Jim Ross Recalls Sneaky Way Vince McMahon Released Gene Okerlund

Vince McMahon let a lot of people go in his four-decade tenure as WWE Chairman, and Jim Ross recently opened up about the interesting manner in which McMahon released fellow WWE Hall of Fame announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund. 

"Vince called me into his office one day and said, 'We're going to make some changes here,'" Ross recalled on his podcast, "Grilling JR." "So I'm thinking it's going to affect me. Now I'm apprehensive, but he said, 'We're going to let Okerlund go.' I said, 'Why?' and he goes, 'I just want a fresh look and younger [talent], but I don't want anybody to know about it because I'm going to help Gene get a better deal with WCW. They don't know that I'm getting ready to let him go, so now they can think that they're taking him from us.'"

Okerlund cemented himself as one of the finest members of the broadcast team of all time. He left the company in September 1993 after McMahon opted not to renew his contract, leading him to sign with WCW in November of that year. He stayed with WCW until WWE bought the company in 2001, to which he then returned to WWE and hosted various weekly shows.

"If it had been me, I never would've gotten rid of Mean Gene. He was a face in WWE, he was popular and talented," Ross said.

Ross served as Head of Talent Relations in WWE in the early 1990s and early 2000s, in addition to being a commentator. He left the company in 2019 to join AEW, where he currently serves as comentator and senior advisor to talent.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.