AEW's Jimmy Jacobs Explains His Move From Wrestling To Production

Current AEW producer and former ROH and WWE star Jimmy Jacobs has reflected on his choice to move from wrestling to the production side of the business. On the "Developmentally Speaking" podcast, Jacobs acknowledged he knew it was time to move on because his "career had hit a plateau." He said he didn't see any "injustices" with the fact, and knew he didn't fit in WWE. Jacobs said he ended up where he needed to be.

"...and it was just like, 'Oh, yeah. Because I'm supposed to be in creative. That's why.' The idea of me performing at a high level now ... the idea if like, Tony Khan was like, 'Hey, Jimmy, I want you to start wrestling on AEW TV ...' like the idea would make me go like, 'Oh god, no,'" Jacobs said. "Like he was gracious enough to allow me to make a little appearance in Ring of Honor a few months ago in my hometown, and that was nice and that was fine for me, but the idea of performing at a high level for me, it wasn't really for me."

He said he "had an epiphany" in 2014 to work in creative. He said it was like "hitting his head against a brick wall for years" before having the thought. He thanked Bryan Danielson and Joey Mercury for helping him get there. "I just like stopped, paused, breathed and looked and went, 'Oh, there's a door right here, I can just walk through this door. What am I doing banging my head against this wall?' And that's how it came about," Jacobs said. "I called in some favors after building some goodwill in the wrestling business for a long time and there were enough people that wanted me there in some capacity to put in a word for me."