Jim Ross Quotes

If there was a Mount Rushmore for pro wrestling cities, Chicago and New York would be on there.

I’ve always believed that if you are in the WWE system, that in two years or less, the staff should be able to tell who‘s a keeper and who’s not.

In the early days, Jerry was an antagonist, which was arguably his best casting. ‘The King’s’ quick wit is perfectly suited to be an antagonist, but at the same time, he’s so funny that it is hard to hate Jerry Lawler as the villain – especially at this stage of his long career.

When I first arrived in WWE after having a somewhat high profile on-air role in WCW, it was WrestleMania season. In a way, I was perceived to be the voice of WCW after the Ted Turner/TBS buyout of Jim Crockett Promotions. That ‘claim to fame‘ did not endear me to many WWE personnel.

Like many kids, I grew up sports-minded.

Jericho is generally considered a main event guy, as he should be. He’s a future Hall of Famer, I believe. So any rub, for lack of a better term, that AJ Styles can get from Chris Jericho is positive.

Sometimes our passion will motivate us to say things that can easily be misunderstood.

I look back upon those days in the Crockett/Turner era of The Four Horsemen and often wonder how I made it out alive. Perhaps my contract had some fine print on it that said, ‘Associating with The Four Horsemen can be hazardous to one’s health.’

Vince McMahon has overachieved his entire life in a big way. I got to know him really well and still have great respect for him.

I was lucky to have been able to work so closely with Vince McMahon as he was able to see up-close what I could contribute to WWE, which lead to some amazing years not only at ringside, but also in the boardroom.

Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling’ is really not a wrestling book. It’s a book about life, and there’s a great love story in this book. There are great life lessons in this book about not allowing others to define you.

I’m a fan of Lucha Underground and hope they are successful.

I am an emotional guy. I try to be very honest.

I can’t change history but only learn from it.

It takes a very unique individual to be a star, and a main event star.

We live in a very defiant society, especially among young men in the WWE’s target demographic. So sometimes when you’re really trying to promote somebody and build them, the audience can easily take it as you’re trying to force somebody upon them.

For my money, Dan Hodge is the greatest amateur wrestler ever produced in the U.S.A.

I can never agree with people that say ‘Cena’s overexposed.’

Most fans don’t realize how challenging it is to broadcast live TV, especially in a hybrid genre such as WWE.

That’s how I look at it, if you’re a wrestling fan, either support everybody and their families to make a living or just hold all of your overt criticism to yourself.

The black man‘s journey within the genre of grappling wasn’t unlike the challenges their brethren faced in professional sports, entertainment and, most importantly, everyday life. To say it was challenging would be a massive understatement.

The best incarnation of The Four Horsemen was undoubtedly the unit comprised of Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, along with talented manager JJ Dillon, which will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.

I’ve heard Jerry do mini concerts while driving, especially when the music of The Beatles or a handful of other ‘British Invasion‘ bands aired. Hearing Jerry Lawler sing with a British accent is quite an experience.

The first thing that you need to be a draw, to be a star, is the intangible ‘It’ factor. You cannot manufacture ‘It,’ you cannot replicate ‘It.’

I’m not fixated on death but I know tomorrows are not guaranteed.

You can’t go to Amazon and order a book on how you handle grief. There’s books on it, sure. But there’s no tried and true manual. You just have to live that out. There’s no formula to heal.

One of my biggest fears, in both my personal and business life, is residing too long in my comfort zone.

There’s always another adventure if you keep your head above water and I don’t have any desire to slow down because it keeps you young.

Wrestlemania is big, and I’m glad that I got to go on a real interesting 21-year ride on the road to and out of Wrestlemania.

I grew up in Oklahoma.

Many talents hurt themselves by over thinking the business and doing too much which waters every thing down and makes major moves mean less.

The Heisman Trophy equivalent in collegiate wrestling is named the Dan Hodge Award, which illustrates just how Dan is perceived within that culture.

I had a very humble upbringing, earned everything I got, and learned how challenging it is in the pro wrestling business.

People think you can wave a magic wand and create a star, that couldn’t be further from the truth. People think that a promoter has all the cards and the talents are merely pawns and they have very little do with the bigger success, when they have most of their success because of what they do.

That’s what friends do – support each other as best that they can no matter the circumstances.

