Jim Ross has revealed he suffered a fall and a back injury before his AEW Double or Nothing trip, telling Grilling JR listeners that the travel weekend was one of the worst experiences of his life and that his neurologist has warned him he is in a high-risk area for dementia.
Ross called the Jon Moxley vs Kyle O’Reilly AEW Continental Championship match at Double or Nothing 2026 on Sunday from Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, NY. The behind-the-scenes travel story he detailed on Grilling JR puts his physical condition in a more concerning light than his on-air work suggested.
Ross walked through the weekend.
“It was not a good travel weekend for me. I was supposed to get picked up Saturday morning. We had the alarm set, my driver was going to pick me up, and all of a sudden I fell. I’d had a fall in weeks, so I fell, and busted my ass away from my phone. As a result of that, I missed my flight, and flights right now, as you are aware, it’s just horrible flying. It’s the worst time of my life. Flying experiences have been horrible, so I got rebooked and I got to New York City at LaGuardia that night.”
He talked about the back injury that followed.
“I got in my room on Saturday night, I laid on the bed, put my ass on the edge of the bed, and just relax. Well, little did I know my back was going to go out on me. So now I’m in the hotel, and with my back out and I can’t function, so it was just a horrible experience, and I flew back home on Monday night. It was, I suffered for a while. I won’t do that again. I want to make sure my phone is within arm’s reach.”
Ross detailed his current physical condition.
“Sore, sore, it’s like taking a big hit in the football game. I’m just sore as hell, but you know, I asked to go to work, so I can’t blame anybody but myself. I just gotta find a doctor, and I got a neurologist now, he’s talking to me about, you know, high-risk area for dementia and all that bullshit, so I have the worst luck sometimes. I’m just real sore, I got to find the right doctor that can get me back rolling, because my legs are really weak, and on Saturday morning, one of my legs just went out under me, it just went like a piece of spaghetti, it wasn’t good.”
The 74-year-old broadcaster has been navigating multiple health challenges across the past several years, including his ongoing recovery from skin cancer treatment. Ross talked about his commitment to continuing to work despite the physical toll.
“I’m flying up back, just could have stayed home, maybe I should have, but I like working, and I love pro wrestling, so that’s my little sad story. I’m glad that I went, I got to see a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a long time, and just checked out the community there. It’s good. I enjoyed that a lot. So, I’d like to work another match, but I’m not complaining. I sure miss doing that.”
Ross praised the AEW Double or Nothing show itself.
“I saw quite a bit of it. We had a monitor in our locker room, and I thought it was just a hell of a show. Nothing sucked whatsoever. It was well produced, it was well timed. I didn’t feel any matches were cut short at all, so it was a real good show for television. For whatever the magic potion is, AEW doesn’t do any bad pay-per-views.”
The Louis Armstrong Stadium environment also drew praise from Ross.
“It was packed, sold out, and that’s legit. As you can see, the crowd was an empty seat in the house, it was good.”
Ross is one of the most-acclaimed broadcasters in wrestling history and has been part of the AEW broadcast team since the company’s launch in 2019. His health challenges have been one of the most-followed wrestling industry stories in recent years, with his continued commitment to calling matches being a testament to his love of the business.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit Grilling JR and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
