The Jim Ross Report
Release Date: October 31st, 2018
Running time: 1:53:54
Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
0:00 – Intro
Welcome back to another week of Slobberknocker audio. J.R. is recording the program from the Norwegian Cruise ship Jade on the Jericho Cruise which is currently docked in the Bahamas during the time of this recording. Coming up on the podcast are Ricky Steamboat, DDP and Hurricane Helms.
3:12 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
Jericho Cruise
- Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox who won the World Series over the LA Dodgers. They were clearly the better team.
- When the Chris Jericho Cruise returns to the mainland, the same ship will be used for the Kiss Cruise right after. J.R. thinks there will be another Jericho cruise and encourages people to sign up if they didn’t make it to this cruise.
- J.R. thanks Chris for inviting him on the cruise and for his hospitality
- When J.R. got to Miami, the bomber who sent bombs to Democrats was captured around the hotel J.R. was staying at. In true wrestling fashion, he no sold it.
- Overall the cruise has been great and everyone is having a good time
Evolution
- J.R. congratulates the WWE women wrestlers. It was challenging to watch for J.R. because wifi is scarce on the cruise.
- Apparently Becky and Charlotte delivered (yes they did). They didn’t close the show but the WWE likes to close the show with a happy ending,and the WWE is positioning Becky as heel, which J.R. doesn’t agree with.
- Ronda and Nikki closed the show because Rousey has the power and is the top female in the company. She may not be the best wrestler but she’s the biggest attraction in the company of any gender.
- As predicted, Trish/Lita vs. Fox/James opened the show.
Saudi Arabia
- J.R. can’t give you an answer you’re going to buy if you’re anti-Saudi Arabia.
- He thinks it’s about the bottom line. The WWE has obligations to their shareholders. From a financial standpoint, it’s the right thing to do but from a moral standpoint, it may not be.
16:19 – Ricky Steamboat
J.R. welcomes Ricky Steamboat to the podcast. Ricky had his right hip replaced 3 and a half months ago but is back in the gym doing squats.
Ricky Meets His Wife
Ricky met his wife at a comic-con in Knoxville. He yelled out a stupid pick up line and she shook her head and walked away. Her girlfriend told her who Steamboat was and said Steamboat was hitting on her. They came back and struck up a conversation. From there, Ricky and his girlfriend started a long distance relationship. After a year they moved in together and a year after that, they got married.
Q: What did Ricky think of the invite to the cruise and did he have any apprehensions?
A: This is the first cruise Ricky has ever been on. The only reservation he had was that when you’re on the boat you’re on the boat. He thought he may be trapped where he would always be stopped by fans to give pictures and autographs. The fans have been good at understanding there are time slots for meet and greets for pictures and autographs.
J.R. says some of the boys are becoming more entrepreneurial and those are the things they’re talking about in their car trips compared to what J.R. and Steamboat were talking about in the car.
Steamboat says all the times he spent in the car helped him get a handle on the business. Unlike today, Steamboat and that generation of wrestlers would go to the same town on a weekly basis. Wrestlers had to be creative to keep fans coming back.
Fans today have different agendas. Steamboat felt in the 90s ‘smart fans’ were becoming more prominent and the villain (Flair in this case) were getting as many cheers as he was coming to the ring. Steamboat says when the fans became smarter to the business, they started looking at the talent. Even though Flair was the villain, he entertained fans and was good at what he does.
This past year, Kenny Omega has been one of the hotter talents in the business who had three epic matches with Kazuchika Okada. J.R. says Flair/Steamboat ‘89 holds up to anything from today. There was also some good stuff leading up to those matches with regards to TV and promos.
One thing Steamboat stresses when he does Q&As is that when he worked with Flair and 90% of the heels at that time, they would only be going into the match knowing the finish which is about the last 2 or 3 minutes of the match. Flair and Steamboat averaged 40 or 50 minutes a night and they did everything on the fly. Today’s talent will spend a lot of time going over a matches. He doesn’t knock it as that’s how it is today. J.R. says calling the match is an art and there seems to be a lack of confidence in younger talents which is why they feel compelled to memorize their spots.
J.R. talks about being at the PC and going for a break. He saw two wrestlers talking about their match. He went back in and a few hours later, saw the same two wrestlers talking about their match. J.R. told them he didn’t want to see them together for the rest of the day. He told them it doesn’t need to be this hard.
