Jim Ross allegedly said former WCW star could fail his WWE tryout for a particular reason (Exclusive)

Erik Watts recently recalled what Jim Ross said when he inquired about bringing in his former tag team partner, Chad Fortune, along for a WWE tryout.

Watts worked briefly from 1995-1996 alongside Fortune as part of Tekno Team 2000. Despite a promising start, the duo's momentum fizzled out quickly as they seldom won any matches. Erik Watts and Chad Fortune were let go from their contracts the following year, after which Fortune made his way to WCW.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted, Erik Watts recalled trying to find his way into WWE in 1997. He also wanted to bring Chad Fortune, who was unhappy with WCW for not airing his win over Bill Goldberg on TV.

However, Watts added that Jim Ross soon called him up and warned that if Fortune couldn't clear his tryout, even he would lose a shot at joining WWE.

"That call was very strange. When I made the call, Jim Ross called me back and said, 'Erik, do you know what you're asking?' I said, 'Yeah, I'm asking you guys to look into another athlete. He said, 'That's not how it works.' I go, 'What do you mean?' He says, 'You bring him in [for] your tryout, and he doesn't do well; you both go home,'" said Watts. (32:55 - 33:15)

Check out the full video below:

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WWE legend Jim Ross thinks Rob Van Dam is underrated

On a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross lavished praise on Rob Van Dam, saying the WWE Hall of Famer is one of wrestling's most underrated talents. He explained that the former ECW Champion was simply incapable of having a bad match, regardless of who was pitted against him.

"One of the most underrated superstars of all time. The distraction of marijuana took some people's eyes off the fact that this guy is one hell of a wrestler. I tried to think when we were preparing the show, is there a match that he s**t the bed somewhere along the way in a big match on TV? I couldn't recall one," said Jim Ross.

JR is currently working as part of AEW's broadcasting team, where he provides commentary on the company's weekly TV programming.

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