Speaking on his latest Grilling JR Podcast, AEW’s Jim Ross has responded with his thoughts on WWE editing him out of Royal Rumble footage.
Good Ol’ JR was chatting with co-host Conrad Thompson about the 2006 WWE No Way Out PPV event, but the conversation diverted when Jim Ross recalls a fan tweeting him recently, shocked that WWE had edited JR out of past footage.
I said yeah, that shouldn’t surprise you!
Because, it tells me that they’re aware of AEW very prominently, even though they would not want to admit it.
The ‘Forbidden Door’ was recently opened by AEW, allowing New Japan Pro Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling stars to break rank and appear on each another’s promotions. This has been seen as a huge step towards a much larger movement in wrestling, one that WWE haven’t yet been a part of – but are clearly watching unfold from afar.
JR comments that Triple H himself called AEW a pissant company back in 2019 at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, noting that the same company he saw as insignificant then, is beating his NXT now.
As Triple H called us [AEW] early on, a pissant organisation or something like that, now this pissant is beating NXT and we beat them soundly last week.
That segment back in 2019 saw Billy Gunn make a rib at Hunter that he can’t be fired now he’s no longer under WWE rule, to which HHH responded:
Billy… Billy let’s be honest. He [pointing to Vince McMahon] will buy that pissant company just to fire you, again!
WWE superstars have not mentioned AEW on live TV aside from Sami Zayn during an in-ring Q&A session in 2019, the rivalry seemingly still non-existent in WWE’s eyes.
In a few short years, AEW have risen from potential game-changer, to a mainstay elite alternative to the regular WWE programming that dominated TV for so many years. Jim Ross’s comments a clear indication that not only are WWE paying close attention to what AEW (and the wider business) is doing, but also vice-versa.