Jim Ross Talks A Possible WWE Return, Current State Of The Wrestling Business, Internet Fan Base
Jim Ross was interviewed by Jan Murphy for Toronto Sun as part of promoting his upcoming one-man show in Toronto. During the interview, Ross talked about the going back to WWE, the current situation of the wrestling business and more. Below are some highlights.
Going back to WWE:
"(WWE knows) that if they got into a bind somewhere down the road and they need my services for something that I'd be there in a heartbeat, and I would. But to go back and work full-time for anybody, at my stage of life, isn't something I worked all of my life to do at this age. I always wanted to have some level of independence, from a financial standpoint and from a professional standpoint as far as my skills are concerned so that I could kind of pick and choose these projects so I wouldn't have to be on the road every week and I could enjoy my life, I could enjoy my wife, I could enjoy my football, my sports passions, we could travel some, we could enjoy things that we've earned. They know that I'm always there if they needed and I know they're always there if I need them, but we all had to grow and they've got to prepare for the future. Jim Ross is not the future. Jim Ross is a viable part of the past."
Current situation of the wrestling business:
"The good news is that the majority of the wrestlers who are in it full time ? who really are pursuing it the right way ? are earning more money now than they arguably ever have. I think that that's a good sign. WWE's healthy financially, Ring of Honor is healthy financially, we know that TNA is having some issues but hopefully they'll get back on their feet and continue to attempt to be viable in the marketplace. There's plenty of room for them, in the big picture. New Japan seems to be healthy. The long answer is that the business seemingly on virtually every level, for virtually all of the talent, is more financially lucrative now than maybe ever, across the board. I think that's positive."
The internet fan base:
"There's so much information flow.Everybody has the opportunity to become, in their mind's eye, an expert. Everybody has the chance to be making decisions based on information that a decade ago, and certainly another generation ago, they'd never have had the access to. We seemingly live in a society of contrarians. It's easier to always look at a glass half empty. I choose to look at a glass half full. I think when you get to my age, when you've had the tenure I've had, and the experiences I've had, you know that wrestling can change in a heartbeat, for the better and the worse, and that sometimes things that you don't foresee were going to be hits, at the end of the day become hits."
He also talked about his upcoming book, how his WWE career helped him and more. You can read the full interview here.
Source: Toronto Sun