Jim Ross recently talked about a wide range of topics on his Grilling JR podcast.
During the podcast, the AEW announcer talked about this past Sunday’s AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event. Ross noted that he called the matches he wanted to call. He said,
“I got to the stadium on Sunday afternoon, our call was at 11, I went over at about one. Shortly thereafter, I got my assignments on what I was going to do, and it was the first four matches, but it included Punk and Joe, which I was really excited about. It included Kenny’s match, it included FTR and Young Bucks. It was great. I got lucky and I got to call the matches that I specifically hoped that I would. If I picked all the matches, the only thing I would have added was the main event [MJF vs. Adam Cole] because I love those kind of matches with strategy, counters, gameplans. I did my matches, I hopped into a car, went back to the hotel and I had a link to the show and I watched the rest of the show in my hotel room on my iPad.”
Good Ol’ JR added that CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe was the bout he wanted to call the most. He said,
“I talked to everybody that I could about ‘don’t lay down on this opportunity. This is the night that you want the very best of your work on display.’ I didn’t talk about finishes or ‘are you going over, brother?’ It didn’t make a shit. What made a difference was the bell-to-bell performance. Then you add on the entrances, pageantry, and ambiance of the arena. It was an intimate feel, even with 80,000 and change, paid, it was a special feeling. I thought Tony Khan’s team overachieved in every area. I was supposed to get a full entrance down the ramp. Timing got mixed up, there was a few little hiccups right before we went on the air, apparently, I was told ‘we’re going to get you over here.’ I got a half-entrance, then when I got to my seat, I got another wave. It was cool. I got a great pop. Announcers or performers, we live for those pops. The fact that they had a car waiting for me to leave, I didn’t get caught up in any traffic. Maybe took me five minutes to get back to my room. It was so unique.”
