The Ross Report with Jason Powell
Release Date: October 11, 2017
Recap By: Dylan Bowker; Recovering Smark
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Top Stories:
-Both men quietly pining for a Nakamura/ Styles title match at WrestleMania
-Jim believing that Owens and Wyatt could one day make great character babyfaces
-Jim’s cautious optimism about Baron Corbin’s US title reign
-Jason and Jim’s perception that Zayn can catapult himself into main even relevancy with this heel turn
-Jim saying that he would be fine if he never saw an Elimination Chamber or Hell in a Cell match again
-Jim and Jason believing that the headbutt on Vince was hardway with no blading involved in the headbutt Owens delivered
-Powell’s perception that ROH is in a transition period with a high influx of established talent in recent years (ie/ Cody, Bully Ray, etc)
Recap:
(0:12) JR does a copy read advertising True Car and Zip Recruiter
(2:41) Ross Report produced intro begins to play and Jim opens the show. Slobberknocker audio is back with JR and he tees up some of the discussion points for the latest show. He does some housekeeping announcements and covers some of his upcoming live events/appearances.
(6:23) The discussion with Jason Powell begins at this juncture. Jim and Jason get right into discussing Hell in a Cell. Jason graded the show as a B and JR agreed with him. The two shared an appreciation for both Cell matches. Jason and Jim thought both hugely delivered but agreed that the Tag Title match was the best of the show.
Jim’s only negative was that the McMahon/Owens match was a tad too long. JR addresses some internet conspiracy theorists who thought WWE would rig the Cell roof to give. Both men riff on the ridiculousness of this concept and speak to how awful a bump from there is. JR says that the Sami Zayn involvement caught him totally off guard. He sees this as a chance to give Sami something of substance and Jason thinks Zayn will thrive in this role going forward. The two speak highly of Zayn’s skill. Both men enjoyed this decision by creative for the main event finish. Jason mentioned some of the foreshadowing of McMahon disregarding Zayn on TV which set up Sami’s turn.
JR and Powell segue into Vince getting busted open on TV with both believing it was done hardway. Both believe Kevin Owens is coming into his own as a main eventer. The positioning with Shane and being involved in such a high profile program allowed Owens to thrive even more. JR thinks Owens has been focused on exercise and nutrition more so as of late. Jim believes Kevin can be a great character babyface someday by virtue of Owens knowing how to get over.
Jim describes how he doesn’t care for Hell in a Cell or Elimination Chamber matches. This is based on how excruciatingly difficult it is for talent to take bumps. Jim seems somewhat skeptical about what Baron Corbin can do with the US Title. He remains optimistic about the title bettering him through house show matches and other opportunities that come with the belt. JR speaks highly of AJ and is fine with the triple threat finish. Powell and Ross discuss how Tye Dillinger hasn’t found his niche on the main roster as of yet. The two speak highly of his ring work, longevity in the business and how he got the “Ten” chant over at the NXT level.
Both address the idea floating around that AJ Styles is going to be the next opponent for Jinder Mahal. Jason and JR optimistically hope for an Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura matchup at WrestleMania. Powell touched on Nakamura’s booking on the main roster and how it isn’t favourable for putting on barnburners. The NJPW/NXT workrate isn’t coming through in main roster programs with Corbin and Mahal. JR thinks that Nakamura is great but can stand to connect with the WWE audience a bit more.
JR mentions how it’s unusual that Rusev is supposed to get heat with audiences as a a Bulgarian. The two riff on how silly the whole “boo them because they’re not American” dynamic can be in booking a heel. Bulgarians don’t have any discernable heat with America and heels are defined by heelish traits.
(30:22) JR goes into a copy read advertising True Car
(31:46) Sound of Success podcast ad
(32:20) The conversation between JR and Jason Powell resumes at this point. Jason talks about keeping up with ROH, Lucha Underground, and Impact Wrestling. Powell sells ProWrestling.Net and the benefits to their archives.
