Jim Ross Reflects On Refusing To Do A Cowboy Gimmick Before His WWE Departure In 1994

On a recent episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross discussed a wide range of topics, including his WWE departure in 1994 and WCW not being interested in bringing him back. Here are the highlights:

On refusing to have a cowboy gimmick before his first WWE departure: “I think I was wrong. I made too big a deal out of it when it wasn’t. It was just costume, television apparel. That’s like an actor going through the director saying ‘Do I have to grow a beard? Do I have to wear the hat?’ I didn’t care — the hat was fine. I wasn’t overwhelmed with an oversimplification of what my character was supposed to be. String tie: out, a Porter Waggoner jacket with wagon wheels, horses, cows, and stuff: out. Because I kept saying, ‘We don’t dress like that anymore. Porter Waggoner ain’t on TV anymore, he got canceled.’

“I said, ‘Wearing a black hat, I can handle that. And I look forward to that. And I’m in it.’ But here’s a theory is, I told him no. And most people don’t have the experience of telling Vince McMahon no and quote-unquote, ‘living to tell about it.’ And I didn’t live to tell about it. But honestly, and looking back at it in today’s world especially, I had no issue with it at the end of the day. But I said no. And he doesn’t like to be told no.”

On telling the story behind it in an interview: “Pretty much just [I wanted to] tell my side of the story. There was a lot of false accusations and reasoning and things like that weren’t accurate. So I wanted to at least tell my side of the story. But I probably — at the end of that day, if I had to go back and do it over again. I got nothing against Wade Keller. He’s a good writer, and he’s been doing it for a long time. I wouldn’t have done it. Or if I did it, I wouldn’t have done it to that degree.

“But you know, you get these dudes on the telephone. They want to talk for two or three hours. And it’s hard to guard every word, guard every phrase. And so I missed up there by booking that appearance and doing the interview. Again, I have nothing against Wade Keller, just in my political state at that time I should have just tagged out and wandered on away, and figured out something else to do. Because I had plenty of options. I just didn’t want to leave where I was leaving. I didn’t want to have to move again and pack again and all this stuff. So I made a — that’s my goal. And I don’t mind at this stage of my life admitting when I made the mistakes. I wish I hadn’t done it. But I did, but it wasn’t like I broke the law or anything along those lines. But what I did was break Vince’s trust, which is more potent and powerful than the law.”

On meeting with Eric Bischoff between WWE runs and being told that WCW wasn’t interested: “A little bit [shocked that he was blunt about it], but I’m glad that he was honest. He was very honest. It didn’t happen, and he told me it wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t like — my disagreement was on the reasoning, that I sound too Southern. I was better suited to be on the corn patch at Hee Haw than not. And I knew that I didn’t have the respect of my bosses. Like I remember Bill Shaw told me one time that even a trained duck could announce wrestling. That told me a lot more than I needed to know. Because he wasn’t a student of the game, he had a job they got appointed to. He covered his ass on every corner. I never was a Big Bill Shaw fan, because he was another one of those guys that thought he knew more than he did. And that made it hard to work for him and under him, because he’d bring to you these alleged issues. Like what you said, or how you said something. And I was just not fair, in my opinion.

“But when Eric told me that they had nothing for me, I wasn’t totally shocked. Because he was very straightforward, he was very honest. And I always appreciated that from Eric. And we didn’t always get along well. We get along great now. We really do. And I’m happy for his success on your network, and all the other things he’s doing. So I got over it, in other words. But at least he was honest, I didn’t leave that meeting guessing, ‘Well, here’s an option that’s still out there.’ It wasn’t out there anymore. I think I could have helped WCW immensely at that time. But that was not the case.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Grilling JR podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.