Jim Ross Talks Vince McMahon's Announcing Instructions, Bobby Heenan, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

Jim Ross chatted recently with The Big Lead about various topics related to his Fox Sports 1 debut and wrestling. Below are some of the highlights.

On getting instructions not to “yell” at the audience from Vince McMahon in his earpiece:

“He’s told me many times not to yell at the audience. My interpretation of yelling: I got excited, I was emotionally invested in the fans, and my style was that of an old school sportscaster. If the moment merited raising one’s voice or tone or inflection, I did that organically and naturally. It just happened. Sometimes, Vince didn’t share my timing, obviously, so he would tell me not to yell at the audience.

He may have been right on some of those occasions, and I think that sometimes I was right. That was my style. That was how I worked. I presented the product with a little bit of gusto, and a little bit more fuel in my tank.”

The conversation later shifted to the greatest workers in the business, and Paul Heyman’s name was brought up on the microphone side. Ross agreed he was one of the best, but said another man took the cake for being the best manager of all-time:

“I was focused on wrestlers. If you had asked what manager you’d pick, I’d have a difficult time picking. I love Paul Heyman, and I was there for his first gig on national television. But for those who don’t remember, the greatest all-around skilled manager in history is Bobby Heenan. It’s not even close. Bobby Heenan was a good bump-taker, and in today’s world, would be considered an excellent in-ring worker as a wrestler.

One thing that you want your manager to be able to do is to take a good ass-whooping. To take bumps. You work to that. You work to the fact that you want a manager to finally get his comeuppance. Bobby Heenan’s ability to bounce around the ring at the hands of a sworn hero is not equaled. If you look at his work as a wrestler, manager, and broadcaster, there are very few guys can even compare with him in those three skill-sets. Heenan’s advantage over Heyman would come in the physicality.

Heyman, in my opinion, is the better broadcaster of the two. As a talker, it’s very subjective. Today, Heyman is so far ahead of everybody else that people perceive that there’s never been anybody like him. There are so few great talkers in the business today that those who are stand out more vividly.”

He also was asked to talk about the prospects of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as leaders in WWE down the line:

“I think they’re going to be great leaders because they have an inherent love and understanding of the genre. I don’t think anyone can lead WWE without understanding the two key components of talent and television. This is a different field than being the president of the New England Patriots, for example. Bob Kraft is smart enough to leave the football operations to Bill Belichick and company, and he’s also smart enough as a businessman to hire really good people to manage the other aspects of the business.

I think that Triple H and Stephanie will have good instincts on which people to surround themselves with. More importantly, I think they’ll have thorough understanding of the core business as far as to assemble a team of wrestlers, prepare them, manage them, and produce compelling television.

This is not like a job for them — it’s not like going to a headhunter and hiring an executive. This is their life, and I’ll take my chances any day with somebody who has that kind of passion in managing a company.”

The entire, elaborate interview that discusses many other topics can be found here.

Editor’s Note:

The best part about Jim Ross is his blunt honesty. He doesn’t hold back, but it also respectful of others. I highly suggest reading the entire thing.

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