Steve Carrier on July 6, 2018
Ross opens today’s show by discussing the rumour that NXT might be headed to FS1 as part of WWE’s television deal with FOX that starts in 2019. Ross thinks it’d be a great transition for NXT if they moved to FS1 because that network has a distinct look and the product would be seen by thousands of more people each and every week.
Ross is interested in seeing how FOX promotes its programming next Fall, when they’ll have NFL football and WWE programming to broadcast. He thinks there’ll also be room on FS1 for some original programming on WWE’s end; perhaps in-studio pre-shows or recap shows.
Ross informs that he hasn’t heard anything from WWE officials about reprising his role as the play-by-play commentator for the second season of the Mae Young Classic. He admits that he didn’t do his best work on last year’s Mae Young Classic. He certainly put the effort in, but there were some parts of his presentation that he wasn’t quite happy with. He also notes that he’s quite busy as it is, and there are plenty of young commentators at WWE who can use that work.
Ross comments on the passing of Matt Cappotelli. He notes that he had the pleasure of meeting Cappotelli when he began his dream to become a WWE Superstar many years ago, and he was a tremendous young man. After battling brain cancer for over a decade Cappotelli passed last week and Ross was saddened by the news. Cappotelli was a strong, brave man who was universally liked by everyone who met him.
Ross notes that Bray Wyatt was extremely lucky last week after colliding head on with an oncoming vehicle while on his way to work. Anytime you survive a head-on collision you’re thankful to be alive, and that’s what happened here. There’s no timetable for Wyatt’s return to the ring but all signs point to WWE expecting him to be at Extreme Rules in a couple of weeks.
Ross points out that NXT talent, Lars Sullivan turns 30 years old this week. He notes that this is a perfect age for WWE; not too young but not too old. He loves Sullivan’s look, his size and his facials. He think’s Sullivan is in line for a great WWE career in the years to come.
A listener writes into the show and asks Ross if he think’s WWE will bring back Dean Ambrose as a heel so he can feud with Braun Strowman. Ross thinks Ambrose is going to be a massive fan favourite when he returns because the fans have missed him while he’s been out with injury. Also, Ross isn’t sure how much momentum Ambrose would get in a program with Strowman.
Ross welcomes Kenny Omega to the show for part two of his interview.
Ross asks Omega if Dave Meltzer’s star rating system has been a blessing or a curse for him. Omega notes that after the first match with Okada received 6 stars, that really helped him and the match because it almost took on a life of its own. Just as the buzz surrounding the match died down, that 6-star rating helped boost it up again. He notes that Meltzer has a tremendous amount of influence over a certain portion of the professional wrestling audience.
After his most recent match with Okada received a 7-star rating, Omega got a lot of nice, congratulatory messages, but it also resulted in a lot of hateful messages as well. He adds that Meltzer’s star rating system is all based on one man’s opinion, so if any given fan thinks a certain match is a 5-star match, then it is a 5-star match.
Ross asks Omega how he’s dealing with being in the main event role night after night for NJPW. Omega says he takes great pride in being put in that position by NJPW officials and he doesn’t take that responsibility lightly. However, he doesn’t want to get in a routine where he does the same thing night after night. He likes to treat his matches as episodic television from week to week, and he’s determined to put on fresh, innovative matches each night.
Ross asks Omega about the possibility of him working for WWE at some point in the future. Omega admits that he gets excited when he thinks about the possibility of working with performers such as Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan and A.J. Styles. He’d like to work with a lot of WWE talent, especially Styles, and he’d like to have that match while Styles is still in his physical prime.
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!
July 6, 2018 2:41 pm
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