Jim Ross has rejected the idea that someone needs to have been a professional wrestler to successfully book a wrestling promotion.
The topic came up on Grilling JR after Bret Hart recently criticised WWE for having people instruct wrestlers despite their lack of in-ring experience. Hart made the comments during an interview with Kenny McIntosh for Inside the Ropes, specifically naming Bruce Prichard.
Conrad Thompson raised Hart’s comments with Jim Ross and pointed out that AEW President Tony Khan books the company despite never having wrestled professionally.
“No, absolutely not. Not even close. That’s not even a close assumption,” Ross said.
Ross pointed to legendary promoter Sam Muchnick as evidence that in-ring experience is not essential to becoming a successful booker.
“Sam Muchnick did pretty good in St. Louis, and I don’t remember Sammy ever putting on the tights,” Ross said. “If you understand the genre, and one has product knowledge, you can damn sure be a booker. I’ve booked some pretty successful cards, and made some fellows a lot of money, helped facilitate them making the money, and I never wrestled.”
Jim Ross Explains Where Wrestling Experience Does Matter
Jim Ross acknowledged that he has occasionally been physically involved in wrestling storylines but does not consider those appearances enough to qualify him as a wrestler.
“In some of those skits that we did, I don’t call it wrestling. I was embarrassed to do them. I still am embarrassed to think back on some of the days where I got booked into an angle, not being in shape, not being trained,” Ross said. “The JR announcer character’s popularity was the only thing that made it work. I’m honest. It wasn’t my skills, for God’s sake.”
However, Ross believes wrestlers do have an important role once a booker has established the direction of a storyline.
“Once the booker, who may not be a wrestler, creates the storyline, the torch needs to go to the wrestling people to lay out the match that you envision in your mind,” Ross said. “The value in having been a former wrestler really is all the money. It’s not creating the idea originally, it’s refining the idea.”
Ross therefore firmly rejected the suggestion that wrestling experience is a requirement for booking.
“So no, that’s bulls***,” he said. “I don’t think you have to be a wrestler to book whatsoever.”
Despite disagreeing with Hart’s argument, Ross stressed that he hadn’t read his full comments and didn’t question the sincerity of Hart’s opinion.
“Bret believes what he said. He believes the issue that he identified and his description of it. He believes it in his heart,” Ross said. “Now, whether he’s right or wrong is up to somebody else hearing the message and agreeing or not.”
