Grilling JR - JR's 2013 WWE Retirement [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today JR we’re talking about 10 years ago and what was quite the year for you in the WWE.

Your involvement with WWE is very minimal after 2009. But in 2011 - a shift takes place in World Wrestling Entertainment when Triple H is named Executive Vice President of Talent & Live Events and John Laurinitis is essentially answering to Hunter. What changed at that point with your relationship in the WWE?

What was your relationship with Hunter?

When does Hunter offer you a role in talent relations?

What was the job?

Were you surprised it took so long for the company to at least bring you in as an advisor for the department?

What did you think of the job Hunter was doing with NXT?

What did you think of the job Dusty was doing with NXT?

You would debut on June 20th, 2012 on the new NXT from Full Sail where you would work with Byron Saxton & William Regal. Were you surprised to see them put you on TV when you were supposed to be helping backstage?

How did it feel to be back?

Working with Byron & Regal - chat me up!

Who immediately stood out to you - in the ring, backstage, etc?

Suddenly the WWE world changes when on September 10th, 2012, Jerry Lawler has a heart attack live on air and you’re tasked with returning to Raw until Lawler would recover. Jan is the one who called to you while it was happening on air is that right?

Talk me through watching it happen…

How bittersweet was it for you to get that call from Kevin Dunn to return to Raw while Jerry was out?

During the return - on the October 1st edition of Raw it was dedicated “JR Appreciation Night” since it was in Oklahoma City. You would be involved in a segment with CM Punk & had Ryback come out and save you from the World Champion at the time. Were you surprised you didn’t get the shit kicked out of you in your hometown as pretty much every other time?

After the show though…

Vince said:

“Tonight is good ol’ J.R. Appreciation Night, and I can tell you, no one appreciates J.R. more than I do. J.R. was born and reared here in Oklahoma… in the tradition of Oklahoma and Americana values of hard work and dedication. James Brown, the late James Brown, used to state that he was the hardest working man in show business—but he never met J.R. When it comes to dedication, most of you know J.R. as good ol’ J.R. from behind the announce position. He certainly did that better than anyone else in the history of our business, including Gordie Solie. J.R., in terms of his work ethic, this is a true story: During a PPV, a three-hour PPV, J.R. passed a kidney stone; he would not leave his post—he passed a kidney stone and kept on commentating. As far as being on the other side…

Many of you don’t know J.R.’s executive skills. As far as dedication is concerned, there’s probably no one any more dedicated in the history of our business than J.R. is to WWE. Whether it was talent recruitment, development, and management or whether it was television production and presentation; whether it was the untold hours and hours he would sit at his desk in the office, or at home, twenty-four hours a day, trying to conjure up matches that would be enticing for you to wanna see. J.R. would do anything for the business. And a testament to that would be something that in this ring here, this arena, some time ago, when J.R. joined a certain special club that we won’t mention.

Again, J.R. would do anything for the business. When you think of J.R., you have to think of legacy and what he continues to leave. When you think of the fact this product now is in at least thirty different languages and in at least one hundred and thirty different countries all over the world, J.R. is a household name worldwide. You’d have to wonder, however, how some of J.R.’s terms translate. How would ‘Slobberknocker’ translate in Chinese? Or ‘stomp a mudhole and walk it dry,’ maybe in German? How about some of the other J.R. terms he said so many times, like ‘business is about to pick up’? It always picked up when he was right there, or behind the scenes contributing to WWE. There’re many people who could say many, many wonderful things and accolades about Jim Ross. I would just like to state that Jim Ross is an American icon, and my friend. Thanks, Jim.”

How do we even discuss this JR…all the things Vince had done for you…and this is what he does…is this just classic Vince?

What are you thinking while you’re out there hearing this?

This was the highlight until Lawler would return was it not?

Getting to re-introduce Lawler back to the WWE was a big deal was it not?

You would be brought back in January of 2013 for the Raw 20th anniversary episode. You would call the main event where John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match. Dolph was recently released by the WWE - what do you think his future in the business is?

