AEW broadcast Jim Ross was recently interviewed by Wrestling Inc. Daily in which he discussed his absence from AEW last week.
"Tony Khan and I had a very long and thoughtful talk that he initiated. Iām an asset for that company in his view, and mine too, and he said Iāve got to protect you because he knows I wonāt protect myself. So, the decision was to stay home for a couple of days and Iām not gonna be on Dynamite this week or next until we see where this thing is headed. If it gets worse, Iām 68 and in a high-risk group. I donāt wanna die. I donāt wanna get the flu because my ego says Iāve gotta be on TV. āOh I canāt lose my spot, because then I wonāt get my push!ā Stop. Please."
"Youāre comparing apples to oranges as weāre not the NFL, NBA or MLB. Weāre a theatrical presentation and a TV show. All of those empty arenas are empty studios. Itās not about selling tickets at this point in time as itās about giving the audience a little break from this insanity that weāre all dealing with. Itās an entertainment show and I applaud all of those guys that are braving the elements and challenges of the coronavirus to put on an entertaining show on Wednesday nights."
"Itās important for us to maintain some continuity. I donāt have the format and I canāt tell you what theyāre gonna do on Wednesday, but I know that the effort will be there. Iām gonna be watching the show on Wednesday just like a fan, which I love. Thatās the thing about not knowing the finishes ā I donāt need to know your finish. I donāt need to know your spots. If Iām not good enough to recognize what youāre doing or youāre not good enough to tell me a story, then we have issues⦠Itās an interesting time in our lives and I donāt think pro wrestling is in danger, but weāve gotta maintain our growth as best we can under the circumstances. Weāve got to be smart and take into consideration what this virus is. We can never lose sight of what weāre facing right now."