Jim Ross will not be at All In on Sunday, after two doctors told him not to get on the plane. Ross said on Grilling JR that London was the goal he had been working towards since his brain surgery.
“I really wanted to go to London this week. I really did, man. You got to have goals and you got to have destinations, and that was my next one. I thought, man, if I can get to do Wembley Stadium, because the show is going to be amazing.”
The advice he got was blunt.
“Both my brain surgeon and another doctor confided and said, you need to keep your a** off the airplane. Because if you fall or get hurt, they’ve got to make an emergency landing, or you fall in London and you’ve got to go to a London hospital. It’s not worth the risk.”
“I understand it. I’m disappointed, very disappointed. I’ll be watching for sure, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
The advice follows two recent falls, the second of which broke a bench in his bedroom, and severe headaches from the shunt fitted two weeks ago that he cannot take strong medication for because of a separate kidney issue.
What he is missing is a card he rates highly.
“There’s some matchups that I know the term dream match is used a lot in wrestling, but literally there’s some dream matches in my view that are going to be on the Sunday night show.”
“If you’re a fan and love wrestling, this Sunday night show is one that you might want to check out, because there’s some matches on there that I thought as a broadcaster I can’t wait to call.”
He was complimentary about the build.
“I’m proud of what AEW has done. They’ve had a hell of a week. A good TV show Wednesday night, I thought. On these go-home weeks, meaning the last broadcast before the pay-per-view, they’ve been outstanding. They’ve done a great job of doing television. Whether you like AEW or not, you can’t discount the effort.”
He drew a distinction between the two companies and framed it as an observation rather than a complaint.
“The AEW talent roster, you’ll see great effort on Sunday. You’ll see some matches where everybody wants to steal the show. And I don’t know that you get that at WWE. You might. I’m not knocking anybody. I’m not mad or bitter. I’m just making an observation.”
“The talent this Sunday will be working their a** off. Every guy, every gal will want to have the best match they’ve had to date this year, and to steal the show.”
Asked about WWE running counterprogramming that weekend, he said he did not follow the logic.
“Whether that’s true or not, I’m not denying your opinion. But I don’t get it. If that’s true, I don’t get it. What are you worried about? Nothing.”
Ross said he expects Excalibur and Tony Schiavone to call the show, and would be happy with just the two of them.
“I’m not a major fan of three or four-man booths whatsoever. It takes you out of your rhythm. It affects your timing, and sometimes announcer A doesn’t listen to what announcer B has to say.”
“Schiavone and Excalibur both are pros, and I think those two together would do a hell of a job.”
He expects a third and named a candidate.
“Maybe Bryan Danielson. I don’t know. He does a good job too. He’s very analytic, very smart, very observant.”
All In takes place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 30, headlined by Kenny Omega defending the AEW World Championship against Will Ospreay.
