WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke with the For The Win to promote NJPW on AXS TV. Here are the highlights.
On replacing Mauro Ranallo:
It’s challenging, because he casts a long shadow. He’s very skilled and did a great job with the show. So for anybody to think that I’m going to come in and phone it in, or that my rather spacious Oklahoma ego is not going to allow me to show up, I’m not just going through the motions. I want Josh and I to be the best broadcast team of the genre, and that’s what we’re working towards. I think people will get a good indication on the very first show of where we want to be as a broadcast team, and I think they will like it.
On AJ Styles joining WWE:
When I came back last year from broadcasting Wrestle Kingdom 9 I had an opportunity to chat with Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque (Triple H), and I told them about my positive experience of broadcasting the show live from the Tokyo Dome. And I also told them about some of the talents I saw. Certainly AJ was on the tip of my tongue in that conversation, as was Shinsuke Nakamura, who I think has unlimited potential in WWE. But I like the fact that AJ got to debut at Royal Rumble, a very prestigious event in the hierarchy of WWE big events. I thought they represented him well, produced him well, he looked good.
On WrestleMania 32:
I hope that the WWE title is the final match and headlines it. There’s a lot of ways they can spin that. I’m under the impression that some place along the way Triple H will end up being the fan favorite and Roman Reigns the villain. But that remains to be seen. Shane McMahon and Undertaker is a fascinating story line that can be developed because it’s so personal and based in reality to a certain degree. Very few guys in the business take an ass whooping like Dean Ambrose, and make no mistake that’s exactly what he’ll get from Brock Lesnar.
So I’m optimistic about the card. I’ve always thought Wrestlemania is a special event that brings the best out of everybody, whether it’s the wrestlers or the broadcasters or whomever, and I still believe that. I’m looking at it with a very open mind that it’ll do great business for WWE. I can close my eyes and see the visual of a packed AT&T Stadium, 100,000 people. That ring is a 20-foot square. They’re going to put it on the 50-yard line. The opportunity to pack that stadium is unprecedented. I think it’s going to be a history-making event. My first broadcast in WWE was at Wrestlemania IX. Wrestlemania is big, and I’m glad that I got to go on a real interesting 21-year ride on the road to and out of Wrestlemania.
You can read the entire interview here.
