Jim Ross Reflects On Prospects Of Former WWE Star That 'We Missed On' In Early 2000s

As WWE's Head of Talent Relations in the post-Attitude Era, Jim Ross was tasked with the responsibility of finding the next breed of main eventers — the successors to the departing Steve Austin and The Rock. While he struck gold by bringing up the likes of John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, and Brock Lesnar from WWE's farm system, Ross believes one specific OVW graduate wasn't utilized appropriately — Rob Conway. On "Grilling JR," Ross analyzed the reasons for Conway to not break out into the superstar he had hoped, and whether the La Résistance member got lost in the shuffle within a loaded WWE roster.

"It wasn't due to reliability because he was a true pro," Ross said of Conway. "I don't ever recall Rob being late to work, or being uncooperative or lazy or anything like that. I just don't know what the exact reason was — timing could be one thing you can attribute it to. He had a great skill set and was a very underrated talent. I don't know if coming out of OVW was a negative for him or not ... but in any event, he should have done better than he did."

Speaking further on Conway's brief WWE stint, Ross admitted that "we missed on him" and that the former "Conquistador Uno" could have been utilized more effectively. Ross speculated on the possibility of someone "feeding Vince [McMahon] bull****" about Conway being undersized or not being ready for the spotlight, "Rob Conway was one of the best talents we produced in OVW; he just didn't get his break when he got to the main roster. It seemed like people were down on him for whatever reason. I just never understood that." Conway was released by WWE in 2007 after spending seven years with the company, of which only three were on the main roster.