Jim Ross Says WWE Treated People "Like S**t" When Releasing Them Earlier This Year
During the Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross talked about WWE recently releasing former WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel among several others. Chimel spent almost 30 years with the company mostly as a ring announcer, but more recently as a backstage production manager. Ross mentioned how upset he was to hear the news, and also gave some insight into why WWE would've let go of people like Chimel and Mike Chioda in a normal fashion rather than celebrating them after spending decades with the company.
"It's all under the name of, 'We're a publicly traded company'," Ross said. "Just because you're a publicly traded company doesn't mean you can treat people like sh**. Nowhere in the publicly traded company manual does it say now that you're publicly traded you can treat people like dogsh**. It's not that. You still have to be a people company.
"They were loyal, they did their jobs very well. I felt badly for the way they departed the company. It should have been more ceremonial and feel good because you're letting people go that have been with the company for 30 years."
Ross also talked about AEW having their announce team located on the main stage instead of ringside. He said he prefers the way WWE has done it for years while he was with the company because that gave him and the other announcers the ability to feed off the crowd.
"We're not that far, but we're not at ringside," Ross said. "I like being at ringside. When there's a crowd in the building, you feed off of that. Their adrenaline and their enthusiasm helps you."
Ross mentioned how difficult it was to deal with criticism of his commentating in his early years. He also said that now, dealing with it every Wednesday, he's learned to just forget about it and let it go.
"That stuff used to bother me," Ross said. "I get blasted every week for something. Everybody is an expert on social media. You just got to grin and bear it. It doesn't sting like it used to. You just got to continue to do your best work."
JR also talked about Bronson Rechsteiner being interested in the wrestling business after being let go by the Baltimore Ravens after being signed by the team as an undrafted rookie in August. He said AEW would love to welcome him, and JR thinks he has all the tools to be a legit superstar.
"His son Bronson, I hear he's contemplating getting in the wrestling business," Ross said. "I hope that he will investigate the AEW brand. Bronson Rechsteiner has got great genetics, plus he got a free agent contract in the NFL. We know he's an athlete, so the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.