WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin interviewed Jim Ross for a recent Steve Austin Show podcast. During the interview, JR acknowledged that his announcing style would not fit well with the way today’s WWE broadcasts are run.
Regarding today’s WWE shows, JR admitted that the current WWE announcers have a difficult, unenviable position.
“I think those guys have a tough job. It’s just a different style. I’m kind of glad that I’m not [in that position],” Ross admitted. “[WWE] have more to sell. They have a mall where these other wrestling companies have a storefront. They have a smaller inventory to sell, whereas the WWE has a ton of things to promote and sell and their own network, et cetera, et cetera. So the announcers are obligated to get so much of that content in and that’s built into the show.”
According to Ross, his commentary style wouldn’t work well in today’s WWE, as he feels he is more of a play-by-play commentator, while today’s commentators are asked to plug a lot of different products and are very over-produced.
“I do miss walking out there and sitting down and going to work, but I don’t know that my style in what I’m most comfortable in doing would be applicable in WWE these days based on how the guys are produced and the obligations they have to get the product over and all the stuff they [have] got to sell.”
JR also spoke about flying to Memphis every Wednesday to record with Jerry Lawler for the WWE 2K16 video game, noting that they picked right where they left off in terms of on-air chemistry.
“This sounds egocentric, I’m sure, [but] we hadn’t missed a beat. It was so natural. It would be like, I would suggest this. I always thought that [Austin] versus the Rock had great chemistry and I believe that [those] guys, in a different time, not 2015 [going] into 2016, but in a different time, [Austin and the Rock] could have been away from each other and [they] could be booked back into a match and I’d be very disappointed if [Austin and the Rock] missed too many beats. There was just a genuineness, an authenticity, and a feel, and that’s kind of what Jerry and I had.”
