AEW: Jim Ross on Commentary Return Appearance & Might Return Again at 1/21 Dynamite Show, Andrade El Idolo on His AEW Return, AEW Celebrates Winning 2025 ESPN Pro Wrestling Awards, Tony Khan on Worlds End 2025 Recorded Most PPV Buys for AEW PPV on HBO MAX

Jan 9, 2026

Jim Ross Comments on His AEW Commentary Return Appearance & Might Return Again at 1/21 Dynamite Show

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Tulsa, Oklahoma featured Jim Ross making a special return appearance to AEW’s commentary team for the entire show.

A recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast featured co-host Jim Ross giving his thoughts about his commentary return appearance at this past Wednesday’s show in his home state.

“Oh, it was great. I had a great time. My kids were there, a couple of my grandkids were there. So, it was good. I had a great time, and the team, the AEW team welcomed me back. They were glad to see me, and almost as glad as I was to see them. So, it was good. It was good. Working in Tulsa brings back a lot of memories. That’s where I got my start, in Tulsa, working for ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts and Leroy McGuirk. It was a feel-good moment, quite frankly.
I think it took a minute to get settled in. It was good, it was good. I didn’t know what to expect to be honest with you but, my natural instincts took over, and I had a lot of fun. That was the key thing. That’s the key thing about doing commentary. If you don’t have fun doing it, it’s not gonna work for you, so, it’s all good man.”

Ross also gave his thoughts about the original plans for his appearance on the show.

“I got a text this morning at 1:30 from Tony Khan saying what a great job he thought I did on the show, and those kind of things make you feel good to be honest with you. So, he gave me a chance to come back and I asked him earlier in the day what I was going to do… I was originally gonna do two main events, which I’d been doing. But, Mike Mansury, the director, said, ‘Let’s use J.R., he’s here. Let’s use him for all the show,’ and I think there was some concerns about my stamina, because I have been sick but I feel great now and it’s just rebuilding. Rebuilding that energy and so forth so, I just had a great time. It was a fun, fun day… Saw a lot of talents, got the chance to talk to a lot of talents. They seek me out for information or feedback or, ‘Did you see this? What you’d think of that?’ So, I’m very blessed to still be a part of the AEW family, and working for Tony Khan is absolutely a blessing, without question.”

Ross also gave his thoughts about he currently believes he might be making another appearance on AEW’s commentary for their Dynamite show on January 21st in Orlando, Florida.

“I think I’m gonna be in Orlando in two weeks, according to T.K., Tony Khan. He’s using me judiciously. He’s very concerned about my health and I tried to convince him I’m good. I did a two-hour show last night. I don’t know when the last time I did a two-hour show. It’s been a while, but I felt like — we’re obviously getting positive reviews. But, I’m very happy of how it worked out, and maybe I convinced Tony Khan I can go out and do a two-hour show… But I think my next assignment’s gonna be in Orlando. We’re gonna be doing Dynamite in Orlando in two weeks.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Andrade El Idolo Reflects on His Return to AEW

As noted before, this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Tulsa, Oklahoma featured Andrade El Idolo making his surprise return again to AEW.

Andrade reflected on Thursday on Twitter about his return to AEW and thanked AEW CEO Tony Khan for bringing him back to the company in response to Khan’s tweet saying he was “#AllElite” again.

“Once again, thank you very much, Sir!!! @AEW
vamos a romperla!!

Once again, thank you very much, Sir!!! @AEW vamos a romperla!! https://t.co/OQtm5bHvuq
— “EL IDOLO” ANDRADE (@AndradeElIdolo) January 8, 2026

AEW Celebrates Winning 2025 ESPN Pro Wrestling Awards

AEW recently celebrated on Twitter about ESPN awarding several of their ESPN Pro Wrestling Awards for 2025 to the company.

The wrestling awards won by AEW from ESPN for 2025 were:

Tag Team of the Year – FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)
Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year – Kyle Fletcher
Best Event of the Year – AEW Revolution
Best Storyline – “Timeless” Toni Storm & “The Glamour” Mariah May

Thank you to all the fans who watch AEW, as @ESPN awarded AEW multiple top honors in their Best of 2025 Pro Wrestling Awards!

Don’t miss Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite starting at the top of the hour, 8pm ET / 7pm CT on @TBSNetwork + @SportsonMax, TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/bcUZ8f70rq
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 8, 2026

Tony Khan Comments on AEW Worlds End 2025 Recorded Most PPV Buys for AEW PPV on HBO MAX

Unlikley’s Adrian Hernandez held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan revealing that this past December’s AEW Worlds End 2025 broke the record for most pay-per-view buys for an AEW event on HBO MAX.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t bring this up, AEW Worlds End, we’ve been told by HBO, is the most buys yet for any AEW pay-per-view on HBO Max. We’re continuing to grow. This is probably going to end up being one of the biggest Worlds End events ever and so far, it’s our biggest pay-per-view yet on HBO Max. So, that’s even more momentum.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com