Jim Ross was fired from the WWE in 2013. (WWE.com)
Jim Ross will reportedly serve on commentary during WrestleMania 33. This is surprising, as it was only a few years ago that Ross was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment, and the two parties ended things on bad terms. So what’s the story about why Ross was let go, exactly?
Well, it was supposedly all due to an event held in August 2013 to promote the video game WWE 2K14. Ross was the host of a panel to promote the upcoming game, and it was pretty much a complete disaster. The panel went completely off the rails, and Ric Flair suddenly started talking about the death of his son, calling John Cena a “hardcore drinker,” and making a number of other statements that made the WWE and the panel’s sponsor very unhappy.
Although Ross seemed a bit tired and out of it during the panel, he didn’t really do anything controversial himself, but the WWE was reportedly unhappy that he didn’t step in and that as the moderator, he let the panel go on the way it did.
Jim Ross seemed highly aware during the panel that this spelled trouble for him, as he said, “This is real. This is reality television at its best. I’ve lost complete control of my job. I’m sure I’ll never be asked back, and this has probably destroyed what career I have left.”
Just a few weeks after that WWE 2K14 panel, it was announced that Jim Ross’ contract was not renewed by the WWE. It was initially said that he was retiring, but it soon became clear that he was actually fired and that he had not left on his own accord. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter soon reported that Vince McMahon himself made this decision, and it was because of the panel.
“The decision, which was made by McMahon, was first told to us by a source in the company that it was possible, if not likely on the day of SummerSlam, stemming from the now-infamous 2K Sports symposium where Ric Flair spoke at length about a variety of subjects,” the Observer said at the time, according to The Atlantic.
Jim Ross later said that the video game panel was the reason he was let go.
“I was conductor of a runaway train,” he told Grantland. “I was supposed to keep it on the tracks and that didn’t happen. So I don’t have any issues taking responsibility. Did I envision that it would help facilitate my exit? No. But I could see the thinking behind it.”
Vince McMahon, however, would later claim that the panel had nothing to do with Ross’ departure and that Ross simply wanted time to work on other projects, although McMahon did say that he did not approve of Ross’ behavior during the panel, according to WrestleView. McMahon even referred to the panel as the “incident in Los Angeles.”
McMahon said during that interview that there is no heat between the two parties and that he doesn’t doubt that they’d work together again at some point in the future.
After leaving the WWE, Ross went to go commentate for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s also worked on a variety of projects including a podcast, The Ross Report, which still airs every week. If the rumors are true, WrestleMania 33 will be Jim Ross’ first time working with the WWE since 2013, and Ross will be providing commentary for the match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar.