10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (June 28)

8. What Kevin Dunn Told JR Before The 2008 Draft

Jim Ross Jerry Lawler
WWE.com

The latest episode of 'Grilling JR' with Conrad Thompson and Jim Ross is a must listen podcast. It does a deep dive on the 2008 WWE Draft, examines what life was like in the company around that time and explores Jim's frustration with being drafted from Raw to SmackDown.

Good ol' JR was p*ssed.

24 hours before that Raw, he sat in a hotel bar with WWE production chief Kevin Dunn and shared a few drinks. After sinking a couple, Ross asked Dunn if there was any chance he and Jerry Lawler might be split up in the Draft. Laughing, Dunn said it was a ridiculous notion and said JR had nothing to worry about.

To this day, Ross isn't quite sure if Kevin lied to his face or genuinely didn't know about the decision when they were chatting. It could easily have taken later that night or the next afternoon by Vince McMahon. Jim's main problem with being drafted is that nobody clued him in, and he found that disrespectful.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.