During the Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross discussed WWE releasing long-time announcer Tony Chimel, among many other employees.
Chimel worked for the company for almost three decades as a ring announcer, and also recently as a backstage production manager. Jim Ross said how he was upset at him being fired. He also said that WWE would just nonchalantly release people like Mike Chioda and Chimel instead of celebrating their many years of hard work for the company.
“It’s all under the name of, ‘We’re a publicly traded company’,” Ross said. “Just because you’re a publicly traded company doesn’t mean you can treat people like sh**. Nowhere in the publicly traded company manual does it say now that you’re publicly traded you can treat people like dogsh**. It’s not that. You still have to be a people company.
“They were loyal, they did their jobs very well. I felt badly for the way they departed the company. It should have been more ceremonial and feel good because you’re letting people go that have been with the company for 30 years.”
Chioda made an appearance at AEW during an episode of Dynamite, but never signed a contract with the promotion. We will have to see what Chimel does.
h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.
