AEW's Jeff Jarrett Comments On Ring Size 'Controversy' From Grand Slam Australia

Despite AEW's Grand Slam Australia event being a smash hit amongst those in the company, as well as generating the third largest gate in company history behind All In London 2023 and 2024, a pocket of wrestling fans on social media found something to complain about regarding the show; the size of the ring. Rather than using the usual 18x18 size ring that they do in North America, AEW had to use a 16x16 ring which some claimed was too small, thus making the show look worse as a result. AEW's Jeff Jarrett was asked about this discourse on his "My World" podcast, and he is as puzzled by it as many other people are.

"I don't want to use the words tribalism, or everything's politicized, but it just feels like it's the old Handsome Jimmy song–or Jerry Lawler song 'Bad news travels like wildfire, good news travels slow, they all call me wildfire because everybody knows I'm bad news,'" Jarrett said. "People jump in and want to hang on, and if you don't like the size of the ring, that's okay too. I'm not trying to tell anybody what they can and can't like, but my goodness...the negativity just continues to grow..."

Jarrett went on to say that perhaps some people get a kick out of spreading news in bad faith, but he is simply a professional wrestling fan who wants to see the business thrive, something his co-host, Conrad Thompson, agreed with. Thompson was also confused as to why the fact that AEW sold all of the merchandise in the building was a bad thing, and questioned whether there are people in the world who hate wrestling more than actual wrestling fans.

Please credit "My World" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.