Jim Ross

At 72 years old, Jim Ross physical status not available right now. We will update Jim Ross's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professionalttle analyst and talent relations consultant who works for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor.

Ross is best known for his long and successful career as a wrestling analyst for WWE.

Ross became the first play-by-play announcer for Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s after years of being in various occupations in the pro wrestling industry.

He continued to work with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), making his first appearance in 1993 for WrestleMania IX.

"Good ol' JR" was widely regarded as the voice of the WWE during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and he has been dubbed one of the top wrestling commentators of all time.

Ross was inducted into the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame class.

He served as the lead announcer for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on AXS TV from 2015 to 2018, and occasionally does play-by-play for boxing and mixed martial arts.

"The Jim Ross Report" is Ross' own weekly radio show.

Ross is best known for his barbecue sauce and beef jerky outside of wrestling.

Early life

James William Ross was born in Fort Bragg, California, on January 3, 1952. Ross played first base for the Westville baseball team while attending Westville High School. Ross was a Westville Yellowjackets all-conference football player from 1968-69. Dee Ross, his paternal grandfather, owned an off-sale beer store in Westville, Oklahoma, and was a carpenter. Ross served as President of the Student Body, a 4-year letterman in basketball, and State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). In 1968 and 1969, he was the FFA Oklahoma Speech Champion and the runner up for the FFA National Speech Championship. In 1970, he was given the FFA State Degree, the organization's second highest award. In 1970, he ran for and was elected vice president of the FFA Northeast District. Ross was also named Honorable Mention by the Tulsa World as a center on the 1969 High School All-State Football team.

Ross did well academically in high school, winning the National Honor Society in his sophomore year. He was given an award for demonstrating a 3.6 grade point average during his junior year. Representative Wiley Sparkman nominated Ross in 1969 to serve as a page for the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Ross was the treasurer for Oklahoma Boys State for the year. Ross officiated high school and college baseball, football, and basketball games in Oklahoma for 18 years.

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Broadcasting career

Ross spent some time on college radio during his time at Northeastern State University. Ross had the opportunity to fill a broadcast position in the local NWA Tri-State area after an announcer was unable to attend one of the territory's functions. Ross began as a referee before being promoted to the position in 1974. Ross served as a referee until 1977, when he moved to the promotion's broadcast team. Ross was promoted to the promotion's lead play-by-play position following Bill Watts' purchase of NWA Tri-State in 1982 and the subsequent re-branding to Mid-South Wrestling (MSW). Ross was able to call his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship match, starring Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase, during this period.

When Jim Crockett, Jr. purchased the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and merged it with his Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) group, Ross joined JCP and began providing color commentary alongside David Crockett and Tony Schiavone. Ross became the National Wrestling Alliance's head play-by-play man in his current position. Following Ted Turner's purchase of the regional promotion, Ross continued to develop his skills as JCP became World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Former NWA broadcaster Bob Caudle joined WCW in 1991 and Ross was teamed with former NWA broadcaster Bob Caudle. He spent one season as a commentator on the Atlanta Falcons radio broadcasts in 1992.

Ross rose to the top of the WCW ladder to lead broadcasting, but he had a turbulent relationship with WCW's newest commentator and future executive Eric Bischoff. Ross, Bischoff, who talked to him, did a good job of "selling himself" to WCW executives, including Turner Broadcasting CEO Ron Bischoff. Ross mistreated him and others (mostly in respect to Ross' then-supervisor Bill Watts), and when Bischoff was promoted supervision to executive producer in 1993, Ross demanded and received his resignation.

Ross had a three-year contract with Turner Broadcasting, but he had to cancel right away due to being barred from television for a lengthy time. Ross resigned from WCW's booking committee, according to Mick Foley. After being taken off the air by Bischoff, Ross left WCW.

Ross was recruited by the World Wrestling Federation and made his privilege on-screen debut at WrestleMania IX at Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. On the following weekend, he took over for Gorilla Monsoon on the WWE Wrestling Challenge. Ross appeared on the program alongside Bobby Heenan until Heenan left the WWE in December 1993. When he first was brought in, Ross became the main voice of WWE's pay-per-view tournaments, alongside Heenan and Randy Savage in 1993. Starting with SummerSlam 1993, Vince McMahon took over his pay-per-view role.

