The unexpected announcement of the retirement of Jim Ross raised some red flags among many in the wrestling industry as JR had never hinted about his desire to leave and was quite happy representing the company in his current role.

The real story being discussed around is that Ross was actually released from his contract, or better yet, fired again, most likely stemming from that infamous WWE 2K14 panel which Ross was heading up during the SummerSlam weekend.

That panel – which involved Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Steve Austin, Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, and Ric Flair – was hijacked by the Nature Boy in the last 40 minutes or so and the script was thrown out of the window with JR having no control to put the situation back in order.

WWE officials were so irate about the situation that Flair was eventually taken out from another party later that night and also blamed Ross for failing to control his fellow Hall of Famer. At one point, when things got out of control, Paul Heyman stood up and went to Ross’ podium and tore up JR’s papers as everybody laughed, clearly showing that the panel was now way off script.

The panel, which aired live online, was enjoyed by fans and by 2K officials but WWE did not like the fact that Flair went crazy, telling wrestling stories, mentioning TNA, and basically take over the panel without mentioning anything related to the video game.