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Jim Ross Discusses His Thoughts On AEW Full Gear, The Dynamic With Excalibur & Tony Schiavone On AEW Commentary

November 21, 2020 | Posted by Blake Lovell
Excalibur Jim Ross Tony Schiavone AEW Image Credit: AEW

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed AEW Full Gear, his thoughts on the dynamic on AEW commentary with Excalibur and Tony Schiavone, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Jim Ross on his thoughts on AEW Full Gear: “I loved the effort by everybody. Everybody brought their A-game, everybody was there on time. Everybody was motivated. I don’t think we had any bad matches. There are matches, one could argue in hindsight might have been a little too long for their spot, but that’s not unusual for any pay-per-view show. But I thought the show was excellent. I thought the talents worked hard, they were focused. You know a card is good when you read a lot of one-line feedback that ‘Well this match could’ve closed the show’ or ‘This match should’ve closed the show.’ There were multiple matches mentioned. That tells you the show all-around is gonna be pretty damn good if there are multiple matches that some fans believe could’ve closed the show instead of Moxley and Eddie……I thought the announce team did a solid job, but that is our job. We aren’t patting ourselves on the back for doing our job, but sometimes, a night is more fun than another night. That was one of those nights where, man, the show was over three hours long, but it didn’t seem like it. I thought we did a nice job and kept our focus. The show moved so rapidly that was easy to do.”

On working with Excalibur and Tony Schiavone on the AEW commentary team: “It’s great to have Tony back in the game. I really enjoy working with him…..it’s just good to be around him. He has a calming influence to me. I believe that Tony makes me better, and I hope both of us make Excalibur better because Excalibur is kind of the new kid on the block in this world. He’s not done national TV before, and he’s had a good first year. He’s a very smart guy. I call him the sensational, intelligent Excalibur. The masked man Dick Beyer, who was the Destroyer – he changed his gimmick over the years and when he became a little older, he became the sensational, intelligent Destroyer. He was wonderful, what a good man. So, I think Excalibur fits in that category. He’s a real student of the game. He’s really big on the lucha libre stuff, and he just does a great job.

“We all have a different role, and our roles seem to change. I don’t really care who does the play by play – it doesn’t matter to me. If I’m in my groove and it’s my time to expound verbally, then I will, but it’s not something I’m trying to force myself into. All of us do our role and seem to be fairly content with our role because sometimes Tony can do a little play by play. Excalibur – that’s his forte, so we’re letting him stay in his comfort zone as he continues to expand his skill set. I enjoy working with those dudes. They’re a lot of fun, they’re fun off-camera, there are no big egos here except mine [laughs]. It’s been a really good experience for me.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Grilling JR with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.