Jim Ross 'Feels Bad' For Vince McMahon Right Now
Vince McMahon temporarily stepped down as the CEO and chairman of the WWE on June 17th, handing over the keys to his job to his daughter, Stephanie. The 76-year-old is currently being investigated over allegedly paying more than $12 million in hush money to cover up sexual misconduct allegations he had with former WWE employees, including a $7.5 million pact with a former talent who claims McMahon coerced her into sexual acts, then demoted her and declined to renew her contract once she resisted further sexual contact.
With the news regarding McMahon constantly changing and new stories seemingly leaking left and right, many have speculated that these allegations might be the former chairman's downfall, while others think nothing will come of the situation. Regardless, it's been difficult to find many people who have sympathy for Vince in this scenario, but the former voice of the WWE, Jim Ross, revealed himself to be one such person on the latest episode of the "Grilling JR" podcast.
"I feel bad about all the sh*t's going on [in the WWE], it's terrible," Ross said. "I don't know what's true or what's not, but it's a tough one to digest, quite frankly, Vince's scenario. I feel bad for him."
Ross has stated in the past that despite his departure from WWE for AEW, the two long-time friends have kept in touch and are still friends to this day. He brushed off the notion that his comments about Vince's "situation" could have anything to do with Ross wanting a job with WWE again down the road.
"No, folks, I'm 70," Ross said. "I made the money, I saved it, I'm good. I don't want to go back to work there, I love working for Tony Khan, and not the stress and all the dissension ... I don't have to deal with that anymore, and that's what it had become [in WWE] for me."
"When your job becomes where you just don't enjoy going to work, that's kind of where I found myself," Ross continued. "I have never been in that mindset in my whole career. When you get all that political stuff, and politics, and the public company stuff and all that, somewhere along the way it's like, how much barbecue sauce can a guy eat?"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.