Jim Ross' Return Announced For AEW Dynamite: New Year's Smash

Good ol' JR will return for a stacked New Year's Smash.

by Andrew Pollard
Jim Ross Tony Schiavone Excalibur AEW
AEW

AEW has announced the return of the legendary Jim Ross for next week's New Year's Smash edition of Dynamite.

Good ol' JR was last on the call on the 24 November outing for AEW Dynamite, with Ross then taking time away from the commentary desk to undergo radiation treatment for skin cancer. Jim has been updating fans on social media throughout his hiatus, and the plan was always for Ross to return for the 29 December Dynamite if possible - and now we know that JR will indeed be back in action for that New Year's Smash show.

Elsewhere, New Year's Smash will see the AEW in-ring debut of Kyle O'Reilly. Having appeared on last night's Dynamite and aligned with former Undisputed Era buddies Adam Cole and Bobby Fish, KOR will team with Cole and Fish to take on Orange Cassidy, Trent? and Chuck Taylor.

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In a stacked Dynamite outing, this 29 December offering will also feature Thunder Rosa vs. Jade Cargill in the semi-finals of the TBS Title tournament. The winner of that bout will face Ruby Soho on 5 January to crown the inaugural TBS Champion; Soho having bested Nyla Rose on Dynamite this week.

Finally, one other match confirmed for New Year's Smash is Eddie Kington teaming with Santana & Ortiz to square off against Daniel Garcia and 2Point0.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.