Jason and Jim talk about War Games coming back. Both seem positive about Triple H being the one to handle this and see the new spin being put on the match as interesting. Jim believes that the early War Games matches hold up today in terms of overall quality. He then mentions how some people were disappointed with the DQ finish in the Women’s title match. Jim was confused, thought the match was one of the best on the card, and he thought the finish was ok. Powell felt the finish was a lazy way to extend the feud between Natalya and Charlotte.
JR thinks highly of Ziggler but addresses how often Dolph has gotten so close but has yet to break through into that top tier status. Jim mentions how Roode has a certain period of time to get over based on his age and to maintain momentum from his successful NXT run. Powell talks about how the Glorious theme song has Roode being over as a babyface despite Roode’s best career work being as a heel. The two then segue to talking about how Bray Wyatt should be turned into a babyface character.
JR and Jason feel that WWE should hold off on any further Shane O Mac involvement until at least a Summerslam or Wrestlemania. They both speak to the high physicality of Shane’s bumps and how one can only take so many of those. JR takes fan questions, which results in Jim and Powell contemplating whether or not Jinder is champion at WrestleMania. Powell likened Jinder’s title reign to JBL’s in terms of being confused when each won the belt. An optimism came from this though because he thought JBL’s reign produced some entertaining material. Jason isn’t high on Jinder’s title reign and sees some of the promo writing as little more than race baiting garbage. JR talks about how he’s seen some odd talent get over and isn’t as ready to give up on Jinder as Jason seems to be. Jason would like to see more done with Jinder’s character and feels the creative team is doing Jinder and by proxy the brand a disservice.
Jim and Jason discuss the growth of Ring of Honor and also how quality of a platform Fite TV is. Powell mentions how ROH seems to be in a transition period where there’s more established guys (i.e. Cody, Bully Ray, etc) as compared to young talent. Powell did mention certain young stars like Flip Gordon in a positive light.
Ross changes the topic to delve into Impact Wrestling’s future. Powell mentions the plans Impact has for creating their own subscription network service ala WWE network. The two touch on Impact’s offices likely moving to Canada and some of their other future forays into the great white north (i.e. Bound For Glory). Jim says that as wrestling fans, we need promotions like Impact Wrestling to succeed. JR begins to wind things down with the conversation.
(1:07:38) Killing The Town podcast ad
(1:08:00) JR begins his show wrap at this point. He does some housekeeping announcements about his future live dates/appearances. He touches on his book Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling along with the deeply emotional subject matter from within it. Jim mentions what platforms his podcast can be found on, gives details on how you can subscribe to the Ross Report, and also sells Chris Jericho’s upcoming cruise. Ross T’s up some future guests before closing out this episode.
Review (7.5 out of 10): Well-articulated points all throughout from both men. It’s always fascinating for me to hear Jim discuss the latest happenings in pro wrestling. JR’s wealth of knowledge and experience coupled with his constant adapting often make for interesting takes. Jason Powell’s perceptions on Hell in a Cell were fun to listen to. Jason came off as well spoken and informed. Good recap show with a good amount of outside WWE talk interspersed as well. A fun listen.
Timestamps:
(0:12) JR does a copy read advertising True Car and Zip Recruiter
(2:41) Ross Report produced intro begins to play and Jim opens the show
(6:23) The discussion with Jason Powell begins
(30:22) JR goes into a copy read advertising True Car
(31:46) Sound of Success podcast ad
(32:20) The conversation between JR and Jason Powell resumes
(1:07:38) Killing The Town podcast ad
(1:08:00) JR begins his show wrap at this point
About the Author: Along with being a pro wrestling lover, Dylan James Bowker is also a professional broadcaster and a combat sports personality. A passionate, professional music writer for libertymultimedia.com who has played guitar, bass, banjo, and ukulele for the better part of a decade. Pro Wrestling has been a passion from a young age but there was a brief hiatus from it. A promotion he was affiliated with put on a show that devolved into Iron Sheik being taken to the drunk tank. Over the last few years, he’s been back at it with a renewed vigor and is excited to be a part of the Torch family.
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