When Ross had a second bout with Bell's Pallsy towards the end of 1998, he was removed from commentary for several months. Michael Cole took the seat of JR next to Jerry Lawler from December 1998 through March 1999. This was around the time that WWE wanted to push "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as a heel too, so they decided to turn JR into a heel again. JR returned to WWE TV on March 1, 1999 when he confronted Bart Gunn and complained about how he was treated. He said he wanted to come back, but people in WWE told him that nobody wanted to look at somebody that was ugly like him. They were using his real life health problems to somehow justify turning him heel. That led to Williams saving JR and the heel turn was on for Ross. http://youtu.be/T2nJLthgQVY In the weeks that followed, they had Ross do other heel things like setting up a commentary table with Williams where they were seated right in front of Cole & Lawler. The fans really weren't booing them although they were supposed to. Ross returned to commentary at WrestleMania 15 because Steve Austin and The Rock wanted him to call their main event match. Ross stayed in his commentary position for most of the next decade right where he belonged. After Ross failed as a heel in 1996, why would they try to do it three years later? By 1999, JR was more of a beloved announcer after so many memorable calls and the fans really didn't want to boo him. His heel turn was completely ignored once he returned to the announce table full time after WrestleMania 15 in 1999. It's definitely something WWE wants you to forget.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
