Jim Ross Recalls WCW’s Fingerpoke Of Doom, Chris Jericho’s WWE Debut

On a recent episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross discussed a wide range of topics. During it, the AEW announcer talked about WCW’s fingerpoke of doom with Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash where Hogan returned for a world Title match only to poke Nash, who flopped, and Hogan pinned him before they celebrated. Below are some highlights:

On WCW’s fingerpoke of doom being a mistake: “I think it was — it didn’t deliver what the people anticipated they would. And anytime any promotion does that, it’s not a good thing. People feel disappointed, they feel let down, they feel like they’ve been betrayed. Whatever route you want to take of verbalizing it. But that was a mistake. And there was a period there where you know, [Eric] Bischoff wasn’t making many mistakes. They were doing good, signing guys with name identity and star power. He was hitting it at a pretty good clip. But that was a mistake. And I don’t want to just point out Eric’s shortcomings. That’s not fair. So anyway, I got some neat things in this book about Eric.”

On WCW spoiling Mankind’s 1999 WWE Title win: “Another mistake, that’s basic fundamental s**t. It’s trying to be too attitudinal. It’s trying to be too defiant, too edgy, in my opinion. Now, I can say that now in hindsight, right? But I don’t know that I wouldn’t make the same decision. I don’t think that I would have. It’s just, I’ve never been one to draw attention to the competitor who’s actually on the air on many of the same cable systems. It’s conflict, it’s a conflict of interest? Where do the fans draw their allegiance, and think that they’re not going to be curious and check it out? It’s ridiculous.”

On Chris Jericho’s WWE debut on Raw being in a segment with The Rock: “I was always very high on Chris. You know, the only thing I had to overcome was the fact to Vince [McMahon] that Jericho was not six feet tall. And that may sound so bulls**t, but it’s a fact. Vince loved big guys. Jericho had a great body and was athletic, he was in shape. He looked good. But he wasn’t 6’2′ or 6’3. He might have been 5’11”. But that was one hurdle to overcome to get Vince to sign off on Chris.

“But when I showed Vince some tape of Jericho and actually like a little highlight reel, he was sold. Because Chris could work with anybody, he still can. You know, it’s good for me as an old-timer when I go to the pay-per-views at AEW — my thanks to Tony Khan for facilitating that — I enjoy seeing everybody there. But seeing guys there with whom I have a long history, Chris and I talk about that all the time.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Grilling JR podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.