Ross suggested the possibility of Radio WWF companiei to McMahon, but the venture was rejected, and Ross was made host alongside Monsoon. Ross was joined by co-hosts such as Johnny Polo and spoke with various WWF wrestlers and followers in this role. At the end of 1993 and the Royal Rumble for Radio WWF, Ross and Monsoon called SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

Ross was fired on February 11, 1994, two weeks after he was wounded in his first assault on Bell's palsy on January 30, 1994, as Ross explained on the September 23, 1996 episode of Raw. He later became an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the NFL's Atlanta Falcons (the second time he was with the Falcons as an announcer). Ross was reunited with former NWA/WCW announcer Bob Caudle in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Jim Cornette, the company's long-serving NWA wrestler, was among many former NWA/WCW wrestlers such as The Rock 'n' Roll Express, Eddie Gilbert, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, as well as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.

Vince McMahon was unable to continue reporting on WWF Monday Night Raw when he was first indicted by the US federal government in 1994. The WWF rehired Ross to cover McMahon and Randy Savage through the summer after a few weeks of Gorilla Monsoon on play-by-play. Ross was allowed to leave by the WWF for leaking inside details to journalists after McMahon was cleared. Ross was briefly returned to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. In December 1994, the WWF recalled him once more. Ross rejoined the primary announce team in 1996, although relegated to syndicated WWF programming for the majority of the next two years. Ross turned heel in WWF newslines for the first time in his career in September 1996. Ross began to announce on television that he was still in touch with Razor Ramon and Diesel (both Hall and Nash's WWF personas) and that he'd be returning them to the WWF soon. Other announcers were skeptical, and WWF President Gorilla Monsoon said that Hall and Nash were under the custody of "another company" and asked Ross to stop and refrain from mentioning them on the radio. Ross performed a worked-shoot promo on Monday Night Raw, claiming that when working in the WWF's "front office" he had been the man responsible for so many people leaving the company as a part of his "revenge" against the WWF, not just a commentator) and not only a commentator. Ross seemed to be resentful and cynical with repeated potshots at McMahon while McMahon was on the radio, appearing to be ill and cynical. However, fans were not enthusiastic about Ross' "New Diesel-New Razor" storyline, and the heel turn was quickly dismissed.

Ross went on to host a number of WWF programs, including Superstars, Action Zone, Raw Is War, and Shotgun Saturday Night, following this story. Ross took a break from Raw Is War due to another attack of Bell's Palsy whilst broadcasting a PPV (Capital Carnage) in London, England. Ross had been told his mother had died earlier in the day. On March 8, 1999, he returned to Raw Is War as part of a storyline claiming that McMahon fired him due to his illness, but that he did not go down quietly and enlisted "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as his personal "enforcer" on "Counter" Steve Williams. In the ring, Ross confronted Michael Cole, his replacement. Despite Cole's insistence that he was not attempting to steal Ross' jobs, Ross kicked Cole in the crotch and returned to the announce table for the remainder of the night, although Terry Taylor ended up commenting for the remainder of the night. Ross even had to set up his own announce table in front of the official announce table labeled "JR Is Raw" at the beginning. The plot was soon stalemate when Ross heeled out (the fans were cheering Ross and booing Cole) and he took his place as the "official" commentator of Raw Is War, starting with the main event of WrestleMania XV. In late 1999, Ross' Bell's palsy was booed by WWF's rival, World Championship Wrestling. Ed Ferrara parodied Ross, Jr., did a full appearance, as well as ridiculing his newly acquired voice due to his medical condition. Both fans and wrestlers alike condemned this. Ferrara stopped mocking the medical condition after the first week, thanks to Turner Standards and Practices stepping in and overruling Vince Russo. The angle was soon dismissed by WCW, but not before Ferrara's parody of JR won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Despite Ross' retaliation over the gimmick, the artist doesn't blame Ferrara himself for the gimmick, and Ross & Ferrara have since patched things up over the angle.

