10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (May 20)
6. Jim Ross Recommended AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura To WWE
Brought over partly thanks to Jeff Jarrett's involvement in the show, Jim Ross provided commentary for the Wrestle Kingdom 9 event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Playing before around 36,000 fans in the Tokyo Dome, the annual pay-per-view was a success, headlined by a rip-roaring match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada.
In the matches directly before that main event, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kota Ibushi and AJ Styles emerged victorious over Tetsuya Naito. Later on his podcast, Ross said he had enjoyed being part of the show, singling out the likes of Nakamura and Tanahashi as standout performers.
Speaking with Wrestling Inc, the legendary announcer also revealed that he spoke privately with several scouts within WWE following the event. During those conversations, he particularly mentioned Nakamura and Styles as wrestlers the company should take a look at it.
It's no coincidence that both were promptly signed around a year later by WWE. They were quickly followed by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, who were also on the same card Ross had called.