The Jim Ross Report
Release Date: April 11, 2018
Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo
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0:00 – Intro
Jim Ross’ podcast is back at its new home on Westwood One. Coming up on the show are some new features and an interview he did with Bruce Prichard prior to his hiatus. He wants the show to be more listener friendly and has a new email you can submit comments and questions to (thejimrossreport@gmail.com). Jim reminds everyone to subscribe to his podcast and is excited to be on Westwood One.
J.R gives a quick summary of his travel during Wrestlemania weekend
- Wednesday – travel to New Orleans and met up with some friends and business associates
- Thursday – opened for Paul Heyman’s show
- Friday morning – hosted his sold out Slobberknocker Sessions
- Friday Night – WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony. He says it was one of his and Jan’s favorite events however, this one was a little long
- Saturday morning – Did signings with Gerry Brisco at WWE Axxess
- Saturday Afternoon – Worked Wrestlecon at the Imperial Wrestling Revolution Table which is a small promotion in Oklahoma that J.R is helping out. The promoter’s name is Jerry Bostic. Wrestlecon did a great job and J.R says someone made a lot of money.
- Saturday Night – watched NXT Takeover from his hotel room and said it was an excellent show. J.R says it’s better than apple pie when you have a great wrestling card with a hot crowd.
J.R does a quick recap of the NXT Takeover show (11:50 into the podcast).
- The opening ladder match was off the charts and was the perfect opener. He says it’s important to open these shows with a huge success. The days of building up to the main event are over and you have to come out of the gate hard.
- The Baszler/Moon match was steller and much better than their experience would suggest. They overachieved and worked snug which J.R liked. He also loved the referee stoppage and says when used effectively and in a timely manner, it’s money.
- The Black/Almas match turned some heads and J.R says Black is going to be a big time player at the next level
- J.R made a comments on his twitter (@jrsbbq) that personal issues are a driving force behind pro-wrestling. They are what makes us compelled to experience a rivalry and make you make an emotional investment. Because of this, the Gargano/Ciampa match was a classic and compared it to an old Mid-South matches. He says these two had a magical match and told a great story. He saw more emotion in that match than he had seen in some title matches. It’s all about storytelling and most people can relate more to a personal issue than a title match because most people can’t relate to being a world champion.
J.R brings up WrestleMania and says it’s an experience like no other (15:54 intro the podcast). He has worked WCW PPVs and Wrestle Kingdom but says there is nothing like WrestleMania. He briefly touches on the negative feedback ranging from second guessing the finishes to the match order and says he doesn’t think there will be any card that people will totally like. He says the primary complaint is the length of the show and admits it was long for him too. He left the show after calling his match with Jerry Lawler and Byron Sexton and watched the show in his room. He says 7 hours was tough and doesn’t know if he could watch anything for 7 hours. J.R says he and Lawler will be part of the broadcast for the event in Saudi Arabia (Friday, April 27th at noon ET). He’s still not sure what they’re going to do but he would like to do the Greatest Royal Rumble.
- Miz/Balor/Rollins was the perfect opener for the show. Those three killed it and J.R says this is as good a match as any match he’s called in any era. They did a great service for everyone else that followed by engaging the audience.
- Charlotte and Asuka was terrific and he would have loved it no matter who won. J.R says Charlotte is who you are going to build the women’s division around. He loved the storytelling, the structure of the match and the finish was perfect.
- J.R says he has no problems with Jinder Mahal winning the title as the ‘foreign villain’ which is a gimmick that has been used in wrestling for years. He says Jinder is a talented kid and thinks he’s going to do really well and can be one of the more viable heels in the WWE.
- J.R liked Cena/Undertaker and thought it was a unique experience. Even after J.R left the Superdome, he didn’t know if Taker was going to be on the card. Even though Taker hasn’t announced his retirement, J.R thinks we’re near the end of his run. J.R says it should be Taker’s decision as to when he’s done.
- J.R felt they should have given Daniel a little more shine at the beginning of his tag match with Shane against KO/Sami. Daniel has connected with the audience like very few who have ever connected with an audience.
- J.R liked the A.J/Nakamura match but was expecting more. J.R thinks the audience might have been a little fatigued by that time. He also loved Nakamura’s low blow at the end and thinks he will be a better villain.
- J.R felt the tag match was in a tough spot on the card (Strowman/Nicholas vs The Bar). This match showed J.R Braun is going to be the man and shows how Braun is developing as a character. J.R thinks Braun is the future of the WWE.
- The mixed tag match was the best it could have been (Triple H/Stephanie McMahon vs Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey). He says Ronda made the best in-ring debut that he has ever witnessed in his wrestling career especially when you consider the circumstances of the event. J.R thinks Rousey will be a good wrestler because of her athletic background.
