Information AboutJim Ross |
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James W. (Jim) Ross, also known as '''J.R.''', or '''Good Ol' J.R.''' (born January 3 1952 in Westville, Oklahoma ), is a Professional Wrestling executive and a Play-by-play Announcer working for World Wrestling Entertainment on WWE Raw . Ross made his WWF debut at '' WrestleMania IX '' in 1993 . Despite being hailed by fans and critics for many years as one of the best announcers in wrestling, Ross was "fired" on air by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon (or you could say it was the WWE CEO Linda McMahon who kicked him in the groin) in the storyline of the October 10 , 2005 edition of '' RAW ''. The reason for this was because Ross was in need of Colon Surgery. Ross did commentary at Saturday Night's Main Event in Detroit on March 18 , 2006 . Ross was also the lead announcer for all but one of the ''RAW'' brand matches at Wrestlemania 22 . He is known to be a sufferer of Bell's Palsy , which sometimes results in temporary paralysis of Ross' facial muscles. In early 1999 , Ross was absent from ''RAW'' following the death of his mother. The effects of Ross' grief reportedly worsened his Bell's palsy, thus '' SmackDown! '' host Michael Cole filled in for Ross for the time being. Ross though, was well enough to call the main event at '' WrestleMania XV ''. Despite his condition, Ross has established himself as one of the all-time greatest wrestling commentators, often compared to the legendary late Gordon Solie . Ross has his own brand of Barbeque Sauce and his own selection of Cookbook s. To many peers, Ross is considered to be one of the best wrestling announcers in history. CAREER Early career Ross started as a referee for Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling in the early to mid 70's. When McGuirk's booker Bill Watts split the territory and started Mid-South Wrestling in 1979, McGuirk made Jim Ross his lead announcer on the show. He stayed there until 1982, when Watts bought out McGuirk. Shortly after, Ross went to work for Watts in Mid-South. In 1986 , Ross became the company's lead play-by-play man. It would be re-named ''Universal Wrestling Federation'' in the spring of 1986. The first World's Title match that he called was between Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase . When Jim Crockett bought the UWF and merged it with his Jim Crockett Promotions group, Ross joined the new company and eventually supplanted Gordon Solie and Tony Schiavone as lead play-by-play man for the National Wrestling Alliance . Ross continued to hone his skills and build his legacy until his eventual falling out with the NWA. Ross left World Championship Wrestling in 1993 following a conflict with the upper management. Besides his play-by-play work, Ross had worked his way up to the job of Executive Vice President of Broadcasting for WCW. According to Ross, Eric Bischoff , who had reported to him, had done a really good job selling himself to executives at WCW's then ownership Turner Broadcasting . According to Bischoff, Ross mistreated him and once Eric was promoted to executive producer in 1993, he justly fired Ross from the company. Either way, Ross had an air-tight three year contract with Turner Broadcasting, yet took the buy-out for fear that McMahon wouldn't hire him after a long hiatus. World Wrestling Entertainment Having been fired on-screen several times before, Ross was "fired" once and for all as a commentator on ''RAW'' on October 10, 2005, as part of a Storyline on that night's live ''RAW'' broadcast. Vince McMahon had beckoned Ross and co-announcers Coachman and Lawler to the ring to demand an apology for their inaction during Austin's Stone Cold Stunner rampage against the McMahon family on the '' WWE Homecoming '' broadcast a week earlier. He accepted apologies from Coachman and Lawler, but refused to accept Ross' apology. Instead, Vince called Stephanie McMahon to the ring so Ross could make an in-person apology. Afterward, Linda McMahon came to the ring, seemingly to admonish Vince and Stephanie for publicly reprimanding Ross, only for her to make her surprise Heel Turn . He claimed off-air (after ''RAW'' ended, footage is on WWE's unlimited service ) that he was fired because Vince did not have the "balls" to fire Stone Cold, but did not harbor ill feelings toward Stone Cold for being Scapegoated that way. It was revealed on ''WWE.com'', that Ross underwent surgery to remove a blockage from his Colon recently, which might lend credence to the entire "firing" being a Work as Ross would need time to recover from the procedure. Ross has been mentioned or parodied on recent ''RAW'' shows (such as Jonathan Coachman mocking Ross by wearing his traditional black cowboy hat, and Vince McMahon 's "surgery" on Ross' colon), and wrote a tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero on WWE.com, which would further lend credence to this being a work. However one could be confused as previous superstars, like Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage, have been mocked on air after a departure from the company. TV shows leading up to the November 1 , 2005 Pay-per-view '' Taboo Tuesday '' indicated that Stone Cold Steve Austin would face Jonathan Coachman with Ross being "re-hired" if Austin won the match. However, Austin allegedly backed out when WWE decided he would not Job to Coachman. Coachman (along with new allies, Goldust and Vader ) faced Batista at the PPV instead with Batista winning, but nothing was said about Ross. On March 13, 2006, WWE.com announced that Ross would be returning to television to be a commentator for WWE's NBC Special, WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18. Despite this, it is not believed he will be brought back as a full-time announcer for RAW or SmackDown, although he remains under WWE contract. It was reported on March 27, that Ross would be announcing the ''RAW'' matches at became the one to emcee the Hall of Fame. Ross claimed to be "excited and exhilarated." However he felt some apprehension regarding Joey Styles . Styles learned he would not be announcing at WrestleMania 22 when he arrived at ''RAW'' on March 27, 2006. Styles claimed to feel upset at first but later acknowledged the fact that Jim Ross was more experienced than he and that he was sure he would host just as many WrestleMania s in the future. However, in a last minute decision, it was decided that Styles would announce one match at WrestleMania. Styles would call the Edge vs Mick Foley hardcore match. This was due to Styles' previous experience during his time in ECW , after considering Styles request to call this match. Ross also announced WWE Backlash in April 2006 and rumors quickly circulated the he would be coming back to RAW. This was confirmed on May 1 when Styles quit as part of a kayfabe storyline to get Ross back. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma was an on-air wrestling character portrayed by former WWE head writer Ed Ferrera when Ferrera was working for rival company WCW, the purpose of which was to mock Ross, down to imitating his Bell's Palsy. The Oklahoma character was eventually retired, but not before winning (in an obvious jab at Ross' obesity problem), the WCW Cruiserweight Championship . Ferrera and Russo later apologized to Ross for the impersonation, some years after Ross's friend Jim Cornette had Spat in the face of Ferrera in a show of contempt. MATCHES Ross has participated in seven wrestling matches during his time in WWE, and has a current win/loss/draw record of 4/2/1:
Other storyline confrontations Ross has suffered multiple ( Kayfabe ) injuries and indignities, mainly during in-ring interviews, including:
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CHAMPIONSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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