Todd Grisham: Vince McMahon ‘Hated Jim Ross For Whatever Reason’

Todd Grisham recalled how he was once positioned to become the new face of Monday Night Raw, replacing the legendary Jim Ross. Grisham explained that WWE had plans to retire Ross after WrestleMania in 2007, but the Hall of Famer’s immense popularity made it difficult for the company to move on.

“So eventually they said, ‘All right, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to give you the keys to Raw. You’re going to be the face. You’re going to call Raw. JR, we’re retiring him,’” Grisham stated. “But the receptions he was getting in all these buildings, and eventually they’re like we can’t take him off the air. He’s too big. Even though Vince tried to squash it. Vince hated Jim Ross for whatever reason. He fired him 10 times.”

Grisham recalled a specific incident in Oklahoma where McMahon attempted to use him to antagonize Ross in front of his hometown crowd. After the show went off the air, McMahon instructed Grisham to interrupt Ross’s address to the fans.

“So Jim Ross is in the ring, and Vince tells me grab a mic and go down there, and he gave me some questions. I go down there. ‘Sorry to interrupt you, JR, in front of the crowd, but how does it feel to be getting released by WWE and fired by Vince because he just doesn’t think you’re that good…’ and all these antagonizing things,” Grisham said.

Ultimately, Grisham chose to break character rather than continue the humiliation, despite the potential consequences from McMahon.

“The number one rule, you probably know this when you’re an interviewer, is to never give up the mic,” Grisham said. “But at that point, Jim Ross looked at me and goes, ‘Could I please have the microphone?’ And I’m thinking, Vince is gonna kill me if I give him the mic. But I was like, I just handed him the mic. I was like, I’m not gonna do it, and I’ll take the abuse. And JR went and said, I know those weren’t your questions. Those were his.”

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.