AEW's Jim Ross Reacts To WWE ID Program: 'It's About Time'

WWE ID seems to have the wrestling world abuzz this week, after several notable names in the industry gave their two cents on the promotion's significant move into developing future talent for WWE as well as shaking things up on the indies. On his "Grilling JR" podcast, Ross weighed in on the initiative and recalled an interesting conversation he once had with Vince McMahon about doing something similar years ago.

"I think it's about time," Ross said. "Vince was never very motivated to invest time and money in supporting the indies." The veteran recalled once asking McMahon where all their current talent was coming from, likely in an attempt to make him understand how important the indies are. Ross also recalled how diverse their roster was, noting how several of their talent came from colleges. "It's just a crazy deal, you want different personalities, you want different body types, you want different ethnicities."

However, some are of the impression that WWE ID might end up removing the leverage talent has over promotions when it comes to signing them, but Ross disagrees. "If you don't sign a contract and you got maybe a letter of agreement or something casual, I can see that being a good recruiting tool because then guys build their confidence, they build their self-esteem, they got a WWE deal in the works," Ross added. The veteran also concluded that it would be stupid for any talent to sign a deal that would prevent them from wrestling in another company, but having a guaranteed offer from WWE would be a good thing.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.