Jim Ross kicked off a brand new episode of his weekly podcast Grilling JR with a red hot response to some of the negative press and bad social media takes that have been thrown in his direction recently.
Much of the hate in recent weeks has been due to the veteran announcer simply referring to All Elite Wrestling star Jungle Boy as “Jungle Jack Perry” during recent episodes of AEW Dynamite. But Ross claims the moniker is only a nickname, not unlike those he has bestowed upon hundreds of wrestlers throughout his legendary career.
“It shows you how misguided some fans are. They say they love wrestling, but those of us who have dedicated our lives to the business get no breaks. A lot of this is over – you know, I’m a big fan of Jungle Boy. Big time. I think he’s going to be a big star for us. He’s a great kid, very athletic. I’ve been calling Jungle Boy ‘Jack Perry’ since day one, just like I called Steve Austin the ‘Texas Rattlesnake’, or The Rock the ‘Great One’, or whatever. They’re just nicknames that come to my head, and sometimes they stick and sometimes they don’t. For god’s sake is it an impeachable offense to say ‘Jungle Boy Jack Perry’?”
J.R. also commented on someone on Twitter who claimed that he was being “disrespectful” to the superstar in question by not using his exact given name, going so far as to tag AEW President Tony Khan on Twitter trying to get him in trouble.
“Are you shitting me? … You need to pull your head out of your ass and understand the wrestling business a little bit. Sometimes doing a lot of television – just like right here, we’re not doing it over, we’re doing it one time – sometimes you misspeak. Sometimes you get ahead of yourselves. You’ve got three guys out there in front of a crazy crowd.”
“Fans should think about that. We see it. We read it. Especially when you put our Twitter handle in there – you know I’m going to see it at some point. They want attention. So for you attention starved little bastards out there that want to knock my work, have at it. I don’t care. All I’m going to do is the best job that I can, and quite frankly I think our three-man team is evolving into one of the better teams in the business.”
Ross also attributes much of the hate and exhausting arm-chair booking to the entitlement that fans have been given on social media, claiming that everyone thinks they are now a “creative genius”, when people like him actually have been experts inside the business for decades.
“Everybody is a booker. Everybody is a ‘creative genius’. They got enough knowledge to be dangerous, and this is a very sensitive time in our business where all the information flow on social media gives people the right to profess to be experts. You’re not! You’re a fan. You’re not an expert – I’m a wrestling expert.”
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“Do you understand the big picture of how to broadcast wrestling? I’m trying to give Jungle Boy Jack even more personality. He’s going to be a player, man. What is he going to do when he’s 35? Is he still gonna be Jungle Boy? I don’t know what he’s going to be, but in my mind’s eye I’m giving you all I can because I want to get him over. Our goal is to create new stars, and to get these guys over.”
Check out the new episode of Grilling JR for his full thoughts on the subject in the opening minutes of the podcast, as well as a full rundown behind-the-scenes of the 2004 WWE Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view.