Vince McMahon worked as a WWE commentator during the early days of RAW in the 1990s. Jim Ross recently disclosed details about the former WWE Chairman purposely cutting his microphone live on television.
On October 20, 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the opening match at WWE In Your House 11: Buried Alive. McMahon and fellow commentator Jerry Lawler had no problem calling the action. However, Ross’ microphone repeatedly cut out, causing him to get legitimately annoyed on commentary.
A fan asked Ross about the incident on the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast. The AEW announcer confirmed that the microphone drama was unplanned and was orchestrated by McMahon:
“It was a rib from McMahon,” Ross said. “It was out of the blue, so it’s like nobody told me. Very disrespectful, I thought, and amateur hour-ish. Of course, Lawler went right along with it and laughed, like it was a great idea, and then after the show’s over he said, ‘Goddam, that must have been miserable.’ It was. So it was a rib from McMahon. That’s just his sense of humor.” [1:01:26 – 1:01:56]
Ross worked for WWE for a combined 23 years between 1993 and 2019. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
Jim Ross addresses Vince McMahon’s humor
Grilling JR host Conrad Thompson questioned whether Vince McMahon’s pranks were always “mean-spirited” or if he ever played light-hearted jokes on people.
According to Jim Ross, his former boss mostly made fun of someone whenever he wanted to joke around at work:
“I think they were all sort of the mean-spirited slant, Conrad. I’m not looking for a shoulder to cry on, but there were a lot of times, especially in my headset, where he would produce us, then we’d go to commercial break and he’d chew me out.” [1:02:15 – 1:02:32]
Ross also gave his take on a 2003 storyline involving Kane that he believes lacked logic and wasted the audience’s time.
What are your thoughts on Jim Ross’ Vince McMahon story? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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