Jim Ross Explains How WWE 'Blew It' With Their Misuse Of Don Callis

During the latest episode of "Grilling JR," Jim Ross recalled how Don Callis was once a manager in WWF for The Truth Commission in 1997.

"Bad timing more than anything. If it had worked, it would not have been bad creative," Ross said. "But look at who he was managing. I did some commentary with him on some shows and realized right away he's a hell of a talker... I thought that would be his calling as a broadcaster, not as a manager. Not that he couldn't be a manager and not that he couldn't do a good job, just the fact that when you stumble across a guy that could really talk, is a good listener, and has the ability to talk in sound bytes so he's not on and on and on, you're lucky. That's how I looked at Don."

Ross continued, "Like I said, he was a good listener and he wanted to do well. We didn't do a good job then, in my opinion, of maximizing the minutes for Don Callis. It was a mistake on how he was handled there. That might have been partially Don's situation. Don had a lot of self-confidence. He had been around long enough to know all the good brothers and the bad brothers. I don't know if that did him any favors, but nonetheless, talented dude and we kind of blew it with him in that era, I thought."

Callis has also worked for ECW, NJPW, and Impact Wrestling in a variety of roles. He's currently signed to AEW as one of the top heel managers for Konosuke Takeshita and previously managed Kenny Omega during his 2021 "belt collector" run.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.