The Jim Ross Report
Release Date: August 15th, 2018
Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
0:00 – Intro
Welcome back to another week of Slobberknocker audio with J.R. Coming up on the podcast is arguably the greatest pro wrestler of all time, The ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair to talk about a number of topics including Ric’s s health SummerSlam.
2:23 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
J.R. starts off talking about Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart. J.R. had great memories of Neidhart even before Neidhart had joined the Hart Foundation. Bill Watts and Stu Hart would trade talent and Neidhart got booked in Mid-South. Jim was a world renown shot putter and Bill’s son was also a great shot putter. Neidhart was in a heel tag team with Butch Reed but also helped Bill’s son with shot putting. Neidhart did a great job, worked hard and was reliable. Even though he was mainly in tag teams, don’t discount that he was a great athlete.
J.R. sends his condolences to Jim’s family and his best to Nattie. He hopes everyone can get through this as best they can. Speaking from experience, J.R. says there’s no manual on how to grieve, you just have to deal with it. He also says to gravitate to your family and real friends.
J.R. is getting some unique feedback about the Mae Young Classic which has been taped and is in the can. He congratulates the broadcast team of Michael Cole and Beth Phoenix. J.R. also congratulates Renee Young’s first time announcing on RAW and hope she gets more opportunities to do more announcing.
Dean Ambrose returned to RAW this Monday. J.R. thought he looked great and liked the new haircut. J.R. feels that despite the welcome back pop, Ambrose carried himself as a villain and J.R. sees him as a big time player more as a heel as opposed to a fan favorite.
It’s sad to see C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana having issues over unpaid legal fees stemming from the legal suit with the WWE doctor. It’s not good when friends start a pissing contest over a tab and J.R. hopes they can resolve these issues.
There’s a lot of concern in the Impact Wrestling World. Their TV ratings have bottomed out which is perplexing since their product is better than it has been in recent memory. The issue is most likely due to their TV deal. Barely anyone watches Pop TV and Impact needs to get on a better vehicle. Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory PPV will be in Queens on October 14th. Tickets go on sale on August 25th. Go to www.ImpactWrestling.com for more details.
In a couple of weeks, PWI releases the PWI 500 which is the best selling magazine of the year. In two weeks, J.R. will have PWI on the podcast to talk about the issue.
WWE Network will broadcast a big show October 6th in Melbourne, Australia. Cena vs Owens and Triple H vs Undertaker are two of the matches.
Thoughts On RAW:
- Heyman, Lesnar and Reigns were major stars and MVPs of the show. J.R. enjoyed the rhetoric between Heyman and Reigns. Heyman speaking Samoan made that segment feel authentic and real.
- J.R. loved the interaction and build of the Rousey/Bliss scenario
- Overall it was a solid show
Thoughts On Smackdown:
- For the second night in a row, the women kicked off the show.
- How you start the show (and finish the show) is extremely important. The confidence the WWE has in the women’s division is amazing.
J.R. is curious of the order of the matches for Summerslam and will be asking Ric his thoughts later on the podcast.
J.R. compliments the ‘kids’ for promoting All-In. The Young Bucks will be on the podcast next week. J.R. loves this team and has a lot of respect for them. J.R. also puts over Conrad Thompson for his contributions to that event.
29:37 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
Candidates include:
- Jim Neidhart who has to be considered in the conversation
- NFL QBs such as Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield
- The Boston Red Sox who are playing .700 baseball
- Dean Ambrose who J.R. thinks will be better as a villain
- Tiger Woods who makes golf exciting to watch
This week’s winner is the combined forces of ROH and NJPW for selling out their April 6th MSG event on Wrestlemania weekend. For all the good things about that event, there are some concerns. Some of the talents expected to be on that card, may not be under contract by the time of the event. That said, he congratulates ROH and NJPW and they’re this week’s Slobberknocker of the Week.
33:35 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
This week’s candidates include:
- Wake Forest basketball assistant coach Jamill Jones who accidentally killed someone with a punch after a confrontation where the person thought Jones was an Uber driver. It’s a sad situation that changes a lot of lives
- University of Maryland’s Football program. The head coach and some of his staff members have been suspended and in some cases let go. J.R. expects the head coach D.J. Durkin to get fired.
- The pilot who hijacked a plane for no apparent reason and got tailed by fighter jets. He ended up crashing and killing himself.
- The Oklahoma’s teacher Union who dropped the ball on Oklahoma’s educators. They were supposed to get a raise, they did not get the raise and now teachers are leaving in droves.
This week’s winner are Omarosa and Donald Trump. Omarosa recently got fired and is now trying to sell a tell-all book. Trump is no better for calling Omarosa a dog. Trump needs to realize there is a price for insulting a woman and a minority and why hasn’t he learned that by now?
