AEW announcer and Senior Advisor “Good Ole’ J.R.” Jim Ross took to an episode of his “Grilling Jr” podcast to talk about a number of topics including Thunderbolt Patterson being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Ross said, “Congratulations to Thunderbolt, he deserves it. The things he went through to achieve stardom, earn a living in a very racist-oriented business [as] pro wrestling was at times, especially then. It’s just it’s a shame how the old Caucasian promoters looked on — I remember Cowboy [Bill Watts] talked to somebody about Black athlete. And Bill said, ‘I have a good talent, blah blah blah.’ Trying to get a guy booked. And the answer the other end of the conversation was, ‘We already have one.’ Already have one. The one was an African American. So that was ridiculous. Cowboy just thought about how to sell tickets. Make sure everybody’s happy, making money. So I think that was the situation there. Thunderbolt went to a lot of hell. But he was strong in his presence, and Thunderbolt did a lot [of] paving the way for subsequently other black athletes to star and making a living and pro wrestling. Congratulations to him, well deserved. This one was obvious. It is a great idea.”
Pat McAfee’s work as a WWE commentator:
“I’m impressed. Pat McAfee has impressed me, no doubt about it, with his work. Surprising how good he is already. He pays attention, he studies. I even noticed on the show that airs on ESPN at noon Eastern time that he incorporates a lot of wrestling jargon, language, into his show. So he’s living the dream. And he seems to be respectful. Again, I appreciate guys that study the game and have product knowledge. And he’s doing that. Good hire for WWE. He’s just a supreme talent.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
