on the audience involvement.

“The Q&As are always different,” he said. “They always create their own personality. It's like doing really compelling talk radio, with a video component. I have no idea what they're going to ask. I don't have them turning cards, I don't precondition them. It's really a freedom of expression and I respect how the fans express themselves probably better than anybody they know, because I'm still one of them.”

That doesn’t mean Ross doesn’t still stress a little about the big shows.

“You wonder how many people are going to show up. You worry about the attendance, how's your ego going to take that? Are you going to get good questions? There are a lot of unknowns when you work without a net. But I'm driven by that. I'm excited by that. It keeps me young, it keeps my mind sharp. It's just a lot of fun. If it wasn't fun, I promise you, I wouldn't do it. I have a damn good time doing it. When I can go out and be challenged creatively and feed off that adrenaline from that live audience, I'm going to do it as long as I can still be good at or successful at it."

With his five decades of wrestling knowledge, Ross has more than enough tales and memories stored up to take his show around the globe and back. Some stories, however, beg a second telling, the like one in which the late Leroy McGuirk plotted to shoot “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. (To hear it, you’ll have to attend a show.)

"I had a fan at a Q&A in Nashville, he said, ‘I've heard this story before, but a lot of people here probably haven't but I wish you'd tell the murder of The Million Dollar Man story,' ” Ross said with a chuckle, referring to the tale, which he told in Toronto in 2014. "I wasn't even going to use it, quite frankly. I had new material, but I told it and it got a laugh. I'm glad that those stories are making the rounds.”

Ross was also reflective when asked about the WWE’s big time return to Toronto, where it will host its first NXT Takeover and for the first time, Survivor Series. Toronto is the place where Ross called one of his most memorable matches, The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18.

"The biggest memory is The Rock and Hulk because you got two iconic stars who will forever be remembered and attached to the pro wrestling business. They're always going to be considered two of the biggest stars ever. Having them work with each other and then to have the crowd change, and then they changed their game plan and then (Jerry) Lawler and I changed our narrative, it was really compelling,” Ross said.

In Toronto that night, the crowd turned on the good guy, The Rock, which forced the competitors, and commentators, to effectively flip the script.

“The emotion in the building was organic,” Ross recalled. “It wasn't contrived, it wasn't preconditioned, it was real. And the fans, in a real good way, took over the show, that match. That match was special. It's one of the few matches where I can really remember how I felt during it. To me, that's very memorable."

Ross also paid homage to many of the Toronto-area talents he helped usher into the WWE in his time as head of creative and talent relations, including the likes of Trish Stratus, Adam (Edge) Copeland and Jay (Christian) Reso, the late Andrew (Test) Martin and many others.

“The one thing that you could always count on was work ethic,” Ross said. The Ontarians that I encountered had a significant work ethic. That was across the board. I don't recall anybody that we had who didn't have a real good work ethic, and I've always respected that. The most outstanding trait a personal individual can have, to have coveted, is that he prioritizes reliability as at the top of the list of desirable traits. One of the best things we ever did was farm that region, so to speak. Ron Hutchison up there (did) a great job. He trained a lot of real good talent. You know when you get guys from Ron, they're fundamentally sound."

Ross points to NXT stars Bobby Roode and Eric Young, both Ontarians, as key contributors to the brand currently.

"Bobby Roode and Eric Young — both by the way who are a dying breed too because they're territory/smaller promotion-developed guys who have amazing skillsets — their value is they can have a good match with virtually anybody they're put in the ring with. And for WWE to invest money in their younger guys, the only way the young talents can improve is to work on a regular basis in front of a live audience with talents that have a higher skill level than do the young talents. And Bobby Roode and Eric Young fit that bill of making younger talents better as good as anybody WWE has signed in a long time."

The conversation turns reflective again.

"I've overachieved tenfold,” Ross said when asked about his long and illustrious career. “I have been very lucky to be at the right place, right time. I was hungry, I took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to me.”

He also speaks passionately about his health issues, which plagued him much of his career. “I'm proud of the fact that I steered the course in spite of three bouts of facial paralysis known as Bell's palsy. I didn't let that affliction define me, nor did I worry about what others thought about my appearance.

"It really works on your mind, you have to battle depression,” Ross said. “There are a lot of things, the look, your taste buds, your speech pattern, but also hearing and eye issues. The greatest neurologist out there can tell you, they don't know what causes it and they don't know what cures it. Bell's palsy was a detour in my journey. That's the only way you can look at it. I couldn't affect it. All I could do is live with it and move on and try to be an example for others to overcome those similar type issues in their lives."

Put simply, Jim Ross is a proud man. Damn proud.

“I'm very happy that an only child wrestling fan from an Oklahoma farm has got have the ride that he's had. I had the best seat in the house for years. I continue to create my own events. I still have the best seat in the house. I'm lucky that I can still call wrestling. It's not the same place as I did when Raw was such a prominent entity and I had my Monday nights there to establish my work and to provide the lyrics to some great music the wrestlers made. Man, I can't look back with any regrets.”

As for his legacy, that’s for others to decide, he said.

“My legacy, whatever it is in the eye of the beholder, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, it's their call. For me, personally, I'm really proud of what I've been able to accomplish and I know it wasn't without a lot of sacrifice from those close to me and certainly the help of many in my career, Bill Watts, working with Dusty Rhodes, certainly working with Vince McMahon. I've worked for three billionaires -- Ted Turner, Vince McMahon and now Mark Cuban. I'd like to think that I try to migrate to successful people because I like to learn from them. Like I said, my goal in life is to die of use, not to die of rest. I think I'm on a course to make that happen.”