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WWE News: Jim Ross on whether he was forced into retirement from WWE

Posted in: WWE News, MUST-READ LISTING
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Sep 17, 2013 - 11:04 AM

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross appeared on "The MMA Hour" with Ariel Helwani on Monday and was immediately asked about his retirement. "I've had a very blessed 39-year run in the sports entertainment world, the world of pro wrestling, so it seemed like a time to give with some other opportunities knocking on the door to give them a shot. No regrets. It's all been great and more adventures ahead, hopefully."

Helwani asked Ross if he was forced out of WWE. "After a good discussion and expressing myself and things I'd like to do and just the timing of everything I think it was... when you say mutual it means partially to somebody that you've been forced out the door or been treated poorly or what have you, which really wasn't the case. It was something that we had talked about kind of casually and it just seemed like with the lay of the land, it was good timing.

"I'm not really a negative guy. You and I have talked a few times and I'm pretty upbeat. I've always looked at the glass as half full as opposed than half empty. I had some health issues and thank God I'm over those. I'm taking good care of myself... I just think it was the right time. With everything presented as it was, it was just the very best decision to make and now we're going to move on to the next thing." You can view the show at MMAFighting.com.

Powell's POV: Ross said he had no plans to move into MMA broadcast work, but he would listen if someone is interested because he is a fan. He spoke about a recent meeting with Dana White and his visit to the UFC office. He said he and White spoke a lot about Oklahoma football, Brock Lesnar, and labeled it "more casual than anything else." Ross also spoke about the similarities between White and Vince McMahon, the transition from calling pro wrestling to MMA or football, his past discussion with HDNet about calling MMA, UFC production, whether there are too many UFC shows, whether it's tougher to find pro wrestling talent due to MMA emerging, still being emotionally invested in pro wrestling, and more. WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper also appears during the episode.


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