A surgery date is locked in for Ross.
Jim Ross revealed on May 15th that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer. In his post about the news, he noted that he would be undergoing surgery within the next week or so.
Ross recorded a new episode of his Grilling J.R. podcast to provide an update. His surgery is scheduled for May 27th.
Ross: “Getting ready for surgery and that’s always stressful. But, I’ve prepared myself mentally and physically to endure the situation.
I got cancer and I’ll think of it in a minute. Isn’t that something? I have separated myself from the specifics of this situation, a lot, and I don’t mean to do it. It just happens… I have -- I’m trying to think of that. Cancer of the what? I can’t remember what I got. I got ‘em in two places and they’re gonna take ‘em out today. I believe today.”
Thompson: “Surgery is tomorrow at 6 AM, right Jim?”
Ross: “Yup.”
Ross added that he is not in pain. He is expected to be in the hospital for six days.
“They think I’ll be in the hospital six days, and they think that six days will be fine. I can come out and do this. I should be able to come home and knock out a podcast…"
As for his future in the wrestling business, Ross does not plan on retiring.
“This is crazy, on the eve of hours before my surgery, but it’s crazy to say I don’t plan on retiring. I plan on getting healthy, getting well, and coming back and doing something for somebody, and we’ll see how that works out.”
He's thinking he'll "slow down" after surgery. J.R. is planning to do autograph appearances and thinks he can still do the schedule he was on at AEW. He has spoken to company President Tony Khan and Khan assured Ross that he is fine as it relates to him in AEW.
“I’m learning a lot about things. I’m learning a lot about my body and about what it has and it’s like an old car… I’m trying to still drive it and run it and that’s maybe one of my issues is the old car has run too long, too hard. So I’m thinking I really slow down after the surgery. Talk to the doctor… I’ll try to really slow down when this is over. Make a few autograph appearances, which I love to do, and see what Tony Khan’s got ready for me for AEW. I could still do my schedule I had, but I don’t know if anybody else believes that. I believe it. I still would love to do the pay-per-views on AEW, but I don’t know if he -- Tony will want me on, I don’t know. I know their announcer lineup right now seems to be spotty, or it’s just -- they got the same guys doing the same things basically, or try to, and I don’t know if that’s working or not, and I’m not saying it in a bad way or a mean way. But, they need some continuity, and at least I can add continuity to the pay-per-views. So we’ll see how that works out. It’s all gonna be good. Tony Khan is amazing to me and he’s told me that I’m fine and everything’s good. I’ve heard that before. But we’ll talk at some point, the next week or two. See how things are going. But I think my work has held up pretty good. I might be wrong. Fans could decide that, but I think it’s held up pretty decent.”
The next pay-per-view on the docket for AEW is All In Texas in July. Ross believes there's a chance he could be there to call some of the in-ring action.
“Hell yeah, I think so (I could be at All In Texas). Why not? Why not? The convalescent -- time to recover is not long. There’s soreness and things like that that affect it… But I think I’ll be up and able to go in a couple of weeks.”
Continuing on the AEW front, Ross further heaped praise onto Tony Khan. He shared his thoughts that Khan is not overmatched IQ-wise, but he is overmatched by some of the people who work for him.
“Tony Khan called me which was nice. You know, Khan family has done an amazing job of taking care of J.R. since I signed with their company. He’s very talent-friendly. Maybe too friendly at times… I feel bad for him because he’s in a game that is really unique. But he’s not overmatched IQ-wise. He might be overmatched with some of the people that work for him. It’s funny, last time I was there… I was really curious to hear office talent talking and they were, like, digging a space for themselves, and some weren’t. Not all of ‘em. All of ‘em had good intentions. God dammit, but some of ‘em didn’t… Wrestling’s a funny thing. The talent that work in the office are oftentimes -- not all of them -- but oftentimes, very self-serving. I was too, and I look back at my experience, I would never do that again. I’d let you fire me or get rid of me because I’m not that guy. So it was hard but it’s a tough business, and Tony’s in a tough spot as far as that’s concerned.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Ross revealed that following his announcement, Stone Cold Steve Austin contacted him and they spoke for nearly an hour.
When an update on Ross' surgery becomes available, we'll update you here on Fightful.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Grilling J.R. with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
