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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross appeared this afternoon on Colin Cowherd's show on FS1 to promote his autobiography
Ross was introduced as the former right hand man of Vince McMahon, who found the Rock. Cowherd admitted that pro wrestling fans are not likely to like Cowherd, but said he wanted Ross on because he was a "great American storyteller."
Cowherd started the conversation looking at Ross scouting for talent and asked where he found the Rock. Ross said that the joke was even Ray Charles could see that The Rock as going to pass "the eye test." Ross brought up Rock's family history in pro wrestling. They knew he had the DNA but he wanted to be a football player. He got cut and had no money. Ross met him in Florida and took him to lunch to feel him out and "every female in the place came by to fill his water glass, including a few that didn't work there." He said he had this great look. Ross told the story that his production company today is titled Seven Bucks Productions because that's all he had in his pocket during the lunch when he apologized that he couldn't pay for their meals. Ross said that day that he was going to be the top guy.
Cowherd said he grew up watching Pacific Northwest Wrestling and his favorites were Jimmy Snuka and Andre the Giant. He said he also remembered a "Savage guy" and Ross told him he was thinking about Dutch Savage. Cowherd said the biggest stars of all time are Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Steve Austin and asked Ross if he was right on that. Ross said he was close and joked that Cowherd was going to ruin his reputation for "being a villain to my wrestling audience" because Cowherd "has knowledge." Cowherd said he liked watching it for years but sometimes you have to "poke some bears." Ross said he would add Ric Flair and that would be his Mount Rushmore.
Cowherd said wrestling was regional but to some degree, Hulk Hogan made it. Cowherd asked if it was bigger than that. Ross said that Hogan was the lead rule to take WWE national and then Austin and Rock took it to a publicly traded company.
Cowherd said he thought Austin was the toughest of them all if you turned out the lights for an hour and waited to see who was left. Ross said that you'd have to have Brock Lesnar on that list as well.
Ross was asked about disagreements with talents. Ross said Lesnar is defiant and hard headed and knows what he wants and they've had "communication breakdowns" at times, but felt they had common ground as they both came from farming families.
Ross was asked about whether he had disagreements with Vince McMahon. Ross told the story of hiring Mick Foley after Foley had been turned down several times by WWE because Vince wanted him to show Ross that sometimes, the ones you count on won't be as great as you hope, but it didn't work out that way.
They brought up the idea of Conor McGregor coming to WWE. Cowherd said UFC doesn't pay as much as WWE and doesn't know that McGregor wants to go back to UFC after the Floyd Mayweather fight. Ross said he has great respect for UFC and Conor. He said that there's no way he doesn't believe that McGregor doesn't earn a big check from WWE one day down the road as part of a special attraction at a Wrestlemania-like event. He said he didn't believe that McGregor was done in UFC.
Cowherd brought up the recent interaction between John Cena and Roman Reigns and that there was some "uneasiness" and asked Ross if he was concerned they might go after each other legitimately. Ross said he was surprised at how "real" it got. He said there is keen competition behind the scenes and that's something that fans aren't always aware of. There's competition for that top spot that puts your name above Wrestlemania. Cena has had that spot and is starting to transition to the next part of his life. He threw down the gauntlet for Reigns to show he was the next top guy. They talked about how Cena is probably Hollywood bound.
The crazy WWE schedule was brought up. Cowherd said that some guys have said it's rougher than the NFL. He asked Ross if he's ever had to go to guys and tell them this wasn't going to work out because they weren't going to last. Ross said that he has had that conversation a lot. Kids are being parented differently and the athletes in their 20s now had a different upbringing than the generation before. His late wife wanted him to cover in his book that he wasn't a great father because he was such a workaholic. He said it was important to him to say it. Guys have anxiety, some want to be on the road, some feel guilty being away from their families.
Ross told a story of a talent who said he was in a bind because he bought his girlfriend a boob job and his wife got the credit card statement before he could hide it. Ross said, "I should fire you for being stupid." He said you have all kinds of crazy things. Guys make millions of dollars and don't pay their taxes. You want to baby them and bring them along, but you have issues at times. The NFL have the same issues.
Ross came off really well here and Cowherd showed him a lot of respect.
Ross has book signing dates to support the book on the following dates:
Sunday 10/22 at 2pm on Oklahoma City
Tue 10/24 in Skokie, IL at 7 PM
Wed 10/25 at 7 PM in Chicago, IL - Pro Wrestling Tees
Thursday 10/26 in Monroeville, PA (Pittsburgh area)
Thurday 11/9 at 7 PM in Atlanta, GA
Friday 11/17 at 7 PM in Houston, TX (this is Survivor Series weekend)
Wed 11/29 at 7 PM in New Orleans, LA
For more details, visit www.JRsBarBQ.com
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