Wrestling commentary favorite Jim Ross is now with All Elite Wrestling, having spent the better part of his career with WWE.
The WWE Hall of Famer's contract expired earlier this year and he was in no mood to sign a new deal after hardly getting on TV for most of 2018.
Speaking on the latest episode of Grilling JR, the 67-year-old explained his decision to walk away from WWE, as well as how Vince McMahon reacted when he told him.
“He was very emotional in that regard, as was I. It’s hard to explain, he’s got a soft heart more often than not but he doesn’t want anybody to see it," Ross said (via 411Mania).
"But I think, signing me to a two-year deal, I signed a two-year contract on Friday before WrestleMania on Sunday, and that was the WrestleMania that I came back as a surprise and helped broadcast the Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns match.
"That was my assignment, the main event. So that’s what he talked about this year, ‘Well, if you had stayed around,’ I said ‘Well, I got a great opportunity and I’m going to take it, it’s the best paying job I’ve ever had.’ And we discussed that a little bit and he said, ‘Well I can’t match that.’ ‘Well you can match it, you can match it, but you won’t match it, and nor would I advise you if I was in my old role, to match it.’ Let him go.”
Ross also revealed that the two-year deal he signed with the company wasn't something he asked for and feels like it was handed to him out of sympathy.
“I can tell you, when I didn’t engage in renewing my contract with them at the end of March, which is another big snafu on his staff, because there is no way that you would have my contract end a week before WrestleMania. That’s stupid. He admitted it, it’s stupid.
"That’s crazy. It was a bad position and somebody didn’t point it out to him or they wanted me to be gone and not have a chance to return, because he said to me, ‘JR, God dang it, if you had stayed, I was gonna have you work WrestleMania.’ This year, this WrestleMania, and I hadn’t even been on television. I worked two times in 2018. ‘Boy, that’s a great deal, JR, that’s a great job.’ No it’s not, it’s not a great job.
"It’s not a great job when you’re sitting home, and you’re trying to battle depression, and you’re grieving for your partner, and Jan, all that, had such a tough year. But I also think that his sympathy for me, and his empathy for me, got me a two-year contract which I didn’t ask for. But I got it, and it was good money.”
There was no way JR would have stuck around after being kept off TV that often, especially with AEW waiting in the slips. We doubt anyone's holding the move against him, the man was simply looking out for himself.