There’s no way in hell I’m supposed to be on television or be a broadcaster of any regard. But I have defied those odds because I believe in this: I am damn sure not going to let somebody else define who I am.

I’ve just been so blessed in my journey. Fat kid from Oklahoma, buddy – Southern accent and Bell’s palsy, becoming a broadcaster and hanging around a fickle business for 40 years. You wonder how in the hell that happened. It was somebody’s plan.

It doesn’t matter if you have a six-minute match on ‘Superstars,’ go out and steal the show. Go have a great, solid match. Somebody’s going to say, ‘Who cares about ‘Superstars?’ Nobody watches it. And it’s only six minutes.’ That’s the wrong attitude. That’s a loser‘s attitude, and that’s what I’ve told dozens of talents.

I can always get better at what I’m doing because I’m not nearly as good as I think I can be. I’m going to try to improve every chance I get.

It has been my experience that the greatest performers in the genre of sports-entertainment are usually natural extensions of their own, true personality.

You can’t be a team player today and not a team player tomorrow.

On a very personal note, my dear friend, the late Steve ‘Dr. Death’ Williams was a four-time amateur wrestling All-American who also lettered and started four years on the football team at Oklahoma. I’ve met no man walking the face of the earth tougher than Doc. R.I.P., my friend.

WrestleMania is a major event and that’s an understatement obviously, but it’s a major event from the standpoint that many other companies use WrestleMania as a source of creating new revenue.

Two men that did treat me well from day one were Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. Thanks to them being old pros and having the class of a pair of WWE Hall of Famers and true gentlemen, I was given a chance to prove myself to them as a human being.

My folks, I don’t think my mom or my dad ever missed a little league game or a football game.

Walking away from a problem is never a solution. Never. Solve the problem.

I like Twitter because I’m a creature of the short-attention span theater. I can get a lot of sports opinions and other things and Twitter tells me what time it is, but not how to make the watch.

Freebird Michael Hayes was my first broadcast partner who was a pure, 100% antagonist. Hayes and I joined forces during Cowboy Bill Watts’ attempt at expanding the Mid-South brand by renaming Mid-South Wrestling the Universal Wrestling Federation.

Jericho uses tried and true, fundamental pro wrestling villain techniques to make him effective. He’s a master in ring psychologist.

Aug. 2, 1992, was one of the most memorable moments in sports-entertainment. It was on that night in Baltimore, that Ron Simmons became the first African American recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in wrestling.

I don’t have a bad thing to say about Vince McMahon.

Without question, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler is my most recognizable partner and my favorite to work with over the years. We endured several things together that reach far beyond merely signing on and subsequently saying ‘good night everybody’ at the end of the show.

Broadcasting is a team effort and two, or three, individuals not functioning as a team cannot be as effective as they can if they set aside their own agendas and focus on what they see on their TV monitors and embellish the TV personas of the talents involved. I’ve been blessed to have had many outstanding partners.

For anyone to say that The Rock made a bad decision in pursuing a film career, with the success that film career has garnered, is ill-advised.

When one chooses a life as a public personality they give up certain levels of privacy but in one’s home and intimate moments everyone should be protected.

I used to roll my eyes when I heard the term ‘workaholic,’ but I guess if the shoe fits, you got to wear it.

There are many ways to do something right within the world of pro wrestling.

In the early 1900s, wrestlers who attained main event success were largely all tough men who could handle themselves in any environment whether it be in a wrestling ring or a tavern.

Sept. 11, 2001, still feels like a blur to me. I wish it were simply a bad, re-occurring dream, but unfortunately it isn’t.

I’m a wrestling fan with a phenomenal journey.

There have always been extraordinarily tough men in the business of sports-entertainment. My view is that one can’t be in the sports-entertainment business successfully and long term without being tough.

The adrenaline of performing live in front of an audience is a feeling that’s hard to replicate.

I always say the wrestlers provide the music and the announcers write the lyrics. You have to feel what you’re seeing and experiencing to write the best lyrics.

The Rock had the amazing athletic abilities that few people are gifted with, but he also had the burning desire to be the best, and none of that can be denied.

There’s a lot of brands around the world that want to get exposed in the U.S.A.

Unlike the on-air talents in the NFL where they have producers figuratively joined at their hip, providing them with info and tidbits of data, we WWE announcers are responsible for getting ourselves ready for every broadcast.