Jim Ross reacts to the WWE debut of Penta.
Despite being “the worst kept secret” like Michael Cole described, Penta’s WWE arrival elicited quite the hype online and in merchandise sales. Following a five-year stint with All Elite Wrestling, Penta, a decorated luchador, made his official WWE debut on this week’s episode of Raw by defeating Chad Gable in singles competition.
On the latest episode of Grilling JR, AEW commentator Jim Ross weighed in on the buzz surrounding Penta’s WWE debut.
“I was a little surprised,” Ross said. “We had him here at AEW for good while. Soft-spoken guy, no trouble. You hardly knew he was there until he got in the ring and then he was phenomenal. But I was a little surprised at the hype. So what it tells me is that WWE and Triple H covet him in a significant way where he’s going to be in main events or semi-main events within the next year if not sooner. I was a little surprised.
“There’s so many guys doing that act, that bit, that routine of the luchadors,” Ross continued. “When I hired Rey Mysterio [to WWE], we didn’t have anybody that compared to Rey, but really nobody in the business did, if you ask a lot the insiders. He was special, unique, one of a kind. We had a lot of that kind of style in AEW, so [Penta] was one of many that did a lot of acrobatics and flying things. Now he might have been the best at doing it, I’m not saying that, but he wasn’t the only one doing it, so it made it less special. WWE’s got a good stock of luchadors. They got several guys in the roster that have that background, just got to be careful how you book it.”
In his five years under the banner of AEW and Ring of Honor, Penta and his brother Rey Fenix held the ROH and AEW Tag Team Championships. With PAC, they also captured the AEW Trios Championships. Looking ahead, Penta looks to further integrate himself into the WWE product. Meanwhile, Fenix remains contracted to AEW, with his merchandise recently pulled from the company’s online merch shop.
READ MORE: Rey Fenix’s Merchandise Pulled From AEW’s Official Shop
