Jim Ross Recalls Past Frustrations With How WWE Booked Women's Matches

On a recent episode of his "Grilling JR" podcast, Jim Ross reviewed Judgment Day 2003, which was one of WWE's first premium live events following the original brand split. As he re-watched the show, Ross stumbled across a Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWE Women's Championship, which pit champion Jazz against Victoria, Trish Stratus, and Jacqueline. Reflecting on the match — which lasted all of four minutes and 48 seconds — Ross was adamant that the women's competitors deserved a lot better than being put in a throwaway contest, especially due to the reactions they were receiving at house shows leading to the event. 

"That match represented everything I wanted to kill in WWE, when I was in charge of booking and talent relations," Ross said. "I wanted to give that brand, that gender, respect. I believe that highly-skilled, highly-motivated, attractive, and athletic females were an asset. To give them a 'Thank you for coming for a cup of coffee in four minutes' ain't my idea of doing that ... If you go back and look at the reports about the house show performances from the ladies, there were rarely any disappointments, even from the cynical agents who didn't like the broads on the card."

"There was money there [in women's wrestling]," Ross continued. "And that theory has been proven, hence Charlotte Flair's success and her earnings. All those girls, including Becky Lynch, are stars."

Clearly, a lot has changed since Ross was heading up WWE's talent relations department. The likes of Flair, Lynch, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley are now featured as marquee superstars who are, if not quite on equal footing with their male counterparts, at least getting closer.