Ross was asked to announce regional telecasts of the XFL, a professional football league co-owned by WWF. And though Lawler denied knowing and caring nothing about the game, Ross, who had experience calling for the Atlanta Falcons, was first placed on the regional broadcasts with his WWF colleague Jerry Lawler as the color commentator. Ross was promoted to lead play-by-play after an incident on television in which Matt Vasgersian, the nation's broadcast team's lead play-by-play man, openly condemned the effort on air, and Jesse Ventura was promoted to lead play-by-play for the next four weeks. After Lawler left the organization, Ross returned to the regional telecasts halfway through the XFL's Longhorns lone season, with Dick Butkus as his color commentator.

Ross served as the "voice of Raw Is War" during the Monday Night Wars with Jerry Lawler, and he established his fame as one of the top wrestling commentators in North America as WWE became the nation's sole major wrestling event. Ross worked exclusively for the Raw brand following the WWE Brand Extension, limiting to doing play-by-play on Raw-only pay-per-views, while SmackDown!-only pay-per-views were announced by SmackDown! The'sanna team's announced.'

JR was embroiled in a long feud with Eric Bischoff over the latter's mistreatment of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Ross also served as Executive Vice President of Human Resource Relations for the WWF/WWE during his time as a leader in charge of recruiting new candidates. Ross had resigned from his executive and management positions by 2005. The change away from management, according to repeated remarks on his official blog, was very fruitful in terms of reduced work-load, allowing him more time to concentrate on his wellbeing, his family, and his entrepreneurial ventures.

Ross was "fired" (kayfabe) from his play-by-play job by Vince and Linda McMahon on October 10, 2005, while still being the face of Raw. Doctors had figured out a serious problem with Ross' colon, and his storyline termination provided an explanation for his absence. Joey Styles (best known for his commentary work for Extreme Championship Wrestling) called the weekly Raw while recovering from his colon surgery. Ross helped produce the Raw announcers from backstage in 2006, then WrestleMania 22 and Backlash before resuming his play-by-play work on Raw on May 8, 2006.

Ross' deal with WWE came to an end in October 2006. At that point, neither partner had signed a new deal but instead worked week to week under the terms of the then-independence agreement. Ross revealed on his official website that he had signed a new one-year deal with WWE and would continue to work year after year.

Ross was inducted by Steve Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007.

Ross was drafted from Raw to the SmackDown brand during the 2008 WWE Draft, while Michael Cole was drafted from SmackDown to Raw, trade positions on each brand. After a nearly 12-year career, Ross' position as Monday Night Raw's play-by-play commentator came to an end. Ross' initial reaction on his official website was that he was dissatisfied with the change and considered quitting the position due to not being informed ahead of the change, but that he would work "to make SmackDown the best program the WWE produces."

Ross appeared on ECW on Syfy's September 23, 2008, with Matt Striker starring him.

Ross revealed on his WWE Universe blog on April 8, 2009 that after Tazz's departure from World Wrestling Entertainment, he'd assume the role of SmackDown's color analyst, with ECW announcer Todd Grisham taking over as the brand's play-by-play announcer. The Hell in a Cell PPV showcase on October 4, 2009 was his last PPV broadcast as a full-time announcer for WWE and the SmackDown tapings.

Ross was forced to cancel the SmackDown tapings on October 13, 2009, having requested for a day off due to a birthday. Ross' third Bell's palsy episode occurred on October 20, en route to Columbia, South Carolina, for a SmackDown taping. Ross left Oklahoma after first aiming to work the tapings and reuniting with Lawler, but the show was postponed, leaving Lawler and Cole's comments about Bragging Rights in the air. Jim Ross said on October 21, 2009, that he would not be covering the WWE Bragging Rights pay-per-view, but Grisham announced that SmackDown will give Ross the Bragging Rights trophy as a "get well" gift.

Ross appeared on the Old School Raw special on November 15, 2010 with Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole as the difference between Daniel Bryan and Jack Swagger. Ross hit Cole over the head with his hat after the match had concluded, Cole insulted Ross throughout the match, resulting in Ross striking Cole over the head with his hat. Ross returned on March 14, 2011 to confront Cole, who had fallen into a feud with Lawler. He was threatening Cole after being insulted by Cole, but Swagger struck him to a match but was defeated by Swagger. At WrestleMania XXVII, Ross called the final four matches, including the Cole vs. Lawler match. Ross participated in commentary on the post-WrestleMania Raw, but only later in the night after Cole squirted him with barbecue sauce. Ross and Lawler defeated Cole and Swagger on the 11 and 25 episodes of Raw, but Cole and Swagger defeated them in a Country Whipping match at Extreme Rules. Ross came back to get revenge on Cole by squirting him with barbecue sauce as Lawler's feud with Cole came to an end.

