Jim Cornette thinks something is missing in AEW’s commentary every week.
There was a slight change in the commentary for AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door that saw Excalibur, New Japan’s Kelly Kelly, and Taz taking over duties for most of the show. They eventually were joined by legendary commentators Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross for select matches.
As the voices of AEW continue to evolve each week, one legendary voice in the industry believes AEW needs to take a closer look at who they put on commentary. In his latest edition of the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, Cornette voiced his honest opinions on last week’s commentary.
Suffice to say, he’s not a big fan of who’s chosen to be the voice of AEW:
“Well, I don’t think they have the common sense to be, but nevertheless I was embarrassed for them. Let’s talk about Jim Ross is now on the second hour of Dynamite and now he’s hosting Rampage. There’s speculation is JR getting too grumpy sitting through two hours of bad wrestling so that by the end of it he’s just like, ‘Oh f*ck, get me out of here.’
If they put him on Rampage because the ratings of Rampage, the show that they have not given a sh*t about in months, has reached an all time low over the past couple of weeks, down to 300 and something thousand people is that possibly a ploy to get JR back on or get him on that show to get some of the viewers back?”
Jim Ross has stated that he’s been going through many health issues and has been wary of traveling too much. However, he later revealed on his Grilling JR podcast that he had signed an extension with AEW. He said he plans on continuing doing commentary for the company until 2024.
Jim Cornette also had some strong opinions about Excalibur:
“Yeah, we know that we’re stuck with the guy. He’s the sh*ts. But you’ve got Taz with Kevin Kelly. Then you’ve got basically Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. You’ve got an ex-jock that’s well spoken, and has even though Rogen was a stand up comic, he’s you know, he’s trained and he’s the manly man but you’ve got somebody with that can provide some analysis, and you have the straight man announcer that can sell the product. But with you know, you’ve got the f*cking idiot outlaw goof with a sock on his face.”
Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Radio stated that it’s unclear whether the commentary changes for last week’s episode were meant to be permanent or simply out of respect for NJPW’s involvement leading up to Forbidden Door. As of now, both Jim Ross and Excalibur continue to remain prominent voices on the commentary team.