While AEW has added quite a few new performers to their ranks from WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling, the indies, and beyond, with over a dozen new performers signing with the promotion over the calendar year, 2023 will widely be regarded as a year of loss for AEW, as two of the promotion's most notable champions, CM Punk and Jade Cargill, decided to leave Tony Khan's company behind in favor of joining up with Paul “Triple H” Levesque in Titan Towers.
Granted, there's still time to make a few more big swings to help bolster the ranks, with Kazuchika Okada, Mustafa Ali, and Nic Nemeth, aka WWE's Dolph Ziggler, all looking for new homes in the not-too-distant future, but even those three names, as notable as they might be, aren't quite on the same level as the “Best in the World,” with fans wondering if AEW will ever be able to recover ground when three of their former cornerstones – including Cody Rhodes – are now major parts of their competitor's future.
Discussing one of AEW's soon-to-be free agents, announcer Jim Ross, on his podcast 83 Weeks, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff was asked if he thinks Khan would let “The Voice of Wrestling” go to focus on new talent on the mic and surprisingly, he had a very strong stance on the subject.
“No. Absolutely not. I don’t think JR has been put in the best possible position at AEW. Part of that is Jim. Look, we all have to take responsibility for our own successes and our own lack of success from time to time. But I would have liked to have seen JR right from the beginning be more of a special event announcer,” Eric Bischoff said via 411 Mania. “I would have put him on a different level of pedestal. Not that he’s better than Tony or better than anybody else, but he’s different than everybody else. And I would have taken advantage of that in a kind of enhancement, and built on that perception of Jim being the legend in wrestling broadcasting that he really is. But by putting him on a pedestal and showcasing it, and maintaining that separation from the day-to-day work so to speak, puts them on a different level, you know? And I wish they would have done that from the get-go. But look, JR’s got that voice, man. When you hear that voice, it’s like comfort food for my ears, man. It’s like macaroni and cheese for my ears when I hear Jim’s voice.”
Interesting stuff, right? But wait, it gets better, as Bischoff had plenty more to say about his fellow WWE Hall of Famer-turned-podcaster.
Eric Bischoff believes AEW needs continuity in 2024.
Focusing in on the current landscape of the number two wrestling promotion in the world, Eric Bischoff noted that, in his opinion, letting Jim Ross walk after losing CM Punk and Jade Cargill would signal a company in a very bad way, with prioritizing continuity at key positions a much better strategy than trying to make big swings.
“If you look at AEW over the last 12 months between the Punk drama that ended up in Punk moving over to WWE — which is still mind-boggling to me, to be honest, every time I say it, I just shake my head. Losing Jade Cargill, obviously it’s a big move. I don’t know that if I were Tony [Khan], I would want to lose any more brand value. JR has 50 years of experience as a broadcaster. JR is embedded in the culture of professional wrestling and among fans. So, to lose another brand like that, I think the timing would be really bad. Tony’s gotta hold it together. He’s gotta bring that ship together, he’s got to tighten it up. He’s got to lock down the brand talent that he has, the names that he has. Obviously, MJF being crucial at this point, but guys like JR and Tony Schiavone, those people who have equity in their names in every wrestling fan know who they are and have known who they are most of their lives. Those talents you need to lock down while you’re trying to reestablish yourself. And I think AEW, in many ways, is, believe it or not, in a rebuilding mode because the bottom has just fallen out. So, so much so over the last few months that they’re scrambling to rebuild.”
In the opinion of some fans, moving on from JR can't come soon enough, as he constantly botches names or wrestlers and moves on the mic, and isn't quite as sharp as he once was when it comes to one-liners, but as Bischoff pointed out, there's a whole generation, maybe even two, who grew up on his calls, with his voice serving as audio comfort food for the wrestling soul. If AEW can figure out a way to maximize JR's talents at this stage of the game, keeping him aboard, especially as he goes through cancer treatments, is probably the right call.
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