Jim Ross is more than just a WWE superstar.  Born on January 3, 1952, Ross has served as a commentator, executive, and entrepreneur.  He currently serves as a play by play commentator on Smackdown, where he generally goes by J.R.  To many fans and WWE professionals, Ross is the voice of the WWE.  Recently, though, Ross has branched out -he has created his own brand of jerky, barbecue sauce, and has opened his own restaurant in Oklahoma.

Ross began doing commentary while in college.  After graduation, he later began doing commentary professionally.  During the 1980s, he worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and for Jim Crockett Promotions, the company that would later become World Championship Wrestling.  However, issues with some of the WCW executives led to Ross leaving WCW in 1993.

However, he almost immediately joined the WWE, making his commentator debut at Wrestle Mania IX.  The next week, he replaced Gorilla Monsoon as commentator on WWF Wrestling Challenge.  He called many of the WWE events during 1993 before becoming the main host of Radio WWF.

In early 1994, the WWF fired him, and Ross moved to Smoky Mountain Wrestling and began doing commentary for the NFL team the Atlanta Falcons.  However, following WWE owner Vince McMahon being indicted by the U.S. government, Ross was rehired to do commentary on Raw.  Once McMahon was declared innocent, Ross was again released from his contract, but WWE would have him back in 1995 to call for Wrestle Mania XI.  In 1996, he once again became one of the main commentators for the company.

Since then, Ross has appeared on Smackdown and Raw, usually alongside fellow commentator Jerry Lawler.  He also began featuring in several of the WWE storylines, including turning heel for a period of time, attacking Vince McMahon, and being “fired” for various reasons.  In reality, these storylines allowed Ross the time off he needed to handle attacks of Bells palsy, a disease Ross has suffered from for years, and to mourn the loss of his mother.

JR was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by his close friend "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. As of October 2009, JR faced another Bells Palsy attack en route to a Smackdown taping.