Jim Ross Reveals He & John Laurinaitis Cleared The Air

Jim Ross has revealed that he and John Laurinaitis are on better terms after clearing the air during a recent chance meeting.

Speaking during a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer noted that he ran into Laurinaitis at a Phoenix hotel bar prior to AEW's Dynamite taping there last week.

Per Ross:

"Rafael Morffi and I were going to dinner in the hotel. And there was a bar area leading into the restaurant area in the back of the house. And so I saw John Laurinaitis there. I think he was there with Dean Malenko. They're buddies. 

"And so I just walked on by back in the restaurant at my table. Raphael stuck behind. It surprised me. I had heard something. I think maybe Dean told me that he was going to get picked up at the airport by Laurinaitis when he arrived in Phoenix, but I'd forgotten about it. Like it's a big deal to me one way or the other. So I walk on down to the restaurant and waiting on Raphael to get down there so we get to be seated. And I look up and here comes Raphael and Jonny Laurinaitis. And I'm thinking, 'Oh, geez, I wasn't ready for this conference'. 

"It wasn't a confrontation at all. We had a nice conversation. I told him, I said, 'you know, I'm too old and I'm trying to overcome these issues of my skin cancer and all the subsequent treatment. I got more important things to worry about than having a grudge, and living a grudge. So we kind of cleared the air and had a nice conversation. And I thought it took a lot of balls for him to come approach me, to be honest with you. Because he had read everything I'd written about, you know, him being a chicken sh*t".

Ross elaborated on the content of their conversation, saying:

"And I told him, I said I apologize for some of the things I said. I get emotional and there you go. So anyway, we had a nice little 10-15 minute chat. And, of course, John lives in Phoenix. And so I'm kind of glad that we got that out of the way because it's just better to live your life without that additional stress and angst. It's just a negative thing. And I didn't want to mire myself into negativity. This doesn't make any sense. I'm too God damn old. You know, I'm more concerned about my health and my job and travel and all the things that go along with it. My wound Dr. God. So anyhow, that's kind of what that was. That was a surprise.

"It was a surprising meeting and he was very sincere. And he was very upfront and very honest. And so I thought I'd share that with our folks here on the podcast. I haven't talked about it at all. So this is breaking news. So anyway, it was good. It was surprisingly good. And I'm glad he stepped up and we had a nice clean talk conversation and cleared the air, so to speak. You know, I don't know that we'll be on each other's Christmas card list. But nonetheless, I kind of admired what he said to me and him making the first move, because like I said, I forgot he was even coming. And I didn't see him standing at the bar with Dean, and all everybody else that was there".

JR and his podcast host Conrad Thompson then speculated whether or not the former Johnny Ace would be in town inquiring about a job, to which the man in the black hat said:

"I don't know. I'm guessing that his original intent was to visit his friends, especially some of those guys he worked with in WCW and WWE like Dean Malenko, and others. So I kind of think that was his primary motivation for coming down the hotel and having a pop seeing his friends. He didn't mention to me about working for AEW. It shouldn't be a shocker if he wanted a job. One of the hardest jobs in wrestling is the talent relations job, especially now. It's doubly challenging. Talents are always looking for more information. They're looking for honesty. They're looking for you to be upfront with them. 

"He may be interested in a talent relations role. I don't know. But he didn't tell me that...There could be some smoke, some fire where the smoke is, but I don't know that. He didn't tell me that he was here looking for work...I hope he lands on his feet and does whatever he wants to do. But I'm not mad at him anymore. And I feel better about not being mad at him anymore. I don't want to be mad at anybody. We're in the late innings here. I'm just not interested in all the drama, and all that stuff. So an interesting meetup, to say the least".

Ross had previously talked about his issues with Laurinaitis while the two worked together in WWE. The announcer claimed Laurinaitis 'deserved the misery' he was living following his controversial firing from WWE last year, before doubling down on his comments.