- J.R was surprised Reigns lost and that it got bloody. He says despite the negative reactions Reigns gets, he’s a star. J.R mentions Lesnar being re-signed is significant and is one of the building blocks for the company. (As a quick side note, J.R did make some comments about people who boo Reigns. I get where he is coming from but couldn’t entirely agree).
36:12 – Slobberknocker of the week
The first winner of the Slobberknocker of the Week has to be Ronda Rousey. She knocked it out of the park despite what the naysayers said. Her timing was impeccable Sunday night for someone with little experience. J.R says she is an athletic beast with a desire to succeed. This is the reason J.R recruited athletes from mainstream sports over the years.
38:53 – Pet Coon Goofy Award of the Week
J.R enjoys reading and gathering information but says there are a lot of dumb a** people out there. Because of that he thought of this award for those types of people. This week, the winner of this award are fans who bring beach balls to wrestling events. Bringing a beach ball distracts and takes away from the matches so why bring a beach ball when you know it will distract from the matches?
41:53 – This week in wrestling history
On April 16th, 2007, J.R was in Milan, Italy and brings up the ‘Milan Miracle’ when Santino beat Umaga for the IC Title. After Santino’s victory, they had a celebration victory involving a lot of whiskey shots (potentially Jack Daniels). John Cena was leading the charge to welcome Santino into the WWE family and he (Santino) got blasted.
45:17 – The Mailbag
Questions for J.R from thejimrossreport@gmail.com.
Q: Will WrestleMania be a multi-day event?
J.R doesn’t know how they would do that in terms of keeping the matches on each day equitable. The easier solution would be to shorten the event. J.R used to say it was not everyone’s right to be booked on Wrestlemania but that you earn that opportunity.
Q: Will a referee ever be inducted into the Hall Of Fame
J.R says absolutely but doesn’t know who. He says anyone that contributes to the product should be eligible to get into the Hall.
Q: Had the WWE contacted Nancy Benoit after she left the WCW
J.R doesn’t think so. Nancy had drifted away from being on the road after WCW and was very content to not be in pro wrestling.
48:57 – Bruce Prichard
J.R and Bruce met back in the Mid-South days and became good friends from there. He is happy that Bruce and Conrad Thompson are doing well with their podcast and travelling road shows. Bruce and Conrad have signed a deal with WWE to do their podcast on the network.
J.R did this interview just prior to his hiatus from podcasting which was recapped back in January. To check out the January 16th recap click here. The interview portion on the current podcast only goes up to the discussion about signing the Undertaker on the Jan 16th podcast.
1:15:28 – Show Wrap
J.R says it’s always great to catch up with Bruce Prichard and also says he’s one of the most imitated guys in podcasting. Next week will be part two of the Bruce Prichard interview and he will hopefully know more about their show coming to the WWE Network. J.R says his podcast be dropping every Wednesday. J.R has some big announcements coming up about his BBQ sauces and may have an Australian deal for his sauces soon. J.R and Jerry Lawler will be doing a few live shows called ‘Live With J.R and The King’. More info to come. Jim plugs his BBQ sauces and his book. J.R is also looking at getting a second book done by the end of 2019. He plugs his email account (thejimrossreport@gmail.com) and that is a wrap.
Rating – 7/10
Not a bad first podcast back. It was at times a little rough but will only get better as he gets back into the groove. The recaps of NXT and WrestleMania were good and he gave some good insights into both shows. When he outlined his travel, it gave an inkling of how busy these guys can be. The Bruce Prichard interview was OK but I had heard it before and was hoping for something new. I suspect the second part of the interview next week will be the completion of the interview he did back in January. Otherwise, good to hear J.R back on podcasts.
Last thing….J.R talked about fans booing Roman. The impression I got is that some people who boo Roman only do it to draw attention to themselves which I kind of get (and seems to be something a lot of people in the business say whenever this subject comes up). I’m not going to speak for anyone but myself, Roman is a good worker in the ring. He hustles, he sells and I have no issues with his ring work. BUT…I don’t feel he connects. Unlike A.J or Daniel Bryan or Finn or Seth or even Samoa Joe who is technically a heel, the big difference between them and Roman is a believability factor. They come across as genuine…Roman does not (at least to me) and while I don’t boo Roman…I don’t root for him either. Sorry to rant…I had to get that off my chest as it bugs me when people in the business try to tell anyone who or who not to root for. I know who I like and why…please don’t try to dictate to me. Makes me push back more. And at 47, I have a pretty good idea of what I like and don’t like.
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro
11:50 – NXT Takeover Recap
15:54 – Wrestlemania Recap
36:12 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
38:53 – Pet Coon Goofy Award Of The Week
41:53 – This Week In Wrestling History
45:17 – Mailbag
48:57 – Bruce Prichard
1:15:28 – Show Wrap
Writer Bio
Joe lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and two boys. He’s been watching wrestling for about 40 years (give or take) but doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert. He just likes wrestling. Check him out on twitter and instagram @ja113.
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