In an interview with itrwrestling.com, Cody Rhodes addressed criticism that AEW announcer Jim Ross has received from people in recent months:
“Well, I think people forget that JR is one of the most over people on the show. Our generation, speaking specifically about my generation, no other generations, we all think that we’re just it. We’re it. Well, I tend to be more of a pessimist, and really, are we? Are we it? Numbers are on a nice . . . they’re moving upwards, but JR is part of the most prolific wrestling period of all time, and that’s no coincidence. He helped build it. He helped construct it. That guy . . . I’m always surprised to see how much flak he gets online. He’s an older guy who decided to jump ship, join us, take a chance on this. I mean, he’s going to probably retire his jersey here, take this huge chance, this massive gamble when he had a legacy and a job for life elsewhere.”
“Also for all flak he may get, the point of him being seated next to Excalibur is that dichotomy. Here’s PWG Excalibur talking about things and wrestlers that maybe Jim doesn’t even know who they are. And this is Jim Ross from Mid-South, the heir apparent to Bill Watts, who knows all about history and stories and grit and violence. And here’s the most neutral, greatest man on earth right in the middle, Tony Schiavone, the glue, to bring it all together. That dichotomy is the point. If we had all modern wrestling commentators, I don’t know what the show would sound like. You need that JR sound. You really do. He complains about not having an action figure, which isn’t my fault, but he needs one too. I love JR.”
