Jim Ross Says Certain AEW Stars Will Be "Lobbying" Tony Khan For Longer Matches At AEW Full Gear
During the Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross talked about his excitement for this weekends Full Gear PPV. Ross discussed how well the company has done building stories for the show. He also mentioned his excitement for the main matches like Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston in an 'I Quit' match for the AEW Championship, Cody vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Championship, and the Young Bucks vs. FTR for the first time ever.
"Tony Khan's done a nice job to put together a card that has good storylines," Ross said. "The backup story, the stories going into the event, are meaningful. I think we tried to tell good stories and build it up. You know, [Jon] Moxley and Eddie Kingston is going to be violent. I suspect that's going to be a bloodbath; you need that for an 'I Quit' match.
"I like the MJF/Jericho match, it's compelling. People are still talking about their song and dance number. The tag match [Young Bucks vs. FTR] is a match that a lot of smart fans have been looking forward to for a long time."
According to Tony Khan, this weekends event will have 1,000 fans in attendance. Ross made some very interesting comments regarding match times from the talent in AEW for Full Gear. These comments raised many eyebrows, suggesting this is something that has been going on backstage in AEW and could lead to a bunch of disputes. He also said the talent are probably going to complain about how long their matches will be and may request to Tony Khan that they get more time.
"It will be interesting to see how the show is timed," Ross said. "Every match, those guys are all going to think they need 20 minutes. I'm thinking that's going to be interesting on show day. The lobbying Tony Khan for more time is going to be comical to watch.
"Of course, the talents are going to wait 'til the last day, so that's when the revisions come, and we have to acquiesce to some of these cats' big egos. Apparently they have very low self esteem of their own work because you got to have– I'm interested in that backstage aspect of the show."
Regarding his comments, Ross continued to say that he wasn't burying Full Gear or the roster. He made sure to mention that it doesn't change how excited he is for the event, saying it's the most excited and interested he's been in any AEW event to date.
"I'm not downplaying this pay-per-view whatsoever," Ross said. "Because of the stories and how they laid out, and how we built in a deliberate and understanding way, I'm more emotionally invested in this pay-per-view than I am in any others we've had. Such well-told stories, top talents in key positions; I think this is going to be a hell of a pay per view.
"The reason I bring that stuff up [about match times], all those times and mental preparation fits into the chemistry and how the shows are going to flow. It's a heavy duty wrestling show that will be 3 hours long, and I think it will kick ass."
Ross also talked about Jeff and Matt Hardy one day going into the WWE Hall of Fame. He said he doesn't see how its going to happen until Matt is out of AEW because Vince wouldn't allow that.
"I hope somewhere down the road, when they do [WWE] Hall of Fame stuff in the future– you know the Hardys need to be in the Hall of Fame," Ross said. "But as long as Matt is with AEW, I wonder how that will be. It almost will have to be that Vince says they deserve to go in, but when Matt leaves AEW, 'we'll think about it.'"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.