Flair and Steamboat would work 50 minutes and would ad-lib 48 of those. This is something you can’t learn unless you’re in the ring doing it. But, the current crop today have not been exposed to calling matches and the only way they know how to put a match together is to rehearse. In Steamboat’s younger career, the only instruction he would get is put your opponent over in 15 minutes. Steamboat would go to his opponent and ask him what they wanted to do and the opponent would say ‘you know my finisher, I’ll let you know when it happens’ and that’s all the ‘practicing’ they would do.
Ricky Steamboat’s first one hour broadway was against Harley Race in the 70s. Ricky was the US champ at the time which meant you were the number one contender for the world champ who would make his rounds through all the territories. Ricky had never done an hour and the booker George Scott told him not to worry and just listen to Harley. A year later, Harley came back and Ricky did another hour with Harley. When Steamboat and Harley locked up in the middle of the ring for that match, Harley told Steamboat to call the match because Harley was tired. Steamboat couldn’t believe it but ended up calling the match.
J.R. thanks Ricky for being on the podcast. Ricky says he’s always enjoyed listening to J.R. call matches because J.R. would always say something extra that would add to the call. J.R. says the fans and the business keep him going. Ricky can be found @real_steamboat on twitter. And they sign off.
43:00 – Diamond Dallas Page
J.R. welcomes DDP to the broadcast and calls him the foremost expert on yoga. DDP says it’s not yoga. When he first started DDP Yoga, it was a piece of yoga, piece of rehab, a piece of old school calisthenics and dynamic tension. When he first wrote the book ‘Yoga For Regular Guys’ that’s where it started but as he kept changing it up, he realized he was doing this for people who wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga. Yogis don’t do DDP Yoga and don’t think DDP Yoga is real yoga. Now he’s branding it DDPY so it stops being called ‘just’ yoga and isn’t put in that yoga box.
Q: How did the DDPY Class go on the cruise?
A: There were over 215 people when they were only expecting 20 or 30 people.
This cruise is very much like All-In and Starrcast. It’s something really spectacular. For Chris to fill up the cruise with over 2400 people is pretty cool.
J.R. stresses the importance of reinventing oneself or you become stale. He talks about Jericho, DDP and Vince reinventing themselves. He loves the fact that DDP is getting away from yoga. DDP says it’s still there but not. If you look at some of the other big health fads like Tae Bo or P90X which sold over 450 million units or even Insanity which sold a lot. They’re here and they’re gone. The only thing that lasts is yoga which is what DDP is the part DDP is holding onto and specifically the healing aspect. In the last few months, Raven, Buff Bagwell (shoulder and hip replacements), Drew McIntyre (who drove 7 and a half hours to work with DDP for four hours and drove home right after) and Sheamus (who brought Fit Finlay) have visited the studio in the last few months.
Q: Has DDP been able to work with any of the Atlanta Falcons
A: Yes he has.
J.R. says DDPY is like a secret weapon for athletes. DDP says it’s about trying to keep them in the game. Things like The Shark Tank, Arthur Boorman and The Resurrection of Jake The Snake have put DDPY on the map. DDP was on the Joe Rogan podcast. Afterwards, DDP got a text from the head strength conditioning coach from the performance center saying Brooks Reed (Atlanta Falcons Defensive End) had heard him on the podcast and wanted to work with DDP. DDP also mentions Todd Gurley but it wasn’t clear if he had worked with him or offered to work with him.
Chris Jericho was the guy who put DDP on the map before anyone did. Shawn Michaels told DDP to speak to Jericho because Jericho had a bad back. DDP checked out Jericho’s Twitter feed and saw a picture of Chris full of acupuncture. DDP called Chris as fans had been telling Chris that he needed to do either Trish’s or DDP’s yoga. Chris said he wanted to do DDP’s. DDP sent the Arthur Boorman video to Chris who called DDP back 5 minutes later and said he would do whatever DDP wanted.
DDP sent him the stuff and made Chris promise to do it. 5 weeks later Chris was 85% pain free, 3 months later he was wrestling CM Punk at Wrestlemania. Chris told everyone from Dustin Rhodes to A.J. Styles. When A.J. was about to come to WWE, his back was screwed. DDP called A.J. to come to the studio to work with him and gave A.J. the materials. A.J. recently did an article in Muscle And Fitness and talked about doing the DDPY program 5 days a week.
