Longtime ROH ring announcer Bobby Cruise recently appeared on Busted Open Radio to give his thoughts on calling this past weekend’s Final Battle pay per view, and discuss the potential of him going to AEW. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says he felt a mixed bag of emotions for Final Battle PPV:
“A very mixed bag. I was worried if I could get through the ring intros. There were two in-ring intros we did. The Women’s World Title match and then the World Title match with Lethal and Gresham. Both of those, for different reasons, I had worried about. The World Title match itself especially because it being the last time I knew I’d be announcing a Ring Of Honor match. Never mind a World Title match. Those in-ring intros, the handheld camera gets in the ring. It’s tight on me and I didn’t want to take away from that moment.”
Says the ring intros for Lethal and Gresham were cut short due to time:
“Looking back in hindsight, the good thing that happened was, during Lethal’s entrance, production got in my ear and said to go through the intros as quickly as I could. That’s happened in the past too. If time’s running short on a PPV, sometimes they cut out the in-ring intros and tell me on the fly. Or something like that, ‘just go through them quick.’ So I didn’t even have a chance to get any emotion or be emotional. When I got that in my ear it was just, ‘okay, I’ve got to get through this as quickly as possible.’”
On potentially going to AEW:
“I don’t know to be honest with you. I haven’t really thought about it yet. Obviously, it’s only been two days, even though I’ve known it’s been coming for a couple of months. In my mind, I’m not done. I’d certainly love to work with a company in some role. I know the role of a ring announcer and after 18 Final Battle’s and 17+ years with Ring Of Honor, I don’t have the ego where I need to be ‘the’ guy. So, for example, I am buddies with Justin Roberts. I respect what he’s done as a ring announcer, I respect that he’s been with AEW since day one. We did All In together a few years ago. If AEW came to me and said, ‘hey we want you to do something,’ I’m not looking to bump off Justin. And they wouldn’t be looking for me to bump off Justin. I can be on a secondary show or do something and be an asset to a company in that way. I don’t have that, ‘I need to be the guy and replace someone in a company right now.’ So, I am definitely open to any discussions about doing something so that I can stay involved.”
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)