Jim Ross filled many roles during his time in WWE, though he was mainly known as the voice of the product.
Behind the scenes, Ross was Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and helped scout and hire talent.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross explained how he became Vince's right hand man and how they aligned with their on-screen goals.
“I wanted a sports presentation, Conrad. A presentation that felt real, that could make easier to suspend your disbelief in the phony world of pro wrestling. Also, the talent wanted it. The talent was motivated to go this style and work a little snugger, stay believable. Let’s get rid of all of the cartoon characters. The irony is that some of those cartoon characters could work, they just were put into a different position. Cartoon stuff needed to go. That’s what my goal was, to try and give the fans more reality and realistic booking. Pro Wrestling’s got a bad rep anyway, Connie. People want to — they know it’s entertainment. Staged, if you will. But we ain’t got to be blunt about that. Those are elements, not the foundation. That’s kind of what we went to and the boys liked it, they enjoyed that style. They pulled it off, talent should get a lot of credit for that.
“Yeah, that’s what he wanted. We had hours with of talks, I think our talks were, I don’t know how to say it, our talks were very focused and Vince had the same goals. He wanted to have a serious product. You revert back to the seriousness of the old days, without question, but how do we do it? How do we make that transition? That was a challenge.”
Ross would be on and off WWE television throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s before officially leaving in 2013.
Elsewhere duing the podcast, Ross discussed being an executive producer on "Queen of the Ring." You can find his full comments by clicking here.
