“He Didn’t Get A Real Opportunity (In AEW)”: Jim Ross On WWE’s New Recruit

Jim Ross recently discussed how AEW dropped the ball with Danhausen.

Danhausen was signed with the Jacksonville promotion between 2022 and 2026. While he received rave reviews following his television debut, he was pulled from making regular appearances that same year.

After being kept out of All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor for the majority of 2024, he asked for his release in 2025, only for the company to extend his contract till early 2026, citing injury time.

Meanwhile, reports suggested that he was WWE-bound, which was confirmed in February 2026 after he made his first appearance at Elimination Chamber. Subsequently, the 35-year-old’s profile was removed from AEW’s official roster page.

While Danhausen’s debut appearance was forgettable, his appearances during WWE’s live tapings received huge cheers. Danhausen was also featured at numerous public events. Shortly afterward, he became one of the top merchandise sellers in the promotion, which prompted Cody Rhodes to label him the “king of the WWE merchandise game.”

Jim Ross Admits To AEW’s Mishandling Of Danhausen

During a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Conrad Thompson brought up the topic of  Danhausen’s success with WWE in such a short time.

To this, Jim Ross claimed that he had heard whispers about Danhausen doing well in the Stamford promotion, and he was happy for him.

JR then looked back on Danhausen’s time in AEW, admitting that he was poorly managed.

He’s a very fortunate young man. He’s come along at the right place at the right time to get noticed and remembered, so I don’t know how long this runs or lasts. It may last a year, it may last longer, it may not last that long.

You can’t judge the audience and what they’re thinking. Maybe he was this hot all along, but when he was in AEW, he didn’t get a real opportunity to get over and to create that identity that he has to have, but hey, good for him.

The AEW commentator further claimed that if it were up to him, he would have Danhausen on the road as much as he could because he was a legitimate star.

I don’t know if it’ll ever make a lot of money as a wrestler. He’s an attraction, and if he gets his toe in the water, gets in the water deep enough, he’s got a chance, it’s a long shot, but we already see the beginnings of it, and if I was WWE, I’d have his a** on the road wherever the doors are open, civic centers and high school gyms and everything else, and I’d let some of this entirely up.

So good for him, young guy, and if he was ever going to have a legit chance to become a star, this is it.

Ross also noted that if Tony Khan got a second chance, he would go the opposite direction than he originally did and would book Danhausen carefully.

Oh, absolutely. I’m sure now he wishes he had moved on that persona, but he didn’t, and now it’s just too late. [H/T: WrestlingNews.co]