WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross made his weekly appearance on the Sean Pendergast radio show on Yahoo Sports on Wednesday and was asked whether he knew he was going to be fired. "I had no idea whatsoever," Ross said. "It came as a complete surprise." He said no one has told him that it's part of a storyline. "I'm not in the plans, so we move on."

Ross noted that he will continue to work for the company and will be going to Stamford next week to work on two more Legends Roundtables shows. "Hopefully I will be around to contribute to the WWE Network, which launches next year."

Ross agreed that it seemed like John Laurinaitis seemed to take some pleasure in firing him on the air. Ross said he was responsible for hiring Laurinaitis when he didn't have a job. "I thought he was having a little bit too much fun," said Ross. "But he has to live with that, I don't."

Ross was also asked about the TMZ-style ambush interview that ran on the WWE website. "Thank God I'm smarter than I look," Ross said. "I just kept walking." He said he chose not to speak and it wasn't a case of him being speechless. "I just chose not to speak because what do you gain by it?... The questions were a little bit low road. The kid is doing what he's told to do. He was probably given the questions."

Ross was also asked about the three-man booth. He said it was tough because Michael Cole is positioned as the antagonist while playing the play-by-play role. He said he never quite mastered the role they put him in. You can listen to the show at YahooSPortsRadio.com/shows/sean-pendergast/jim-ross-departure-from-the-wwe-and-ou-football-9109/.

Powell's POV: Vince McMahon and his cronies should be ashamed by their latest juvenile bullying stunt at Ross's expense. Ross has handled it with class thus far, and plugged several WWE related projects, including the network launch in this interview. Walking to the back on Monday without showing any emotion and then ignoring the idiotic TMZ wannabe questions was the best way to handle an embarrassing situation.

It's also sad that WWE is emulating the TMZ approach rather than innovating on the website. One can only hope that Vince gets the same treatment at some point from the actual TMZ cameras at a time when he least wants media attention. Ross noted that he is celebrating his 18th wedding anniversary with his wife Jan today, so congratulations to them both. Sadly, Jan Ross was at ringside on Monday and had to watch the company's latest attempt to humiliate her husband in his home state.

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