Jim Ross reveals Vince McMahon was desperate to replace him with younger guys in WWE

Vince McMahon is constantly looking to make WWE more appealing, and in his bid to do so he had made some ruthless decisions. These decisions could result in the exit of legends who helped build the company.

Former WWE commentator Jim Ross is a legend in his own right, who was a part of a fantastic commentary team alongside Jerry The King Lawler. Ross has spoken previously about how Vince McMahon fired him from the company and even revealed a time when the WWE Chairman tried to humiliate him in the ring.

In a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast, Ross explained how Vince McMahon was keen to fire him as he tried to recruit younger commentators to replace him in WWE.

Jim Ross on Vince McMahon trying to replace him with younger commentators in WWE

Jim Ross revealed that Vince McMahon was keen on getting rid of him and Lawler for commentators like Todd Grisham, who had presented mainstream sports apart from pro wrestling. Ross said that WWE had offered him short-term extensions rather than long-term deals as he was bound to be replaced in the company:

"The writing was on the wall for me. Vince wanted me out, he wanted to go with young, pretty guys - SportsCenter guys. Todd Grisham type guys. That's what he wanted, the look Vince was enamored with. Not me and [Jerry] Lawler. If they could have found someone to replace me that Vince was pleased with, then I wouldn't have got those little extensions, 'cause he did want me out." (H/T WrestlingInc)

He said that it was ironical that he and Lawler were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the very next year, which he believes was a "going away present" that Vince McMahon wanted to give him. He stated that he learnt a lesson about not worrying about things that he couldn't control when he was in WWE:

"I didn't have the T.V. look that McMahon joneses for. I got to a certain point where I just had to stop worrying about it. I couldn't control it. In 2006, I learned a great lesson - don't go crazy and worry about things you can't control."

Ross was with WWE until 2018, as his appearances with the company dwindled at the end of his stint with the company. He joined AEW in 2019 after rejecting a contract from WWE.