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After letting his WWE talent contract expire at the start of this month and deciding to keep his options open by continuing to work for the company without such a contract, Jim Ross finally announced on his blog yesterday that he has worked out a new employee agreement with WWE that allows him to pursue all of his non-wrestling ambitions we've talked about here on Cageside Seats over the last month:
I have worked out what we believe to be a win/win, employee agreement with WWE and will remain with the company that I have been with essentially since 1993 when I debuted at WrestleMania 9. Going forward, I will be focusing on a variety of talent relations matters, essentially as a consultant, of which will not require weekly travel. I will be visiting FCW in Tampa on a regular basis to observe the development of the young men and women who, I hope, all want to headline Wrestlemania some day.
We are still going forward with our book concept which is evolving really well. I tell myself every day that I'm NOT going to write an 'average,' wrestling book. (For the record, I'm still battling on what to leave OUT of the book in order to keep it around 275-300 pages.) Our public speaking facet is also in place and we are reviewing some potential bookings on that front beginning at summer's end.
I've also been offered a position to do some free lance writing for a major, national sports website which we'll update you on within the next 10 days or so. It will likely focus on College Football, the NFL, and MMA.
The new arrangement with WWE will allow me to explore broadcast options in other, non competitive areas such as MMA if I so choose.
I will not be returning to weekly, WWE TV or their monthly PPV's. However, being involved with other WWE broadcast products is a possibility. A few opportunities have been discussed.