It was announced on Tuesday that WWE Hall of Fame announcer and arguably the best play by play man in wrestling history, Jim Ross, is going to announce the Global Force Wrestling production of New Japan Pro Wrestling's PPV on Sunday, January 4th. The event is called Wrestle Kingdom 9 and it's the first event produced by Jeff Jarrett's GFW organization. At this point they are merely producing the event for American broadcasting. They haven't announced any shows for themselves at this point. The event takes place live at 2amET/11pmPT and will be replayed at 7pmET. Major PPV carriers will be showing it. In the GFW press release, Ross discussed what it means to him: I am truly honored and excited to have been asked to be a part of this historic event. To be able to return to my roots and to provide play by play for an amazing, pro wrestling product will be special. I never thought Id ever return to ringside for a wrestling event but this opportunity was just too special to turn down. It was noted by PWInsider that Ross will be flying to Japan to call the action live because that's how he prefers to do it. No word on who the analyst will be. Jarrett, the founder and CEO of GFW, had a lot of praise for Ross: "When you think of the great events in wrestling over the past 30 years one of the things they have in common is the man behind the microphone. And that man is Jim Ross. Im excited for this event, and Im excited for good ol JR to be a part of it. GFW fans wanted him, and from day one we have said were going to give our fans what they want. This years card is headlined by an IGWP heavyweight title match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. They are two of the best wrestlers in the world although only hardcore fans of NJPW might know who they are. With Ross calling the action, American fans might be more willing to buy the product. The Bullet Club, of which Jarrett is a member along with AJ Styles and IWGP tag team champions Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, will appear as well. Ross recently stated that he hasn't talked to Jarrett since October 1999 when Jarrett left WWE and Ross was in charge of WWE Talent Relations. WWE let Jarrett's contract expire and he jumped to WCW. He earned a six figure salary to just work No Mercy 1999 (dropping the IC Title to Chyna) and started in WCW the next day. Obviously they have talked recently to negotiate this deal. Here's the trailer for GFW's presentation of Wrestle Kingdom 9 with Ross doing commentary on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WoNFO6furg Even though Ross doesn't work for WWE anymore, you can till buy his BBQ products on WWEShop.com, so there is still a relationship there. He's basically considered a free agent at this point, though. It's a great move by GFW to bring in Ross. No wrestling announcer is more liked than him and he instantly brings them credibility. Seeing his name attached to the product is going to help them sell PPVs, which is what they want.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
