Tony Khan on Jim Ross Stepping Away From Commentary, Fans Being Afraid to Follow a New Promotion

– AEW CEO Tony Khan recently discussed Jim Ross taking some time off to undergo radiation treatment for skin cancer and the idea of fans being afraid to follow a new wrestling promotion on yesterday’s edition of Busted Open Radio. Khan appeared on the show and you can check out some highlights below (per WrestlingInc.com):

Tony Khan on JR’s involvement despite stepping away from the broadcast booth: “Jim doesn’t want to just sit back and get these treatments and step away from wrestling. He’s still very much involved even though he’s not going to be calling the show. That’s another thing. For fans who are new to AEW, even though he won’t be in the booth tonight, one thing that has made people feel comfortable, made them feel at home watching wrestling is the voice of JR and the voice of Tony Schiavone out there. We are all going to miss Jim for the next several weeks very much. But I agree with you guys so much. He adds so much to the matches he calls and the shows he calls. JR, I think is the greatest voice in wrestling.”

On having Hangman Page on commentary this week: “All of us just want to wish JR the best. When I talked to JR, he thought it would be great to have some of the big stars in AEW fill his chair while he’s out. I think for Hangman Page to call the Bryan Danielson match will be a fitting tribute.”

Tony Khan on fans tuning into a new wrestling promotion: “I think a lot of people are afraid to follow a wrestling promotion. To jump into a new wrestling promotion because they’re concerned. They don’t want to get to know new wrestlers. They don’t want to learn new wrestlers. Well, if you’ve followed wrestling at all in the past few decades, pretty likely you’re not going to have to learn a lot of new wrestlers. I mean, you’ll want to learn about a lot of the new wrestlers and it’s not going to feel like a chore. And you’re going to enjoy the show.”