Jim Ross Feels AEW Pay-Per-Views May Have Too Many Matches

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, with decades of experience in the industry, is content working in AEW under Tony Khan. However, he’s not shy about sharing his opinions on the current product. In fact, Jim Ross believes AEW pay-per-views may have too many matches as well.

While speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross talked about how to handle gimmick matches on a pay-per-view event. He said there shouldn’t be too many gimmick matches on the card. Ideally, there should be just one or maybe two to make the match feel special and stand out.

Jim Ross also pointed out that every match on the card should be protected, meaning each match should feel important. When it comes to AEW pay-per-views, Ross noted that they typically feature more than eight matches.

“If you want to protect the gimmick scenario, the gimmick situation, you don’t have tons of them on a pay-per-view card. You might have two, may I say might. Uh, so maybe two for me, if I was booking it, probably one. That way, it adds more to the gimmick match that’s on the card because there’s not a lot of similarities. It’s different, you know, it’s a ‘let me up’ type of thing. So, I believe that’s the way to go on that deal because you want to protect every match on the card.

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And that’s why you got to talk to your talents about what the main event’s going to do. If the main event’s getting blood, you don’t want to get blood in matches two, three, or four, or five, whatever. You just don’t. A lot of guys think that’s going to screw me up. Well, tough, work harder, get the main event. We ain’t doing it. Go execute.

So, that’s how I’d book it. And of course, on AEW pay-per-views, we generally have more than eight matches. Right, Conrad?

Conrad Thompson commented that AEW pay-per-views are known for offering a lot of value, with fans getting plenty of great wrestling. He mentioned that some AEW events have featured as many as 12 or 14 matches.

“Oh man, I mean, there was so much wrestling the other night. It felt like… you know, and that’s one of the things you can always count on with an AEW pay-per-view, they’re going to overwhelm you with value. If you’re looking for great wrestling, look no further than an AEW pay-per-view because you’re going to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great wrestling matches. I don’t know how many there were the other night, but I know we’ve seen some AEW pay-per-views that had like 12 or 14 matches in a show.”

Jim Ross agreed, acknowledging that AEW pay-per-views might have too many matches, pointing out that sometimes the sheer number can overwhelm the audience, saying, “It might be too many, it might be too many for the shows.”

Many fans will likely agree with Jim Ross’ comments, as AEW pay-per-views often run long. With numerous matches packed into both the pre-show and the main event, it’s a common criticism. It remains to be seen if AEW will eventually scale back the number of matches on their pay-per-views to make the events more manageable.

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