Jim Ross Praises the Intelligence of AEW President Tony Khan, How He Handles Social Media

– The Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch recently interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross. Ross discussed working in AEW with company president Tony Khan, dealing with social media and more. Below are some highlights.

Jim Ross on intelligence and knowledge of Tony Khan: “To be honest with you, the rudder in the water, and I see it with my own eyes, is Tony Khan. And he’s the hardest working, most enthusiastic, educated wrestling fan I’ve ever encountered in my entire life, and he’s in his early 30s. He can tell me what I said in a match before Tony was born. He’s watched all that stuff so many times, he has stuff memorized. He has amazing memory, highly intelligent, and his passion alone is one of the things that makes it fun to go to work because I’ve just never worked with anybody quite like him. I mean, he is demonstratively enthusiastic, and gets loud and exciting, and it’s infectious. So, it’s a different atmosphere in the more structured — it reminds me of how structured the old NFL was back in the day. And then how when the AFL came on the scene, how outlandish they seemed to be in the passing and the offense, the uniforms, the color schemes, all this other stuff. It was just amazing. So, I kind of feel a little bit in that area, where the traditional, the established big dog in the yard is still gonna be the big dog in the yard. The more successful WWE is, the more successful all of wrestling is. It’s always been that way. I think it will always be that way. So, as long as they are doing well, I think the rest of us can ride that tide to some degree, and while we’re at it, and most importantly, make our own way, create our own fans because what we do is different.”

Ross on handling social media in an era where people can talk directly to you: “I’m handling it better now than I have previously. I’m not real proud of how I’ve handled it at some points in time. I try to if I respond now to a critic, I generally will respond with humor or an attempt at humor. And not demeaning them, but some kind of line to try and break the ice because what are we really talking about? We’re talking about a pro wrestling announcer, who may have called tope suicida something else. OK. Now, does that mean I need to turn my Hall of Fame ring in and go sit in a corner for a semester? What? So, I don’t know. I handle it better now because I have a different philosophy about it, but in the past, I’ve lashed back because sometimes things get too personal.”

“You know, when somebody tweets you and goes, ‘You know, I hope you get another f***ing stroke,’ well, first of all, Einstein, I never had a stroke. I have Bell’s Palsy. There’s a difference. But why would you wish anyone in any walk of life that you hope they have a stroke? Are you kidding me? And here’s the thing. Here’s what pissed me off about that. These idiots don’t realize, in their love of wrestling, wink wink, it’s the love of their self. It’s the love of being noticed. It’s their love of being somebody and getting somebody to notice them and acknowledge such. That’s what that is. So, I just block ’em. But I don’t block that many people. It’s a blessing or a curse, quite frankly, but I’m handling it better, Richard, but I’m human. I’m human, man. I got feelings. I’m just a guy. Have a unique job. Just a regular guy. That’s all it is, so when you go the personal side of it, and knock my health and wish me ill there, I don’t really want to respond to those and try to — I used to a little bit. And it got me nowhere. And here’s the thing, I have so many great followers on Twitter who love what I do and they love the interaction and they know I run my own Twitter, I don’t have a hired guy to do that. Sean Cradle (?) does my Facebook and Instagram, a great friend in Baltimore, and I help out when I can, especially Facebook when I can. But all that’s new to me, man. It’s all new to me, so this whole thing’s a brand-new journey. This whole long way from making 25-40 dollars a day hauling farting, smoking wrestlers around in my car so I can make 0.02 cents a mile for all three of them, so I could pay my gas bill.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit the Sports Media podcast, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.