Jim Ross says popular 2000s WWE star lacked personality
Jim Ross was a lead play-by-play commentator during WWE's Ruthless Aggression era. The legendary announcer recently gave his thoughts on how a wrestler from that generation, Maven Huffman, failed to connect.
In 2001, Maven won the inaugural season of the Tough Enough reality show. The three-time Hardcore Champion wrestled for WWE for four years before leaving the company in 2005. Since 2023, he has gained more than 500k subscribers on his popular YouTube channel.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said Maven did not have enough personality to be a top star in WWE:
"He just didn't have that innate, natural ability to connect with the audience. A finer guy, sweeter guy, nicer guy you'll never meet, so he should have been put into an area that he could be successful on a good, high level, and that was never gonna be a wrestler unless he had a personality transplant." [1:39:56 – 1:40:24]
The latest Grilling JR episode revolved around New Year's Revolution 2005. During the pay-per-view, Maven unsuccessfully challenged Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship.
How Jim Ross would have presented Maven Huffman
Maven previously expressed an interest in returning to WWE. He even auditioned to be an announcer in 2020. However, conversations ended when the company cut back on new hires due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jim Ross believes the 2000s star was always better suited as an on-screen character rather than an in-ring competitor:
"Maven never lived up, in my opinion, to [his potential]. Maven should have been a talker of some kind, a color guy, a broadcaster, a host." [1:39:45 – 1:39:55]
Maven's final WWE match aired on the June 26, 2005, episode of Sunday Night Heat. He teamed up with Antonio and Romeo in a losing effort against The Hurricane, Rosey, and Val Venis.
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Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
