12 Incredible Behind-The-Scenes WrestleMania Photos

4. New Guy

The Rock Paige Ronda Rousey AJ Lee
WWE.com

The start of a complex working relationship between Jim Ross and Vince McMahon is represented exquisitely in this shot of a grinning JR wearing a toga in the currently-empty converted Caesars Palace car park.

As the charismatic-but-credible voice of WCW alongside Tony Schiavone for many years, Ross was a big acquisition for WWE, and represented an apparent tonal shift from the entertainment-heavy play-by-play calls of Gorilla Monsoon and McMahon himself.

With WWE always considered a cartoony alternative to the southern promotion, the reality of Ross' new circumstances were all too apparent when he was presented with the Roman garb to remain on trend with WrestleMania 9's coliseum aesthetic.

Vince would sour on Ross' style several times too, repeatedly removing him from broadcast duties from 1993-1994, before eventually utilising his skills permanently from late-1995, both as a commentator and the talent relations guru responsible for the hirings of Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley and countless others.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett