Jim Ross has been out of the broadcast booth less than usual with AEW.
Over the last few weeks, JR has been absent from commentary for several shows, but would join the booth halfway through the respective shows. Many fans speculated this was health issue related, as Jim Ross has a history of medical issues that could be the reason why he is not as active as an announcer lately.
While speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross provided an explanation as to why the change happened. Ross stated that his time on commentary was changed in order to give the middle of AEW Dynamite a boost.
“That was a Tony Khan decision. Creatively, I was coming out before the show and doing all of Dynamite. The reception was humbling, fans were glad to see me and they expressed themselves. The reception I was getting was really good. He thought the middle of the show, Dynamite, needed a boost. So JR became the booster. I come out in the middle of the show, still going to call the main events. Then we all take a bathroom break and go right into taping Rampage. It’s only an hour, it’s kind of like an old school hour wrestling show. I like that deal. I didn’t have any issues with at all. I’m very Mariano Rivera, go in for long relief and get results for you. That’s the deal there. Just keeping me fresh and ‘special,’ and try to give Rampage a little boost commentary wise, selling wise. We need to, obviously, get the ratings up, which we are. That’s the reason for that. No problem whatsoever. I get more exposure now than I did before.”
Jim Ross on Grillin JR
Time will tell how much time Ross will miss on the commentary booth going forward, but according to JR it is not his decision to make as AEW President Tony Khan was the catalyst to this idea.
H/T to RingsideNews for transcription
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