Bruce Prichard Says Jim Ross Was Angry With Steve Austin Over Promo Line

As children, we're taught that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us. But those in professional wrestling get called every name in the book since trash-talking is just as much a part of the fabric of the art form as powerbombs and dropkicks. And one of the best to ever do it on the mic is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. However, the "Texas Rattlesnake" once crossed a line with his good friend and legendary announcer, Jim Ross.

On "Something to Wrestle," Bruce Prichard revealed that "Good Ol' JR" was extremely offended when the former WWE Champion called him "hillbilly boy" during a promo back in the day. While Ross is generally well respected in the business and he has a thick skin after a long career, this insult rubbed him the wrong way and, according to Prichard, the commentator stayed mad about it for some time.

"Somebody called him hillbilly boy," said the boisterous podcaster. "I swear to God he was hot for six weeks over hillbilly boy. I think Austin called him hillbilly boy when Steve turned heel and JR thought somebody fed that line to Austin... It was funny because it was 100% Steve ad-libbing."

Throughout his WWE Hall of Fame-worthy career, Austin has called people some very interesting things in front of an audience, so "hillbilly boy" seems like a relatively tame insult from the "Bionic Redneck." Regardless, it still struck a sour chord with JR and made him upset. As Prichard said, Ross may have thought that someone backstage such as Vince McMahon was pulling a mean-spirited rib on him, which the boss had done before.