Jim Ross Says He Called The Matches He Wanted At AEW All In, Comments On ‘Hiccups’ Before The Show

AEW All In was the biggest show in AEW history and one of the biggest wrestling events ever as over 81,000 fans paid to witness the event live. 

Jim Ross, who has called his fair share of stadium shows with WWE, was present for AEW All In and called the final match on the Zero Hour pre-show (HOOK vs. Jack Perry) and the first three matches on the main show (CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe, FTR vs. Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, & Kota Ibushi vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Jay Wite, & Juice Robinson). 

Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim reflected on the experience. 

“I got to the stadium on Sunday afternoon, our call was at 11, I went over at about one. Shortly thereafter, I got my assignments on what I was going to do, and it was the first four matches, but it included Punk and Joe, which I was really excited about. It included Kenny’s match, it included FTR and Young Bucks. It was great. I got lucky and I got to call the matches that I specifically hoped that I would. If I picked all the matches, the only thing I would have added was the main event [MJF vs. Adam Cole] because I love those kind of matches with strategy, counters, gameplans. I did my matches, I hopped into a car, went back to the hotel and I had a link to the show and I watched the rest of the show in my hotel room on my iPad,” said Ross. 

Ross praised the production team and said that the commentary booth was a good set up. He also said that he wanted to call Punk vs. Joe more than any match because they do a great job in telling a story. 

Ross continued, “I talked to everybody that I could about ‘don’t lay down on this opportunity. This is the night that you want the very best of your work on display.’ I didn’t talk about finishes or ‘are you going over, brother?’ It didn’t make a shit. What made a difference was the bell-to-bell performance. Then you add on the entrances, pageantry, and ambiance of the arena. It was an intimate feel, even with 80,000 and change, paid, it was a special feeling. I thought Tony Khan’s team overachieved in every area. I was supposed to get a full entrance down the ramp. Timing got mixed up, there was a few little hiccups right before we went on the air, apparently, I was told ‘we’re going to get you over here.’ I got a half-entrance, then when I got to my seat, I got another wave. It was cool. I got a great pop. Announcers or performers, we live for those pops. The fact that they had a car waiting for me to leave, I didn’t get caught up in any traffic. Maybe took me five minutes to get back to my room. It was so unique.”

Ross brought up CM Punk reportedly not being picked up at the airport, and “those things happen,” but that he wasn’t condoning it. He was also said, “it’s CM Punk-esque” that he took the train like a civilian. 

When asked about the reports of an incident between Jack Perry and CM Punk, Ross commented, “I didn’t see it. I didn’t know anything about it until after the show. I heard there was a little skirmish, a difference of opinion.”

After praising Kenny Omega for his work in the six-man tag team match, Ross said, “I think the order of the matches were changed a little bit. All I know, I say this all the time to the other announcers, ‘Just put it on the God damn monitor and we’ll call it.’ I’m not going to worry about who is here and there, who is angry or not angry. I don’t care. I just want the match to start so I can start working.”

He also noted that he and Kenny exchanged nice messages after the match. 

Ross is currently part of the AEW Collision team, calling the main event bouts alongside Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. 

Fans can find Fightful’s coverage of AEW All In by clicking here. Check out the post-show podcast by clicking here. 

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