Jim Ross Agrees With Vince McMahon About John Cena; Talks If TNA Has Tried To Hire Him, NJPW

The Mirror has a great interview with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, who was promoting this Saturday's NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 pay-per-view. Just a reminder that we will have live coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 9 immediately following our UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier coverage.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

Calling this Saturday's NJPW pay-per-view:

"I'm not going to phone anything in. I'm going to be prepared. It may not be as smooth as with the WWE guys, because a lot of those guys, in one period in time, I hired, so obviously I knew them well. These are guys I've never watched wrestle in person ever. I'm going to let my instincts take over. I think it has the chance to be a good broadcast. People say, 'Do you know what's going to happen in the matches?' Well, yeah, generally, but the less I know the better my performance is."

If TNA has tried to hire him since he left WWE:

"No. They know I don't have any desire to get back in the weekly grind of that. Dixie and no-one else has asked about me coming back full-time and that's why this opportunity [with GFW] was so fit really – it was a one-time deal, a one-off. I like knowing I don't have any pressure on me beyond that, I can focus on this one big event, really try to nail it without any pressure that I've got to do something tomorrow, or next week, or next month."

Vince McMahon stating that no WWE star has grabbed the brass ring since John Cena:

"Has anyone else since John Cena worked in every phase of their game to get really good? I think the argument could be made that some have worked as hard as Cena in some areas, but not across the board as he has.

"Sometimes if you look at your talent as athletes, not entertainers, they need to be challenged occasionally – we need you to play better, I need you to lose 20 pounds, I need you to work on your tan, as silly as that sounds. From an athletic point of view, every coach has those heart-to-hearts with their team at some point in time. If you're going to go down the athletic road, every now and then they need a pep talk, and every now and then they need to ask themselves, 'What have I done to make myself better than I was last week? What am I doing to make myself a more valuable player?'

"I think Vince is sending a subtle message there, or not-so-subtle, that Cena was the last guy that went the complete distance to grab the brass ring. And then when he grabbed the brass ring he didn't quit growing, he kept trying to get better. He's their guy right now, lord knows what they would be without John Cena."

Much more is contained in the interview, including JR discussing if he would ever work for WWE again, CM Punk signing with the UFC, brokering the deal for Steve Austin to return to WWE in 2002 after his WWE fallout and more. You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Source: The Mirror