Jim Ross ‘not angry’ about WWE firing, calls Josh Barnett ‘perfect partner’ for New Japan Pro Wrestling

WWE Hall of Fame inductee JIm Ross makes his commentating debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV on Friday (March 5, 2016) with Josh Barnett. The veteran broadcaster will also sit down for a tell-all interview with Michael Schiavello on “The Voice Versus” prior to the wrestling card.

When it comes to pro wrestling announcers and broadcasters, few are lauded more greatly or held in higher esteem than WWE Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Ross.

“Good Ol’ JR” has beyond the mic for some of the most memorable calls in WWE and pro wrestling history and, of course, worked in talent relations among other duties as a company executive with the promotion. But when Ross moved on from WWE in 2013, another commentating gig for calling the action inside the squared circle was not yet on the horizon.

Ross, 64, called some boxing with Golden Boy Promotions on FOX Sports 1–where he is also a columnist–and the veteran commentator also called the Battlegrounds MMA eight-man tournament alongside retired UFC middleweight/light heavyweight Chael Sonnen. In addition to that, he hosts a highly-successful weekly podcast on Podcastone.com called “The Ross Report,” and writes a weekly wrestling blog on his website JRsbarbq.com, where you can also purchase items from his signature line of barbecue sauces and products.

On Friday night, Ross will be back in the world of professional wrestling, when he calls the action with UFC heavyweight contender, Josh Barnett for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV.

It’s safe to say that Ross feels like he is at home again.

“Oh yeah, it’s still like riding a bike,” Ross told MMAmania.com. “With Josh, we didn’t even do a rehearsal show. They asked us if we wanted to. I said, ‘well look, we are going to do a voice over right?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘So if we don’t like what we got we can do it over. So let’s record it like it’s live ammunition here, and see what we get.’ So, that is what we did and we liked it and we just try to get better on each show. It’s an adjustment period. I gotta learn who the guys are, the wrestlers are by sight and then I have to make sure I pronounce their names correctly. It sounds like small potatoes, but they are both big deals because it’s all about recognizing things. It’s easier when you got a singles match. But when you got tag matches and six-man tags and eight-man tags, then it can get a little dicey.

“Been working with Josh, he knows all these guys by sight. He’s called on the matches on AXS. He’s wrestled over there. He’s fought over there. He’s the perfect partner for me. He’s really great at explaining holds and strategies. So what we are trying to do Michael, is bring back more of a sports presentation feel for the broadcast. That is our goal and it will be a work in progress, but that is what we are shooting for. We are not looking to corner the market on hoity announcer repartee. There will be some funny stuff, but it will be organic; it will be real and not planned. We are really focused on what is on the screen and that way it lets the viewer suspend their disbelief to a degree. If they are relaxed and do that you can get lost in the story. The stories are very physical and very compelling for most guys.”

Barnett–who was working with Mauro Ranallo until WWE hired him for Smack Down–has the utmost respect for Ross, and in a recent interview with SiriusXM Fight Club said his new broadcasting partner is an “incredible professional.”

Ross shares a similar level of adulation for Barnett, and says there is no one better suited to call the action with him for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“I don’t believe I can find a more perfect partner for this product,” Ross said. “His product knowledge, knowledge of the culture, his experience in the voice over room–he’s got it down–€”he doesn’t have any issues recreating excitement. I’ve done that for years on voiceovers. Hundreds and hundreds of hours on wrestling on thousands of matches in voice over sessions. I’ve grown accustomed to it and don’t have a problem with it. Josh is great. It’s great to have a guy… He can prepare less and do a great job, but that is not his style. I think he has this desire also… I think he has this desire that he wants to be, Michael, the best in the game and I can promise you that my desire is for our team is to be considered the best broadcasting team in the genre of pro wrestling. Whether we achieve that or not remains to be seen, but we have goals. We are competitive and maybe will think it’s egocentric. Well it may be a little of that too. You got to have to have a little bit of swagger. You’ve got to have a little bit of swag to survive in show business and at the end of the day we are still in show business.”

