Jim Ross Reveals Why He Didn’t Discuss Leaving WWE for AEW with Vince McMahon

Wrestling commentator, Jim Ross is regarded as one of the most tenured, talented, and respected veterans of the business. After gaining immense fame during his tenure with WWE, JR switched sides to AEW in 2019 to give his career a fresh direction.

However, during the recent edition of his podcast, Grillin with JR, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed his real reason for not having a conversation with former WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon regarding his jump from WWE to AEW.

Jim Ross stated that he never engaged in any of those discussions with Vince McMahon due to a belief that McMahon desired a different announcer, one who did not fit his description – not elderly, not from the Southern region, and not overweight.

Good Ol JR acknowledged his weight fluctuation over time but opted not to address the issue with McMahon, leaving it to WWE personnel Barry who maintained a strong rapport with McMahon due to his representation of talents like Paul Heyman and regularly communicated with McMahon on this matter.

“That never happened. I never had any conversation with Vince whatsoever, because why would I have conversations with him? Because it was obvious that he wanted to have another announcer out there. One that wasn’t old, one that wasn’t Southern. One that wasn’t chubby. I’m not as chubby today as I was then. So I didn’t bother him with it. That’s Barry’s job. And Barry had a good rapport with Vince, still does because he represents Paul Heyman and others. So he was in communication with Vince on a quasi-regular basis because of the talents that he’d already represented or was representing.”

Jim Ross recently announced the release of his autobiography which also received words of praise from The Final Boss, The Rock that would outline various important anecdotes of his personal and professional life.

Moreover, he also stated that he would continue to honor his AEW pay-per-view duties while taking care of his health issues and being a strong force to drive AEW to unprecedented heights of success.

Do you think Jim Ross was right in not having a conversation with Vince McMahon regarding his WWE exit? Sound off in the comments!