Legendary WWE announcer Jim Ross has finally returned to the company, signing a two-year contract. It’s a move that many hoped would eventually happen, but the fact that it happened so quickly right before WrestleMania 33 was a bit of a surprise. If Undertaker wasn’t planning on retiring, it might have taken longer, but it looks like everything just sort of came together perfectly.
Ross has been quite busy since his time away from WWE, announcing for a number of promotions and venues, as well as continuing his popular podcast and blog and even introducing a line of Barbecue sauce. While his professional life has been quite successful, his personal life has suffered a great deal of sadness, as his wife recently passed away. In an interview with the A.V. Club, Ross spoke about how the deal with WWE began, and his wife played a significant part in it.
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“Talks with WWE began around six months ago,” Ross said. “I never had any reservations about going back to WWE, it just wasn’t the right time based on other things I had committed to do in my career at that time. Talks escalated a couple months ago, and my wife was very excited about the opportunity for us to go home, as she termed it. She was excited about going to WrestleMania and seeing all her old friends, and I shared her optimism. I didn’t get a chance to get her to the red carpet, but I do believe she was present when I called the Undertaker match.”
“Anyhow, my contract was signed Friday night of WrestleMania weekend,” said Ross. “I did most of my negotiations with [executive vice president] Kevin Dunn. But [chairman and CEO] Vince McMahon was also very involved, and I did speak with him. I spoke to [executive vice president] Paul Levesque. It was a team effort.”
As for what is next, Ross will be doing a plethora of dates, but he doesn’t really care about which promotion or program its for. “I think I’m going to do 30-40 dates in my first 12 months of my deal. Those dates are to be determined. There’s nothing they can assign me that I haven’t done before. How many wrestling matches you think I’ve called in my lifetime—100,000? If they want me to do U.K. or NXT or Main Event, I don’t care. It’s all good to me. My days of being the lead guy, the No. 1 voice—all that is way yesterday. Guys who’ve had those issues like I have had in my career, they have self-esteem and confidence issues. I have both those. Totally happy to admit it, but I ain’t got them no more. I’m 65 years old. I feel great, I just lost my wife, I’m trying to get back on my feet here, and I’ve said this and I truly mean it: I’m happy to get my jersey back. I’m happy to re-sign with my old team. Whatever role I need to play, I’m fine with.”
Fans are happy to have you back as well JR.
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