You would still call certain shows for NXT, be involved in the rebranding of Jack Swagger with Zeb Colter and even take part of a segment with them in Oklahoma City. What did you think of the rebrand of Jake Hager?

You’re at the biggest WrestleMania at MetLife up until that point, WrestleMania 29 with John Cena & the Rock in the main event…and you're on the pre & post game show from the skybox…how did you feel about not being a part of this WrestleMania on the actual show?

Eventually you’re moved off NXT TV for Tom Phillips - are you surprised the WWE moved on from him and have you heard his work for Impact?

Was there a change in things towards SummerSlam in Los Angeles?

Who booked you to appear at the WWE panel - was that a WWE decision or 2k decision?

Here’s the recap from the Observer:

“The was a major issue the night before SummerSlam in Los Angeles - in what was billed as a WrestleMania symposium on 8/17, moderated by Jim Ross, and featuring, among others, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Paul Heyman, Dolph Ziggler and Rey Mysterio.

Everything seemed fine early. Ross was at times making fun of the script he was given for the introductions of the different wrestlers saying things like how he would never use those words, and doing some impromptu comedy. He was asking questions of the panelists and hadn’t asked Flair anything. Foley, who was sitting next to Flair, interrupted and said how he hadn’t asked Flair. Ross, along with Austin, said how they were building to it and used the wrestling term about a hot tag. Austin was joking that Ross may not have the best peripheral vision (Flair was seated the farthest from Ross), but he wasn’t going to not be aware Flair was in the room, while Foley just said he was just trying to do the right thing.”

So the truth is - Mick Foley is to blame for all this!

But seriously - what was the atmosphere like backstage?

Did you have any idea there was a powder keg brewing - or I guess to say the Nature Boy was brewing…

From the Observer

“Flair started out fine, with Ross saying how Flair was already a first-ballot Hall of Famer before he had ever done a WrestleMania (WM 8 in Indianapolis in 1992) and Flair talked about how he had problems in WCW, had wanted to leave numerous times but felt loyalty as NWA champion and stayed. He noted he wrestled Randy Savage, and that Savage and Elizabeth were having problems (they split up right after that time) and he had Curt Hennig in his corner, and said he thinks about it all the time how he’s the only one left from that match who is still alive. He then started talking about his last WWE match with Shawn Michaels and Ross tried to stop him, as apparently he was planning on asking him about that later.”

You recognize what’s going on and you attempt to fix it…but this was going to be…a mess quickly you knew right?

“Once Flair started talking, he didn’t stop and took over the show. Flair told a story putting over the WWE, saying that when his son Reid died, he took off his Hall of Fame ring he got when he retired, and put it on Reid’s finger before they closed the casket. I guess, not to play favorites, he took his second ring, the one he got for being part of the Four Horsemen, and gave it to his son David at that point. Apparently when WWE found out about this, they made another ring for him, and engraved Reid’s name on the ring and used that to say that there’s no company like WWE.”

This is an amazing story by the WWE and what they did for Ric after Reid passed away - but he was still going through this at this point in time. When you hear Ric tell this story - are you thinking - well…this could get bad?

Later on Heyman would talk about matches he would’ve liked to had seen at Mania and that Flair vs. Hogan should’ve headlined. Flair mocked the decision to make Hogan vs. Sid and Flair vs. Savage instead of Hogan vs. Flair and that he would’ve gone down for the legdrop. When you hear this come out - you make a reference that the segment was being sponsored by Grey Goose. Do you think that might’ve been the fatal flaw?

Flair would eventually continue talking about John Cena and his ability to drink and then eventually would bleed into a conversation about Flair and Foley’s matches with TNA…Paul Heyman stands up, comes over and rips the script you had in front of you up.

Did you think this was as big a disaster right away?

The end of this would feature you trying to get Bryan Danielson to save you and Danielson - being modest says, “I honestly don’t think I belong up here” and Flair said, “41 years of wrestling Brody and Blackjack, can you imagine how I feel about you being up here?” This was Flair being funny was it not?

