Jim Ross Explains Surprise At How MJF Retained Title At AEW All In

Nearly a week later, the wrestling world is still talking about the AEW All In main event between AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole, where MJF retained the title cleanly and he and Cole affirmed their friendship after. The finish and post-match proved to be a victory for the power of friendship, and it was a finish that AEW announcer Jim Ross, as revealed on "Grilling JR," didn't quite see coming.

"That surprised me a little bit, as a matter of fact, in the way he retained," Ross said. "I thought MJF would go back to the villain side. I thought he would turn heel again ... So that surprised me that that did not occur. But they did tell a great story. " Ross continued with praise towards the match, even comparing it to hit TV shows like "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood" for containing "little nuances" he felt those shows employed. But Ross continued to go back to how the match finished, and how unexpected it was, as the match's major strong point.

"I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and MJF to hit him with a nut shot or something like that," Ross said. "It never came, which I think is a mark of good booking, a little offspeed pitch there. So those two delivered, and here's the other thing folks you have to think about, how great this match was. We're all bragging on it, we're all excited about it, but it was the last thing of the night. They followed everything. So I think those two guys deserve a big pat on the back and any kind of praise that we could heap upon them, we should."

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