Q&A with Jim Ross

Even though you haven’t always worked on Smackdown, I’m sure you’ve seen all the shows. What is your most memorable Smackdown moment?

Even though I wasn’t on the broadcast itself, I was always on site on Tuesdays, because for a lot of the early days of Smackdown and a good time afterward, I was in charge of the talent department, so that necessitated me to be there anyway. When I ceased be the executive vice president of talent relations and was focusing from a TV perspective just on Raw, I would do Monday Night Raw and then go home, but I always watched the program. I think probably the most memorable night for me personally – and it was when I was not on Smackdown on a regular basis – was the Smackdown that followed 9/11. We had done Raw down in Texas – I think it was San Antonio – and then we had driven to Houston, and 9/11 occurred on Tuesday morning. It was such a tragedy and changed everyone’s lives, and on a small scale for us, it postponed the Tuesday night taping for a Thursday night airing, and we went live that Thursday night. I remember being part of that broadcast because of the uniqueness of it; the delicate nature of what we were addressing; the fact that it was one of the first public gathering of folks after the tragedy of 9/11. That to me was probably the most memorable Smackdown that I have been a part of. It was more memorable than the first one, even though the first one was exciting and it was a new venture. Just the nature of the subject matter of the program and what had happened in our country that week was much bigger than a wrestling match...More?

source: baltimoresun.com