Earlier today, Jim Ross wrote on his blog that he was far from happy with being moved to Smackdown from Raw last night, and even considered retiring once Raw was off the air. Here is an excerpt…
As many of you know, I was “drafted†to Smackdown Monday night in the “random lotteryâ€. Obviously that means I will be leaving Monday Night Raw and my long time partner Jerry Lawler.
I am not happy about this surprise development.
I also contemplated calling it a career Monday night and not going to Houston to tape SD.
After speaking with my wife and thinking on this matter until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, I have decided to do the right thing for the fans who care and the talent who care and begin my new assignment.
It has been explained to me that the WWE’s Smackdown tenure on My Network is a high priority within the corporation. Allegedly, my presence is needed in that effort.
Many are speculating about when I learned of this development…the same time those of you were watching at home. I should have detected something with the demeanor of certain individuals either thru their plastic, poker faces or the perceived smirk that I thought I might have seen on some of their faces during the day.
As far as going to Connecticut each week to do Smackdown post production, that’s not going to happen. Either Mick Foley can handle it or the WWE can install a DSL line in my home to facilitate the work.
He wrote more, but the above sums up his general sentiment… and a few hours later, he updated his blog with a new point of view:
I will practice what I have preached and feel that after sleeping on this major change all things happen for a reason. Life is good. My tank has been re-fueled. Let’s have some fun. For those of you that were offended by my earlier rant I apologize. For those that think “old J.R.†can’t get the job done, I suggest you sit back and watch. I wish my good pal The King and Michael Cole great success but my professional priority is to help Smackdown kick ass. In more ways than one, “the game is onâ€.
That’s why we love good ol’ J.R….