Have you ever discussed this night with Danielson?

Finally Flair talked about the night in Charleston where you two were so drunk and met Jan and how she needed Lens Crafters because she chose you over the Nature Boy. You closed the show saying this may be it for your broadcast career and that you didn’t think you’d be asked back to host this again. Was that tongue in cheek?

Let’s clear the record right here - right now JR. Were you drinking before hand?

It’s been said that the 2k people had no problem and liked it but the WWE people - including Stephanie McMahon coming out to apologize to the audience - were livid. Do you think they overreacted that day yet alone what we’re about to discuss - but the reality of that it was got great publicity for the game did it not?

When did you hear that Vince was pissed?

Did you know that Flair was pulled from Summerslam because of this and lost a contract because of it?

You would address this on Twitter right away, saying you were tired and when you tire the effects of Bell’s Palsy act up. Did you think you needed to get ahead of this?

Did you go to SummerSlam? Did you feel the heat?

This was blown way out of proportion…but it took a whole month before you would sit down with the Chairman of the Board. Why do you think it took so long?

Well you sit down with him and you wrote this in your book:

““On September 10, 2013, Vince’s assistant called me and said the boss wanted to meet me in his office. I knew there and then what was going to happen.

“What do you think he wants?” Jan asked me.

“He’s going to fire me,” I said.

“No,” she replied. “He wouldn’t, would he?”

I chuckled; she’d seen Vince fire me plenty of times before.

And so I went to Stamford.

I entered Vince’s office, like I had done a million times before, and I read the room before he even opened his mouth. “I know you’re going to fire me, so could you get it over with so I can make my flight back home?” I said.

Vince was a little taken aback by my straightforwardness; I guess I was too. “I’m disappointed in you, J.R.,” he said. I wanted to be defiant, but the truth was I was disappointed in myself too. “I was embarrassed by what I heard,” Vince continued. “What were you thinking going up there drunk?”

“Drunk?” I said.

“Were you not?” he asked.

“Absolutely not. I had one drink that I didn’t even finish,” I told him. “All the other stuff, the off-the-cuff remarks, the unprofessional behavior, all of that is true. I fully take responsibility for my part in that. But me being drunk is not true at all.

“I was counting on you,” Vince said. “Is this what you are now, unreliable?”

Vince knew my first point in picking talent was their reliability, so his words stung, as I’m sure they were meant to. But the boss was right. This was out of character for me and I’d let him down. I also knew that I hadn’t done my career any favors. Anyone who was in Vince’s ear about moving me on now had the perfect cover story.”

Do you think this was his way of getting rid of you?

You knew that was a personal shot wasn’t it?

Walk me through the rest of this JR. Did you think there was anyway you were leaving Vince’s office still employed?

Did you ever see yourself coming back to the WWE after this?

It’s called a retirement…which is the PR spin. From the Observer:

“The decision to have it announced as Ross’ retirement allowed him to leave with dignity with the announcement he had left to pursue other business endeavors. In addition, from a company standpoint, it allowed the company to avoid a fan backlash since Ross is a popular character, particularly since most in wrestling were shocked at the reasons he was fired.”

Who did you hear from immediately? What was Steve Austin’s thoughts?

Do you think shitting on the script didn’t help your case either?

The Observer would continue

Ross had earlier that afternoon done a 2K event with Jerry Lawler announcing the legends roster for the WrestleMania mode performers in the game, in the hot sun of Los Angeles. It was speculated that may have zapped him by the evening and led to remnants of his Bell’s Palsy causing him to slur words late at night.

If you hadn’t done the earlier event - do you think this ends differently?

You actually went to the UK for a tour and put over the work you were doing for the company between the time of the panel and the time of your firing. The Observer would state that it was a surprise to many because on September 10th, someone in the book department had called an author to tell him that WWE had picked him to write your autobiography. Do you know that story and do you believe that its true?

Do you think this came down to Vince at the end of the day deciding it was time to part ways?

