Backstage Details On Why AEW Hired Former WWE Writer Jimmy Jacobs

The creative side of All Elite Wrestling looks to be under reconstruction following the news that producer Jimmy Jacobs has left the company. Almost immediately after his exit, reports about Jacobs' backstage involvement in AEW started making the rounds on social media, including one claiming he wasn't a fan of AEW when he joined the company. Since his original space on X (formerly known as Twitter) spawned a number of these poorly-aggregated reports, Ibou of WrestlePurists took to X for a second time to clear up confusion regarding Jacobs not being a fan of the company, explaining that Jacobs' lack of familiarity with AEW's product was one of the key reasons he was hired.

"He wasn't a fan, going in to be hired, he wasn't familiar with the product," Ibou said. "He didn't watch AEW. I didn't say that he disliked it or he was someone who hated the product — he just wasn't somebody who was overly familiar with the product, and he came in and AEW liked that he wasn't familiar ... they thought fresh eyes could lead to different analyses of some of the things that were happening on the show, and he did have a different perspective."

Jacobs reportedly cited burnout as the main reason for his departure, which comes as no surprise considering he had reportedly been AEW CEO Tony Khan's right-hand man since his arrival in June 2023, and was at more "AEW Dynamite" shows over the past year than anyone else besides Khan. In fact, while Ibou acknowledged it was an imperfect comparison, he said Jacobs could be thought of as the head writer of "Dynamite" — though Ibou also claims there are many other former WWE writers still employed by AEW, meaning he doesn't expect Jacobs' departure to necessarily result in massive creative changes.

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