Jim Ross On The Khan Family Putting Money Into AEW, If ROH Can Be Bigger, AEW Not Rivaling WWE
As previously noted, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently shared his thoughts on the formation of All Elite Wrestling. Specifically, Ross put over the Khan Family for investing in professional wrestling and giving new opportunities to performers. Also, Ross suggested that Ring Of Honor could be even bigger than it is if Sinclair Broadcast Group put more into the promotion. Finally, Ross talked about whether AEW can overtake WWE for the top spot in the industry.
According to Ross, the Khan Family deserves credit for putting money into pro wrestling. Moreover, 'J.R.' described AEW President Tony Khan as a "young genius" and said he is hopeful about what AEW can do.
"The Khan Family deserve recognition for putting their money where there mouth is and there's plenty of it. And I'm very curious to see how this brand continues to evolve and more of the players are put into place." Ross continued, "I have great interest to see the other hires that will be made because I have great optimism that Tony Khan is a young genius and hopefully he's going to be building a brand that will be influential and meaningful for years to come. And none of what I just said has anything to do with overtaking WWE. It's the farthest thing from my mind. It doesn't matter."
Ross suggested that the beauty of AEW is that performers looking for new opportunities can strike out on their own and the Khans will pay the going rate.
"That nucleus will grow with quality people that want a new venture," Ross said. "The nice thing about it is that you don't have to do it, apparently, at a sacrifice because the Khans are going to pay going rates. I think they're going to pay the going rate for a talent in [pro] wrestling based on their role, and status, and all that good stuff? they're age."
Notably, Ross professed that ROH could be massive if its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, was willing to leave its "comfort zone".
"Sinclair [has] got a lot of assets," Ross explained. "They've got a lot of muscle, but they don't flex it much. Ring Of Honor could be so much bigger, so much more potent, so much more formidable and profitable, but they don't want to get out of their comfort zone and they have this little sphere that they're going to stay in financially."
On the subject of AEW potentially rivalling WWE for the top spot in the industry, Ross said, "it's not going to happen". Moreover, Ross indicated that AEW could be very successful without ever touching or concerning WWE.
"They could be so profitable and so successful and have no association, no connect, with WWE," Ross said. "It's not even funny. But everybody gets their own platform and they want a little innuendo here, and a little innuendo there, a little ribbing on the square here, if you know, you know [and] if you don't know, it doesn't matter, these little cliches that infiltrate your thinking."
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Source: The Jim Ross Report