Jim Ross Recalls First Time He Worked With Paul Heyman On Commentary, Why He Thinks Heyman Has Best Promo In Wrestling

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed his first time working with Paul Heyman on commentary, why he thinks Heyman has the best promo in wrestling, and much more. You can view his comments below.

Jim Ross on his first time working with Paul Heyman on commentary on pay-per-view at Halloween Havoc 1990: “He was nervous as a whore in church. He knew that all eyes were on him – he was my choice. There was so much fragmentation of communication in WCW – you couldn’t get answers, you couldn’t get timely answers. So, Mr. Herd said who do you wanna work with, and I said let’s try Heyman. He and I sounded different – he was coarse and at times controversial – all those things. That was his natural personality….a little of that New York swag and his upbringing gave him an attitude. He understood that he had that attitude naturally, so he just embellished on it. He was nervous – he knew how I sounded, but he didn’t know how I prepared and he didn’t know how I worked. I don’t work where you say ‘I’ve got a great line’ and you say this – I don’t do that shit. He’s so smart and he’s so good, I said ‘You’ll figure it out.’ He looked at me thinking ‘I’ve gotta have all these answers.’ If you want to get that line in and you believe in it, then you’ll figure out a way at some point in the show to make it work, and I’ll go right along with you…..so I thought he would do great and he subsequently has done great.”

On why Heyman has the best promo in wrestling: “He’s probably the best promo guy in the business, if not in the top four or five without question. He’s effective and he’s been effective with every top talent. You think Heyman is ultra popular backstage right now in WWE? Unlikely. So what? He’s trusted with Brock Lesnar and now he’s being trusted with Roman Reigns. That says all I need to hear about how Heyman is perceived professionally. He’s professionally perceived as the best in the game. Just like I told him – and he laughs about this still to this day – I said to him off the air ‘Goddamn, you’re easy to hate.’ He looked at me incredulously like ‘Goddamn, that’s a little stiff, JR’. I said ‘No, Paul, that’s compliment….you’re a fucking heel, you’re a villain, I’m not supposed to like you.’ I said ‘consequently, you’re very easy to hate’ and that’s the best compliment I could give him.”

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