Jim Ross said on Thursday that doctors have set August 12 for the brain surgery that will place a shunt in his head, a procedure he expects to leave him in the hospital for only one day. The announcement gives a date to a health fight that has already kept the WWE Hall of Famer away from the AEW announce desk for significant time.
Ross has now returned to his podcast after a nearly 40-day hospitalization, and he said the operation is meant to drain excess fluid from his brain. He added that the procedure could help with his memory, a small but meaningful detail for a man whose voice helped define major broadcasts for years.
That is why his words about the future landed harder than a routine health update. Ross said he does not want to be done, but he also said his announcing days may already be over. He wants a clean ending, and he said he would accept it if Tony Khan decided his services were no longer needed. That is the part that turns this from a medical update into a career question.
Ross also said he has never had brain surgery before and that he is not looking forward to it, even if he knows it has to happen. He said, “I’ve had a blessed career,” and called his life and work unique, while making clear he understands the finish line is approaching. The timing matters because his AEW contract expires this month, leaving the surgery, his recovery and his next step all inside the same narrow window.
For now, Ross is still pushing to work AEW’s All In event on August 30 at Wembley Stadium in London. Whether that happens may be less important than the larger answer already emerging from his own words: the surgery is scheduled, the contract is running out, and the end of Jim Ross’s announcing run may come with a plan, or it may already be here.
