By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE announcer Jim Ross says he never had any plans to entertain a TNA offer while negotiating his WWE contract. Ross says the main reason he stayed was WWE's employee insurance that is helping off-set the cost of his medical tests following his third Bell's Palsy attack.

"WWE was always in play. They've been good about my situation and the company has great insurance. Insurance was a major factor in this whole deal," Ross said on the Pain Clinic radio show. "I thought that was a huge issue. That was always a priority - let's just get healthy."

Ross signed a short-term extension with WWE to allow more time for him to recover and see what he can contribute on the air after his recent attack.

"My goal was to extend my contract with WWE and we wanted to get far enough for me to get well," Ross said. "That was the goal to extend it until I can get back on the road. Undergoing so many medical tests, that was my focus."

Ross also addressed speculation he could have signed with TNA and appeared on the January 4 Impact special opposite WWE Raw. He says the speculation was a product of his contract being due and WWE "moving on" with new announce teams on TV.

"I never met Dixie Carter. I've never sat across the table from her and talked. It was not the time to even consider anything else other than WWE under the medical conditions I'm under," Ross said.

He added: "TNA talk was very pre-mature and it was perpetuated by my contract being up. I got caught up by that as a victim of circumstance. I never had any plans on being in Orlando on January 4. I'm going to be at home on January 4. I'm not going to be ready to go, unfortunately. I wish I were."

Ross says the biggest issue for him health-wise is his right eye, which he says he has to manually close or cover with a patch just to sleep at night.

"I would love to be able to go back to work, but I'm not ready yet," he said. "The focal point is the right eye problem. Essentially, the nerve around the whole side of my face is to where the eye won't shut."

Link: Listen to Jim Ross's entire interview on the Pain Clinic radio.

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