Jim Ross Nearly Signed With Impact Wrestling

Business picked up in the WWE this past year when good ol’ Jim Ross returned to call The Undertaker’s match at WrestleMania 33. After the bout, it was revealed that JR had signed a two year deal to return to the company, but his role was not revealed. The voice of the Attitude Era and perhaps the most legendary voice in wrestling history recently revealed on his latest Ross Report that his WWE return nearly didn’t happen as he was close to signing with Impact Wrestling to call Slammiversary.

“Not that long ago before I signed to return to WWE the Friday night before WrestleMania. My team was having ongoing business discussions with Impact Wrestling regarding the iTV project, but also, which a lot of people know about, but also about me being the play-by-play voice for Slammiversary,” Ross said. “And so that was in the works. We weren’t close to getting a deal done but the talks were ongoing.”

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“Look, if we had come to terms and I didn’t have any other contractual issues, I would have no problems what-so-ever being a part of an event like Slammiversary,” said JR. “So I wish them good luck, have a good show and make me want to buy another one. That’s your job this weekend.”

The Hall of Famer’s WWE return came only weeks after he had tragically lost his wife in an accident earlier this year. Ross stated on his blog that being back “home” was helping his grieving process.

As for why he hasn’t been pegged to take over lead duties on Monday or Tuesday nights, Ross revealed that he actually prefers his new role in the WWE.

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“At this stage of my career, I am much more interested in the quality of my work rather then the frequency of travel of it which translates to; I am not interested in going back on the road every week as I did for so many years. Working on events such as the U.K. special, the occasional NXT booking, etc are right down my alley and are projects that I get to work with new partners and new talents which is always fun. As I mentioned on a recent Ross Report, I love ‘coming out of the bullpen’ and trying to throw a few strikes whenever WWE deems I’m needed.

WWE recently announced that Ross and WWE Hall of Famer Lita will be calling the upcoming Mae Young Classic.

The single elimination tournament will air exclusively on the WWE Network starting August 28th. The final match will stream live from Las Vegas September 12th at 10 p.m. ET.