39:49 – This Week In Wrestling – The SummerSlam edition
22 years ago – August 18th, 1996 – Mankind defeated the Undertaker in the first Boiler Room Brawl
17 years ago – August 19th, 2001 – The Rock defeated Booker T to become the WCW Heavyweight champion. On the same show, the Brothers Of Destruction captured the WWE tag team titles from DDP and Chris Kanyon
13 years ago – August 21st, 2005 – Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match for the rights to Rey’s son Dominick. Two things came from that feud. The first being the ‘I’m your papi’ line and the second was the introduction of Vickie Guerrero to WWE TV.
12 years ago – August 20th, 2006 – Shawn Michaels and Triple H defeated Vince and Shane McMahon. It was a fun match to call with a lot of personal feelings.
10 years ago – August 17th, 2008 – Undertaker defeated Edge in a Hell In A Cell match.
4 years ago – Summerslam – Paige defeats A.J. Lee for the Women’s title. Brock Lesnar defeats John Cena for the WWE Title.
2 years ago – August 21st, 2016 – Finn Balor becomes the first WWE Universal title but has to relinquish the title the next night due to a shoulder injury
Birthdays this week:
Cedric Alexander (29), the late Buddy Landell would have been 57, the late Dick Murdoch would have been 72, the late Fritz Von Erich would have been 89, Paige (26), Dick Togo (49), Tom Prichard (59), Tony Garea (72), Velveteen Dream (23), Percy Watson (37), Lilian Garcia (51), Bill Clinton (72), Neville (32) and Eve Torres (34).
57:30 – Mailbag
Send questions and comments to TheJimRossReport@gmail.com.
Q: Will the Bullet Club ever work in the WWE or are they too much of a niche product of the indies?
A: First off, the Bullet Club is not a niche product. J.R, can’t say they will work in the WWE but believes that for those who haven’t worked at the WWE, somewhere along the journey they will be there. J.R. feels they deserve a run in the WWE especially if you’ve dedicated your life to the business.
Q: Do the ‘Blood Red Turns Dollar Green’ books has legs to turn into a TV series?
A: These books do have legs and J.R.’s writing partner Paul O’Brien did have a deal with the Rock but the option expired. J.R. thinks there’ll be more interest.
Q: Would a WWE brand of senior wrestlers would work as a touring act and possible network show with old style WWE logo and colors etc.
A: J.R. says it would be interesting see who would fit in that seniors class. J.R, doesn’t think it’s a bad idea but doesn’t see it happening.
Q: In light of the Women’s Revolution, is the WWE remiss in having permanent female representation on commentary?
A: On the heels of Renee Young’s debut on RAW, J.R. can see this happening but you have to remember that Renee is a special talent. You can’t just take anyone and put them on commentary. That said, J.R. likes the idea and thinks it should come.
Q: Does J.R. know why Vince has taken away the Titantron?
A: J.R. thinks it’s because the crowd watches the Titantron rather than the match in the ring then go into business for themselves which can take away from the aura and presentation of the match.
Q: Are there any broadcast that J.R. enjoys listening to (Michael Cole and Mauro Ranallo excluded).
A: Kevin Kelly of NJPW, Ian Riccaboni of ROH and the team of Matt Striker and Vampiro of Lucha Underground. Part of what makes great announcing is the level of talent in the ring.
1:06:17 – Ric Flair
J.R. welcomes Ric to the podcast and congratulates him on his current health. Ric gives a lot of credit to his fiance Wendy for taking care of Ric during some of the health issues he had during the previous year. She never let Ric get down on himself even when he felt like giving up.
Q: What is Ric able to do these days?
A: Ric is feeling great and has been cleared to start working out. He plans on going to Summerslam to watch the card then will down to Rosemary beach to see Wendy’s new condo then go back to work full time the week after. Ric also has a new shop website (www.ricflairshop.com).
They talk a little about College Football, specifically about the Georgia Bulldogs, Ric Flair being a Harbaugh guy, the 2018 Rose Bowl and the College Football 2018 championship game between Georgia and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Q: J.R. changes the subject and asks how well Ric knew Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart
A: Ric knew Jim really well. He wasn’t with Jim a lot in the WWE but Jim was in the Florida territory when Ric was NWA champion. Ric hopes people understand how good an athlete Jim was. He was a world class shot putter and almost made the NFL as a D-Lineman.
Ric mentions he was the only NWA champion Bill Watts used and he got to hang around with J.R., Jim Duggan, Steve Williams, The Freebirds and the Rock and Rolls. The territory was sold out every night. J.R. says the Rock and Rolls and the Midnight Express were two of the best teams ever.
Ric talks about the Midnights and how Dennis Condrey suddenly walked away from the team. Stan Lane did a great job stepping in and filling the role. Also, little known fact, Ric started Stan Lane in the business. Stan was working room service at the Hilton Hotel in Myrtle Beach before getting into wrestling. This brings up the name Steve Muslin who was an early partner of Stan and who recently passed away. Ric also got Steve into the business.
