Jim Ross On Infamous Randy Orton-Rey Mysterio Angle In 2006, WWE Using Eddie Guerrero’s Death In Storyline

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed the infamous angle with Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio in 2006, WWE using Eddie Guerrero’s death in the storyline, and much more.. You can read his comments below.

Jim Ross on the infamous angle with Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio in 2006: “It didn’t work, and it was distasteful. It was the wrong kind of heat. There’s money-drawing heat where you wanna pay to come see the heel get the shit kicked out of him, which is a great formula…..but I didn’t like that Eddie thing and ‘Eddie is in hell.’ I thought it was a reach. It was knee-jerk. It just was distasteful. That’s go-away heat – I don’t want to see you anymore, I don’t want to hear this anymore. Go-away heat is not beneficial for anyone, and I thought this was very distasteful in that respect. I understand it’s fiction, but we made the wrong turn on the road to get to the destination.”

On WWE using Eddie Guerrero’s passing in the storyline: “It’s pro wrestling. It should be a relief, it should be a creative release. Sit and enjoy the show without having to deal with continually having to talk about one of the most popular and top stars in the world passing away prematurely. I don’t see where that creates anything positive. I’m a big believer in pro wrestling creative not including religion or politics or that type of thing. This fits into one of those categories where we traveled a road that we didn’t need to be on. Once you get down so far, it’s like we’ve created something negative. I don’t understand how that would be a scenario where I want to engage that and pay money to engage that because I don’t know it’s gonna be depressing because this Eddie thing is rampant throughout the program. I’m not a big fan of this stuff. I just think it creates the wrong image and wrong vibe and wrong feel.”

On WWE’s lack of creative for the storyline: “Absolutely it’s a crutch. It’s a lack of creativity. We didn’t have anything better, so this is what we came up with. Personal issues draw more money than titles. They always have, they always will. That’s not me knocking titles because that would be silly and irresponsible. I think we really missed the boat on that deal, and the more I think about it, the more I wonder how did this happen? How did we get here? Why did we even start this journey this way? The way they presented the personal issue about saying Eddie went to hell – really? What are we thinking? We weren’t thinking much.”

On who discussed the idea with Vickie Guerrero: “Well that was Vince, obviously. The big decisions like that are blessed by the old man. So, I would think Vince would be the one to make that call. He may have had Bruce [Pritchard] or somebody else with him, which is nothing unusual. I think Vickie was really very leery to disagree with a major element of this pay-per-view. She didn’t want to cause any ruckus, and she wanted to work there. She was looking to work and be able to feed her girls and take care of her overhead. The issue there is I think maybe she was trying to protect her own potential job offerings by not creating any waves. That would be my take on it. Vickie is such a wonderful person, and she’s a sweetheart to be around…….I just think she was probably a little leery of rocking the boat and didn’t want to piss off the old man.”

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