The New Japan shows are already pre taped and Ross and Barnett lay down all the commentary in voice over sessions, which has a unique and different set of challenges as opposed to being live at ring side. The New Japan show that airs on Friday (March 5, 2016) features an Intercontinental title match between Hirooki Goto and Shinsuke Nakamura, which, of course, has already taken place.

Ross explained how he prepares for a typical recording session.

“The show that airs this Friday night, I want to say that show was taped in May of 2015, but for me it’s all new,” Ross began to explain.  “I don’t go online. I don’t go read the internet about these matches and get preconditioned based on what they were or this is a disappointment based on their last match or this match is five-star classic or whatever. I just do my research on the talent on why the matches are going on in a normal and traditional research and preparation. Like I did in WWE, I’d rather the match come to me and not be preconditioned by knowing the finish and all that stuff. I don’t need to know all that. I do a better job and I keep myself connected emotionally better if I don’t know. Little tricks of the trade. I don’t need to know every minute detail of a wrestling match. I didn’t know every minute detail of the XFL or the Atlanta Falcons or the MMA I’ve done, the boxing I’ve done or am gonna do. I always tell people this and this sounds egocentric as hell, turn on the monitor and I’ll call it. That’s all I’ll tell you. Now I will go out there and call it well, or great or not so good. But put the picture on the monitor, I’ll be prepared and I’ll give you the best call I can. I feel if I’m prepared and you give me the right pictures we are going to be fine.”

For Ross, it’s “absolutely” imperative that he gives the audience his honest first reactions and impressions. In other words, yes, he may know the outcome of a match because they are pre recorded, but when he calls said match, he’s seeing it for the first time along with the viewer to make sure there is an organic quality to it.

“I knew Nakamura lost the intercontinental title,” he revealed. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how long the match was. I don’t know the general outcome and then I forgot about it and moved on. I’m not an actor. I don’t know how to play a role of a broadcaster. That’s not what I do and so maybe I don’t have the skills like some announcers to be actors, but that’s not what I do. I’m a story teller and I tell the best stories when I’m on the same journey as the people who are listening.”

Ross has called thousands of matches in his illustrious career and he has a unique brand of delivery. He is responsible for many catch phrases like “tougher than a two-dollar steak,” “slobberknocker,” and “business is about to pick up here.” And probably none more iconic than the line from the famous 1998 “Hell in a Cell” match between The Undertaker and Mankind where he said, “as God as my witness he is broken in half,” after The Undertaker tossed Mankind off the top of the steel cage onto the announcer’s table.

The WWE Hall of Famer was asked to describe what separates him from the others in his field and what fans can expect to hear during New Japan Pro Wrestling that will truly stand out.

“Well, they are going to see the matches and they are going to hear the accompanying words,” said Ross, who is currently penning an auto-biography. “In other words you are going to hear one piece of music. We are all going to hear the same music. Josh and I are going to do our best to put the appropriate lyric to that sound and that music. So in other words, when the match is ongoing we are not going to be digressing to other topics of discussion. Look at it this way. The easiest way to explain it somebody: If you are a football broadcaster and you are in a live ball situation. So in other words, the quarterback is taking the snap and the ball is in play, you always here the broadcasters talking about what the audience is seeing while the ball is alive. I’d like to have the same philosophy in this New Japan product. Bell to bell we are going to bring you what we are seeing, what we are feeling while the match is ongoing. What it means to the winner. What it means to the loser, all these things. But the match is going to be the focal point. Not what’s trending, not other things that announcers are compelled and instructed to provide, the information to provide.

“You will hear that early and they will hear us talk about holds,” he continued. “Not just cute little names guys come up with for holds. But, why the holds work, how you counter them and what body part they are afflicting without being boring or slow. I got to think it won’t take long. The product we are calling is very announcer friendly for us and the other thing, for example, this Friday night we have two matches on our whole show, so there is plenty of time for these guys to tell a story and plenty of time for us to embellish that story and make it a little bit better. So I think it is a real good mix. I felt really good about that situation. It was a product I was comfortable with. I believed in it. I had confidence in it. I didn’t think I would be trying to make something out of something that isn’t there. So far we have six shows in the can. So far we have six shows in the can and they are great. We had a blast.”

