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PrintOnline exclusive - The J.R. files
Additional insights about the man behind the famous voice.
Joy Jenkins
After graduating from Northeastern State University, where he helped organize wrestling benefit matches, J.R. Ross worked for Tulsa wrestling promoter Leeroy McGuirk for $25 a week. Ross recalls that although McGuirk was the “color” guy when they announced matches, he had such poor eyesight, Ross had to describe the action for him.- Ross was the voice of the NSU football team in college, for which he received $20 per game.
- Before becoming a professional wrestling announcer, Ross was the morning drive dejay for KTFX, the “Country Fox,” and was eventually hired as the first salesperson for K95-FM.
- Ross spent part of his career working as a wrestling announcer for TBS in Atlanta, where he hosted the network’s primetime wrestling show. He also was a radio announcer for the Atlanta Falcons and hosted a radio wrestling, football and talk show on 750-AM WWSV, one of the biggest radio stations in the South.
- Ross and his wife, Jan, have written two cookbooks, both of which became best-sellers. Ross has smoked meat since he was a child — his dad built a smoker from a metal drum and would leave his son in charge of keeping the fire going. They tried out various meats as well as woods, although Ross says hickory is the best. “It was always an adventure,” he says.
- Ross grew up in a four-room concrete-block house in Westville, Okla. He had no indoor toilet until the fourth grade.
- Ross realized his dream of opening his own restaurant, J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q, when he was 55 years old. “You’re never too old to dream,” he says. “When you stop dreaming, you begin the dying process.”
- Ross says one of the staples at his Norman restaurant are the pinto beans, which he acquires raw and soaks overnight. They are then cooked all day to achieve their maximum flavor.
- Celebrity diners at Ross’ restaurant include ZZ Top, actor Billy Bob Thornton, OU President David Boren and legendary coach Barry Switzer.
- Ross is a third-generation Okie. His grandparents settled in Oklahoma in the 1880s and his family still owns Indian grant land — 195 acres in north Adair County.
- When Ross is introduced as the announcer at WWE events, “Boomer Sooner” is played. He also counts Bob Stoops, University of Oklahoma football head coach, as a friend and can be seen on the sidelines of many OU games.
- Ross collects John Wayne and Mickey Mantle memorabilia.
- Ross had a bit part in the 1999 Jim Carrey film “Man on the Moon.”
