Jim Ross said on the Grilling JR podcast with Conrad Thompson that Shawn Michaels acted unprofessionally and could have been involved in a five-star match at SummerSlam 1996 if not for what JR described as “childish bullsh*t,” and that Vader’s subsequent loss of momentum was a direct result of Shawn’s influence with Vince McMahon.
“You don’t lose your cool like that,” JR said of the moment during the match where Shawn visibly yelled at Vader in the ring. “Shawn had the license to lose his cool because of his influence with the office. Shawn knew that Vince was going to back him no matter what he did, and that’s what happened. Shawn overplayed his hand, in my estimation. It was very unprofessional, and he’s just lucky Vader didn’t beat the sh*t out of him, because Leon could have.”
JR said Vader had done the work to earn the opportunity. “Leon had lost weight. He showed a better commitment to what he was doing. He had traveled a lot of miles. He needed an American base, and now he’s in the main event of a major pay-per-view wrestling for the biggest title that we have.”
He said one of Shawn’s complaints was about Vader’s gear. “I had to chew Leon’s ass out because he didn’t take it seriously that you got to wash your gear. When the loop is over, you go home, you wash your stuff. Leon had a propensity to leave his stuff in his bag.” JR said he called Vader to address it and Vader put him on speaker phone with his wife listening, who agreed with JR. Shawn later told JR directly: “I’m not gonna work with him no matter if you book it or not, because he won’t wash his gear, and it stinks. I get all that stink all over me.”
JR pushed back on the common narrative that WWE simply did not get the same version of Vader that WCW had. “We didn’t do vignettes on Vader of any significance. We didn’t set the table for him. Leon probably didn’t get the quality time in front of events that he should have. Leon didn’t have a big fan club there, and I never understood why. I don’t recall Vader being a guy that every time you worked with him, he sent somebody to the hospital.”
The original plan was for Vader to win the WWF title at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden, followed by Shawn regaining it in his hometown of San Antonio. Shawn’s complaints shifted the booking to Sycho Sid instead. “Shawn explained to Vince why he didn’t want to work with Leon. Vince has often told me, ‘That goddamn Shawn Michaels reminds me of me when I was younger.’ He’s talking about Shawn’s attitude, his demeanor. Shawn had the deck stacked, and because he had Vince in his back pocket, you know, Vince has his back.”
JR said the match itself, despite the in-ring incident, was not bad. “It just could have had a better result. The match got four stars. It could have been a five-star match if some of that childish bullsh*t had not occurred.”
He acknowledged Shawn has changed significantly since that era. “Over the course of time Shawn has changed, and he’s not that overbearing guy that was always seemingly at the center of controversy. Being drug and alcohol free doesn’t hurt things, so now you’re clear-headed again.”
If you use quotes from this article, please credit Grilling JR with Jim Ross (hosted by Conrad Thompson) with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
