WWE News: Edge reveals how a WWE legend paid off his student debts

What's the story?

We all know that Jim Ross was the voice of the Attitude Era, and perhaps the best announcer in wrestling history. What not too many people know is what a great Samaritan he was.

Good Ol' JR was a guest on the E&C Pod of Awesomeness recently, where Edge told the story of how Jim Ross paid him a $40000 bonus to waive off his student loans. We thank Wrestling Inc. for the transcript of the same.

In case you didn't know...

In addition to being one of the greatest play-by-play announcers in history, Jim Ross was also the head of Talent Relations in WWE, for a spell. This was mainly to keep him off TV, after his run-in with Bell's Palsy.

While in this role, JR did something for Edge, that would launch his career in the right manner.

The heart of the matter

Edge remembered feeling absolutely burdened with his student fees:

Well, I'm going to tell you for my end as a kid coming out of college, who owed $40,000.00, which was more than money than I ever made in a year, and no way in the future besides my only goal to pay it, $40,000 at that time is a chunk of change and it's still a chunk of change for a lot of people.

Jim Ross would come to Edge's aid when Edge needed him the most:

I remember thinking to myself, 'okay, now I'm signed. Right, the first thing I've got to do is pay off this debt.' And [Ross] paid it off. It was a signing bonus and I've never, ever forgotten that because it got me out of a hole. Now I was starting at zero, and, man, it put me in such a different place.

What's next?

Jim Ross calls the occasional WWE special and is more actively involved in calling NJPW's matches right now. Edge and Christian have a very popular podcast going, much like Jim Ross does too. We wonder if backstage mentors like Jim Ross still exist in WWE, to this day!