12 Things We Learned From Jim Ross: Under The Black Hat

5. The Cruelty Of Vince McMahon

Jim Ross Under the Black Hat
WWE

To get this out on front street from the get-go, there are times in Under the Black Hat where you can see that Vince McMahon isn't forever the devil that some make him out to be. Jim Ross himself even states at several points that the two are still friends to this day, that he has a lot to be thankful to McMahon for, and that Ross truly cherishes his over 25-year relationship with Vince.

That said, Under the Black Hat also highlights just how downright cruel Vince McMahon has been to J.R. over the decades.

Jim suggests that his decision to move back 'home' to Norman, Oklahoma hurt McMahon more than he ever let on - with Kevin Dunn pointing out how, despite the macho bravado, Vince doesn't like to be left by anyone - but that doesn't excuse any of the treatment that followed.

One example of this is Vince deciding on a "different direction" at the drop of a hat and getting J.R. to tell the locker room how he was being replaced in Talent Relations by John Laurinaitis. Another, more shocking example of McMahon's disgusting behaviour was when he informed Jim during a Waco, Texas Raw taping that tonight was to be his last night at the commentary desk.

That time, again it was pegged as a "different direction" for the company. But what really irks, is that McMahon refused Ross' wish to at least say goodbye on air to those who he'd for so long been the voice of wrestling to.

Going even further, there's the time that J.R. had a large chunk of his colon removed. Vince had rang the recovering Ross, informing him to tune in to Raw that night as they looked to acknowledge this trauma. This, of course, would be when McMahon did a skit depicting all manner of objects being pulled from the ass of a Jim Ross dummy.

That last one was enough to bring Jim's strong, ever-supportive wife Jan to tears. All so that Vince could get his damn licks in on J.R. once again.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.