The Jim Ross Report
Release Date: May 16, 2018
Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo
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0:00 – Intro
Welcome back to another week of Slobberknocker audio. Coming up on today’s show is Cody Rhodes who J.R has known since he was in diapers along with entire Rhodes family. They will be discussing the All-In event and how it came about. He’s proud of Cody and the Young Bucks for organizing this event.
2:32 – What’s On J.R’s Mind
J.R starts off by thanking Ken Carmen who hosts a radio morning show on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland for having him on his show to talk about podcasting and a variety of other subjects.
J.R has been asked about the NJPW AXS TV coverage of the July event at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. He’s not sure if AXS is going to televise the event. Both sides are interested and working on it but at this point, nothing has been confirmed. J.R is optimistic the event will be televised.
There are rumors around Hulk Hogan returning to the WWE. J.R can’t justify the language used by Hogan however, he does not approve of the reasons Hulk was expelled from the WWE. He feels Hogan should be back in the WWE at some point in time because he believes in forgiveness. He brings up the kid who killed his wife and while he doesn’t know him, he forgives him because J.R chooses not to live with negativity. Hogan’s use of a racial slur is unacceptable and J.R believes Hogan is remorseful. He also thinks Hogan’s skill and image can be used for positive. J.R is all for Hogan coming back and hopes people can forgive him.
J.R’s thinks sports gambling being legalized is a good thing. It’s a good way for states to create revenue for short falls and brings up the example of Oklahoma school teachers having to spend their own money to buy books and supplies for students. If money from lotteries, sports gambling or medical marijuana can be governed, sanctioned and overseen, he doesn’t see that hurting anyone and that will help with the bottom line.
J.R watched RAW and said Rollins and K.O had a great opening match. Both guys are close to stepping up to the next level. Sami Zayn reminds J.R of Robin Williams (which isn’t a bad thing). He’s also a much better talker than most people thought. Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman…stay tuned as that could be a big feud. J.R thinks Strowman will be the man and thinks New York city (i.e. WrestleMania) would be a good place for him to be labelled as the man. J.R thinks Strowman and McIntyre look like Andre The Giant and Blackjack Mulligan respectively.
The women had a strong outing and asks if Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey for MITB is too soon. J.R doesn’t think it’s too soon because it’s an attraction match. J.R says the champ (and even the challenger) shouldn’t be on TV every week and the notion that everyone on the roster should be wrestling every week makes no sense. Rousey and Jax will have a match that will surprise us in a positive way. Athletes who have had legitimate backgrounds like Rousey will rise to the occasion. He says this was a smart and bold booking.
Switching over to Smackdown, Daniel Bryan started building some momentum with his manhandling of Big Cass. J.R likes Big Cass but he plays like a shooting guard on an NBA team. He’d rather see Cass work as a power forward or center. He needs to be more aggressive but feels he has big upside.
J.R feels Almas has something special which may be Zelina Vega. He likes that pairing and says they have great chemistry. J.R is a fan of Becky Lynch who is back on a good track.
The Samoa Joe promo was ‘real’ which worked. A.J and Nakamura’s match started to look like their matches in NJPW and it looks like they’re finding their groove. However, he hopes they keep the low blows to a minimum.
22:04 – Cody Rhodes
J.R welcomes Cody to the show and thanks him for taking the time especially given how busy Cody is these days.
When J.R heard Cody and the Bucks had sold out the All In event in 30 minutes, J.R got emotional because it made him think about how it would have affected Dusty Rhodes. J.R asks if this has been the most memorable week of their professional lives.
Cody says it was without a doubt. He was in a car heading to an ROH event in Chicago which was when tickets went on sale. He tried to buy a ticket online and was put in a virtual waiting room. He knew the site was handling a ton of traffic and he got an update from the box office they had moved 3,000 tickets in 10 minutes. Cody was hoping they would sell 4,000 tickets the first week. When the car ride was over, he and Nick Jackson (who was also in the car) got word the event was sold out and Cody says it’s a day he will never forget.
J.R asks about Brandi who is working on healing from a broken collarbone. Cody says she is tough and is still going on the ROH UK tour.
J.R asks how the idea of All In came about.
When Cody and The Bucks decided they were going to do this event, the first thing they looked at was rent options and markets this could feasibly be done. They were at an ROH show in Buffalo at a 1,300 seat theater. When the camera’s went off, he stayed out to entertain the fans and send them home happy and felt they could take that ‘party’ atmosphere and draw a bigger crowd. He compared calendars with Gary Juster of ROH and Rocky Romero from NJPW to determine a date where they could get talent from all these places at the same time.
J.R believes Cody and the Bucks can figure out how to book all the wrestlers involved because they’ve wrestled everyone. J.R brings up the Matt Jackson’s back injury and how it’s been moved forward in storylines. He says it’s simplistic yet effective because everyone can relate. How you portray that injury is the ‘money’. Cody says because of the Bucks’ wild approach to wrestling from an athletic standpoint, they’re pegged as not having psychology. When Cody watches them, their commitment to what they do is the very old school. Cody says they are old school wrestlers who have the most new school reputations. J.R says the Bucks have an intangible that connects them to the audience and compares them to the Rock and Roll Express and the Hardy’s.
J.R says there are a lot of things to do from a business perspective and calls Cody a promoter like Bill Watts or Dusty. Cody says he’s not sure if he’s ready to be put in that category but says it’s been a fun experience. Dana Massey (Matt Jackson’s wife) sends an email everyday about something they’ve forgotten that they legally need to cover. Cody had the vision for All In but she’s the one who is keeping track of the details.
