Jim Ross Says Vince McMahon Saw Himself In WWE HOFer

During the latest episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross went back and relived the infamous Monday Night RAW from February of 1997 when Shawn Michaels relinquished the WWF Championship, stating he had lost his smile. Ross revealed what the reaction of most talent backstage was to the news that Shawn was going to retire and drop the belt that night.

"It's a work, he's trying to get something, he's manipulating the old man because he knows Vince loves him," Ross said, "Vince sees himself as a young Vince in Shawn, all of those things."

Continuing to talk about Shawn Michaels' infamous "lost my smile" promo, Jim Ross went more in-depth on what the reaction was from talent. The Head of Talent Relations at the time mentioned how a champion relinquishing their title at the time was unheard of and how some were concerned Shawn would say things in his promo that were unscripted.

"There was a lot of confusion, wonderment, of what's going on," Ross said. "Unanswered questions. When wrestlers can't get the straight answer or the straight answer is not ready to be presented to them, they get very unsettled. I think that's what we got here on that day, it was just a day of being unsettled and all of that stuff, nobody knew exactly what the hell we were doing.

"A lot of stories floating around and how is this going to come off. Some guys were concerned that Shawn was going to have a live mic and he might say some things that are off-script. It was an interesting day of trying to get through that day and come out of the other side."

Later in 1997, Shawn Michaels would come back and set the stage for the infamous Montreal Screwjob when he faced Bret Hart at Survivor Series. During an interview last year, Bret Hart revealed that 1997 was the peak year of his career despite all the issues he had backstage that ultimately led to him leaving the WWE. At that same time, Jim Ross was the Head of Talent Relations for the WWE and spoke about how the stress from this time period escalated his Bell's Palsy condition that started in 1994.

"No but Bell's Palsy did," Ross said, when talking about whether or not this time caused him to lose his smile just like Shawn. "The stress and all of that from my life at the time affected the Bell's Palsy and created it. So in a way, it did and I've never smiled again. My two granddaughters are in the 10th grade and freshmen in college, and they've never seen grandad smile. So I lost my smile. It was the hand I was dealt."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.