The Ross Report
Guests: Mick Foley and Jeremy Borash
Release Date: November 1, 2017
Recap By: Dylan Bowker; Recovering Smark
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Top Stories:
-JR foreseeing a possible Jericho/Omega match
-Jeremy Borash on Impact’s partnership with AAA creating a lot of fan intrigue for interpromotional crossovers
-Mick’s chance meeting with Jack Nicklaus
-Mick creating a stand up tour in 2018 around the 20th anniversary of the infamous Cell match
-How Mick got over with Vince and created the Dude Love gimmick
-Mick mentioning he did a voiceover for a VICE news piece on the death of Bruiser Brody.
-Borash and Foley doing a full card Bound For Glory preview
Recap:
(0:12) AMA’s Ultimate Adventure ad
(0:42) JR does a copy read advertising Zip Recruiter
(2:52) Ross Report intro plays. Jim tees up his guests for the week, Jeremy Borash and Mick Foley. Jim teases some future appearances that he has coming up. A recent issue of PWI had a favorable review of Ross’ work which he was happy about.
JR addresses some of the recent exodus of talent from WWE. He mentioned how the company released him as well but through perseverance was able to get back to the big show. Emma, Summer Rae, and Darren Young are mentioned. He speaks to their talent, youth, and is encouraging to all aforementioned workers.
Jim brought up Ric Flair’s 30 for 30 and harkened back to his interview with the director of the project, Rory Karpf. Jim describes some of the emotionally weighty moments in the piece but encourages all to check it out. Jim also mentions the Ted DiBiase film “The Price of Fame” and gives info on how one can go see that.
The 25th anniversary of Raw gets brought up. JR hopes he gets a call for that January show. Jim has been enjoying the social media interactions between Jericho and Omega. The back and forth could very well lead to a match between Y2J and Kenny at Wrestle Kingdom. JR mentions Gail Kim wrapping up her in-ring career at Bound For Glory.
(22:09) America’s Lakers Podcast ad
(23:08) WWE shop sell for JR’s merchandise
(25:16) JR’s conversation with Jeremy Borash gets started. Both men get right into talking about Bound For Glory and the splendor of the company’s annual tent pole event. The two talk about the sheer talent of the X Division guys, how these young guys are pulling off great maneuvers, but also how that style can add to one’s bump card. The Eli Drake/Johnny Impact main event was discussed and Jeremy speaks favorably of Drake. Borash then touches on Johnny’s amazing stretch in recent months capturing title in Lucha Underground, AAA, etc.
Jeremy mentions Impact’s partnership with AAA and how it’s creating fan curiosity about who could cross over between brands. Jim mentions how Moose is one of his favorites and also talks about how he tried to recruit King Mo to be a pro wrestler years back. The two talk about how MMA fighters Bonnar and Mo aren’t as well versed in pro wrestling. Borash speaks about the talents of both, their passion for the product, and their aptitude for performing despite the relative lack of experience.
Jim brings up Gail Kim’s last hurrah and Borash mentions his times traveling on the road with Gail. Borash talks about Gail’s efforts to teach young talent and impart a certain amount of respect/proper backstage decorum among them. Jim touches on the LAW changing up their roster and heaps praise on John Pollock. The two talk about the Monster’s Ball match between Abyss and Grado. Jim teases some future live dates he has where Jeremy Borash is the MC. Jim begins to wrap things up, says his goodbyes to Jeremy, and gets in one more Bound For Glory sell.
(47:11) JR does a copy read advertising True Car
(48:52) Advertisement for Chael Sonnen’s podcast “You’re Welcome”
(49:26) Slobberknocker audio continues with Jim mentioning how listeners can rate and subscribe to his show. JR then begins his conversation with Mick Foley. The talk begins with Mick mentioning his difficulties with watching the World Series in a hotel room during intense windy conditions. Mick was involved with a recent auction and was happy with the help that can be provided for Puerto Rico from it. Jim enjoys how genuine Mick is with his desire to help others.
