Jim Ross Received Death Threats Over ‘WWE Dynamite’ Botch

AEW color commentator Jim Ross came under heavy criticism last week after he mistakenly referred to AEW Dynamite as ‘WWE Dynamite’ during the closing moments of the show. The tongue slip drew a lot of negative reactions from AEW fans on social media with many of them calling for the WWE Hall of Famer to resign.

During his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross spoke in detail about the error and revealed that he felt embarrassed by the slip.

“I don’t know much more I can say when I addressed it. I made a mistake, it was inadvertent and I’m very sorry I did it obviously, it’s embarrassing. All of a sudden out of that one or two second bite, here’s what comes out of that for some wrestling fans and I say some wrestling fans because I’m still a devotee of our business, I have great respect for the fans. They have supported my efforts undeniably for years, through Jan’s death, leaving WWE. Whatever it may be, they’ve always stood fast. I think the criticism I’ve received has been from a vast minority of defiant young males and some females who ascertain these points.”

JR added that he received death threats from some wrestling fans:

“(People said) I’ve had a stroke, by the way I’ve never had a stroke but that’s been diagnosed on the internet from my faupaux, I’ve had a stroke. I’ve had a battle with Bell’s Palsy, I’ve actually had three bouts with Bell’s Palsy. That I have onset dementia, which wouldn’t surprise me, it’s going to happen to everybody some ways or another. But man I got everything on that thing from people wanting me to die. Here’s what’s sad about that deal, it’s not about my mispronouncing, this is a much bigger issue in my opinion. That’s all this is folks, my opinion. It’s the flavor of the country right now, it’s just where we are and it’s sad, I don’t even know what you call it, the cancel culture. It was a little rugged. The thing about it is people misquote information, without any thought, there’s no conscious involved. It’s not the fact that I might get this right if I say JR has onset dementia, but then what if you’re wrong? How do you pull that back in? Well, it’s out there so you don’t pull it back in.”

Jim Ross apologized for his mistake on social media after the show went off the air. He also said he wasn’t going to quit his job as a commentator for AEW Dynamite despite the criticism he received. This isn’t the first time Ross came under fire for mispronouncing a word, as he referred to Kenny Omega as the ‘WWE Champion‘ instead of AEW Champion during an episode of Dynamite in February.

Thanks to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription