Jim Ross is one of the most beloved figures in the history of professional wrestling and to most fans, he is considered the best play by play man in the history of the business. Ross was the main voice during WWE’s most successful period known as The Attitude Era and also had an important role as WWE’s Head of Talent Relations from the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Without JR, so many great talents may never have even set foot in a WWE ring.
Ross has written a new autobiography talking about his life in the wrestling business as an announcer and working behind the scenes in WWE as well as many other promotions. The book is appropriately called “Slobberknocker: My Life In Wrestling” and is available for pre-order on Amazon now with an October 17 release date.
There are some big WWE names attached to the book with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon writing the foreword and JR’s good friend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin writing the afterword.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated, JR shared a story about how Vince McMahon wrote him a very personal letter that helped him a lot during a difficult time.
There is a letter in the book from Vince that he wrote to me when I was sick with Bell’s Palsy for a second time. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was battling depression. I didn’t want to come out of the house. Vince told me how badly he wanted me to come back to work, and he wrote, “Get the f— back up!” That might seem abrasive to some, but I knew he was being real and coming straight from the heart. Vince’s letter was a handwritten one that he had somebody from the office deliver to my door, and he let me know exactly how much I meant to him.
Vince was so great at the “Mr. McMahon” character that some people think he wouldn’t want to help people in real life, and that’s just not true.
That sounds pretty cool and like something that really was genuine on Vince’s part. If Vince wanted it to be known to the public then we would have known about it years ago. The fact that JR is going to share it in the book makes me intrigued by what may be in there.
There are plenty of stories out there about Vince being hard on JR and even mocking his physical appearance at times, but there’s a difference between Vince the man and Mr. McMahon the television character. I still think WWE should have appreciated JR more than they did because he’s their best play by play guy ever.
There’s more in the interview with Sports Illustrated with JR talking about how much Paul Heyman has meant to him and he gives some great reasons as to why you should buy his book.
