Jim Ross Explains What WWE Did Wrong With Adnan Virk

Adnan Virk signed a multi-year deal with WWE back in April that made him the new play-by-play commentator for Monday Night Raw. Unfortunately, Virk only lasted in the role for seven episodes of Raw and one pay-per-view before he and the promotion agreed to mutually part ways. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, who was the voice of the Red Brand from 1997-2008, was asked about Virk's performance during an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show this week.

"Adnan got put on TV, in a very unique product, before he was ready from a product knowledge standpoint," Ross said (h/t Fightful). "The wrestling fans today, with social media and all the information flow, they have a great sense of what they like and what might be wrong. He's a solid broadcaster and they rushed to judgment too quick. You have to know the terms, the language, and the culture. That's where he was short"

Ross then talked about Vince McMahon's approach to commentary, saying, "He makes sure that he imposes his will. The simple fact is, they misassigned Adnan. He should've had more work in other areas and other TV shows, Lord knows they have plenty of them, to get his chops under him. Vince is a strange cat and he's the boss. If he doesn't hear something he likes, he makes a quick decision."

Virk talked about the lukewarm response he received from fans weeks into his tenure while on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast in April.

"One of the great pieces of advice Michael Cole said to me, 'Listen, whatever you do, please don't check social media.' I nodded," Virk said. "He goes, 'I'm serious about this because no one listens, and then they check it.' And either way it's not good. If they say you're great, well, that doesn't matter. If they say you're awful, that also doesn't matter. One man's opinion doesn't matter so don't lose sight of that. What was funny is this. I get home, and I took Michael's advice to heart. And I'm talking my wife. She's goes, 'How'd it go?' I thought I did alright. I made some mistakes. There's some stuff I'd like to get back, but Corey and Byron were great. I think I'll get better. I thought this was good, and I'll only get better by watching it. So I re-watched the whole show. I watched it start to finish. I haven't yet for the second one, but I will just. I go, okay, that was better than I thought. It was worse than I thought, and I think whenever you make a mistake — you'd like to make zero mistakes.

"You want to bat 1,000, but if you make a mistake, don't make the same mistake twice, just learn from it," he added. "My wife starts saying, 'Oh, this person tweeted this. No, I don't want to know this. Why would you tell me this? I called my parents Jimmy. 'How'd it go?' Same thing, some good, some bad. 'Yeah, your dad was checking Twitter,' and I go, for god's sakes. It's amazing to me that when people are looking for feedback, social media, as you and I both know, it's generally a place where people are spewing vitriol."