Highlights
- Jim Ross had the chance to join Impact Wrestling in 2009, but turned it down due to the lack of control and the presence of too many wrestling politicians.
- Ross wanted the job description and salary information upfront, but TNA was reluctant to provide it.
- He didn't want to deal with the politics and chaos of the company, and felt he had already accomplished enough in his career to not have to "chase his tail" anymore.
At the age of 71, Jim Ross' legendary wrestling career looks to be winding down. When he does retire, it will without argument be as the greatest wrestling commentator of all-time. The living legend has called some historic moments in WCW and WWE, and can now be seen most weeks in AEW. One promotion Jim Ross never worked for, however, was Impact Wrestling. That doesn't mean it didn't almost happen. In 2009, the chance was there for Ross to join Dixie Carter's company, but he has a good reason for why he decided to say no.
Jim Ross' Legendary Wrestling Commentator Career
Jim Ross' wrestling career actually began not as a commentator but a referee for NWA Tri-State. He did this throughout the mid and late 70s, before becoming a commentator when Bill Watts bought the promotion. He later joined Jim Crockett Promotions, which became WCW, and even worked alongside his future AEW co-worker, Tony Schiavone. If you watched WCW during the early 90s, it was Jim Ross' voice you often heard most.
In 1993, Jim Ross joined WWE, debuting at WrestleMania 9. It was in Vince McMahon's promotion that Jim Ross became a legend. He and Jerry Lawler were the voice of a wrestling generation during the Attitude Era. Ross' enthusiasm, where he'd scream his lungs out every time the glass broke and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin strode to the ring, or where he'd lose his cool over the latest dastardly deed by the villainous Triple H, made fans feel the action. These days you can find him in All Elite Wrestling. When the company first began in 2019, he was a weekly presence on Dynamite. His role has been reduced in recent years, but he's still there, enthusiastic as ever about the sport he loves.
RELATED: 10 Wrestling Performers Jim Ross Absolutely Hated (On Commentary)
Jim Ross' Falling Out With WWE
Jim Ross may have been the voice of WWE, and Raw especially, for so many years, but that doesn't mean everything always went well for him. There was, of course, the few times he had to step away due to Bell's Palsy attacks. Vince McMahon often made Ross the butt of jokes on Raw, with good ol' JR just having to sit there and take it. It was sad to see how he was treated, because Jim Ross was so much more than a commentator. He was invaluable behind the scenes as the longtime Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. He discovered future legends, and was also the guy who had to punish wrestlers who got themselves in trouble.
Despite his commitment to WWE, it wasn't just the mocking by McMahon that Jim Ross had to endure. In 2013, he was let go from WWE after an embarrassing incident with a drunken Ric Flair. Years before that though, he almost walked out on the company. Jim Ross had always been the voice of Raw, outside of the times he had to step away for health reasons. During the 2008 WWE Draft, however, Jim Ross was sent to SmackDown. While that was difficult for fans to hear, it was even worse for Ross, as the moment was a complete surprise to him. He found out at the same time we did. The disrespect almost caused him to quit. By 2009, J.R. was no longer a full-time commentator. He now had the chance to move on if he wanted, and he almost did.
RELATED: Why Jim Ross' Sit Down Interviews With Mick Foley On WWE Raw Were So Important
Jim Ross Met With Impact Wrestling But Turned Them Down
In 2009, WCW was long dead, and it would be another decade before AEW existed. That only left TNA Wrestling as an option for Ross. In a 2021 episode of his Grilling JR podcast, J.R. talked about meeting with TNA in 2009 and why he didn't take the job (h/t Wrestling Headlines). "I couldn’t get the money I wanted, and the control I needed... They were very reluctant to show me any of the contracts... I wasn’t trying to cut pay, but you have to know what you’re getting into. If you start being a general manager of a ballclub, you want to know what your salary cap is and how you stand. There’s a set of rules to go by. I never got access to that information, which is fine because I shouldn’t have been there. Dixie flew me down to Norman to their ranch in Texas, north Texas... I had a great talk with Bob Carter. I like his wife, Janice. Dixie is a sweet woman. She had great passion for the wrestling business and was trying to make her mark in basically a men’s business. It wasn’t about money as much as it was about job description. Then it was, ‘We have a booking committee.’ I’ve already been through that sh*t. Too many cooks in the kitchen. They said, ‘Come to work for us. Come to those meetings, and I assure you that you’re going to fit in.’ That’s like walking into a pool of sharks with a bloody leg. They’re going to eat your ass alive.”
The politics of the likes of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff turned Jim Ross off. "Dixie had assembled a lot of really talented wrestling politicians. I didn’t feel like butting heads with them. I want to call the plays. I want to run the ship, and she didn’t have the conviction or the confidence in me to allow that to happen. I didn’t want to get into another deal where I’m chasing my tail all the time. It didn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t want to fight that system. At that stage in my life, and what I’ve accomplished in my body of work, why would I want to get into that sh*t hole? It wasn’t worth it to me.” It's safe to say, Jim Ross made the right choice.
