{"id":269039,"date":"2025-01-18T13:24:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T13:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/stephanie-mcmahons-real-life-heat-with-wwe-hofer-led-to-backstage-drama-jim-ross-recalls\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:09:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:09:40","slug":"stephanie-mcmahons-real-life-heat-with-wwe-hofer-led-to-backstage-drama-jim-ross-recalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/stephanie-mcmahons-real-life-heat-with-wwe-hofer-led-to-backstage-drama-jim-ross-recalls\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie McMahon&#8217;s real-life heat with WWE HOFer led to backstage drama, Jim Ross recalls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4734049\" data-slug-id=\"2326693\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stephanie McMahon oversaw RAW&#8217;s creative direction in 2004 while Paul Heyman worked in the same role on SmackDown. Jim Ross, a WWE commentator at the time, recently addressed a disagreement the two once had behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>In late 2004, Stephanie McMahon hosted a conference call with other RAW creative team members. It later emerged that Heyman dialed in and heard part of the call despite not being invited. As a result, the WWE Hall of Famer lost his job as SmackDown&#8217;s creative figurehead.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <em>Grilling JR<\/em> host Conrad Thompson, Ross explained the logic behind Heyman entering the call without permission:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Well, in her view, Conrad, Paul betrayed the trust of Stephanie. I don&#8217;t disagree with you [that Heyman hearing the meeting didn&#8217;t matter]. You&#8217;d think that the lead writer on the show that&#8217;s being taped the next day would be informed as to what was going on. It&#8217;s like this. Stephanie&#8217;s got a cage match planned on RAW. Well, that would give Heyman the opportunity to make a decision. Do I duplicate another cage match or do something else? Well, the logical answer is probably to do something else.&#8221; [29:53 \u2013 30:36]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/embed\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe title=\"Kidnapping In WWE *New Episode* Grilling JR with Jim Ross\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-_3G9ulv4AI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"-_3G9ulv4AI\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/-_3G9ulv4AI\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/-_3G9ulv4AI\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Heyman went on to work on WWE&#8217;s revamped ECW brand in 2006 before leaving the company. After a six-year absence, he returned in 2012 as an on-screen personality.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Jim Ross defends Paul Heyman after Stephanie McMahon dispute<\/h2>\n<p>On reflection, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/jim-ross\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jim Ross<\/a> sees no problem with a creative team member listening to another WWE show&#8217;s plans.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary announcer believes Stephanie McMahon&#8217;s ego played a part in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/paul-heyman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Paul Heyman<\/a> being removed from his SmackDown position:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;He should have been listening anyway, but he wasn&#8217;t welcome,&#8221; Ross continued. &#8220;They wanted to separate, and they had a competition and all this other s**t. It is weird. It shouldn&#8217;t seem weird, Conrad. It&#8217;s f***ing weird! It&#8217;s egos and politics and all that dogs**t. Heyman was lucky he didn&#8217;t get fired. Very, very lucky.&#8221; [30:42 \u2013 31:07]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the same episode, Ross gave his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-jim-ross-reacts-corey-graves-wwe-outburst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">honest reaction<\/a> to Corey Graves&#8217; recent outburst after being demoted to NXT.<\/p>\n<p><em>What are your thoughts on Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon&#8217;s issues in 2004? Hit the discuss button and let us know.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong><em>Please credit Grilling JR and give an H\/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use JR&#8217;s quotes from this article.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline-banner\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<a class=\"bottom-tagline-banner-link\" data-tab=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/posts\/119648359\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline-banner-container\">\n<div class=\"thumbnail\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"120\" alt=\"tagline-banner-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2025\/01\/37b48-17364433915068-1920.jpg?h=240\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Danny Hart<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script> \nvar fbPixelFired = false;\nvar pixelID = \"952063904834769\";\ndocument.addEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\ndocument.addEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\nfunction loadFBPixel() {\nif(fbPixelFired) {\nreturn;\n}\nfbPixelFired = true;\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, \ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', pixelID); \nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\nfbq('track', 'ViewContent');\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel);\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel);\n}\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-stephanie-mcmahon-s-real-life-heat-wwe-hofer-led-backstage-drama-jim-ross-recalls\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Stephanie McMahon oversaw RAW&#8217;s creative direction in 2004 while Paul Heyman worked in the same role on SmackDown. Jim Ross, a WWE commentator at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":269040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269039"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}