By Richard Garner, Torch specialist

By Richard Gardner, Torch specialist

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
-- Peter Finch as Howard Beale in Network (1976).

It's easy to draw parallels between Jim Ross and Peter Finch's character in media satire Network. Both deemed too old to do their jobs properly, treated disgracefully by management, and dropped in an effort to improve programming, only to be brought back to boost the ratings. Yet, aside from a bitter blog entry when he was moved to Smackdown last year, JR has not had had anything resembling a Howard Beale moment despite severe provocation.

Last Sunday at WWE's Backlash Pay-Per-View, Ross was ridiculed yet again in segment where Santino Marella, playing the part of his twin sister Santina, pretended that she had been having an affair with him. The shock from the commentators indicated that he did not know that this was going to happen ahead of time. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.

With his Southern accent and hardly being easy on the eye, Jim Ross is the antithesis of what Vince McMahon looks for in an announcer. The army of announcers that McMahon has lined up to replace him are a testament to that. But the ritual humiliation that has been heaped upon him so publicly over the years reveals Vince McMahon's resentment towards his lead announcer.

Jim Ross has parted company with the WWE several times in acrimonious circumstances, but each departure has resulted in the realization that dismissing an announcer of his quality is preposterous. Ross has had to swallow his pride to return to the employers that treated him with such disregard.

Vince McMahon mocked Jim Ross's colon surgery with a ludicrous, unfunny, and mean-spirited angle in 2005. Big Dick Johnson poured champagne on him at a Raw taping in 2008 after the cameras were turned off. He was also given no notice when he was moved to Smackdown in the 2008 Draft. Given all of the above, Sunday's angle was hardly a surprise.

Yet despite the indignation that Jim Ross has suffered over the years, he remains a well-regarded figure to WWE fans. In fact, these incidents have served to create empathy for Smackdown's lead announcer.

Jim Ross deserves better treatment for his contributions to the history of the WWE. He has been a loyal servant to the company, responsible for creating a sense of importance for the matches on which he commentates. No one in wrestling is better at creating a big match atmosphere. Would Mick Foley's fall from the Hell in the Cell cage at King of the Ring 1998 be as dramatic if Michael Cole commented on it?

Sunday's angle was the latest in a long line of incidents involving Jim Ross. That Vince McMahon enjoys humiliating Ross so much is short-sighted. Ross is an essential element of WWE programming. And it will be the WWE's loss when he finally decides he can't take it anymore.

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