New Japan Pro Wrestling airs on Friday night at 9 p.m. ET on AXS TV, but that isn’t the only program to feature Ross that evening. He will sit down with Michael Schiavello for a hour-long tell-all interview on “The Voice Versus.” at 8 p.m. ET.

With over 40 years in the pro wresting business, Ross has a treasure trove of stories, secrets and behind the scenes moments that would have any fan hanging on his every word. Will fans hear some revealing stories they haven’t heard before during his interview with Schiavello?

“I think so; I think you will,” Ross admitted. “We are talking about some ups and downs affiliated with my bells palsy, the facial paralysis issue I had, how I come to leave WWE in my retirement. I told Michael, it’s in the promo that I wasn’t going to retire, I got fired. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not a big deal. I’m not angry about it. It just happened. I was driving the train at that SummerSlam symposium and the train derailed and so I got to be responsible for it. Whether or not I was the cause of the derailment or not is highly questionable, quite frankly, but I can’t deny who was the driver of the train.”

Ross seems at peace with his past and departure from the WWE. He is grateful for the endeavors and opportunities that have come his way because of it.

“Look, it’s lead to some really cool things. I started podcasting. That’s been a blessing and I love podcasting. My show is doing great. We average over a half million downloads a week, off one show a week. I really appreciate folks checking us out every Tuesday night at nine o’clock a new show drops on Podcast One and Itunes. It’s free. Then I’m working on the FITE app. It’s an amazing tool. It’s a free app. If you have a smart device, smart phone or tablet or smart TV and Wi-Fi you’re in. We have great MMA cards that are off the beaten path, they’re small, but from those small cards come big stars somewhere down the road. So I’m having a blast with that and then, of course, CBS Sports Net starts on March 12th, a monthly series. I think in July and August. We were going to fight under the stars in downtown Vegas on the corner from the D Hotel and Casino, but I don’t think the athletic commission will sanction them in the summer with the heat.”

WWE Hall of Fame inductee JIm Ross makes his commentating debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV on Friday (March 5, 2016) with Josh Barnett. The veteran broadcaster will also sit down for a tell-all interview with Michael Schiavello on “The Voice Versus” prior to the wrestling card.

When it comes to pro wrestling announcers and broadcasters, few are lauded more greatly or held in higher esteem than WWE Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Ross.

“Good Ol’ JR” has beyond the mic for some of the most memorable calls in WWE and pro wrestling history and, of course, worked in talent relations among other duties as a company executive with the promotion. But when Ross moved on from WWE in 2013, another commentating gig for calling the action inside the squared circle was not yet on the horizon.

Ross, 64, called some boxing with Golden Boy Promotions on FOX Sports 1–where he is also a columnist–and the veteran commentator also called the Battlegrounds MMA eight-man tournament alongside retired UFC middleweight/light heavyweight Chael Sonnen. In addition to that, he hosts a highly-successful weekly podcast on Podcastone.com called “The Ross Report,” and writes a weekly wrestling blog on his website JRsbarbq.com, where you can also purchase items from his signature line of barbecue sauces and products.

On Friday night, Ross will be back in the world of professional wrestling, when he calls the action with UFC heavyweight contender, Josh Barnett for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV.

It’s safe to say that Ross feels like he is at home again.

“Oh yeah, it’s still like riding a bike,” Ross told MMAmania.com. “With Josh, we didn’t even do a rehearsal show. They asked us if we wanted to. I said, ‘well look, we are going to do a voice over right?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘So if we don’t like what we got we can do it over. So let’s record it like it’s live ammunition here, and see what we get.’ So, that is what we did and we liked it and we just try to get better on each show. It’s an adjustment period. I gotta learn who the guys are, the wrestlers are by sight and then I have to make sure I pronounce their names correctly. It sounds like small potatoes, but they are both big deals because it’s all about recognizing things. It’s easier when you got a singles match. But when you got tag matches and six-man tags and eight-man tags, then it can get a little dicey.