On July 25, 2011, WWE, Triple H's current COO re-hired Ross to a full-time commentating position on Raw. John Laurinaitis, the current Raw Interim General Manager, was fired Ross on October 10 for stepping out on Triple H a week earlier. Ross later revealed that he was not told ahead of time that he was to be fired officially. Ross returned on October 17, defeating Michael Cole and Alberto Del Rio in a tag match. Cole challenged Ross to a "Michael Cole Challenge" a week later, with Ross' job on the line. Ross won two of the three challenges, the first being an arm wrestling tournament and the second being a dance off, but the final challenge was weighed less. Despite losing the game, he called the first match of the night after Michael Cole was stabbed by CM Punk.

In a Cell match between Triple H and The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVIII, he called the 'End of an Age' Hell. Ross and Michael Cole shook hands with Michael Cole before the game, effectively repairing any old wounds between them. Ross also appeared at Raw 1000, commentating the first match. Ross took over as a commentator on the redesigned NXT's refreshed NXT alongside Byron Saxton and William Regal on June 20, 2012. During 2012, Paul Levesque (Triple H) took over Talent Relations, he recruited Jim Ross to serve as an Advisor and Scout for the department. Ross returned to Raw to serve as an interim commentator after Jerry Lawler's heart attack on September 10, 2012.NGOs: While Lawler recovered, Jerry Lawler returned to Raw to serve as an interim commentator. Ross was honoured on the 10th anniversary of Raw, as it was dedicated JR Appreciation Night, and was held in his hometown of Oklahoma City. Although CM Punk appeared on the program, Ross was acknowledged by Vince McMahon and Triple H, as well as local wrestling legends Bill Watts and Danny Hodge after Raw went off the air. At the 2012 Slammy Awards, Ross served as the host of the Match of the Year category.

Ross began to teach and produce new announcers at the WWE Performance Center in Florida in 2013. He returned to television on January 14, 2013, when he called the steel cage main event between John Cena and Dolph Ziggler. On March 1, 2013, he appeared on WWE Smackdown to talk with long-time friend Jack Swagger and Swagger's new advocate, Zeb Colter. Swagger turned against Ross during the segment, putting an end to their friendship.

Ross was accused of being inebriated while hosting a WWE 2K14 roster announcement panel with guests on August 16, 2013. At several points, he used profanity, and seemed to have little to no concern in the topics that were supposed to be covered. He also sponsored one of the event's sponsors, allowing Ric Flair, a member of the guest panel and later found himself inebriated, to publish a slew of off-color remarks and articles, one of which was a description of John Cena as a "hardcore drinker." Ross officially resigned from WWE on September 11, 2013, after his deal had expired and was not to be renewed, however it was speculated that he was fired because of his conduct at tehnical time. Ross said in a 2014 interview that an insult to the event's sponsor was the catalyst that resulted in his dismissal. He said in the same interview that he was not inebriated but rather drained due to Bell's palsy, which was likely the reason he was not intoxicated. In a December 2014 interview, McMahon discussed the situation, saying that although he disapproved Ross' behavior at the show, Ross' decision to leave WWE was ultimately his decision to spend more time at home than working for WWE. McMahon said that there are no heat between the two groups.

Ross and Matt Striker were the English language commentators for Global Force Wrestling's presentation of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling's Wrestling'

Ross had signed to join Josh Barnett as the new lead announcer for NJPW's weekly program on AXS TV on January 19, 2016. Ross' employment was directly with AXS TV, not NJPW. Barnett and Ross will no longer be doing NJPW commentary, as it was revealed in November 2018. In 2019, the New Japan World commentary team took over broadcasting the AXS shows until the year's contract came to an end in December.

Ross and Jim Cornette joined the first iPPV on October 8, 2016. Ross appeared on ITV on December 31, as he was on comment for the pilot episode of World of Sport Wrestling. Ross returned to WCPW for a commentary on the iPPV, True Destiny, and the Loaded tapings the same month.

