Jim Ross Shares Opinion On The Rock’s WWE Comeback
Jim Ross may be an AEW guy, but he will always be linked to some of WWE’s biggest stars of all time, including The Rock.
When The Rock was signed to a WWE contract in the mid-1990s, Jim Ross was an announcer on camera and he would become the Head of Talent Relations from the mid-1990s until the early 2000s.
One of JR’s most prized signings is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who became a pro wrestler after his football career ended. JR was on commentary for many of The Rock’s biggest matches in his career from 1996 to 2003. Perhaps the biggest matches were the three WrestleMania matches with Steve Austin and the epic WrestleMania 18 match between The Rock and Hulk Hogan.
While Jim Ross has been an AEW guy for over five years and remains a part of the company, he still speaks fondly about his WWE run, especially when it comes to wrestlers that he not only signed, but helped grow as performers due to his work as an announcer as well as behind the scenes.
The Rock will headline WrestleMania 40 Night 1 in Philadelphia on April 6 when he teams with Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins. JR won’t be on hand to call the match, but he did have some thoughts on Rock’s comeback as a WWE heel. JR made it clear on his Grilling JR podcast that he didn’t mind seeing The Rock taking control of his career.
“It’s hard to read comments from those that criticize Rock’s return and how he returned, etc, etc, ad nauseum. But stop to think about it. You’re the booker, or a booker, you’re running the show, and you get the opportunity to obtain the services of ‘The Great One,’ then you don’t even think about it. It’s not hard, that’s a very easy decision to make.”
“So I’m glad that he’s back. He seems to be having a good time, he certainly seems to be steering his own ship, and I don’t have a problem with that.”
Jim Ross Remembers How Steve Austin Viewed The Rock
Elsewhere on the podcast, Jim Ross remembered how his good friend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin viewed The Rock in Rock’s early years in WWE.
“Austin always had an eye out for the other talents as potential opponents. And he — you know, you look at The Rock from head to toe with his physique, his mannerisms, his ability to talk, et cetera, et cetera. And it really becomes that no-brainer. And Steve paid attention.”
“He knew at some point in time that the day would come when he and Rock would begin some sort of little journey together. It wasn’t a little journey, because they headlined in one-on-one matches three WrestleManias. Three! That’s unheard of in today’s world.”
“But they were so good and their chemistry was so flawless, they headlined WrestleMania 15, 17 and 19. And I remembered them all very well. I called all three of them, and it was a great honor to see the greatness in front of me that includes Austin and Rock. So it was good stuff, man. It was good stuff. I’m sure lucky and glad that I was doing my trade in that period of time.”