"I never understood the motivation for that" - Jim Ross on his WWE character changes

Jim Ross recently questioned why WWE’s decision-makers often attempted to turn him heel throughout his time with the company.

The 69-year-old’s best work arguably came in the late 1990s and early 2000s when he commentated alongside Jerry Lawler. During his combined 22 years in WWE, Ross also performed occasionally as a heel.

Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross admitted he could not understand why he ever became a bad guy on WWE television:

“I never understood that. I never understood, Conrad [Grilling JR host Conrad Thompson], the obsession with wanting JR to be a villain. I don’t know, maybe if they thought I was a villain, if I was miserable, I’d leave. I don’t know, I have no idea. But nothing ran me off and nothing put me down to stay down. But I never understood the motivation for that,” he said.

Jim Ross is set to discuss Michael Cole’s WWE career on this week’s episode of his podcast. In Ross’ opinion, many fans dislike Cole simply because he succeeded him as WWE’s lead announcer.

---

Jim Ross wanted to focus on announcing

Jim Ross’ most notable heel run came in 1996 when he participated as an on-screen personality alongside the fake Diesel and Razor Ramon characters.

In another recent episode of his podcast, Ross explained why he would rather have stayed behind the announce desk:

“I’d rather not done it because I thought my skills were being wasted by doing that and not doing play-by-play. That was just me, maybe just my ego talking as well,” he said.

Jim Ross has been a part of All Elite Wrestling since 2019. The WWE Hall of Famer is currently taking a month-long break from announcing while he undergoes skin cancer treatment.

---

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