What did “Good Ole’ J.R.” think of the first WWE premium live event of the New Year?
During the latest installment of his “Grilling J.R.” podcast, WWE Hall of Fame legend and current AEW commentator Jim Ross weighed in with his thoughts on the WWE Royal Rumble 2023 pay-per-view from this past Saturday night, as well as what he felt was the match of the night.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the show where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On how he enjoyed the Royal Rumble and was happy for Cody Rhodes: “I watched in and out of it. I had company here, so I didn’t dwell on it. But I did watch pieces of it. I thought it was an amazing production. It looked great, sounded good on my TV. So it was an interesting event. Certainly [I’ll] congratulate Cody Rhodes for winning it. It’s not a huge surprise, but does that matter? He was the right guy for the job. Now he’s gonna be able to help the company build their way to WrestleMania in a few weeks. So I thought it was a good show. I thought there were some moments in there. I thought it was interesting that they started out with the Royal Rumble match for the men. Didn’t have a problem with it. I thought it was an interesting way to start, and it captured my attention right off the bat.”
On how Gunther the MVP of the night: “He’s a freak, and [he] had a hell of a night, no doubt about it. Probably the best night of his career ever. It’s arguable to say that Gunther was the MVP of that show because he went well over an hour. But he’s a lean, mean fighting machine, there’s no doubt about that. So hat’s off to him as well. It’s just great to see wrestlers having the opportunity on a major stage to succeed, and their effort dictates their success. If that is true, which I believe it to be, Gunther had a hell of a night. He had a very successful night, even though he didn’t win. It’s one of those classic situations where the guy that goes over doesn’t always get over, and in this scenario, I fully believe that Gunther got over, even though he didn’t win the Rumble. So he’s an interesting prospect. I would expect great things for him, especially after Saturday night.”
Check out the complete episode of the “Grilling j.R.” podcast by visiting Apple.com. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
