What is life like in WWE and beyond? This great broadcaster reveals that in his new book
When I think of the best of the best -- the Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling lead broadcasters -- Gordon Solie, Lance Russell and Jim Ross automatically come to mind.
I know that’s three of four, but you all can debate the fourth, because those three are Stone Cold locks.
Ross, 46 years in the business, is still going strong, currently the lead commentator for the hot, new upstart wrestling company All Elite Wrestling.
Here is my audio interview with the WWE Hall of Famer, who was promoting his second autobiography, “Under the Black Hat: My Life in the WWE and Beyond”.
During the interview, Ross discusses football, college, his new book, AEW, the broadcast team, Tony Khan, WWE, his late wife Jan, grilling and more.
A two-time New York Times Best Selling Author, Ross wrote this book to continue his illustrious journey, started in his first offering “Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling.”
“Under the Black Hat” picks up where “Slobberknocker” left off, when his lovely wife, Jan, was killed in a vehicle accident in March 2017.
The book is a candid, colorful memoir about the inner workings of WWE and that personal crises he weathered.
It was written with Paul O’Brien and published by Tiller Press via Simon & Schuster.
Jim Ross, from beginning to continuing
Ross’s pro wrestling career began in 1974 as a referee. Three years later this Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, Oklahoma) graduate -- educated in broadcast journalism -- began broadcasting for the NWA Tri-State territories.
Then Mid-South Wrestling is where he received a game-changing opportunity in the broadcast booth. Thank you Cowboy Bill Watts.
Ross, 68, called matches for Mid-South, Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, WWF, WWE, and New Japan. He is now doing that with AEW.
Hey, if Good Ol’ J.R. is calling your match, you must be doing something right.
Ross has also called pro boxing and MMA.
He not only works the mic masterfully while wearing his signature black cowboy hat, but he also wears other hats behind the scenes in the pro wrestling business -- currently as senior advisor for AEW, too.
Working along side WCW lead commentator Tony Schiavone and the knowledgeable Excalibur, you can catch the vocalization skills of Ross, combined with Schiavone and Excalibur, each Wednesday night for AEW Dynamite on TNT.
Currently, Ross is on hiatus from doing commentary, staying home because of health precautions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
When working together, it’s a renuion of sorts with Schiavone in AEW.
They worked together in WCW.
More about Good Ol’ J.R.
Jim Ross is a multi-time New York Times best selling author, penning two WWF/WWE-themed cookbooks Can You Take The Heat? The WWF Is Cooking and J.R’s Cookbook released in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
In addition, he has created a range of JRS Bar-B-Q sauces, mustard and jerky, which have been inspired by his own culinary knowledge as well as those of close family members.
JR loves Bar-B-Q (grilling) as well as Oklahoma Sooners football. Boomer Sooner.
Ross will discuss Bar-B-Q (grilling) and OU football on his podcast Grilling JR., but the primary focus there is his pro wrestling career. To do that, he partnered with standout pro wrestling podcaster The Podfather Conrad Thompson, who has worked with Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Arn Anderson, and Tony Schiavone on their entertaining and successful podcasts.
By the way, Ross was one of the original lead announcers of the original XFL football league in spring 2001.
In the film Man on the Moon, Ross played Lance Russell (Memphis weekly wrestling show’s lead commentator) announcing the match between Andy Kaufman (played by Jim Carrey) and Jerry “The King” Lawler (played by Lawler).
Ross and Lawler, two WWE Hall of Famers, were an excellent broadcast pairing in WWF / WWE, teaming on the company’s flagship program “Monday Night Raw” from 1997-2008.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/legendary-broadcaster-jim-ross-joins-upstart-wrestling-company
More about Ross’s new book
UNDER THE BLACK HAT: My Life in the WWE and Beyond by the legendary Jim “JR” Ross, is now available to fill the gap for house-bound sports fans this spring.
Packed with tales from the height of WWE mania – including Ross’s work with global talents like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena – UNDER THE BLACK HAT recounts the highs and lows of JR’s career as on-air commentator, talent manager, payroll master, and occasional in-ring foil against the backdrop of WWE’s meteoric rise to worldwide phenomenon.
With unprecedented access to the making of wrestling history, readers bear witness to the fracture of JR’s relationship with longtime collaborator Vince McMahon; celebrate his triumphant WWE return at Wrestlemania 32 and mourn the heartbreaking losses he suffered behind the scenes, include multiple debilitating bouts of Bell’s palsy and the sudden, tragic death of his beloved wife, Jan.
Filled with larger-than-life characters and unabashed vulnerability, UNDER THE BLACK HAT is a heart-filled, sucker-punching look one man’s greatest loves and deepest fears.
The book is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/Under-Black-Hat-Life-Beyond/dp/1982130520.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Under-the-Black-Hat/Jim-Ross/9781982130527
https://jrsbbq.com/products/under-the-black-hat-hardcover-book.
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