AEW’s Jim Ross shares honest opinion on WWE commentator: “I got questions about Joe Tessitore”

Legendary wrestling announcer and AEW personality Jim Ross recently shared his views on the work of WWE RAW commentator Joe Tessitore. The latter started his tenure in the sports entertainment juggernaut a few months ago.

Tessitore, who is known for his role as a sportscaster in ESPN and ABC, was signed by WWE in July. He officially joined duty on the promotion's flagship show, Monday Night RAW, on September 2 and has impressed fans already with his intuitive grasp of wrestling storytelling and with his announcing style, rooted as it is in his background of covering boxing.

Former WWE commentary icon Jim Ross spoke about Joe Tessitore on the latest edition of his Grilling JR podcast. The industry veteran heaped praise on the 53-year-old broadcast personality, stating:

“I got questions about Joe Tessitore, who does a lot of football for ESPN. He’s built himself a nice business, hasn’t he? He’s making some serious money. Gotta be making some big money with ESPN and WWE, two great clients to have if you’re an announcer. He does a nice job. He does a better job than I thought he ever would this early, to be honest with you. So they made a good hire there."

Good Ol' JR went on to add:

"I didn’t know he was a wrestling fan. You can’t be as successful as he’s been and as informative, timely, etc., without being a fan. He has some product knowledge, and I have great respect for that. So looks like they’re building their announcer base. It’s a good fit for them. Joe does a nice job, and I’m proud that he’s representing our trade as well as he is," Ross said. [H/T - Fightful]

The AEW figure had previously remarked that Tessitore may need "some time to get in a groove" and "find [his] timing". It seems that the latter has impressed Ross already with his efforts in a relatively brief span of time.

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WWE legend Jim Ross expects to be retained by AEW

Jim Ross has been with AEW since the company's founding in 2019. The WWE Hall of Famer inked a new deal with the Tony Khan-led promotion earlier this year. On a recent edition of his podcast, JR revealed that his present contract with All Elite Wrestling extends until August next year and indicated that he expects to stay All Elite moving forward from there.

"Oh yeah, I think so. My contract expires in August, but I haven't had any... I don't have any sense or feeling that I'm not going to be kept. Because of the schedule I do, I could maintain that for years to come, and I'm not saying that in a braggadocious fashion.." Jim Ross said. [From 1:30:25 onwards]

Ross' next assignment is likely going to be AEW's upcoming pay-per-view, Worlds End 2024.