WWE match was "career-threatening" and potentially "disastrous," Jim Ross says
Jim Ross was WWE's lead play-by-play announcer in the early 2000s. The legendary commentator recently gave his thoughts on the company's higher-ups booking a series of "career-threatening" match stipulations during that time.
At SummerSlam 2000, Edge & Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz in the first Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) Match. The three teams met in another TLC Match at WrestleMania 17 in 2001, with Edge & Christian winning again.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said WWE's creative team booked too many "dangerous" weapon-based matches after the success of TLC:
"I always kept thinking they kept stretching it and stretching it, getting closer and closer and closer to where an inch here, an inch there is disastrous. It's career-threatening. I never knew what was gonna happen in those matches. I didn't wanna know, 'We're gonna do four tables.' Well, I can count to four almost every time without fail, so I just didn't wanna know. It kept it spontaneous for me, so I saw things in the ring that were breathtaking and scared the s**t out of me." [45:08 – 45:47]
TLC matches became so popular that WWE revolved an annual premium live event around the stipulation. The show took place for 12 consecutive years between 2009 and 2020.
Jim Ross compares TLC to Mick Foley vs. The Undertaker
At King of the Ring 1998, The Undertaker famously launched Mick Foley off the Hell in a Cell structure and through an announcer's table. Later in the match, Foley received a Chokeslam through a cell panel before being thrown back-first onto a set of thumbtacks.
Jim Ross agreed that the TLC stipulation was "too much" and compared the match to Foley's battle with The Undertaker:
"Yeah [TLC was too much], oh yeah. Always. Same with Foley and The Undertaker's Hell in a Cell match. Mick did things that he didn't need to do in that match in hindsight. Fantastic performance. One of the most memorable matches that I've ever called in my life in 50 years. That's all you need to know. But I always thought that the nature of the concept of these matches, these multi-tag matches, is everybody wants to be a star at some point." [43:45 – 44:28]
WWE's most recent TLC match occurred at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 27. Tony D'Angelo defeated Oba Femi in a Halloween-themed contest marketed as Tables, Ladders, and Scares.
What are your thoughts on Jim Ross' comments? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.