“Been working with Josh, he knows all these guys by sight. He’s called on the matches on AXS. He’s wrestled over there. He’s fought over there. He’s the perfect partner for me. He’s really great at explaining holds and strategies. So what we are trying to do Michael, is bring back more of a sports presentation feel for the broadcast. That is our goal and it will be a work in progress, but that is what we are shooting for. We are not looking to corner the market on hoity announcer repartee. There will be some funny stuff, but it will be organic; it will be real and not planned. We are really focused on what is on the screen and that way it lets the viewer suspend their disbelief to a degree. If they are relaxed and do that you can get lost in the story. The stories are very physical and very compelling for most guys.”

Barnett–who was working with Mauro Ranallo until WWE hired him for Smack Down–has the utmost respect for Ross, and in a recent interview with SiriusXM Fight Club said his new broadcasting partner is an “incredible professional.”

Ross shares a similar level of adulation for Barnett, and says there is no one better suited to call the action with him for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“I don’t believe I can find a more perfect partner for this product,” Ross said. “His product knowledge, knowledge of the culture, his experience in the voice over room–he’s got it down–€”he doesn’t have any issues recreating excitement. I’ve done that for years on voiceovers. Hundreds and hundreds of hours on wrestling on thousands of matches in voice over sessions. I’ve grown accustomed to it and don’t have a problem with it. Josh is great. It’s great to have a guy… He can prepare less and do a great job, but that is not his style. I think he has this desire also… I think he has this desire that he wants to be, Michael, the best in the game and I can promise you that my desire is for our team is to be considered the best broadcasting team in the genre of pro wrestling. Whether we achieve that or not remains to be seen, but we have goals. We are competitive and maybe will think it’s egocentric. Well it may be a little of that too. You got to have to have a little bit of swagger. You’ve got to have a little bit of swag to survive in show business and at the end of the day we are still in show business.”

The New Japan shows are already pre taped and Ross and Barnett lay down all the commentary in voice over sessions, which has a unique and different set of challenges as opposed to being live at ring side. The New Japan show that airs on Friday (March 5, 2016) features an Intercontinental title match between Hirooki Goto and Shinsuke Nakamura, which, of course, has already taken place.

Ross explained how he prepares for a typical recording session.

“The show that airs this Friday night, I want to say that show was taped in May of 2015, but for me it’s all new,” Ross began to explain.  “I don’t go online. I don’t go read the internet about these matches and get preconditioned based on what they were or this is a disappointment based on their last match or this match is five-star classic or whatever. I just do my research on the talent on why the matches are going on in a normal and traditional research and preparation. Like I did in WWE, I’d rather the match come to me and not be preconditioned by knowing the finish and all that stuff. I don’t need to know all that. I do a better job and I keep myself connected emotionally better if I don’t know. Little tricks of the trade. I don’t need to know every minute detail of a wrestling match. I didn’t know every minute detail of the XFL or the Atlanta Falcons or the MMA I’ve done, the boxing I’ve done or am gonna do. I always tell people this and this sounds egocentric as hell, turn on the monitor and I’ll call it. That’s all I’ll tell you. Now I will go out there and call it well, or great or not so good. But put the picture on the monitor, I’ll be prepared and I’ll give you the best call I can. I feel if I’m prepared and you give me the right pictures we are going to be fine.”

For Ross, it’s “absolutely” imperative that he gives the audience his honest first reactions and impressions. In other words, yes, he may know the outcome of a match because they are pre recorded, but when he calls said match, he’s seeing it for the first time along with the viewer to make sure there is an organic quality to it.

“I knew Nakamura lost the intercontinental title,” he revealed. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how long the match was. I don’t know the general outcome and then I forgot about it and moved on. I’m not an actor. I don’t know how to play a role of a broadcaster. That’s not what I do and so maybe I don’t have the skills like some announcers to be actors, but that’s not what I do. I’m a story teller and I tell the best stories when I’m on the same journey as the people who are listening.”

