Jim Ross on two WWE legends legitimately beating each other up in controversial match

Jim Ross was a WWE commentator and talent relations executive in the 1990s and 2000s. In a recent podcast episode, the legendary announcer addressed Ken Shamrock's controversial first WWE pay-per-view match.

In May 1997, Shamrock defeated Vader in a No Holds Barred bout at In Your House 15: A Cold Day In Hell. Following the 13-minute contest, PW Torch reported that the mixed martial artist thought the big man double-crossed him by going off-script. It was also alleged that the 63-year-old had complained about his opponent's stiff in-ring style.

On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross told host Conrad Thompson that the two men legitimately hurting each other was not necessarily a bad thing:

"It's great, man. It's great stuff. It's wrestling. It wasn't bulls**t. It wasn't, 'Oh, let's just do a small package, inside cradle.' No, man, they beat the s**t out of each other, and that's how they wanted it. Now, there could be an argument made that maybe Leon [Vader] got a little stiff or maybe Kenny got a little stiff, but that's what they both wanted going on, so people couldn't see through that stuff." [1:22:52 – 1:23:20]

In the same episode, Ross explained why Shamrock only worked for WWE from 1997 to 1999.

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Jim Ross on Vince McMahon's perception of Ken Shamrock

In 1997, Ken Shamrock was one of the biggest names in combat sports. Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had high hopes for the MMA star and agreed to make him the company's second-highest paid wrestler after Bret Hart.

Jim Ross confirmed that McMahon viewed Shamrock as a top future star when he joined WWE:

"I thought it was really a good presentation. It was different. It was new. It got two stars on the drawing board in Leon [Vader] and Kenny, of course. Shamrock was always gonna be the object of our attention because he was the guy that Vince had designated to be a big-time player, so I thought those guys pulled it off really well." [1:23:23 – 1:23:50]

Shamrock signed a WWE Legends contract in 2023. He was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2020 but has not yet received a WWE Hall of Fame induction.

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Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.