Jr got fired by the wwf?

[Guest The Electrifyer]

I was watching OTR with JR and they were talking about firings or something and JR has said that he has been fired twice by the WWF. Can someone tell me when this happened??? I just can't imagine a person at JR's position ever being fired by the WWF.

[Guest Metallica]

Yep, although remember he wasn't always in the position he is today..

 

*****

 

Keller: What led to your departure from the World Wrestling Federation?

 

Ross: The basic thrust of it was Vince was interested in me becoming a character, much like many of the wrestlers and was very sure that if I would don a cowboy hat and a western jacket and a string tie that I would be more marketable and would be more effective to him and his product by being this character. I felt very uncomfortable about doing it. It came to an impass since I wasn't interested in doing that. I guess he perceived that as not being loyal and not being totally committed to his product, so on Feb. 11 he called me to his office and let me know he had decided to go a different direction with his announcing and I would not be in those plans and that my contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of March.

 

Keller: Did you getting Bell's Palsy, which paralyzed half of you face, have anything to do with the way your were treated by the WWF or your departure from there?

 

Ross: Well, the way the sequence of events came about is that on SuperBowl Sunday morning, Jan. 31, I woke up with Bell's Palsy and the left side of my face was completely paralyzed and my left eye wouldn't blink. My jaw was hanging. About two-thirds of my mouth was like when you go to the dentist and numbed up. I didn't have control over my lip. My ears were ringing. Half of my tongue was numb. I thought when I woke up and staggered into the bathroom, which is normal for me in the morning, I looked into the mirror and it was a much worse sight than I was used to seeing. It really scared me when I touched my face and couldn't feel anything. I thought I had a stroke; I had the same basic symptoms. That was on Jan. 31. Along with this, because of the nerve damage, I was having horrific headaches.

 

I went to the emergency clinic and then saw a doctor. I was having these horrible headaches in February and was staying in bed most of the time. I had trouble with my vision. I was drooling like a child. I was very self-conscious of it, quite frankly. I was taking medication for the headaches and antibiotics because at first they thought I had Lime's Disease, which I didn't thank goodness. I was getting ready to see a neurologist about the second week in February, in fact it was Feb. 10, and I'll never forget it - there's some significant things you always remember in your life - it was snowing like crazy and it ended up snowing the next two or three days. But they called me from the WWF office - someone from human resources called and said they wanted to continue my talks about resuming my contract on Friday morning in Vince's office.

 

I had been talking to Lisa Wolf, who's the head of human resources, and J.J. Dillon, who's the vice president of wrestling administration there, about my contract. We had some very nice talks, some very pleasant talks, and both of those two people are very quality people. When they called me on Thursday, I was a little bit alarmed because I was in bed and I was sick and I really didn't want to get out in the snow, but I did.

 

I drove to the office the next day. It was about 12 miles from where I lived to the office and it took about an hour to get there. It was just horrible, horrible driving conditions. So when I got there, the whole meeting took about five minutes, maybe ten. The drift of it is Vince said he appreciated all I had done for him, he appreciated my hard work, but he decided to go a different direction with his broadcasters and that I was not in those plans and, finally, that he would not be renewing my contract when it expired. That's how it all came about. I hope the Bell's Palsy wasn't a factor. I don't think Vince is that cold-hearted that he would let me go because I was ill.

 

If there was anything negative about the whole situation it is I feel like it could have been handled a little bit more timely when I was feeling better and when I could actually go in and communicate with him, where I could carry on a conversation without being constantly wiping my eye or my mouth. I thought the timing was a little ill-fated.

 

Keller: Do you think that was Vince flexing his muscles of power or was that Vince not really knowing the entire situation? What do you deep down believe?

 

Ross: Well, you try to look for the good in people. I'd like to think he wasn't aware of how seriously ill I was at the time. He, I guess, has been known to flex his muscles from time to time. He is a very powerful man in our business and I don't think he was too pleased with me refusing to become a character. It was portrayed to him by someone in his company that I was adamant about it, that I was cursing and appalled. That was completely misrepresented.

 

I just didn't understand the reasoning for it. One week I'm one way, the next week, I'd show up on TV with this Porter Wagoner outfit. I didn't understand the reason behind it.

 

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