Jim Ross Discusses Backstage Drama Between Chris Benoit & Kevin Sullivan in WCW Becoming Public, Why Shane Douglas Didn’t Return to WWE As Part of the Radicalz

On the latest edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed reports that Shane Douglas thought he was going to be part of the Radicalz being brought in to WWE (he was part of the Revolution stable in WCW with Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn), but ultimately was not included as part of the group and never ended up returning to WWE. JR also discussed the backstage drama between Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan becoming so public in WCW (Kevin Sullivan’s promotion to head booker in WCW was one of the reasons Benoit decided to leave WCW). Highlights are below.

On why WWE didn’t want to bring in Shane Douglas as part of the Radicalz: “I think Vince just had a bad taste in his mouth about how that was handled. It was certainly not all Shane Douglas’ fault. He did not have a very auspicious run in 1995, could have had. For whatever reason, some in the locker room kind of froze him out, in my view. His tenure before did not resonate positively with the old man, and so he was not on our list. I’m not saying we wouldn’t have hired him if the situation had been a little bit different, but it wasn’t. And getting four guys in, the four guys we got, we were really happy with that and Shane just never was a topic of any significance. It was a topic, I take that back, but it wasn’t a serious topic. So that was the deal there. We’d been there, done that, and Vince said I’m not doing it again.”

On the issues between Chris Benoit, Nancy, and Kevin Sullivan becoming public in WCW: “I thought their private life got way too public, and it became an angle, it became a storyline, as if we’re obligated to share our personal life, and that should be voluntary. It should not be made a storyline out of. My story regarding the situation I had in 1990 with the unwanted pregnancy was a story I wanted to tell to get off my chest and share that we can all make mistakes. I’m not proud of those moments, by any stretch of the imagination, but that was me volunteering to our audience that is listening right now, just another step in the journey. I felt like making that, the marriage dissolving, the adultery, all this other stuff, was simply unnecessary. We got to be more creative, and did we have to go there. So I wasn’t really sure what was true in that whole deal and what wasn’t. But in any event, it made me uncomfortable.”

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