Ross opens today’s show by pointing out that he enjoyed the “Bumblebee” trailer featuring John Cena, who has really taken to the world of Hollywood. Ross notes that he hasn’t seen anyone with the work ethic of Cena, and that hasn’t wavered over the years. Cena will be returning to Raw in early January and Ross points out that RAW needs a hero right now, someone that’s over. There are plenty of people on that roster that can get there eventually, but they aren’t there right now.
He notes that someone asked him recently who he’d choose to main event WrestleMania at this point. As of right now he’d choose the women; any combination of Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey because they’re all over. Some fans might argue that Rollins is a great performer and Ross agrees with that.

When the company makes an effort to put the machine behind Rollins in order to get him to the top of the mountain, Rollins is more than capable of taking the ball and running with it. Ross just doesn’t feel that WWE is looking at Rollins as the next “guy’, but with Reigns temporarily out Ross thinks they’d be smart to change that point of view.
Ross thinks the TLC main event match was the highlight of RAW this past week. He thinks there’s a lack of continuity on RAW from week to week, and that’s preventing the fans from making an emotional investment in these characters. We’re seeing performers flipping from babyface to heel on a weekly basis, and it’s hard for Ross to understand how someone can approve these shows one after another without noticing the storyline inconsistencies.

Ross is really excited to see Asuka get a main event opportunity at TLC in the Triple Threat Women’s Title match against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Ross notes that Charlotte is quickly becoming the Hulk Hogan of the current women’s division. In that case, he wonders if that means that Becky Lynch is the female Roddy Piper..
Ross comments on the news that Ric Flair is apparently cleared to take bumps by his doctor. Ross says this concerns him because he loves Flair, even though Flair didn’t say that he intended to take more bumps. As long as Flair is connected to WWE Ross can’t see WWE letting him take more bumps at this point in his career, especially since Flair was on his death bed just over a year ago.

A listener writes into the show and asks Ross if he thinks Dolph Ziggler could be “The Man” if the timing was right. Ross thinks Ziggler has the look, athleticism and ability to be “The Man” but like everything in wrestling, timing is king. Whether Ziggler is the top guy in WWE or not he’s a very valuable part of their roster, and if Ross was starting a company he’d want Ziggler on his roster for sure.
Another listener writes into the show and asks Ross about the struggles of getting babyfaces over in the PG era. Ross doesn’t think the PG rating has a whole lot to do with WWE’s ability to build babyfaces; he thinks it has more to do with the star power of the performers.

Ross welcomes Bully Ray to the show.
Ross thinks WWE’s main issue today is there’s too much entertainment and not enough sport. Sure, the 13 year olds might not feel that their intelligence is being insulted, but the 40 year old fans certainly feel that way from time to time. Regardless, WWE’s numbers are strong and they’re profitable.

Bully Ray feels that Smackdown is a better show than RAW right now, adding that he’s more interested in the characters and the matches on Smakdown. He thinks Smackdown has a stronger tag team division and a stronger women’s division, with Charlotte and Becky doing some of the best work in the company. The difference between both brands is night and day right now, and even when Smackdown is so much better it’s still considered the “B” show for some reason.
Ross suspects McMahon’s attention may be focused more on the XFL moving forward, which could leave WWE in the hands of guys like Triple H and Road Dogg. Bully Ray says he’d be okay with that, noting that it’d be a win-win for both brands. McMahon would help the XFL get off the ground, and a fresh perspective on WWE would benefit RAW and Smackdown as well.

Bully Ray says he wants to be a true heel. He doesn’t want there to be any happiness around his character, and he thinks that should be the way every heel looks at it. He wants pure hatred from the fans, and he doesn’t want to be a heel that focuses on entertainment.
Bully Ray wonders why someone like Seth Rollins isn’t on the level of John Cena, The Rock, or Steve Austin by now. Bully Ray doesn’t think WWE will allow performers to get to that level anymore, where they have the power to say no to McMahon. He doesn’t think McMahon wants his stars to get to a point where they have leverage over him.

Bully Ray informs that he chose to go back to Ring of Honour because it reminded him of ECW. He’s on the back 9 of his wrestling career and he’s going to go out the same way he came in, telling stories that fan can invest in emotionally.
That sums up this week’s episode of The Ross Report. You can listen to the show yourself here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!