Jim Ross thinks AEW has more legitimate pro wrestling fans than WWE does, and put it as a bet rather than a claim. The comment came on Grilling JR while previewing All In, a show Ross will not be attending after two doctors told him not to fly.
“Whether you like AEW or not, you can’t discount the effort and the skills that we see from the talent. They’re a bunch of self-starters, and they are passionate. I would bet you that we have more legitimate pro wrestling fans in AEW than WWE.”
Conrad Thompson put the distinction back to him, asking whether he meant WWE has more sports entertainment fans while the down-and-dirty wrestling fans watch AEW.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Ross moved straight from the audience to the roster.
“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.”
He was careful about how that came across.
“I’m not knocking anybody. I’m not mad or bitter. I’m just making an observation.”
“I know the talents this Sunday will be working their a** off. Every match, every guy, every gal will want to have the best match they’ve had to date this year, and to steal the show, and to have another outstanding pay-per-view presentation.”
The comparison is one Ross is unusually well placed to make. He was WWE’s lead commentator through the Attitude Era and its head of talent relations for years, and has been AEW’s senior commentator since it launched in 2019.
Thompson also raised WWE running counterprogramming over the same weekend, with an AAA show and then NXT Heatwave scheduled against it.
“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.”
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.”
The show itself is one he wanted to call.
“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.”
Getting there 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.”
“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.
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. It is AEW’s third show at the venue, after All In in 2023 and 2024, and Tony Khan said this week that London may be the very best city for the company.
