As we reported earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is retiring from the WWE after 20 years of service with the company.

According to Dave Meltzer from The Wrestling Observer, Ross met with Vince McMahon in Connecticut last night, and all but a handful of Vince’s inner circle had any idea why the meeting was taking place.

The reason why Jim Ross was let go from WWE was due to his inability to control Ric Flair at the WWE 2K14 Sports panel that took place the night before SummerSlam. There was even talk of letting Ross go “the minute the panel ended,” as WWE felt he should have cut Flair off and regained control of the event.

Meltzer further noted that the part of the panel that drew the most heat for Flair was when he made mention of his son Reid’s death and when he joked that John Cena never used to drink before they met but now he downs a six pack of beer every night.

The Wrestling Observer went on to note that WWE is using the “retirement” excuse as a PR move to avoid major uproar over the firing of a beloved WWE talent and Hall of Famer.  On a side note, Jim Ross was trending on Twitter this evening, and the retirement was picked up by some major sports sites including ESPN.