While it will never be certain whether Jim Ross knew (or at least had an idea) he would be pulled from the commentary booth in a storyline firing on Monday’s RAW, all indications are that he truly was blindsided.
F4WOnline.com reports that the script did not feature the note that John Laurinaitis would come to the ring and “fire” Jim Ross. Further, the fact that his wife was visible in the front row strongly suggests he did not know–if he did, why would he not have talked his wife out of attending?
On Twitter, Ross also maintains that he was caught off-guard. “It was embarrassing for [my wife] as we were blindsided…I obviously wasn’t aware I was being canned.”
Regarding the embarrassment, Ross admits he was humiliated but adds that his segment was not the only embarrassing thing about Monday’s critically-repudiated RAW.
He wrote, “I agree, it was embarrassing. So were many things on Raw.”