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Vince McMahon has overseen the departures of hundreds of WWE personalities and wrestlers over the last four decades. In a recent podcast episode, Jim Ross recalled his final conversation with McMahon before his WWE exit in 2013.
McMahon decided not to extend Ross' contract following his role in a controversial video game symposium before SummerSlam 2013. As the host of the event, the legendary commentator repeatedly made fun of a script he had been given. He also received criticism for failing to manage an intoxicated Ric Flair on stage.
On Grilling JR, Ross said McMahon mistakenly accused him of being drunk while hosting the event. He also revealed that the WWE Executive Chairman questioned his reliability during a meeting a month later:
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"For Vince to say to me, 'Is this where we are? You used to hang your hat on reliability for talents and so forth. Now what? Is this where we are, JR? Is this it?'" Ross said. "No, I haven't changed my philosophy on being reliable. I just didn't do a very good job of being reliable on that day. And the more I talked, the more I buried myself." [1:25:15 – 1:25:43]
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WWE referred to Ross' exit from the company as a "retirement." However, the 71-year-old continued to commentate for several promotions before signing with AEW in 2019. He also briefly returned to WWE between 2017 and 2019, but he rarely appeared on television.
Jim Ross is still frustrated by his WWE exit
A decade on from the video game panel, Jim Ross remains disappointed with the circumstances that led to his departure.
The AEW announcer admitted he did not enjoy reliving moments from a difficult time in his life:
"I think that we had pretty well come to our conclusion that our run was over, my run was over, and because of this symposium," Ross continued. "I don't know, it's very frustrating to this very day. This is a topic that I haven't spent any time reliving. Why would I want to relive it?" [1:26:06 – 1:26:32]
On this week's podcast, Ross also explained why he and Ric Flair have a "strained" relationship despite being friends for many years.
Do you think Jim Ross is the best wrestling announcer ever? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
