Jim Ross on why he liked Jim Herd, says Dusty Rhodes defied Turner’s direct order in 1988 with spike angle

On the latest episode of “Grilling JR” on AdFreeShows.com, Jim Ross talks about events leading to and including Clash of Champions IV on 12/7/88.

Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions in November of 1988 and TBS stated they did not want any blood on TV going forward. Dusty Rhodes was the booker at the time and had The Road Warriors take a spike to his eye that drew blood. Ross was asked why he thought Dusty defied that order which led to his firing as booker?

Ross responded, “At the end of the day, Dusty defied a direct order. You have to put your ego aside. He was probably thinking he knows wrestling better than they did, and he probably did, quite frankly. That doesn’t mean you piss on the guy that gave you that order. Dusty, like Bill Watts, Ole Anderson, and every booker I ever worked for, liked the power and the ability to exude that power. Dusty believed that if he does this angle and it does great business ratings wise, they will say maybe Dusty knows what he is talking about and this is going to work.

I don’t think they were ever prepared for that. I think they were prepared to say, ‘We told you we don’t want this. What part of this statement that we made to you do you not understand?’ Well, he did this, he did the Starrcade, he did a big tour, he’s Dusty Rhodes, he’s the American Dream. That’s all well and good. Nobody is taking anything away from Dusty in that regard. He’s earned all those accolades. But when your boss says no, it’s no. You don’t poke the bear and Dusty poked the bear and that accelerated all the decision-making that TBS wanted to make by saying we have to make administrative changes at the top. That’s exactly where they went, at the top where they made immense changes.”

Ross was asked his thoughts on Jim Herd: “I met him in Atlanta. He was very personable. He liked my work apparently as he said he did. I liked him. I never used him as the excuse like a lot of guys did for their personal failures. That’s a cop out. That sometimes is a wrestler’s way out.”

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to PWrestling.com for the transcription