WWE: The 10 Craziest Jim Ross Reactions To Amazing Spectacles

2. Shake Hands With The Devil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRP8-oJZtP8 So many of JR's big reactions took place during Stone Cold Steve Austin matches, and by no coincidence. Steve Austin personified the jaw-dropping qualities of the Attitude Era, and he had a true friendship with Jim Ross that equipped Ross with a gift for describing the legend. It was the main event of Wrestlemania X-Seven, and Austin was challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship in his home state of Texas. It was built upon the disdain between these men, but with the added fuel of Austin's wife Debra being used as a pawn by the evil Mr. McMahon. She was mercifully written out of the picture prior to the big event, and the match took off like a rocket. JR's partner at the announce table is the amazing Paul Heyman. They had their work cut out for them, as did The Rock and Austin, given the card that night. After several hours of intense action €“ including a triangle ladder match for the Tag Team titles, and The Undertaker vs. Triple H with their accompanying grand entrances €“ Dwayne and Steve had to capture and hold the huge stadium's attention. A last-minute No-Disqualification stipulation certainly helped, as it enabled the men to compete with the extreme action seen previously in the evening. "No disqualification is a license to maim here!" says Ross, as the action goes table-side and Austin smashes The Rock with the ring bell. Heyman and Ross tend to play off each other, rather than work at odds with each other €“ a feat given their respective "horses" in this race, but professionalism reigns. Speaking of personalities, it speaks volumes that the man (Austin) who was once told by Eric Bischoff that he wouldn't amount to much in his plain black trunks and boots, has the crowd on the edge of their seats while wrestling another man in plain black trunks and boots. The Rock is busted wide open and Austin takes advantage, "A succession of hard rights rattling the brain of The Rock". This is the kind of word-smithing that flows so organically from JR, and only him. The match is just half-way through, and Ross is beside himself with the stress of it all: " the most personal of WWF Title matches that I have ever witnessed!" Both men are bleeding, JR is fighting to maintain composure, and there is not a single person sitting in that stadium. "THE CHALLENGER, JUST BY GOD, WILL NOT QUIT. THIS IS OFF-THE-PAGE INTENSE!" Who better to describe Austin's heroics than Jim Ross? Both wrestlers flip and flop to everyone's perverted delight. There is blood, tables, chairs, TV monitors, and finally, a cover by Austin. Two count, and a double-bird in the face of The Rock. He takes the insult as a challenge, and flips Austin into a sharpshooter, blood streaming down both men's faces. The hold is broken, then applied by Austin and broken again. "THIS IS GETTING ULTRA UGLY," professes Ross, and this is the sort of match where no hyperbole is too much. The non-stop action, the variety of moves, and the sass exhibited by Rock and Austin makes this a match worthy of big praise. It is a downer to see McMahon strut down the aisle in the middle of such a pure dance between two great grapplers. Vince is here under the guise of observing the finish, but pulls The Rock off Austin when he's got the cover. It results in a series of misdeeds on McMahon's part that turn The Rock into The People's Hero €“ a hero who loses his WWF Championship to the dastardly Steve Austin. "WHAT IS THIS? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" cries Ross. "STONE COLD IS SHAKING HANDS WITH SATAN HIMSELF! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEONE TELL ME THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" Another turning point in the WWF, narrated by the best in the biz.