Jim Ross Says "Piss Ant" AEW Is Beating WWE NXT Soundly Every Week
On the latest episode of the Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross talked about mentioning other prominent moments in wrestling history outside of AEW on commentary. Ross mentioned that he makes sure to recall moments in history to be different and do something that other companies don't.
"That's why sometimes I will mention non AEW talents on our broadcast on Wednesday nights," Ross said. "To me it's not taking a shot, it's not being negative, it's actually being very positive. I think one of the great things about being a wrestling fan is we can all enjoy the history of the business.
"I don't do it for any other reason than to acknowledge our past, if you don't understand your past it's almost impossible to navigate your future. 'If it didn't happen in WWE, it didn't happen.' I think that whole philosophy is antiquated."
Ross also mentioned that Tony Khan is a big fan of JR continually mentioning wrestling history on commentary. He said Khan is a wrestling historian and it is part of the reason he works in AEW.
"He enjoys it as well," Ross said about his boss. "He's a lifelong fan, a lot of those moments are crucial. I guarantee if we call Tony Khan and say what's your favorite Butch Reed match? He'll have one or two and he'll know all the damn details and they happened decades ago because he's that much a student of the game. Which is one of the reasons why I enjoy so much working for him, he still loves pro wrestling and I'm glad we can use pro wrestling in our vernacular rather than another sports entertainment entity."
Ross mentioned a tweet he received saying his commentary from past Royal Rumbles had been taken out of a recent video package highlighting the match's history. He said nobody should be surprised and it's another reason why AEW is on WWE's mind.
"That shouldn't surprise you," Ross said. "It tells me they are aware of AEW very prominently even though they would not want to admit it. Triple H called us early on a 'piss ant' organization or something like that. This piss ant organization is beating NXT and we beat them soundly last week."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.