WWE.com has posted the following interview with Jim Ross talking about calling WrestleMania in place of Joey Styles. Below is the full interview:
J.R.: I was told Monday afternoon that the decision was made that I would call the RAW matches at WrestleMania. It came as a big surprise. The working plan was that I would emcee the Hall of Fame ceremony and probably do one match at WrestleMania. I figured that I would do the Mr. McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels No Holds Barred Match. I felt like that would be a good fit, considering both HBK and I have joined Mr. McMahon’s exclusive club. So I really thought that was how my weekend was going to play out. But all that changed Monday. I felt excited and exhilarated. But at the same time, I felt some apprehension regarding Joey Styles’ status. I know, like myself, he grew up as a wrestling fan and he’s always wanted to work in WWE and I felt badly for him. At the same time, I won’t lie, I was very excited to get the assignment. And I look forward to it tremendously.
WWE.com: In Joey’s first WWE interview upon getting hired, he said it was his lifelong dream to call a WrestleMania. That is obviously not going to happen at WrestleMania 22, but do you think he will get the opportunity to call a WrestleMania at some point down the road?
J.R.: Absolutely. He’s got a lot of WrestleManias ahead of him, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure that as time goes on, you’ll see me doing fewer events like WrestleMania. And as far as Joey is concerned, at his age and with him just getting his journey started in WWE, I would be extremely surprised if he doesn’t call many WrestleManias.
Of course, I’d like to be a part of WrestleMania in some role, as long as I’m productive. But that doesn’t mean that I have to call all of one brand’s matches or do the whole show as I’ve done in the past. If in the future I did a match at WrestleMania, it would be a great honor just to be part of the event.
WWE.com: In a recent interview with WWE.com, Joey said that he learned more in the five hours he recently worked with J.R. than he did over the past five months combined. How does that make you feel?
J.R.: I’m pleased that I can help him some. I had a lot of real good influences in my broadcasting career. And part of the responsibility of those of us who are considered veterans, whether you’re an announcer, or a wrestler, or a referee or an agent or any other viable role within the structure of WWE, is to share what we have learned and to help teach others. So I am happy that I was able to help him some, and feel very honored that he would say something along those lines. I’m glad he was able to retain some of the things that we’ve discussed, including his approach to the WWE product vis-à-vis the ECW product. You have to differentiate one product from the other, based on the management of each company. In ECW, Paul Heyman had Joey announcing in Heyman’s vision. And he did a hell of a good job and he’ll always be known as the voice of ECW. And now he works for WWE and it’s a different presentation with different requirements. It’s kind of like the ice-cream formula. ECW might have been chocolate and WWE might be strawberry. They’re different flavors, but they’re both still ice cream. And if we agree that we both like ice cream, then we are able to tell the difference in the taste in a blind taste test. They’re just a little different, but they’re still ice cream.
WWE.com: What types of things did you talk to Joey about?
J.R.: We just talked about fundamental things and some philosophical issues. When I came to WWE in 1993, I came from WCW and was the lead play-by-play guy on all their major pay-per-views, live TBS Clash of the Champions and flagship Saturday night TBS show. And when I came in to WWE, it wasn’t with open arms from the majority of people. I was perceived as the enemy. I was a southerner who worked for WCW. At the time, I was not a storytelling broadcaster as much as I was a play-by-play guy and that was not something that WWE relished. They would rather have more of a storyteller that can document the emotion, rather than have somebody describe the match hold by hold and maneuver by maneuver.
So I had 20 years of experience doing it one way. And as time went on and WWE evolved, the demand for play-by-play had lessened. Now Joey is being asked to do something different than his play-by-play background, which he is very good at. He’s just going to have to tweak his style a little bit. And there's no way that it’s not going to happen. The only reason why that would not happen is because his ego would not allow him to make a change – something I’ve battled – or he doesn’t have the intellect to overcome the two styles of the two companies he’s worked for. And he’s certainly not lacking in intellect. He’s very bright. He’s a student of the business and a lifelong fan, much like myself. So I hope he’s not as stubborn as I was. I don’t think he will be, and I’m sure he’ll have plenty of WrestleMania moments of his own.
WWE.com: So it sounds like the path Joey is taking is very similar to the one you took when you started with WWE.
J.R.: As far as being play-by-play men, yes. Like Joey, I had to tweak my style to be more of a storyteller. And when I got here in 1993, my goal was also to work a WrestleMania. I was only on the payroll for about a month when it was decided that I would make my debut at WrestleMania. There’s a lot of pressure on you when it’s decided that your first assignment is the biggest show of the year… and dressed in a toga, no less. It was all different for me – I was working with a new producer, new talent, I was outdoors at Caesars Palace, I never worked with Savage and Heenan before… So it was a little scary the first go around. But we got through it.
Hopefully, we all have the same goal. If anybody in WWE that is involved in the production doesn’t have the goal to be a vital part of WrestleMania they really need to think about looking somewhere else for work. WrestleMania is the Super Bowl. It’s the World Series. It’s the culmination of what we all work toward, regardless of our role in the company. And the same goes for a wrestler. If a wrestler doesn’t wasn’t to be the top guy on the roster, then he should think about changing vocations.
But I certainly understand Joey’s disappointment. I sat home for WrestleMania X. I was living in Connecticut and wasn’t even brought to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the show, and I was less than one hour away. And that was a great WrestleMania, which featured one of the greatest WrestleMania matches – Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. That’s a match I would have loved to call. But not only did I not call the match, I wasn’t even in the building. I sat home and bought it on pay-per-view. So I understand the disappointment and how he feels. And I have the utmost respect for him.
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