Jim Ross On Butch Reed’s Passing, Reed In Mid-South, His Memorable Match Against Ric Flair

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed Butch Reed’s passing, his memorable match against Ric Flair, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Jim Ross on the passing of Butch Reed: “Butch was a dandy. He had a legitimate linebacker’s mentality. He was highly regarded linebacker on a really good junior college team. So, he was always a great athlete, which made him a favorite to Cowboy [Bill Watts]. Tough guy. In that territory in those days, you had to have a set of nuts to be a real good heel because you’re gonna get heat on you, and sometimes, you’re gonna have to defend yourself getting to the ring back to the locker. I’m not saying that’s the right or wrong thing to do, but fans in that era certainly looked at wrestling a little differently than they do now where heels had heat where I want to see you get your ass whipped. That’s not as prevalent today as a lot of us would like, but nonetheless, Butch fit the role perfectly. Not a good heel – Butch Reed was a great heel.”

On Reed in Mid-South Wrestling: “I thought the biggest mistake we made in Mid-South was when JYD bolted to go to WWE with no notice – Butch was the guy to take his place if you want an alpha male African-American wrestler. People believed he was a tough badass dude, so all you gotta do is get some heel to turn on him, and you’ve got your guy. Instead, Cowboy had Ernie and everybody else involved in that booking equation to contact every African-American wrestler they could find to see if we could find the answer to take JYD’s place. I’m not sure that was the right idea – if JYD had to be replaced by another black man, but that’s where it traveled.”

On Reed’s memorable match with Ric Flair: “Someone was telling me the other day after Butch passed away that one of the best matches they ever saw was Butch in Florida against [Flair]. Butch could work with anybody, and Flair was the highest of the highest level. They had a great contest.”

On whether Reed should be in the WWE Hall of Fame: “Hall of Fame guy, but I don’t know if he’ll ever make the Hall of Fame in WWE. I doubt it, for whatever reason. I’m not sure why I think that, but I do. He would’ve had a better chance of going in if he was alive, for whatever reason that is. The Hall of Fame is a television event. It’s not like the NFL Hall of Fame where it’s a celebratory thing and promoted very well. It just seems like it’s lost a little luster on the entertainment side. So, I’m not bitching at the WWE Hall of Fame. It’s just a different positioning and part of a TV show. And to have posthumous inductees is not the lay of the land as far as Vince [McMahon] is concerned.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Grilling JR with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.