Ross, who was a fan of WrestleMania 33, returned to WWE on April 2, 2017, delivering commentary for the main event, No Holds Barred match between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns. Ross had signed a two-year contract with the company shortly after the event. Ross will commentate on the Mae Young Classic during the summer, as well as Lita. Ross will reunite with Jerry Lawler on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the commentary team at the Manhattan Center, where Ross was caught by many cameras sleeping. On the WrestleMania 34 pre-show, Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Byron Saxton attended the fifth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 34. On April 27, 2018, Ross' last televised appearance for WWE was on the pre-show panel for the Greatest Royal Rumble.

After deciding not to renew his deal, Ross left the WWE on March 27, 2019. Ross said that the reason for his WWE departure was because, "I had two bookings inrush and they weren't using me very much." Ross also stated that another factor in his departure was Ross' decision to say that "I still think I can do play-by-play even though some that may surround Vince disagree. Ross later revealed what he told Vince McMahon before he left, saying, "I still believe I can do it, unlike you and some of your followers."

Ross had signed a three-year contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator and senior advisor on April 3, 2019. Ross provided full-time coverage of the AEW Dynamite as well as occasional commentary on AEW Rampage. Ross returned to TBS for the first time since 1993 on the January 5, 2022 episode of Dynamite. Ross went from full-time commentary on Dynamite to full-time Rampage analysis in a commentary team rotation swap with Taz in June 2022.

Ross joined the Atlanta Falcons' radio broadcast staff in 1992. However, he will leave after one season, but he did have a second stint with the Falcons in 1994.

On Fox Sports 1, Ross made his debut calling boxing for Golden Boy Promotions on May 26, 2014.

On October 3, 2014, Ross teamed up with MMA legend Chael Sonnen to cover the Battlegrounds MMA one-night tournament PPV.

Ross started hosting his own podcast, The Ross Report for PodcastOne, in February 2014. The Jim Ross Report, which appeared as part of the Westwood One podcast network in 2018, was later relaunched as part of the Westwood One podcast network. Ross joined wrestling podcaster/mortgage financier Conrad Thompson in April 2019 to reimagine his podcast as Grilling JR, much in the same way as Thompson's podcasts with Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jartt, and Arn Anderson.

In-ring career

Despite Ross' predominantly being a commentator, Ross has been involved in matches, with some notable triumphs, including a victory over Triple H in a no-disqualification match in 2005 (albeit with Batista's assistance).

Ross' second in-ring appearance at a tag team match against Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman at the 2003 Unforgiven pay-per-view with their Raw broadcast broadcast jobs on the line. Due to Chris Jericho's interference, Ross and Lawler regain benutzen of their positions two weeks later when Ross defeated Coachman in a Country Whippin' match, using a stunner as a finishing tactic. Ross has appeared in more games with Lawler, including a few with strictcore stipulations. Ross faced Michael Cole on April 25 of Raw, where he disqualified Cole by disqualification after Cole's manager, Jack Swagger, attacked Ross when he had Cole mounted and was landing punches on him.

Ross has been involved in numerous other conflicts with other competitors, including Triple H, Val Venis, Jack Swagger, Vladimir Kozlov, Mankind, and Steve Austin, all fought in a match directed by Kane, and Steve Austin is wounded. Ross even showed up the WWF's first-ever performance from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, an episode of Raw is War that took place on October 11, 1999. Ross and his partner Chyna were teamed up by Steve Austin to face WWF Champion Triple H and his partner Chyna.

Ross has been consistently attacked by Vince McMahon during his WWE tenure, including in 2005, when Vince McMahon's character, Mr. McMahon, was prominent in a series of segments mocking Ross' legitimate colon surgery.

In 2011, after being fired as an announcer by John Laurinaitis, he rejoined John Cena to face Michael Cole and Alberto Del Rio in a winning match on Raw.

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Awards and accomplishments

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Lou Thesz Award (2011)
  • Gordon Solie Award (2022)
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2016)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Stanley Weston Award (2002)
• World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
  • Slammy Award for "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year (2011) – Rapping during the "Michael Cole Challenge"
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Television Announcer (1988–1993, 1998–2001, 2006–2007, 2009, 2012)
  • Worst Feud of the Year (2005) vs. McMahon family
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1999)