They bring up some of the recent passings from the last few weeks such as Nikolai Volkoff and Brickhouse Brown, many of whom Ric knew. This brings up a discussion about Butch Reed who Ric said was a good worker. Ric also brings up Leon (Vader) White. J.R. says he’s never seen a more athletic big man than White (with due respect to Bam Bam Bigelow). Ric says Leon was fantastic and they wrestled a lot while they were in WCW. Ric says Leon was always safe even though it looked like he was getting killed during their matches. They discuss Ric’s retirement match with Vader and how that came about.
J.R. and Ric tell some stories about Harley Race and how tough he was. If they went out and there was a pool table, Harley would knock whoever’s quarters were on the table and would say he was playing next next.
J.R. says people want wrestling like it used to be. To J.R., it’s all about individuals and compares it to the NFL and why the NFL is getting boring. It’s because they don’t have any bigger than life personalities in real life. In the past, athletes didn’t play the role of a bad-a**, they were bad-a**. What J.R. is seeing today are people playing the role of a pro wrestler which Ric agrees with.
Ric bring up Roman vs Brock at Summerslam and says they’ve done a great job of setting this up. One of the cool things about Roman unlike a lot of the other guys is that he’s not afraid of Brock. Ric jokes that given Roman’s lineage and who is father is, Roman would not be allowed back in his house if he was afraid of Brock. When Ric had to wrestle Brock, he wanted to kill J.R. for booking the match.
Ric also brings up the final Nitro and how J.R. called him the next day to ask if was ready to come into the WWE. J.R. ended up not calling Ric back for a year which is something they’ve laughed about over the years.
J.R. tells Ric he is proud of his daughter (Charlotte) and calls her the Hulk Hogan of the women’s division. She is big, blonde, athletic and there’s nothing she can’t do. The WWE opened both shows this week with the women’s division and Charlotte is in a perfect place at the perfect time to do some serious business.
J.R. was enjoying the booking with Becky Lynch and Carmella but then they made the match a triple threat. Ric says Becky and Carmella alone would not have enough steam to be in the same light as the Ronda vs Alexa match at Summerslam, especially given the way they have built Ronda. Adding Charlotte to the mix brings puts both matches on the same level. Ric is proud of Charlotte and tips his hat to all the women. He calls Sasha (Banks) Steamboat because Charlotte and Sasha have as good a chemistry as Flair and Steamboat did.
J.R. says the women are adding and trying new things. They are getting out of their comfort zones unlike many of the guys who are trying to protect their spots and are not trying new things. He thinks the women have been waiting forever for the opportunity to be recognized as great athletes and contributors and will not be denied. Ric adds the women are not ducking clothelines which is something the guys do that has been bothering him for the last little while. Could you imagine someone ducking Stan Hansen’s clothelines?
The match J.R. wants to see at Wrestlemania next year is Charlotte vs Rousey which could potentially headline Wrestlemania.
Q: Should they close Summerslam with Reigns vs Lesnar or go with something else?
A: Ric thinks they’ve built the Reigns/Lesnar match so well that it should go last. This is not a knock on AJ/Joe it’s just the steam and setup on the Reigns/Lesnar build has been much better. Ric is looking forward to watching the show and since he doesn’t go to the bar anymore, he’ll most likely stay and watch the whole thing.
J.R. tells Ric he’s glad he’s doing better and hopes they can do this again. They talk about potentially doing a show together some time in the future. J.R. thanks Ric for being on the podcast and they sign off.
1:55:30 – Show Wrap
J.R. goes over some of his five star reviews, pushes the Chris Jericho cruise which has less than 100 cabins remaining (which is amazing), pushes some of the Westwood One podcasts and that’s a wrap.
Rating – 8.5/10
This was a fun podcast to listen to. The conversation with Ric Flair was exactly that…a conversation between two friends. J.R. even said in his opener that it was like a typical car ride he and Ric would have talking about football and wrestling. As an older fan, it was cool to hear stories about Harley Race and the Mid South Territory. They talked a lot about the WWE Women’s division which makes sense since Ric’s daughter is knee deep in the storylines. Also, some of the Pet Coon Goofy Award candidates were definitely good candidates. As good as the conversation was, I’ll admit it was really hard to recap as they did jump from topic to topic but I do recommend listening this podcast. There’s a lot of knowledge and respect when Jim and Ric are talking.
0:00 – Intro
2:23 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
29:37 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
33:35 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
57:30 – Mailbag
1:06:17 – Ric Flair
1:55:30 – Show Wrap
Joe is a long time wrestling fan from Toronto. One of his life goals is to be a guest host on one of Wade Keller’s post show podcasts but until that happens, he’ll keep writing for PW Podcasts. He doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert, mark, smark or IWC type. He just likes wrestling. Check him out on twitter and instagram @ja113.
Be the first to comment