Steve Carrier on May 31, 2018
Ross opens today’s show by addressing WWE’s programming from this past week. He notes that RAW was panned by fans and critics online, but he has trouble putting any weight in the opinions of faceless names and pictures on the internet. He thought the crowd was good for this show, but he thought RAW ran into some stiff competition on the holiday, specifically the NBA playoffs.
He says Seth Rollins is on a hot streak right now, and he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing in order to get to the next level in the company. He’s intrigued by the Rollins/Elias matchup, noting that he wants to see a full match, bell-to-bell, between these two men in order to see what Elias can do. He thinks a great match in the right setting with Rollins will do wonders for Elias’ career.
Ross thinks Bobby Lashley and Bobby Roode both need to be heels. Their personalities make him think they’re natural heels, so it can be tough for WWE to make casual fans think otherwise. He also enjoyed the banter between the commentary team this week, noting that Michael Cole did a great job of “keeping the rudder in the water” during Coach and Graves’ back and forth.
Ross is really impressed by how well Paige has adapted to her new role as Smackdown GM. He notes that this proves that Paige can be successful outside of wrestling with her tremendous verbal skills if it ever came to that. He also likes the dynamic between Charlotte and Becky Lynch, and although Lynch has seemingly been lost creatively as of late, these two women should be able to have a great match.
Daniel Bryan tapped to Samoa Joe on Smackdown, and Ross points out that a babyface never tapped out when he was just starting in the wrestling business. This is a prime example of how the business is changing in his opinion. Nonetheless, he doesn’t think babyfaces tapping should be an issue, and he doesn’t think it is nowadays.
Ross is intrigued by the pairing of Naomi and Lana. He notes that Naomi is a terrific athlete and a great in-ring performer, but the jury is still out on Lana. He doesn’t think Naomi should have to lower her level just to work with Lana, and he doesn’t think that’ll happen. He assumes Naomi will “bring it”, and he’s interested to see how Lana fares.
A listener writes into the show and asks Ross how WWE could improve their Triple Threat matches. Ross thinks there are simply too many of them nowadays, and having less of them will make them better. In addition, maybe introducing some new rules such as eliminations would freshen up the matches.
Ross welcomes Drew McIntyre to the show.
McIntyre informs that he experienced a culture shock when he came to WWE the first time around. He was struggling with adapting to paying his own bills, working in North America and dealing with the issues that came with his strong accent. This time around, things are so much more smooth. He has matured quite a bit and feels prepared to tackle any challenges that come his way.
McIntyre credits William Regal for bringing him back to WWE. He set up the phone call between McIntyre and Triple H, and after that phone call McIntyre knew it was time for him to return home to WWE. McIntyre notes that it was quite special for him to have WWE reach out, asking him to return to the company. He was determined to make himself a star when he left WWE, and he felt rather accomplished when the company reached out to him about a return.
Ross says he’s intrigued right now by the pairing of McIntyre and Ziggler. Ross doesn’t really recall McIntyre being involved in storylines during the end of his last WWE run, so bringing him back in as part of a team with a story does wonders for McIntyre right out of the gate in Ross’ opinion.
McIntyre thinks complacency is a killer, and he’s determined to be the person that changes that in WWE. He’s noticed that some talents are phoning it in at live events and are far too comfortable in WWE. He notes that working for WWE is a luxury and you need to take advantage of it everyday. He recalls being in locker rooms with The Undertaker and Ric Flair over a decade ago, and he doesn’t think some of those guys would be thrilled with how the locker room is today.
Ross asks McIntyre how the male locker room feels about the push that the women are currently receiving. He notes that all the guys are very supportive. The women work just as hard, if not harder than the men and they deserve everything that they’re currently getting, and he’s so happy for them.
Ross asks McIntyre how the roster reacted to the news that WWE signed a $1 Billion television deal with FOX. McIntyre informs that there was a lot of excitement backstage and rightfully so, because the business continues to grow. McIntyre could hardly believe the numbers when he saw them first, but they were indeed accurate and he’s very excited.
McIntyre credits his wife for keeping him grounded and focused, and Ross notes that finding the right partner is critical for wrestlers. Ross takes the blame for his two failed marriages, noting that he was a workaholic and didn’t pay attention to his personal life. His late wife, Jan was a very important part of his life and put up with a lot of the negative things that accompanies life in the wrestling business.
That sums up today’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!
May 31, 2018 2:00 pm
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