Former WWE announcer Jim Ross has divulged how much wrestling WWE Chairman Vince McMahon watches and if he ever views anything outside of his WWE Universe.
Ross was the ‘voice of Raw’ for many years, even sharing an announce desk with McMahon at various points in the nineties. A former executive for the company as well, few can say they’ve worked as up close and personal with McMahon as Ross has.
Now calling the action every Wednesday on TNT – soon to be TBS – for All Elite Wrestling, ‘Good Ol’ JR’ commented on McMahon’s viewing habits during an episode of his Grilling JR podcast.
Speaking to co-host Conrad Thompson about the WWE Chairman, Jim Ross explained:
“Vince doesn’t watch other wrestling shows. You’ve heard that from a lot of guys, such as Arn [Former WWE producer Arn Anderson], Bruce [WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard], all those guys. They’ll tell you the same story. He’s not gonna go watch more wrestling like I did this morning at three o’clock.”
Between Raw, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK, Main Event, and monthly pay-per-views, it’s no wonder that the man who spearheads the largest wrestling company in the world doesn’t have time to view any of the competition. And that’s before considering the thousands of hours of content available on the WWE Network/Peacock.
McMahon has over the decades seen off many wrestling companies that have either tried to compete with WWE or those that have folded for their own reasons. In the late 80s, McMahon thrived as WrestleMania took the company to new heights while Jim Crockett Promotions was sold to TBS while on the verge of bankruptcy. The new World Championship Wrestling would also have a shelf life famously being bought by McMahon in 2001.
Jim Ross has also discussed The Rock’s presentation in 1997 when he was struggling to make waves as one of wrestling’s good guys.