Jim Ross says AEW personality frustrated Vince McMahon backstage, leading to WWE exit

Jim Ross recently recalled how Vince McMahon "got tired of hearing" about Don Callis backstage in WWE.

Callis is best known to modern-day wrestling fans for his appearances alongside Kenny Omega and The Elite in AEW. In 1997 and 1998, he performed in WWE as a manager and occasional wrestler known as The Jackyl.

The latest episode of the Grilling JR podcast revolved around No Way Out 1998. Asked about Callis' WWE role at the time, Ross revealed that McMahon grew frustrated with the current AEW personality:

"In a nutshell, he rubbed some people the wrong way, and I'm sure if you talk to him he'd tell you the same thing," Ross said before addressing which higher-ups he upset. "I think Vince. He might have rubbed some of the underlings the wrong way because he was generally smarter than them, but I think it got back to Vince. Vince got tired of hearing about it, so see you later." [1:05:14 – 1:05:37]

Callis left WWE in 1998 after stints as the manager of The Truth Commission, The Oddities, and The Acolytes.

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Jim Ross explains how Don Callis caused issues in WWE

Many wrestlers were difficult to work with behind the scenes in the 1990s, most notably Shawn Michaels and The Ultimate Warrior.

Jim Ross believes Don Callis has good ideas, but he felt that the former WWE manager sometimes struggled to cooperate with others:

"I think he was his own worst enemy at times. He could be caustic. He could be attitudinal, shall we say. Don is a very, very intelligent person and he doesn't have a lot of patience for ignorance, so sometimes he's impatient when others don't accept and embrace his ideas, but he's a talented guy." [1:04:20 – 1:04:50]

Jim Ross also spoke on this week's podcast about why John Laurinaitis never made it as a big wrestling star in the United States.

Do you like watching Don Callis in AEW? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.