J.R. says the business is in an unusually good place. It’s a great time to be a wrestling fan and a great time to be in the business. DDP tells a story about Cody Rhodes and how he used to call Cody “Young Buck” (nice coincidence there). Cody was wrestling at the time (high school) and said he was going to win the State championship in his junior year. Cody went 48-0 that year. The next year, Cody lost and DDP said Thank God. He told Cody that you don’t learn anything from winning but rather from falling down. Later that year, Cody met the guy he lost to earlier in the final and ate that kid up.
When Dave Meltzer said Cody and the Bucks couldn’t draw a big crowd and Cody took the bet, DDP was surprised that All-In sold out that quickly but wasn’t shocked it sold out because Cody would back up what he said by putting the work in like he did in high school wrestling. J.R. says they created the event like it was a cause that all wrestling fans could relate to get them to invest emotionally which is where the money is. DDP and J.R. are proud of Cody and The Bucks and the rumour on the cruise is that they are going to do another show in May.
J.R. and DDP talk about Kenny Omega who is over. He also says guys like Kenny are really smart and have good, basic, logical creative sense. They come up with creative and logical scenarios, add their sizzle and get the story told.
DDP was talking to Dalton Castle about independent wrestling. It was the Young Bucks that changed the field not only bringing fans but getting paid. J.R. says they think outside the box. DDP also brings up Being The Elite and says they are having fun. DDP was backstage at All-In and watched Cody. Everyone was coming up to Cody while he was getting ready for the biggest match in his life but you could tell he was having fun.
J.R. admires DDP’s success from the standpoint that he did more with less (and that’s not a knock). DDP wasn’t an NCAA champ or a gold medalist. It was hard work and desire that. It was also his ability to find his audience and reach them. DDP says it’s authenticity. People know he puts the work in.
J.R., thanks DDP for being on the podcast and they sign off.
1:17:28 – Hurricane Shane Helms
J.R. welcomes the Hurricane to the show. Like Ricky Steamboat, this is Shane’s first cruise.
Q: Is Shane having fun on the cruise?
A: Yes, this is Shane’s favorite cruise ever. Also you can’t have a cruise without the longest cruiserweight champion of all time and his last name is Helms and you gotta have a helmsman on the ship.
Q: What has Shane done on the cruise that’s been fun and what’s left on the schedule?
A: The funnest thing so far has been watching Fozzy play. He’s been friends with Chris and remembers Fozzy in small bars. Fozzy does a cover of ABBA’s song ‘SOS’. Shane’s mom was a huge ABBA fan so Shane knows all the ABBA songs. It’s cool to watch one of his best friends perform a song that meant so much to him.
J.R. says Chris killed it on stage with Fozzy and the audience seemed to know all the lyrics to the songs. J.R. says guys like Jericho, Cody and the Bucks have no fear about failing on a project like All-In or the Jericho Cruise. Organizing the cruise was a massive undertaking. Shane says this is more involved than going to a local arena. Hats off to Jericho for attempting this.
Q: Has Shane had good food on the cruise?
A: The food has been great and Shane has nothing to complain about. The pigs in a blanket got over with Shane and J.R.
Pat Patterson’s karaoke didn’t go well due to some technical issues. Shane wanted to go but the talent party started. Shane has heard Pat do karaoke before and he was really good. J.R. and Shane talk about Louis Armstrong and love the fact they can apply wrestling terms to anything.
Q: Will Shane be wrestling?
A: Shane has his gear and may be involved in something.
They discuss Disco Inferno who was one of the first people booked on the cruise. In the last few weeks however, Disco was having issues getting a passport and even didn’t have a birth certificate. There was also a rumor that Paul Lazenby from ‘Killing The Town’ was going to beat Disco up which may have also kept him going on the cruise.
Shane did the ‘Killing The Town’ meet and greet however Konan didn’t show up and Disco isn’t on the cruise so Shane had to represent by himself. He was there for two hours then came right up to do J.R.’s podcast.
Q: Is Shane still affiliated with ROH?
