Ross opens today’s show by speaking about this Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble event. He mentions that he’ll be travelling with Booker T and Jerry Lawler, and their flight schedule is quite intimidating. Nonetheless, he’s very happy to have been invited to work this event, and he can’t wait to get started when he lands in Saudi Arabia.
Ross congratulates The Rock on the birth of his baby daughter. He points out that he recruited and signed The Rock to WWE many years ago, and when you recruit someone you become close to them for life. He’s so thrilled to see The Rock thriving in Hollywood, and he wishes him the best as he welcomes his new daughter into the world.
Ross thought Impact Wrestling put on a good show last weekend and he wishes them continued success in the future. He points out that the wrestling business can be tough and it’s a “what have you done for me lately” industry. Impact Wrestling needs to follow up last weekend’s strong show with another strong show, and then another strong show, and hopefully eventually they can build some positive momentum.
The most awe-inspiring moment Ross saw on television this past week was when Braun Strowman was running around the outside of the ring, football tackling Kevin Owens on RAW. He points out that lots of fans are talking about Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship, but he’s still convinced that Strowman is the future face of WWE.
Ross admits that he was teary-eyed while watching WWE’s tribute to Bruno Sammartino on RAW this past Monday. He says Sammartino was the “John Wayne of Wrestling”, and notes that his lengthy Title reign will never be matched. He’s very happy to have known Sammartino, and he congratulates Triple H for bringing Sammartino back into WWE over these last few years because Sammartino needed to be in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Ross welcomes Conrad Thompson to the show.
Thompson is the co-host of the extremely successful “Something to Wrestle With” podcast along with Bruce Prichard. Ross mentions that he loved Thompson on Ric Flair’s podcast while it lasted, and lately he’s been very impressed by Thompson’s work with Prichard. He mentions that chemistry is very important in podcasting, and Thompson has found that with Flair, Prichard, as well as Tony Schiavone.
Thompson asks Ross how he feels about some of the recent criticism his NJPW work has garnered. Ross says that criticism doesn’t bother him at all. He doesn’t go looking for it but he’s heard some rumblings and it doesn’t bother him. Thompson notes that he gave NJPW a chance when he heard that Ross was calling the action, and he assumes he’s not the only person to do that.
Ross asks Thompson how much time he spends preparing for Tony Schiavone’s “What Happened When?” podcast. Thompson informs that he’ll turn on the WWE Network and watch whatever PPV they’re covering on that week’s show. While he’s watching that PPV he takes notes and also checks Wrestling Observer and PWTorch articles from that time. By the time the PPV ends his prep is basically done.
Ross asks Thompson if he grew up as a Ric Flair guy. Thompson says that he grew up as a Hulkamaniac because WWE was the main promotion that he and his friends followed. As the years passed he became a fan of the Four Horseman, and he believes that Arn Anderson was a critical part of that faction. Ross agrees, comparing Anderson’s role in the Four Horsemen to a ship’s rudder.
Ross says he doesn’t want to be a guy that complains about WWE’s product, but there are certainly some things that he’d change about the product. Thompson agrees entirely, noting that while he might not like all the things that WWE does, there might be another portion of the audience that loves it. He points out that he wasn’t a fan of Naomi’s glowing belt, but his daughter thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
Ross asks Thompson if he can name his three favourite wrestling matches. Thompson says he’d have to choose Bret Hart versus Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, the cage match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, and the “I quit” match between Ric Flair and Terry Funk. In terms of matches he’s been in the audience for, he says he’ll never forget when Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30.
Ross asks Thompson to list his Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling. He says there’s no bad list, but he’d choose Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
A listener writes into the show and asks Ross if he thinks WWE’s infamous OVW class from the early 2000s, which featured Lesnar, Cena, Orton, amongst others, will ever be matches. Ross says it’s hard to know since there are so many factors in play, but he admits that class will be very hard to beat. He informs that Lesnar was actually the foreman of ring crew during his time in OVW since he grew up on a farm and knew how to drive a truck and pull a trailer.
That sums up this week’s episode of The Jim Ross Report. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
