Jim Ross On Never Buying Into Rikishi As Person Who Ran Over Steve Austin, Triple H Coming Into His Own In 2000

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed never buying into Rikishi being revealed as the person who ran over Steve Austin, Triple H coming into his own as a top heel in 2000, and much more. You can view his comments below.

Jim Ross on never buying into Rikishi being revealed as the person who ran over Steve Austin and their match at No Mercy 2000: “For some reason, I was never really turned on by this angle. I think it has to do with how it was originally started with Steve getting run over – it reeked of the Jerry Lawler/Eddie Gilbert rundown at Memphis TV. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it seems somewhat too similar for me. And I wasn’t sure that Rikishi being the great babyface that he was – we’re gonna lose his dancing, we’re gonna lose him putting smiles on faces as Vince would say – I thought that was a stretch. So, I was never that high on the angle itself for a variety of reasons, but the presentation was basically Steve going wild and going crazy and I’m not big on matches that have no ending – all of a sudden they’re over and there’s no conclusion to any large degree. It was one of the few times that I can tell you that all of the great things Steve did and would continue to do, it just didn’t connect with me. It has nothing to do with effort or workrate or any of that stuff. It’s just the fact that I thought it may have been miscast to some degree, and I never really bought in to any large degree.”

On Triple H coming into his own in 2000 as a top heel: “It sure as hell was a great year for him. He started coming into his own. It’s funny how long you’re in the business before your game starts coming all together…..he got better and better because he was a true student of the game. He’s got his detractors and all of that other shit, but bottom line is, he really, really worked his ass off to become great. The late great Harley Race was a tremendous influence to Triple H as far as pace, cadence, being methodical, and being logical. Triple H was not gonna be doing a little of hurricanranas and tope el suicidias – he’s gonna wrestle you, he’s not gonna do stunts with you. I think that’s what got him over. He was a fundamentally sound, straightforward, smashmouth guy that when he did things, I didn’t roll my eyes and he didn’t take me out of my character as wrestling fan…..everything was logical. He was as a good a heel after Vince and the Attitude Era. Triple H was the next guy up, and he delivered. I’ll always have respect for him for that. He delivered when he got his opportunity to get pushed.

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