A: Shane is still with them but they haven’t agreed on more dates. That said, they are happy with him and are happy with the work he did with Marty Scurll. He says Cody and the Bucks are always busy with projects all the time. Also Being the Elite has helped guys like Adam Page and Marty Scurll. Shane recently did the Gregory Helms thing on BTE and for a brief time, Greg Helms was more popular then Hurricane Helms. J.R. says they have been able to identify and reach their market.
Q: What is Shane’s agenda for the cruise?
A: They still have a live ‘Keeping It 100’ show although Shane hopes Konnan shows up.
J.R. and Shane talk about Disco and the fact he was a good carpenter. He could take a great butt whipping. Shane says he played that role and never had a problem with that. He knew he could bump better than most of his opponents and knew that would make them look good which he took pride in. There was a time when Hurricane was on everyone’s highlight reel taking finish after finish. Hurricane never got the stinkface but J.R. did once.
They talk about Mae Young giving Eric Bischoff the bronco buster but she may have put sardines in her underwear to make it worse. Mae was a ribber so it sounds plausible.
Q: What is Shane doing today?
A: The Killing The Town meet and greet, Pat Patterson’s Karaoke if it happens and visiting some of the Impact guys he hasn’t seen in awhile.
Shane says it’s interesting that a lot of the biggest stars have the best personalities. Where you get attitude is from someone that’s stuck in the mid-card (not just wrestlers). J.R. says guys that have attitude issues are guys that got a taste of the main event but have mid-card income and feel helpless. A lot of them are doing the same thing for years and are unwilling to change.
Shane briefly dropped the Hurricane character to do the heel Gregory Helms thing because he was getting stale. Shane adds that he was able to get over during the hardest period in wrestling. Back then there was no ECW or WCW and no WWE network. There was a limited number of TV time and everyone was competing for it. Helms was an ex-WCW guy and there was there was legit animosity too. Plus, it was a stacked roster with Rock, Austin, Triple H, Taker, Angle and here’s Shane getting the Hurricane angle over. J.R. says Shane had good comedic relief and was a break from the intensity of an Austin type character. Shane got over in the back and got over with his promos. But he knew the character had a ceiling and it was his idea to drop it for a time.
J.R. says he has no problem with a predictable outcome if someone’s finish is over. You should use your finish. There should be a competitive enough way that a wrestler hits his finish and we all know that’s it for the match. People may say that’s too predictable. Shane says the Mike Tyson left hook was predictable but he got over from it. Sometimes, people including J.R. overthink stuff.
J.R. says there’s too much money in wrestling for there not to be growth. Shane says with the growth of the sport in the last two years, if you can’t get work in 2018, that’s on you. Guys like the Boogeyman and Billy Gunn are staying busy but sometimes Helms will see guys who aren’t busy and can’t understand why.
J.R. thanks Helms for being on the podcast and they sign off.
1:45:27 – Show Wrap
JR goes through some 5 star ratings, plugs the Westwood One wrestling podcasts. Send questions and comments to @thejimrossreport@gmail.com. Next week he plans to have Busted Open’s Dave Lagreca and Marty Scurll. And that’s a wrap
Rating – 8/10
This was a fun show, especially the Shane Helms interview who I’m a fan of. That guy is funny and entertaining. That said, Steamboat and DDP were great too and I especially dug the story about Steamboat wrestling Harley Race and his views on the differences between the business when he was starting out compared to 2018. A running theme throughout J.R.’s podcasts over the last few weeks is how Cody and The Bucks have an entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t disagree and respect the hell out of what those three have done but it is getting a little tired to hear week after week. Also, other than the What’s On J.R’s mind segment, it was nice to have a break from the normal segments such as Slobberknocker of the Week or Pet Coon Goofy. Lastly, this was a cool podcast for getting a taste of what was happening on the Jericho Cruise but if you want to hear more wrestling talk, concentrate on the Steamboat and Helm’s interviews.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
3:12 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
16:19 – Ricky Steamboat
43:00 – DDP
1:17:28 – Hurricane Shane Helms
1:45:27 – Show Wrap
About Joe:
Joe is a long time wrestling fan from Toronto. He is a co-host on the Pull Apart Podcast with Jeff Rush and Caitlin Lavelle as well as a contributor to www.pwpodcasts.com. One of his life goals is to be a guest host on one of Wade Keller’s post show podcasts. He doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert, he just likes wrestling. Check him out on twitter and instagram @ja113.
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