During a bonus episode of Grilling JR on Patreon (AdFreeShows.com), Conrad Thompson and Jim Ross discussed the wrestlers and employees in WWE that were released or furloughed this week because of budget cuts.

Ross had good things to say about everyone but he made a point to say that if he was going to hire someone right now, Rusev would be his number 1 priority. Ross put Rusev over as the kind of guy who could be elevated to main event status quickly in any company, including All Elite Wrestling.

“I think that Rusev is the kind of guy that you can bring in and he’d be a great contender for any title,” Ross said. “Would I like to see a Moxley/Rusev match? Of course, I would. I’m a wrestling fan, why wouldn’t I? To me, he would be my priority.”

Ross made it clear that this is not something he has suggested to anyone in AEW as of yet. He said, “I haven’t asked that, I haven’t contributed that piece of information. Our fans are hearing it from me first out of my head. But he’s the kind of guy – they missed on him. WWE missed on Rusev and they gave him a great build, the invested … and they just all of a sudden boom. I don’t know what was the reason for the boom. He worked on his body, he’s lean and he looks great, he’s young…”

“There’s got to be some semblance of a reason that the massive push for him was cut short. I don’t know what that reason is. I’ve never heard any scandalous tales about the guy. I find him to be a soft-hearted, well-raised guy. Meaning he’s polite and he’s a decent human being. Rusev would be my priority. That’s who I’d want to go after first because I can see him having some major pay-per-view main event matches with a variety of top talents in our company AEW. Anyone would be smart to hire him.”

Ross named other people who would do well in AEW but he specifically mentioned that he would love some of Rusev’s matches in All Elite Wrestling because he feels that Rusev is out to prove how good he can be. At just 34 years old, JR and Conrad feel that he has many good years left.

“I’d like to call his matches on that high level,” Ross continued. “Conrad, you know what you’re gonna get out of the guy. He’s got something to prove now…I’m real high on Rusev, I always thought he was a player, no doubt.”

Ross and Thompson gave their thoughts on some of the wrestlers and employees that were let go and they closed out the podcast with some nice words on the late great WWE Hall Of Famer Howard Finkel.

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. AdFreeShows.com includes ad-free versions of Conrad Thompson’s podcasts including ARN, What Happened When, Grilling JR, Something To Wrestle and 83 Weeks. Members can also get exclusive merchandise, bonus content and more.