The conversation leads to Mick offering his condolences to Jim in the wake of Jim’s wife Jan passing away. Mick mentions some of the big name individuals who took part in the recent auction. He describes a recent interaction with a fan that lead to him meeting Jack Nicklaus.
Mick talks about a one man show he has coming up. The show has a specific focus on the 20th anniversary of Mick’s famous Hell in a Cell match. The two men talk about their respective methodologies with putting together a one man show. Mick mentions doing a run in later that same night and how what happened that night in ’98 would not fly in 2017.
Jim asks Mick if he thinks the Cell match influenced the next generation of risk taking workers. Mick begins to talk about Saint Mick, the latest book from Foley. He enjoyed JR’s book and the unique perspective he brought as an on-air talent as well as a behind the scenes worker. Jim talks about the emotional struggles of his backstage position and the passion he had for the job. JR would get too attached to talent and would feel like a failure if they didn’t get over.
Foley talked about working with The Undertaker and establishing a rapport with him. Mick didn’t get over with Vince McMahon fully until he got to know some of his backstory. Bruce Prichard told Foley that it came from a conversation Mick had with Shawn Michaels. Shawn jokingly made a comment to Mick about his Mankind gimmick. Shawn was wondering if that’s how he saw things panning out for him i.e. the deranged loner. Mick mentioned how he wanted to be more like Shawn and this inspired Vince. It would manifest into the Dude Love gimmick.
Jim and Mick talked about the infamous sit down interview they had while Foley was Mankind. Vince’s voice resonated in the dark production area and he thought it was outstanding. Mick regards this as a major career turning point. Jim asks Mick how he went about naming his kids. Foley says he’s not cruel despite his children having rhyming names (Dewey and Hughie).
Mick mentions he did a voiceover for a VICE news piece on the death of Bruiser Brody. Foley talks about watching hours worth of Brody tape and Bruiser being a huge influence for him. Mick wanted to channel Brody, Dynamite Kid, and Terry Funk through his in-ring style. The two talk about Terry for a bit and how they’ve each kept in touch with him. JR and Foley talk about possible crossovers between their one man shows with each wanting to incorporate Jerry Lawler. Mick brings up the Ric Flair 30 for 30 and quite enjoyed the piece. Foley spoke highly about the efforts and final product of Rory Karpf, the director. Mick also mentioned how the interview he did never showed up in the final cut. This wasn’t something Foley had any issue with though. Jim begins to wrap up the conversation with Mick.
(1:42:41) JR starts his show wrap by doing some housekeeping announcements. He mentions some of the dates that Mick has coming up, mentions Foley’s social media handles, etc. JR again mentions the live dates where Jeremy Borash is MCing. Jim sells Bound For Glory and thanks JB for joining him earlier.
Review (9 out of 10): Good show overall with entertaining guests. I enjoyed hearing Jeremy Borash talk about Impact. Borash is one of the more prolific, non-WWE backstage talents over the last several years in wrestling. His perspectives lent well to the show but Mick was a delight in his own right. I’m interested in the 20th anniversary stand up show in regards to his infamous Hell in a Cell match. The backstage interactions he had with Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon, and The Undertaker are must listen for hardcore fans. Also, shout out JR for calling out the Omega vs Jericho match which eventually did come to fruition for Wrestle Kingdom 12. Bit of a longer listen but well worth it to stick around for the full ride.
Timestamps:
(0:12) AMA’s Ultimate Adventure ad
(0:42) JR does a copy read advertising Zip Recruiter
(2:52) Ross Report intro plays.
(22:09) America’s Lakers Podcast ad
(23:08) WWE shop sell for JR’s merchandise
(25:16) JR’s conversation with Jeremy Borash gets started.
(47:11) JR does a copy read advertising True Car
(48:52) Advertisement for Chael Sonnen’s podcast “You’re Welcome”
(49:26) JR begins his conversation with Mick Foley
(1:42:41) JR starts his show wrap
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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