WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was far from happy after being moved from RAW to SmackDown as part of the 2008 Draft.
The move marked the end of his legendary time as a Monday Night RAW broadcaster as well as the end of his tenure calling matches with long-time commentary ally Jerry Lawler.
Ross’ move saw Michael Cole replace him on RAW as the play-by-play announcer, and JR was unhappy as Bruce Prichard explained on his “Something to Wrestle” podcast. He said,
“We didn’t tell anybody [who was being drafted] and wanted a genuine reaction, which we got. [JR was like] ‘I ain’t happy about this by God. I’m gonna talk to somebody later on.’ So JR was none too happy. Again, you get the real emotion. It’s not a rib. It’s nothing else. It’s actually just something to get a true, passionate emotion from someone versus a phony, ‘Ah, well, here comes ‘SmackDown.’
“It was true. He was disappointed. He was a part of ‘Raw.’ He did see himself as the foundation of ‘Raw.’ And yes, we were looking to shake things up. That was why the move was made. Just shake things up. Make it different. And changing the lead play-by-play and commentators was one way of doing that to give the show different energy, to give the shows [a] different feel.”
Despite JR being unhappy with the move, Prichard stood by the decision not to tell him about the switch with Cole in advance. He said,
“I think if he had known, I believe that the reaction would not have been nearly as good.”
JR would remain on SmackDown until 2009 when a third battle with Bells Palsy would see him leave his full-time role as a WWE commentator.
Ross now calls the action for AEW but has been absent for the past month after suffering a nasty fall. JR recently said he has spoken to Tony Khan about his return.
