Matt Hardy recently shared his thoughts on the long discussed tension between Vince McMahon and Jim Ross, describing it as a “real weird” rivalry that went beyond normal workplace issues in WWE.

Speaking on a new episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy reacted to comments Ross has made about his relationship with McMahon. Ross has said he believed McMahon’s animosity came from jealousy, feeling that McMahon was frustrated by the fact that Ross was viewed as a stronger play by play announcer. Ross also felt McMahon never fully gave him credit for his role in shaping the Attitude Era, despite Ross being heavily involved in building WWE’s roster during that time.

The Hardy Boyz were among the talents signed while Ross was head of talent relations. Responding to Ross’ comments, Hardy said he believes McMahon often enjoyed putting people in uncomfortable positions. While Hardy acknowledged that discomfort can sometimes help people grow, he felt McMahon’s approach crossed into abuse, particularly with Ross.

“I felt like Vince had a thing , Vince had a thing for, like, putting people in positions which made them feel uncomfortable. And he kind of got off on that, in all honesty,” Hardy said. “That was, like, one of his things. I felt like he did that with JR quite a bit. You know, that became a regular, common thing.

“There were certain people. I felt like if you ever showed signs of weakness, or like, ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’ Or like being uncomfortable, like if you were outright uncomfortable with it, then he would push it even harder. Because I know there’s some people that did get that. You know, I felt like anytime he put us in positions where, and I feel like sometimes he said like, ‘If you don’t go into areas or positions where you feel uncomfortable, you will never grow.’ And in some ways that is true, but in some ways too, I think he was abusive with it as well. And JR probably was one of the guys he was more abusive with in many ways. There was, like, this real weird rivalry between them in some ways.”

McMahon’s treatment of Ross often carried over onto WWE television, most notably with the infamous Kiss My Ass Club segment in 2001, which many have since viewed as an example of Ross being publicly humiliated as part of storylines.

In addition to his commentary role, Ross was a key backstage figure as head of talent relations. Hardy credited Ross with being ahead of the curve when it came to signing athletic talent. He noted that without Ross bringing in both teams, the legendary rivalry between The Hardyz and Edge and Christian may never have happened, a feud that helped define the tag team division during that era.

McMahon resigned from WWE in January 2024 following a lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant. The ongoing case includes allegations of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking, with WWE also named as a defendant.

Ross, now 73, is currently signed with AEW, where he continues to work commentary on pay per view events.

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