The World Wrestling Federation recruited Ross, and he made his on-screen debut at WrestleMania IX at Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.
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James William Ross, a.k.a. Jim Ross was born on January 3, 1952. He is an American professional wrestling commentator and talent relations executive who is presently signed as a commentator, analyst, and senior adviser with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Ross is best known for his lengthy and illustrious career as a WWE play-by-play announcer. JR, or Good Ol ‘JR, is his endearing moniker. Ross is regarded as one of the all-time best wrestling pundits.
Ross became the lead play-by-play commentator for Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s after years of working numerous positions in the professional wrestling industry. He later worked as a commentator for the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and made his debut at WrestleMania IX in 1993. Ross was largely recognised as the company’s voice throughout his time with WWE, notably during The Attitude Era in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
From 2015 to 2018, he was the principal announcer for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on AXS TV, and he also performs play-by-play for boxing and mixed martial arts. He has been honoured twice by the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, as well as the WWE, NWA, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter halls of fame. J.R.’s Family BBQ, Ross’s barbecue sauce and beef jerky company, is well-known outside of wrestling. Grilling JR, his own weekly podcast, is also hosted by him.
Ross was a member of the Westville baseball team while attending Westville High School. For the Westville Yellowjackets in 1968–69, Ross was a two-time all-conference football player. Ross was also the Student Body President, a four-year basketball letterman, and the State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). In 1968 and 1969, he won the FFA Oklahoma Speech Championship and finished second in the FFA National Speech Championship. Ross excelled academically in high school, joining the National Honor Society his sophomore year. Representative Wiley Sparkman nominated Ross to be a page for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1969.
| Name | James William Ross |
| DOB | 3 January 1952, 70 years |
| Height | 183 cm |
| Weight | 110 kg |
| Occupation | Sports Commentator, Actor, Television producer |
| Professional Debut | 1974 |
| Wife | Jan Grillette (m. 1993; died 2017) |
| Professional Name | Jim Ross, JR, Jim Woods |
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The World Wrestling Federation recruited Ross, and he made his on-screen debut at WrestleMania IX at Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, in a specially designed outdoor setting. The next weekend, he took over for Gorilla Monsoon on WWE Wrestling Challenge. Bobby Heenan and Ross worked together on the show until Heenan departed the WWE in December 1993. When he initially joined the WWE, Ross was the major voice of the company’s pay-per-view events, announcing both WrestleMania IX and the King of the Ring with Heenan and Randy Savage in 1993.
According to Ross on the September 23, 1996 edition of Raw, he was dismissed on February 11, 1994, two weeks after his first incident of Bell’s palsy on January 30, 1994. He then worked as an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. Vince McMahon was unable to continue commentating on WWF Monday Night Raw after being charged by the US federal authorities in 1994. The WWF rehired Ross to stand in for McMahon with Randy Savage over the summer after a few weeks of Gorilla Monsoon on play-by-play. Ross was fired by the WWF after he was acquitted of disclosing inside information to media. Ross returned to Smoky Mountain Wrestling for a short time.
During the Monday Night Wars, with Jerry Lawler, Ross was the “voice of Raw Is War,” cementing his status as one of the best wrestling commentators as WWE became the only significant wrestling organisation in North America. Following the WWE Brand Extension, Ross focused only on the Raw brand, performing play-by-play on Raw-only pay-per-views while SmackDown!-only pay-per-views were introduced by the SmackDown! announce crew.
Ross’ WWE contract terminated in October of 2006. Neither party had signed a new contract at the time, so they were working week to week under the provisions of the expiring contract. Ross said on his official blog in November 2006 that he had signed a new one-year deal with WWE and would be working year-to-year. Steve Austin inducted Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007 on March 31, 2007. Then he was lately drafted to SmackDown.
Ross was re-hired as a full-time Raw commentator on July 25, 2011, by WWE’s new COO, Triple H. John Laurinaitis, the new Raw Interim General Manager, dismissed Ross on October 10 for walking out on Triple H a week before. Ross later disclosed that he was not given advance warning of his public firing. On October 17, Ross and John Cena teamed up to beat Michael Cole and Alberto Del Rio in a tag bout. Cole challenged Ross to a “Michael Cole Challenge” a week later, putting Ross’ job on the line. Ross won two of the three challenges, which took place on November 14.
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
Slammy Award for “Tell Me I Did Not Just See That” Moment of the Year (2011) – Rapping during the “Michael Cole Challenge”
Jim Ross’s wife was Jan Grillette. She is no more in the world. She lost her life when she got in an accident while a 17 year-old with his moped smashed her. Jan had multiple skull injuries and couldn’t sustain the injuries. Jan was a flight attendent. Also, Ric Flair says he introduced Ross to his late wife, Jan. Ric Flair was there on an airliner when Ross first met Jan, a flight attendant, according to Ross’ autobiography. He has two grandkids and two daughters from two prior marriages.
