Jim Ross On Shawn Michaels Return Talks In 2001, The Pitch He Made To Him, Michaels Coming Back In 2002

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed Shawn Michaels return talks in 2001, the pitch he made to him, Michaels eventually coming back in 2002, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Jim Ross on having discussions with Shawn Michaels to return in 2001 and the pitch he made to him: “I made several trips to San Antonio to talk to Shawn and his manager and lawyer. My pitch to Shawn was always that you can’t allow your legacy to end this way. You have put a bad taste in people’s mouth, whether inadvertently or premeditatively. I don’t know, and I don’t really care. But right now, the perception of you is not so positive. And for a guy that’s considered along with Ric Flair to be the two greatest in-ring performers of all time, that’s just not right. It’s not right for you, it’s not right for your fans, it’s not right for anything.

“So, I said the bottom line for me is, I just want to get you back in the fold. If you maintain the attitude I’ve seen now, you can be a great help – much like he’s doing now in NXT – you could be an influencer. He’s a boyhood hero for all these kids. I said you can be a big, big benefit without ever taking a bump. You could tell by the twinkle in his eye that he loved that challenge. He wanted to give back, and he wanted to change his image and the perception that he had acquired. There’s no doubt that he wanted to be back in the ring. He had the confidence and the ego that he wanted to go back and prove, ‘I can still do this.'”

On Michaels eventually coming back in 2002 and where he ranked on the WWE roster: “I said this when he came back a year later. He didn’t miss a step. He was the best guy we had on the roster as far as working bell to bell. He was as good as anybody we had after being dormant for all those months and years. So, it took a while to get past the physical obstacles, the medical issues, the psychological issues, and all those things. But I knew – Vince and I talked about that – that we just had to remain diligent and give him time and have the patience for this to become his idea – ‘I’m ready.’ Of course, we saw how that worked out when he came back. He’s the only guy to make brown tights famous. But he was as good night one – right back where he was. It speaks to how great he was. That year waiting – we were all getting impatient because we needed him back. We wanted to see him back. Him on the card made every card better.”

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