Legendary pro wrestling commentator Jim Ross has been the play-by-play man for AEW Dynamite and All Elite Wrestling pay-per-views since April 2019. And while “Good Ol’ JR” has managed to amplify some of the company’s biggest moments with his commentary, the 69-year-old’s performance has also been met with some criticism from online fans. Ross has taken the most flak over his accidental slip-ups, once calling Kenny Omega the WWE Champion and accidentally closing out an episode of Dynamite by calling it WWE Dynamite. Cody Rhodes, who was one of the men who announced Ross’ arrival in the company, addressed that criticism during a recent interview with Inside The Ropes.
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“Well, I think people forget that JR is one of the most over people on the show,” Rhodes said. “Our generation, speaking specifically about my generation, no other generations, we all think that we’re just it. We’re it. Well, I tend to be more of a pessimist, and really, are we? Are we it? Numbers are on a nice . . . they’re moving upwards, but JR is part of the most prolific wrestling period of all time, and that’s no coincidence.”
“He helped build it. He helped construct it,” he continued. “That guy . . . I’m always surprised to see how much flak he gets online. He’s an older guy who decided to jump ship, join us, take a chance on this. I mean, he’s going to probably retire his jersey here, take this huge chance, this massive gamble when he had a legacy and a job for life elsewhere.”
Yep I apparently made an untimely error tonight at shows end.
No excuses.
And I’m not quitting. 🤠
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) July 1, 2021
Meanwhile, WWE’s commentary recently saw another shake-up when Adnan Virk left his role as the play-by-play commentator after working just seven episodes. Ross gave his thoughts on what went wrong while speaking with The Dan Le Batard Show.
“Adnan got put on TV, in a very unique product, before he was ready from a product knowledge standpoint,” Ross said. “The wrestling fans today, with social media and all the information flow, they have a great sense of what they like and what might be wrong. He’s a solid broadcaster and they rushed to judgment too quick. You have to know the terms, the language, and the culture. That’s where he was short.”
This week’s AEW Dynamite will have a special Fight For The Fallen theme. The top matches include Chris Jericho vs. Nick Gage in a No Rules Match and The Dark Order vs. The Elite in a 10-man tag match.
