Bret Hart recently argued that WWE’s problems stem from non-wrestlers telling talents how to work matches, and specifically called out Bruce Prichard by name. Jim Ross has a different take.
On Grilling JR, Ross made clear he believes Hart’s criticism is sincere rather than just noise, but that sincerity doesn’t mean Ross agrees with the substance of it. He noted this isn’t the first time Prichard has taken heat, given the nature of his role overseeing WWE creative.
I guarantee one thing, Conrad, Bret believes what he said. He believes it in his heart. Now whether he’s right or wrong or not is up to somebody else hearing the message and agreeing or not.
Ross disagreed with Hart on the core argument that someone shouldn’t be allowed to book wrestling if they never wrestled themselves. Ross rejected that framing outright, pointing to his own career as proof.
Despite being placed in physical, in-ring segments by WWE over the years, Ross was candid that he never considered himself an actual wrestler during those appearances, saying some of them still embarrass him to look back on. He credited whatever success those segments had entirely to his popularity as an announcer, not any wrestling skill.
Ain’t the first time Bruce has been criticized, Conrad. He’s in a role where he will always be subjective and potentially nailed to the cross because of who he reports to and what he’s doing.
No, absolutely not. Not even close. That’s not even a close assumption.
Still, Ross didn’t dismiss Hart’s concern completely. His actual position lands somewhere in between. Someone without in-ring experience can absolutely conceive a storyline, since understanding the audience and the business matters more at that stage than having taken bumps.
But once a story is set, Ross believes the execution- actually laying out how a match should be worked to bring that story to life.
And in some of those skits that we did, I don’t call wrestling. I was embarrassed to do them. I still am embarrassed to think back on some of the days where I got booked into an angle.
Hart’s original comments came from an interview where he contrasted WWE’s current approach with the creative freedom he had under Vince McMahon, arguing today’s environment has too many non-wrestlers dictating in-ring decisions, including Prichard.
