I love that show, and I am an old-school grouchy fart, get-off-my-lawn guy. I want to see a hold every now and then, I’m not a high-flyer exclusive proponent. However, I never got tired of anything I was seeing, and I thought it was just a phenomenal show.

I congratulated Tony Khan, and he was in London when I talked to him. I texted him. We exchanged text messages after the show, and he appreciated my feedback. And for me, I thought it was just phenomenal.”

“The quality of the vignettes leading into a match, or matches, or several of them, but entrances, I thought, was as good as I’ve seen from anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

“If you have to have a negative, is that it might have been a little too long. It was over four hours long, as I understand it. That’s a long time. You know, old man’s got to go pee.”

I realize that it’s coming to an end. I get it.

If you ask me, ‘JR, how long do you think you’re going to keep doing announcing?’ Well, I think my [AEW] contract is up this month, so I’m pretty much done.

I don’t want to be done, but if Tony Khan said, ‘JR, thanks for the effort, thanks for being here and everything you’ve done,’ then I’d have no problem with that.

How could I be such a greedy bastard and want more out of my career than I’ve already received?”

Cole: “I thought it was the worst storyline ever attempted at this company, trying to turn Jim Ross heel. Oh yeah. I just wasn’t, especially with this little 30-year-old 150 lb punk [Cole] with a with a mullet and a a cheesy mustache and wearing skinny jeans with frosted tips in my hair. And they really thought they were going to make Jim Ross a heel.

Hey, Jim tried to buy into it. I tried to buy into it. He kicked me in the down low, which he really hit me that night. And that started this whole scene.”

They got to do a better job of utilizing their talent and seeing where that takes them. You got to get somebody hot. It’s that the wrestling has always been, at least in my opinion, an attraction-driven business.

That’s like back when [Steve] Austin was on fire, he would come out and they do a run in or something and it worked. They got ratings and people loved it and they cheered and all that.

Right now WWE doesn’t have that somebody in that role. It seems like they get somebody quasi hot.”

But I like him. I think as long as Punk is featured, then I’m happy. As long as he doesn’t disappear off the face of the wrestling earth, I’m for it.

He’s valuable talent. CM Punk could be a great heel or a great babyface. He’s another guy that’s in our reliable category. It’s hard to bump him out of that situation.

I’m a CM Punk fan, and whatever role they decide to put him in, he’s going to succeed because he’s just a real talented dude. I consider him one of my friends, and I wish we still had him in AEW. He made things lively around that place.”

I’m getting ready to have another surgery—brain surgery this time. That’s going to be an adventure because I don’t think they’re going to find much. [laughs] In my brain.

So anyway, as the days go on, in the mornings I’m pretty good. I get a little sleep, and I’m good to fire off and do this… I’m a little tired, but I’m glad we’re doing this. It makes me feel… it’s the best medicine I could ask for, and thanks for thinking of it.”

Matter of fact, today I had to go to a cardiologist—a heart doctor, obviously—and talk to him about this upcoming procedure. He had to approve it or they wouldn’t do it. So he did, and they’re going to do it soon. I just don’t have a confirmed date yet, but it’s going to be in the next week or so, I’m pushing for.

Hey, look, it’s just an illness, and I’ve got to get it addressed. I couldn’t live my life the way it was. I’d forget stuff and just couldn’t remember things. It was just horrible. I felt horrible.

But that all started with me passing out in my house and being discovered there, which began an almost 40-day hospital stay.”

I was supposed to get picked up Saturday morning at around 6 o’clock. I had a chat with my travel guy regarding that matter. Why would you fly me out at 6:00 in the morning for a Sunday night show? It makes no sense. I’m not 17 anymore.

Anyway, we had the alarm set and my driver was going to pick me up. All of a sudden, I fell — and I hadn’t had a fall in weeks. I busted my ass away from my phone. I don’t know how you do it. There’s got to be a way to, I guess, just put it in my pocket. Hell, I don’t know. If I had my phone with me, I could have gotten a little bit of help.

As a result of that, I missed my flight. And flights right now, as you’re aware, it’s just horrible flying. It’s the worst time of my life flying. Flying experiences have been horrible.

So I got rebooked and got to New York City at LaGuardia that night. I went down and had a cold beer with Excalibur and talked to Barry Bloom, my agent, while seeing people in the hotel lobby.

Then I got to my room on Saturday night, I think it was. Anyway, you can tell I’m still leery. I laid back on the bed, put my ass on the edge of the bed, and just relaxed. Little did I know, my back was going to go out on me.

So now I’m in the hotel with my back out and I can’t function. It was just a horrible experience. I flew back home on Monday night — yeah, Monday night — but boy, I suffered for a while. I won’t do that again. I always want to make sure my phone is within arm’s reach.

But it wasn’t the trip itself. I saw a lot of people and a lot of talent. I only called one match, which I knew I was only going to call one match. I probably would have talked to Tony Khan about that. But anyhow, I wanted it to be a really good, positive trip. I really did. But it wasn’t.

So anyway, that was my little New York excursion.”

I’ve got to find a doctor. I’ve got a neurologist now, and he’s talking to me about a risk area for dementia and all that bullshit. But I’m just really sore. I’ve got to find the right doctor that can get me back rolling because my legs are really weak.

On Saturday morning, one of my legs just went out from under me. It went like a piece of spaghetti. It wasn’t good.

So anyhow, I’m doing all right and bouncing back. I could have stayed home, and maybe I should have, but I like working and I love pro wrestling.

So that’s my little sad story, but I’m still glad that I went. I got to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a long time and just checked out the community there.

I’d like to have worked another match, but I’m not complaining. I guess I am complaining, but I’m not hell-bent on saying I should have called another match or two. But I know this — I sure miss doing that.”