AEW announcer and Senior Advisor “Good Ole’ J.R.” Jim Ross took to an episode of his “Grilling Jr” podcast to talk about a number of topics including whether he would be surprised to see Ricochet join AEW.
Ross said, “Well, not really. But I don’t know how much difference it makes. Depends on how he’s brought in, and how he’s presented, how he’s positioned. He’s a talented kid, there’s no doubt about that. I’ve met with him before, and like him. He’s very spot-heavy. You know, I’d like to see him be able to be a little bit more fundamentally sound. But he’s a very talented, athletic kid. So, who knows? But it seems to me to be kind of obvious that the AEW brand would be where he might migrate to for regular work.”
“You know, I don’t understand. It seems to me like — Connie, I don’t know what you think about this. But the fact that guys can work essentially one or two days a week and still make a good living. And work with quality guys. That’s the great thing too, that we don’t talk enough about at AEW, is that Tony Khan has assembled an amazing roster. It’s pretty terrific, quite frankly. And I like the fact that they got that rolling. And you know, we — again, you see how good these guys and gals are when they get on these big events. They turn it on. They’re young, they’re competitive. They all want to be a star. And I think that’s a great attitude. But you know, Ricochet can add something to the mix if he’s brought in the right way, and he makes his impact and so forth. So we’ll see how it works out. But he’s a good kid. Seems to me like a very good kid. And he sure as hell is talented.”
On MJF’s AEW return:
“He’s a main player, there’s no doubt about it. And he keeps people on their toes. He’s got a great mind for wrestling and the drama, the dramatics and so forth. Talented guy. And apparently he — I don’t know this to be a fact, but it seemed like he was kind of fishing to see he’s gonna get an offer from WWE. And apparently that didn’t materialize. And maybe it wasn’t time. I don’t know. But you can’t overstate his value. He’s a very valuable asset to what is going on. Smart guy.”
“You know, in some ways Connie, he reminds me of Paul Heyman, in the younger days. Really smart, very perceptive. Understands kind of what’s going on. And he’s an asset. He’s young; he’s got that youth that you can’t replace. So I’m excited that he’s back. And he’s, I guess he’s healthy. He seems to be healthy. I know he had some shoulder issues or something. He sent me a text the other day hoping I got better quick or quicker, which I appreciate. That’s a great thing about being sick, I guess if there’s any great thing about being ill, is that you find out who comes out of the woodwork to give you a little bit of support. And a lot of the younger guys appreciate my work. They realize how important the role of the narrator, the announcer, the voice is the entity, no matter what company you’re with. So, he’s a valuable asset. It’s going to be interesting to see how he goes, what direction he goes, how far he goes, and all that. And he’s never boring. He’s always got something going on. And that’s why I think he’s got a little Paul Heyman in him. He understands the game, and it is a game, and he’s learned how to play the game very well.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
