AEW's Jim Ross Opens Up About Impending Brain Surgery

WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW commentator Jim Ross has seemingly spent more time in the hospital than in the commentary booth in recent years, with his most recent hospital stay lasting more than 30 days. With that said, Ross' biggest surgery to date is on the horizon as he revealed in July 2026 that he would soon be undergoing brain surgery, with the aim being to drain fluid from his brain to another part of his body to relieve pressure, as well as potentially helping his memory.

Ross detailed what his next hospital stay will look like during a recent episode of the "Grilling JR" podcast, and was surprised to find out that he should be discharged from the hospital the day after the surgery. "I've got a big week coming up. My surgery is this Wednesday," Ross said. "I don't want to say I'm looking forward to it, but I guess I really am to get to that point and get it over with. I have never had brain surgery before. So they're going to put, what do they call it, a shunt? I'm getting a shunt put in my brain, and they say I'm going to be in the hospital a day, so that surprised me and made me happy. But still, I would have guessed longer."

Ross' co-host, Conrad Thompson, echoed what a lot of wrestling fans have thought about JR's health over the past few years which is if he didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all. However, Thompson wished Ross the best of luck, and believes that this surgery might be the one that finally gets the WWE Hall of Famer back to the way he was after years of health problems, something that Ross is also hoping for. 

Please credit "Grilling JR" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.