Cody says he, Matt and Nick want to run gorilla and want someone in the production truck in case they go a streaming route. Cody gives a shout out to Gary Juster from ROH who has been helpful to Cody and The Bucks in terms of learning the process. J.R hopes they get to the show with all the details taken care of so Cody and the Bucks can concentrate on having fun.
J.R brings up Starrcast and Cody says he spoke to Conrad Thompson who believed in the All In event. Conrad felt people would likely piggy back off the event and asked if it could be the Starrcast event. Cody liked the idea but said the one rule was that they could have no ring and no matches. Starrcast is about wrestling legends, personalities and the new forms of digital wrestling has and Conrad jumped all over it.
J.R brings up the upcoming college football season which brings up a story about Dusty and how he and J.R would argue whenever the Sooner vs Longhorns game came up (which is a big rivalry).
J.R reiterates he is proud of Cody and the Bucks and will continue to promote their show on the podcast. He asks Cody what he has planned for this summer other than promoting All In. Cody says they’ll be doing a tour of Europe with ROH, working in NJPW and will continue working and promoting the Bullet Club which doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Cody also confirms he is the official leader of the Bullet Club.
J.R says he’s excited to call the Okada/Omega match on Friday Night on AXS. He asks if the general public thinks AXS TV has helped build the New Japan brand in North America. Cody thinks the general public is becoming more familiar with NJPW but thinks the vocal minority who have kept New Japan as ‘their thing’ is afraid to see their baby grow up. New Japan is growing and unstoppable which is good for everyone involved.
J.R says he’s proud of Cody and loves him and his family. He thanks him for being on the podcast.
47:06 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
Nominees for Slobberknocker of the Week were
- Cody and The Bucks
- Conrad Thompson
However, J.R says those were to easy…the Slobberknocker of the Week goes to maybe the bravest son of a gun the WWE ever signed….John Cena. John went on the Today show and had some brutally honest takes about his relationship with Nikki Bella.
49:42 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
Nominees for this week:
- The decision makers of the Toronto Raptors who fired Dwayne Casey after winning Coach Of The Year
- People who spend too much time following the upcoming Royal Wedding which J.R thinks is an embarrassing train wreck of a poorly produced reality show.
However, this week’s winner goes to the family of Meghan Markle who J.R thinks are trying to use the wedding as an opportunity for a money grab. He thinks her father is manipulative and is drawing attention away from his daughter who should be in the spotlight.
52:46 – This Week in Wrestling
May 17th, 1953 – Bruno Sammartino beat ‘The Nature Boy’ Buddy Rogers in 48 seconds to win the WWWF title that started it all.
May 17th, 1965 – Bruno defeated ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts to retain the WWWF title. Both were training and tag team partners and this series of matches helped Bill in his career
May, 1999 – No Mercy PPV was held in Manchester, England. There was a Triple Threat match with Steve Austin vs Undertaker vs Triple H for the WWF title. J.R says the crowd was great.
May 2005 – Judgement Day, John Cena beat JBL in an ‘I Quit’ match to retain the WWE title. Boxing legend Roberto Duran was in town which was ironic as he is known for the ‘No Mas’ call.
J.R also gives birthday shout outs to:
- Charles Wright aka The Godfather who turns 57
- The Hebner twins turn 69 on May 17th.
- James Harris aka Kamala turns 68
- Andre The Giant would have turned 72 years old this week
58:33 – Mailbag
Q: What are J.R’s thoughts on the upcoming no time limit, 2 out of 3 falls match between Okada and Omega?
A: J.R thinks it phenomenal and will be a match that people will talk about because it’s a different type of match. It could be 3 chapters long that they will have to string together. J.R says he doesn’t have a favorite 2 out of 3 match but one of the more memorable ones was between Flair and Steamboat.
Q: What is J.Rs thoughts on the babyface vs. heel and does it still work in modern day promotions?
A: J.R believes wrestling storylines and issues should be based in reality as much as they possibly can and should be plausible. He thinks the dynamic of the heel vs babyface needs to stay. He compares it to sports where the home team is generally the babyface.
Q: Does J.R think that Charlotte may be regarded as the greatest women wrestler once her career is over.
A: J.R says she’s getting close now and athletically she has a big leg up on any female athlete he’s seen in wrestling. He thinks she’ll be considered one of the best ever.
Q: Is there any young and upcoming wrestling talent that has the characteristics of Danny Hodge
A: J.R flat out says no. He says Danny is the baddest dude he’s ever seen, the greatest amatuer wrestler to pro he’s ever seen and is still the toughest guy in the locker room.
If you want to send a question to Jim, email thejimrossreport@gmail.com.
1:05:36 – Show wrap
J.R thanks Cody for being on the show and is proud of what Cody and the Young Bucks have done. He says Dusty would be proud too. Eric Bischoff who is involved in the Starrcast event in September will be on the show next week. And that’s a wrap.
Rating – 7/10
I was really looking forward to the Cody Rhodes interview when this podcast dropped as I’ve been so impressed with the All In sell out. You can tell he and J.R have known each other for a long time and there is a genuine affection between the two because of their history. That said, I thought at times J.R talked a little too much about himself and not enough about Cody (and I’ve heard him do this on past podcasts as well) which hurt the interview especially when you hear Cody on say the Edge and Christian podcast where he was more of the spotlight. The rest of the podcast was OK.
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro
2:32 – What’s On J.R’s Mind
22:04 – Cody Rhodes
47:06 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
49:42 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
52:46 – This Week In Wrestling
58:33 – Mailbag
1:05:36 – 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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