Jim Ross

James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as a play-by-play commentator for the WWE. He is known affectionately as JR or Good Ol' JR. Ross has been labeled as the greatest wrestling commentator of all time. After years of working various jobs in the professional wrestling industry, Ross became the primary play-by-play announcer for Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s. He went on to do commentary for the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling, before jumping to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), making his first appearance for the promotion at WrestleMania IX in 1993. During his tenure with WWE, Ross was widely regarded as the voice of the company, particularly during the Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was also the lead announcer for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on AXS TV from 2015 to 2018 and occasionally does play-by-play for boxing and mixed martial arts. He has been inducted into the WWE, NWA and Wrestling Observer Newsletter halls of fame, and has been honored by the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame twice. Outside of wrestling, Ross is known for his barbecue sauce and beef jerky brand, J.R.'s Family BBQ. He also hosts his own weekly podcast, Grilling JR. Early life James William Ross was born on January 3, 1952, in Fort Bragg, California. While attending Westville High School, Ross played first base on the Westville baseball team. Ross was a two-time all-conference football player for the Westville Yellowjackets in 1968–69. His maternal grandparents owned a general store in Westville, Oklahoma and his paternal grandfather, Dee Ross, owned an off-sale beer store and was a carpenter. Ross was also President of the Student Body, a 4-year letterman in basketball, and State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). He was the FFA Oklahoma Speech Champion in 1968 and 1969 and runner up for the FFA National Speech Championship in 1969. He was awarded the FFA State Degree in 1970, the organization's second highest award. He ran for and was elected vice president of the FFA Northeast District in 1970. Ross was also named Honorable Mention on the 1969 High School All-State Football team by the Tulsa World as a center.