Jim Ross is taking some time away from the booth to heal. Following the premiere of AEW Collision, Ross went to social media to apologize for how he sounded on the show. He also said he’s stepping away to heal after suffering a bad fall in Chicago. The fall was so bad that Ross suffered a black eye which he shared in a social media post.
Ross, 71, joined Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness on commentary for AEW Collision, which featured the return of CM Punk. The legendary professional wrestling broadcaster also calls AEW Dynamite and AEW pay-per-view events. He joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019 after being with WWE from 1993-2013 and again from 2017-2019.
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Ross talked about his role changing last year when he began cooling only half of Dynamite. “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,” Ross said, per ComicBook.com. “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.”
In October, Ross hinted at how his career will end on his Grilling JR podcast. “We’re trying real hard to try and make that one-hour show, improve it and make it better. I like working with Excalibur and Schiavone,” he said, per Fightful. “I think that’s our best group. At least for me, because I’m working. I miss being on Dynamite, but I’m glad Tony put me on Rampage because I want to help build that brand, that was the concept. Put JR on Friday nights, maybe viewers will tune in out of old-time sake or whatever the reason may be. It’s an hour show, that’s how I started my career, looks like that’s how I’m going to end it, doing hour shows if that’s the case, that’s fine with me.”
AEW Collision is AEW’s new show that airs on TNT every Saturday. Punk was part of the main event as he teamed up with FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) to take on Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson).
