AEW's Jim Ross Says Forbidden Door 2023 Was One Of The Best Shows He's Seen In Years

It's been a minute since AEW fans have seen Jim Ross. The Hall of Fame announcer was scheduled to be part of the "AEW Collision" broadcast when the show debuted in mid-June. But aside from calling the main event of the premiere episode, Ross has been off TV after suffering a fall just one day prior to the "Collision" debut.

Ross has stayed in tune with AEW in his absence, including checking out the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view just a week and a half ago. It's safe to say, given his comments on the most recent episode of "Grilling JR," that Ross was a very big fan of what AEW and New Japan delivered with the supershow.

"It was a great idea to do that show," Ross said. "The concept of that, I thought, was terrific. The cooperation of New Japan, the fact that there's so many guys on the AEW roster that have such a strong New Japan relationship helped us, there's no doubt about that, going forward. But I really thought that was one of the more enjoyable PPVs I can remember seeing in years. I thought the show, from top to bottom, was outstanding."

Ross specifically praised several one-on-one matches from the show that pitted some of AEW's top names against New Japan Pro-Wrestling stars, including AEW World Champion MJF versus Hiroshi Tanahashi, and CM Punk versus Satoshi Kojima in a first-round match in the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, saying they exceeded expectations. But he saved his biggest praise for the main event between Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada.

"It was a match that young wrestlers hopefully will study for years to come, and wrestlers that are wrestling today will go back and look at, check their egos at the door, and go look at this match to try and improve their game," Ross said. "Because that was a nearly perfect laid-out match. Just awesome. It makes you proud to be a part of the pro wrestling business, seeing matches like that."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription