Jim Ross Compares The WWE Attitude Era Roster To AEW's

By Marco Rovere

AEW Commentator Jim Ross created headlines this past week when he said he AEWs roster will rival any roster ever.

On Twitter, Ross responded to a tweet from Bully Ray about a live show WWE had at Madison Square Garden in September of 2000, stating that AEW Dynamite Grand Slam was the most exciting night of his pro wrestling career that started in 1974.

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The AEW Commentator spoke about the tweet on the latest episode of the Grilling JR Podcast where he highlighted how he'd put AEWs roster in the same discussion as the Attitude Era roster. The WWE Hall of Famer said that doesn't mean he's saying someone in AEW is better than The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin, but he's referring to the roster as a whole.

"Somebody sent me a card from [Madison Square Garden in WWE] that I booked, it had too many guys on it, too many tags on it. And I said I will put our AEW roster in the same discussion as the Attitude Era roster," Ross said. "Conrad, that's my opinion. You may totally disagree with it. This roster is evolving much like the Attitude Era roster was, the difference is going to be politics. Our owner is approachable night or day to anybody on the roster from an extra that appears on Elevation, to the main event guys that are headlining a pay per view.

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"I don't think that's going to be a big issue here. I think Tony Khan is a hell of a booker. You look at it and you say, I could book a card for AEW that could be comparable. I'm not saying somebody is better than The Rock or better than Austin, it's a matter of a team, a unit, a group. I think our ever developing group is coming along really well."

Having been the Head of Talent Relations at the time, Ross spoke about the differences between AEW and the Attitude Era roster, and how this current crop of All Elite talent have the chance to be involved in their own creative. JR also stated how he believes if that roster was given the freedom that AEW talent are given, it would've enhanced the talent and boosted their morale.

"In AEW, oftentimes the talents have the ideas for their matches on their own," Ross said. "Then they run it through a Dean Malenko or a Jerry Lynn, etc. I just think that if we would've done more of that in the WWE, in that era, and you let a guy like X-Pac and a guy like Chris Jericho lay out their own creative, you approve it, you hear it, and finally you have to go to Vince and [say] 'here's what we're going to do.'"

Ross continued to talk about AEW talent and who they remind him of from back in the day. On a previous podcast, Ross compared Jon Moxley to Stone Cold, and he continued to reiterate those points.

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"I tell the Bucks that all the time – you're the new Rock n Roll Express," Ross said. "You're undersized baby faces who have now become very successful villains. We always reference something. I used to always reference without saying it that Jon Moxley, at times during his AEW run, has reminded me of Stone Cold. Attitudinal backstage stuff that the fans don't see, he's a lot like Austin, a bit of a loner."

Here's the tweet from Jim Ross responding to Bully Ray's post about the Madison Square Garden card from September of 2000:

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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