WWE: Jim Ross responds to his Raw firing -- 'It came as a complete surprise'

This past Monday night (Oct. 10) on WWE Raw Supershow, Jim Ross was unceremoniously fired in storyline by on-screen General Manager John Laurinaitis. It was later revealed that Ross was not alerted to this kink in the storyline and was totally caught off guard by the abrupt firing.

There has been an interesting split in how the fans feel about Ross and his treatment. Some (myself included) are tired of seeing Ross bullied by WWE and would like to see his gross mistreatment remedied at some point in the near future. Others feel that's a ridiculous stance because, well, it's not real. It's a part of a storyline and within that context, there's no problem with it.

Ross was recently a guest on Yahoo! Sports Radio and discussed as much:

"So many people say, 'Well, it's part of a storyline.' If it is, no one has told me about the storyline. I just think WWE upper management has made the decision, again, to go with a different presentation at the announce position and I'm not in the plans. So, we move on."

That's where I, personally, have a problem with it. With Ross' history of mistreatment being rather well documented to go along with something like this, it would seem clear that he's intentionally being picked on. Not only does it not make sense to me, it's just useless and immature.

The obvious counterpoint to that is why Ross actually sticks around to put up with such things. To that, I have no answer and actually wouldn't mind posing the same question.

More from Yahoo!:

"It came as a complete surprise. My wife -- we're celebrating our 18th anniversary today -- none of us knew. It took me completely by surprise. It was one of those embarrassing moments you endure and move on. It's like anything else in life: when you get faced with a challenge or an uncomfortable situation, you have to make some choices on how you handle it."

He's handled it with his usual class but he also maintains that he hopes to play a role in future plans with the company.

That raises a sort of philosophical question -- if Ross allows himself to be subjected to bullying, should anyone feel sympathy for him? He earns a good living and has done more in his profession than most others can claim. Is that enough to turn a blind eye to his being put through occasionally embarrassing situations?

Thoughts? Opinions?