During an episode of his podcast, Grilling JR, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross talked about various topics, including his experience working with former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in 1995.
This is what Jim Ross said, “[It was] about the same [going to Vince’s house to go over creative]. Everything was spun around him, and his schedule and his timeline. So it was hectic, to be nice about it. Because Vince would take phone calls the whole meeting. And I understand why, he’s running the whole company. He’s improving everything from T-shirt logos to pay-per-view cards, graphics, and acquisitions and all that, looking looks over the payroll after I finish it, and when I hoped I finished it. Sometimes I would tweak it, but it was just all his purview. So it was a little unorganized. It just put more on my plate. I stayed very busy, which I did like. And I learned a lot working that closely to Vince.”
On how the business has changed:
“I could book a territory right now, if I was so motivated. I’m not, by the way. The business has changed so much, guys. Wrestlers have lawyers and agents, which I applaud. They need help, because these same agents will guide them along financially. ‘Okay, here’s your quarterly tax payment.’ You’re not an employee, you’re an independent contractor, and there’s a whole different set of rules for that. I’ve talked to guys who got in tax trouble that didn’t know that they had to pay quarterly taxes. ‘What?’ Oh, yeah. Where’s your tax bill? How do you pay the government for living here?”
On the only negative about it:
“So he was, it was challenging. But boy, I did learn a lot. And the only thing, the only negative I guess, the thing about it was he would get so many phone calls. He had a speakerphone out there by the pool, and so he took — but he wouldn’t hardly turn down a call. So that was distracting. But if he came ready to go and had his pads on, it was always a fun session. So it was interesting to say the least. I thought it would be more like working with Cowboy [Bill Watts] in the Mid-South days. But Bill was very organized, and didn’t take any calls during our booking meetings. Because he’d bring in his booker, who it was. Ernie Ladd, or Bill Dundee, or Ken Mantell, whoever it may be was — we were uninterrupted. And the meetings didn’t last all day. I mean, I’ve been in booking meetings with Vince that lasted for the day. And I’m — one of the highlights of that whole day, there was a little deli right down the road in Greenwich from Vince’s house. And one of us would run and get the food. So I liked doing it, because I get to have a smoke on the way. So anyway, I had to get used to his rhythm. Vince, his rhythm. And once I plugged into it, things were pretty decent, because we needed help.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
