Jim Ross opens up on his health and comments on his potential return to AEW.
Ross has been sidelined since he worked the June 17 episode of AEW Collision, which marked the debut of the show. He was injured in a fall prior to the show, and his voice was clearly hampered by this setback. Ross subsequently stated that he would be taking some time away in order to heal.
Speaking on his podcast, Grilling JR, the WWE Hall of Famer stated that he feels “pretty good”, and he gets better every day. He explained that he tripped on the cord of a CPAP machine, and that’s how he fell and hit his head. He then detailed how he wasn’t feeling right on the trip to Chicago ahead of AEW Collision, but he tried to tough it out. (H/t Fightful for the transcription)
“The next morning, when I woke up, that was my flight out to Chicago to do that first show, Collision, and that’s all I was thinking about,” Ross said. “I woke up and I had a bad-ass headache, but okay, a headache ain’t gonna keep JR out of work. But I had a bad headache, which was a result of the concussion, and my only thought was, ‘I gotta finish packing and get on the road.‘ That’s kind of what I did, but I was very unstable. Everything was very foggy, and I’d have been better off staying at home, but hard-headedness and being stubborn, and I felt like I had a commitment that I’d made that I wanted to fulfill. So I got dressed rather slowly, and my driver, he knows if I’m not standing there ready to go, to come upstairs where I live. But I was downstairs waiting, and on a little unsteady ground, and flew to Chicago.
“As the day went on in Chicago, my voice kept going in and out, and I don’t know what the hell that was. I thought, ‘Well, I’ll get over it. I’ll drink a lot of hot tea or hot coffee or hot something, and make that work for me.’ But it was just too much to overcome, and I apologize for how I sounded. I didn’t tend to sound that way, I didn’t want to sound that way, and I know I disappointed a lot of people. I disappointed me. I don’t think it made anybody in AEW real happy how I sounded, but I was doing the best that I could.”
After the show, according to Ross, he knew that he had to go home, as he didn’t feel good. He brought up his potential return to AEW and stated that he didn’t have a date yet. Ross emphasized that Tony Khan has been very understanding.
“As far as going back on the road, I don’t have a return date,” Ross said. “Tony Khan’s been very nice as far as ‘take all the time you need, and if you want to take several weeks off or the summer off, whatever you’d like to do, just get healthy.’
“So I appreciate the fact that he’s being patient with me and that he is encouraging my good health because that’s really the main thing, and it gives us all an eye-opener. There’s nothing more important than our health. So many times, we take it for granted, and I have for years. So I’m gonna be a little bit more aware of my health, I’m gonna be a little bit more aware of how I take care of myself, but in the meantime, I’ve been here at home.”
Rosss stated that he should have stayed home in the first place, but he was trying to do what was best for the company and the fans. He made it clear that he is feeling better, and he intends to return, but the legend doesn’t know when.
“Headaches come and go. I do think I’m in general feeling much better,” Ross said. “I do plan on going back on the road. I just don’t know when. It may not be anytime as I’d like or as soon as others would like, but at some point in time, we all have to come to the realization that we have to do what’s best for our health. I have not done that in my career all the time, so I need to change that philosophy. It’s time to be smarter. I haven’t called my last wrestling match. I just don’t know when the next one’s gonna be.”
On behalf of WrestleZone, we wish Ross well in his recovery, and we will provide more information as it becomes available.
