In a candid interview with Newsday, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross discussed leaving WWE following the infamous Ric Flair panel discussion incident and talked about the recent departure of CM Punk.
JR on the Ric Flair incident that led to his WWE “retirement”:
“The wheels came off a wagon I didn’t build.”
“I knew that when it was over, a lot of the top WWE officials were very anxious to get Ric Flair out of the facility … So I knew there was some concern there, but I didn’t know that the concern involved me. A story started out of misinformation that I had been drinking with Flair all day. And the issue was that if they [WWE officials] had checked their schedule, I had been booked all day with WWE activities and SummerSlam that had nothing to do with Ric Flair.”
JR on finally moving on from WWE:
“My job was to keep the rudder in the water … I didn’t do that. And so, the decision was made that we part ways. And to be honest with you, and this is not looking back, or trying to cover somebody’s tracks, or cover my own [behind], I was really looking for an opportunity to move on. I wanted to get into the podcast business, I wanted to get into one-man show stuff . . . I wanted to look at other opportunities, like this Fox Sports thing that I’m doing now. And I knew I couldn’t do those things while I was under contract to the WWE. But to be honest, to be totally frank with you, I had such a loyalty to that company, and I still do, that after 20 years I didn’t know how I was going to say goodbye.”
JR on on the WWE locker room and CM Punk’s departure:
“This whole locker room has a different feel to it, and a different — they’re not as edgy as the Attitude Era locker room … They’re not as competitive. I don’t know that they’re as hungry. But now, CM Punk is different. [Compared with] today’s corporate wrestler, CM Punk is a little bit of a rogue. And I don’t mean that in a negative way.”
“Over the last two of three years, he’s been my favorite WWE performer to watch in the ring, without question. He would’ve been a huge star in the Attitude Era, without question. Here’s the deal: He’s a very cerebral guy, who has an old-school spirit, that really cares about every aspect of the business. I think that he needed time off, ample time off, to recharge his batteries. I think he has, for lack of a better term, a major case of burnout. And I think the problem should have been recognized and addressed much earlier than letting it get to a head and him being so frustrated and such a sense of hopelessness that he decided to go home. Walking away from a problem is never a solution. Never. Solve the problem.”
Ross also talks about CM Punk possibly coming back after a self-imposed offseason or doing other things like helping out a startup promotion in the future or going into MMA broadcasting.
For the full, in-depth interview, click here.
