Flashback Audio: Jim Ross Talks His Complex Relationship With Randy Savage, More

Above is audio from an interview WrestlingINC.com conducted with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross regarding a variety of topics, including his thoughts and recollections on "Macho Man" Randy Savage who is headlining WWE's Hall of Fame inductions next weekend. We are posting interesting clips and stories from our interviews to our YouTube channel, so please take a moment to subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/WrestlingINC1.

Asked if his relationship with Savage ever improved after Ross joined WWE, Jim Ross said things never really changed, suggesting that Savage was relatively consistent in his personality over the years.

"He had a real unique personality," recalled J.R. "Randy, maybe by nature, (didn't) trust a lot of people. I always greatly admired his work, which was excellent and fundamentally sound. But he was hard to get along with because he was so guarded. When you said something that was perceived as more than one way, he'd look at the glass half empty instead of the glass half full. He was entertaining at the announce table, he was unpredictable. He wasn't easy to work with, he was challenging to work with, which I liked because it kept me on my toes. I didn't dislike it whatsoever, it was just challenging. I don't know if it's because I was from WCW, or I took Gorilla Monsoon's place in the WWE hierarchy that he was a part of. My work at WrestleMania 9 in Gorilla's spot was basically because Gorilla was ill, he had health issues. That was Mother Nature and Father Time, not me. My job was to be the best I could be."

Ross also discussed the fact that Savage never returned to work in WWE after leaving for WCW, indicating that Randy may not have been happy resigning himself to work behind a desk at ringside.

"Randy Savage created the Macho Man, lived it, and it's hard to be the Macho Man and a legendary ass kicker, and sitting down at an announce table," said Ross. "I don't know that he was totally pleased with his life at that point. Obviously he wasn't overwhelmed with it, because he elected to not re-sign and go to WCW. When he continued to wrestle he wasn't doing commentary, that could have been part of it. He knew that his clock was ticking. I don't know what the exact reasons were, but it wasn't always a bad relationship. He was volatile and he cared."

J.R. added that he regrets that he never sat down with Savage to clear the air about their years in the business together.

You can read much more from the original interview here.