Jim Ross Notes Similarities Between Tony Khan And 'Cowboy' Bill Watts
As a guest on the JMart and Ramon Podcast, AEW Commentator Jim Ross spoke about his boss Tony Khan and why he reminds him of his mentor Cowboy Bill Watts. In the past, JR has compared Khan to Watts, speaking of his ability to listen to talent as something that reminded him of his old boss. Ross broke down the comparison more, stating how Tony sits with the talent to put together a game plan, much like Watts did in the past.
"What I've noticed about Tony Khan is that he reminds me of Cowboy Bill Watts in as much as Tony will confide, and converse, and pick the brain of his talent," Ross said. "It's no different than putting together a gameplan with a football player, it's the same deal. Here's our plan, here's what we think that if we execute, we will win. Tony is still such a great fan but he picks the brain and gets the contributions of the talent. Bill Watts told me years ago he'd bring these big villains in because he was a big 300-pound babyface Cowboy, and he would bring these monster heels in to work with him. They'd beat everybody in the territory and then they'd get to the Cowboy, and that's where the big main events were and they'd have that for six months or a year.
"Bill was interested in his philosophy with a lot of that stuff but Tony does the same thing. If he's going to do something with Jon Moxley, for example, you can bet your sweet ass that Jon Moxley is involved. He has contributed to the creativity of his presentation, and if you shut your talent out and you're so corporate, there's a problem there for me. I think Tony's doing a good job there listening to the talent and we've got some talents that are invested now. It's an exciting time to be there. I'm the oldest guy there."
AEW Superstar Wardlow has made some news, speaking about what a match with Brock Lesnar would look like and adding fuel to the fire of a potential appearance in WWE someday. With one of the first faces of AEW, Cody Rhodes, likely heading to WWE following the news both he and his wife Brandi are leaving the company, the door could be opening for future AEW talent to head to WWE.
Continuing to speak about his belief in his boss, Jim Ross continued to highlight his belief in Tony Khan. While speaking about Khan, Ross also gave praise to Wardlow, stating that he believes he's a future star in the business.
"I believe in what Tony is trying to build and it's got some football elements in it as far as the psychology," Ross said. "Signing some big guys, signing some high-flying guys so you have a diverse roster that doesn't look the same. Everybody can't look like Brock Lesnar, everybody can't look like Wardlow who's going to be a big star, by the way."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit JMart and Ramon with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.