From the Observer

Strangely, there was an eerie lack of comments from talent on Ross being fired, or congratulating him on his retirement. After seeing the outpouring of emotion not that long ago when Rob Naylor was let go from developmental, it was almost shocking the difference. One non-wrestler in the company pointed it out, thinking that the wrestlers must have been told to not say anything.

Do you believe that to be the case - that the company told the boys not to talk or post about it?

The Observer would continue…

“It was well known that as soon as Ross was let go, that Jane Geddes, the head of talent relations, sent out a memo to all talent, essentially the same wording as on the WWE web site, saying Ross had retired. It was confirmed to us by a few talents that nothing was said at all regarding whether they should or shouldn’t talk about the subject, nor telling them how to address the subject if asked. There were various different views on Ross in WWE, both personally and professionally, and he had his enemies. Ironically, the only tweets I saw (and I’m sure there were others) from those in the company came from Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and HHH, all congratulating him on his retirement.

Many who knew the background saw those tweets, and Vince’s in particular, and took it negatively, given at the end of the day, the decision was made by Vince and nobody else. But that’s how things work in the business world with any well known employee in a major company when a change has been made. The vast majority of football legends announcing their retirement are actually teams telling the players that their days are over, and then allowing the player the dignity to make it appear it was their decision.

There was some mainstream coverage of his leaving, some portraying it as the company wanted, others, usually citing my reports, saying that there was more to it and that he was forced out.”

Out of all the times you were fired in the WWE - was this the hardest?

“Ross appeared on 9/16 on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. He portrayed the retirement as a decision he made, saying working in wrestling left him with little time to do other projects, and he specifically cited interest in football, MMA, writing and spending time with his grandchildren.

During the interview, he pushed the idea of having strong interest in working at either the talent relations level, or announcing, for UFC. He wouldn’t say anything negative about WWE, his departure, and was complimentary to UFC. He told a story about when he was at the UFC offices several months back, brought by Marc Ratner, and met with Dana White, and said they talked Bishop Gorman football (the high school White and Lorenzo Fertitta went to in Las Vegas that has close ties with the University of Oklahoma), Oklahoma football and dealing with Brock Lesnar. Ross noted he’d be less interested in working for another MMA organization, but would listen to offers.”

Did you think it was in your best interest to push the retirement narrative?

“One person noted to us that Ross’ situation hadn’t been good since WrestleMania, and it was just a matter of time until something happened that would be the catalyst toward pulling the trigger, and the 2K thing was that reason. HHH, who was Ross’ boss in developmental, which was where Ross was working, had known his days were numbered from Vince, so used him to help as much as possible before the call was made.”

Do you believe that to be the case? That the situation wasn’t good since WrestleMania?

“What appeared to be his last big move was brokering the deal with the NFL Player’s Association. The NFLPA will steer players cut from NFL rosters who are moving on from football and have an interest in pro wrestling with a direct line to WWE and tryouts in Orlando. One person formerly in the top inner circle said that there’s always been an issue with Ross and Vince because Ross speaks his mind to Vince when he thinks a direction is wrong. He tries to be political about it and not confrontational, but Vince is used to people not questioning him. While Vince will outwardly say he likes people challenging him, nobody does that because of the feeling that it won’t end well, and that Vince really doesn’t do that, and those who do it last a lot shorter in the company than those who don’t.”

How big a deal was it to put that deal together and do you think that’s why the delay was in the break in the relationship?

The company would still sell your BBQ products and you wouldn’t shy from promoting the company online…how different is this if there was a true #2 - and not TNA - but like an AEW type promotion - challenging WWE? Things different you think?

Vince addressed the situation in a December 2014 interview on Stone Cold’s podcast, claiming that while he disapproved of Ross's behavior at the event, it was ultimately Ross's decision to leave WWE as he wanted to spend more time at home than working for WWE. McMahon stated that there is no heat between the two parties.

What say you to this?

You would step into the podcast world not long after and here we are today!