Ross has called thousands of matches in his illustrious career and he has a unique brand of delivery. He is responsible for many catch phrases like “tougher than a two-dollar steak,” “slobberknocker,” and “business is about to pick up here.” And probably none more iconic than the line from the famous 1998 “Hell in a Cell” match between The Undertaker and Mankind where he said, “as God as my witness he is broken in half,” after The Undertaker tossed Mankind off the top of the steel cage onto the announcer’s table.

The WWE Hall of Famer was asked to describe what separates him from the others in his field and what fans can expect to hear during New Japan Pro Wrestling that will truly stand out.

“Well, they are going to see the matches and they are going to hear the accompanying words,” said Ross, who is currently penning an auto-biography. “In other words you are going to hear one piece of music. We are all going to hear the same music. Josh and I are going to do our best to put the appropriate lyric to that sound and that music. So in other words, when the match is ongoing we are not going to be digressing to other topics of discussion. Look at it this way. The easiest way to explain it somebody: If you are a football broadcaster and you are in a live ball situation. So in other words, the quarterback is taking the snap and the ball is in play, you always here the broadcasters talking about what the audience is seeing while the ball is alive. I’d like to have the same philosophy in this New Japan product. Bell to bell we are going to bring you what we are seeing, what we are feeling while the match is ongoing. What it means to the winner. What it means to the loser, all these things. But the match is going to be the focal point. Not what’s trending, not other things that announcers are compelled and instructed to provide, the information to provide.

“You will hear that early and they will hear us talk about holds,” he continued. “Not just cute little names guys come up with for holds. But, why the holds work, how you counter them and what body part they are afflicting without being boring or slow. I got to think it won’t take long. The product we are calling is very announcer friendly for us and the other thing, for example, this Friday night we have two matches on our whole show, so there is plenty of time for these guys to tell a story and plenty of time for us to embellish that story and make it a little bit better. So I think it is a real good mix. I felt really good about that situation. It was a product I was comfortable with. I believed in it. I had confidence in it. I didn’t think I would be trying to make something out of something that isn’t there. So far we have six shows in the can. So far we have six shows in the can and they are great. We had a blast.”

New Japan Pro Wrestling airs on Friday night at 9 p.m. ET on AXS TV, but that isn’t the only program to feature Ross that evening. He will sit down with Michael Schiavello for a hour-long tell-all interview on “The Voice Versus.” at 8 p.m. ET.

With over 40 years in the pro wresting business, Ross has a treasure trove of stories, secrets and behind the scenes moments that would have any fan hanging on his every word. Will fans hear some revealing stories they haven’t heard before during his interview with Schiavello?

“I think so; I think you will,” Ross admitted. “We are talking about some ups and downs affiliated with my bells palsy, the facial paralysis issue I had, how I come to leave WWE in my retirement. I told Michael, it’s in the promo that I wasn’t going to retire, I got fired. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not a big deal. I’m not angry about it. It just happened. I was driving the train at that SummerSlam symposium and the train derailed and so I got to be responsible for it. Whether or not I was the cause of the derailment or not is highly questionable, quite frankly, but I can’t deny who was the driver of the train.”

Ross seems at peace with his past and departure from the WWE. He is grateful for the endeavors and opportunities that have come his way because of it.

“Look, it’s lead to some really cool things. I started podcasting. That’s been a blessing and I love podcasting. My show is doing great. We average over a half million downloads a week, off one show a week. I really appreciate folks checking us out every Tuesday night at nine o’clock a new show drops on Podcast One and Itunes. It’s free. Then I’m working on the FITE app. It’s an amazing tool. It’s a free app. If you have a smart device, smart phone or tablet or smart TV and Wi-Fi you’re in. We have great MMA cards that are off the beaten path, they’re small, but from those small cards come big stars somewhere down the road. So I’m having a blast with that and then, of course, CBS Sports Net starts on March 12th, a monthly series. I think in July and August. We were going to fight under the stars in downtown Vegas on the corner from the D Hotel and Casino, but I don’t think the athletic commission will sanction them in the summer with the heat.”