AEW "Experimenting" With Different Announce Teams
Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, and co. have been reshuffled on AEW programming lately.
All Elite Wrestling is currently playing with its announce team configurations, writes Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Calling the situation an "experiment", the report notes that this Wednesday's Dynamite saw Taz, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone call the first hour. Typically, Jim Ross would occupy Taz's place in the booth. JR them came out prior to the Blood & Guts main event, joined by guest commentator William Regal, whose Blackpool Combat Club stable competed in the bout.
This follows AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door (26 June), where Ross called only the last four matches of the night.
Tonight's Rampage, which was pretaped on Wednesday, had JR, Excalibur, and Schiavone on commentary. Taz and Chris Jericho did not join the booth.
There is currently no word on whether or not this was a one-week experiment or if AEW will look to implement longer-term changes based on it.
If nothing else, the experimental configuration gives JR the opportunity to make a big walk-out during the show itself, with his legendary status guaranteeing a mega-pop from the audience. Typically, Jim would make these entrances during just before the main cards hit the airwaves.