Steve Carrier on June 21, 2018
Ross opens today’s show by speaking about the death of Leon ‘Vader’ White.
Ross says that Vader was arguably the most athletic super-heavyweight of all time. He notes that there have been very few 400-pound performers in the history of the business who could execute dropkicks and moonsaults. He recalls seeing White as a young performer when he was just starting his career, and Ross knew at that time that if White could get a grasp on the business’ psychology he’d be a great talent for a long time.
Years later Ross recalls seeing Vader wrestle a match with Stan Hansen in Japan. During that bout Vader’s eye actually popped out of its socket, and Ross was mesmerized by that. He thought it made for great television and since he was a member of the booking committee in WCW at that time, he decided to try to bring Vader in.
Ross thought Vader had a lot of great matches throughout his career, and thought his feud with Shawn Michaels in WWE was very good. He recalls Vader getting lost backstage during RAW one night, ultimately finding himself under the stage with all the pyrotechnics. When all the pyro went off for the next match Leon stumbled out from under the stage grasping his chest saying the pyro was so loud that it stopped his heart and he had to pound his chest to make it start beating again. Ross notes that Vader was always an entertainer.
Ross says he really enjoyed the NXT Takeover show last Saturday. He thinks that the success of this show had a lot to do with the shorter run-time and the fact that there was only 5 matches. He adds that this was the best wrestling program of the entire week in his opinion.
He thought the NXT Tag Team Title match that opened the show did a bit too much on the outside, but it was a great match nonetheless. He thought Ricochet and Velveteen Dream had a great match as well, noting that Dream has taken ownership over his television character. Ross has alwasy been high on Ricochet, and he thinks WWE has two phenomenal talents coming in the years to come in these two men.
Ross says he’s a big fan of Shayna Baszler and he thinks she’s going to be a big star. He enjoyed Baszler’s match with Nikki Cross, however, he says that whoever brought the beach ball and decided to kick it around during this match deserves to have their ass kicked.
Ross says that Lars Sullivan is very green in the ring, and has a face only a mother can love. He thinks Sullivan is a year away from getting to the next level and that’s not an insult. Sullivan simply needs more ring time with talents who are better than him on live television.
He thought the main event featuring Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa was really amazing, and he was very proud of all the talents and the staff involved in this entire show. He thought everyone really embraced the art of selling during this show and that was nice to see.
Moving onto Money in the Bank, Ross thought the commentary team made the broadcast seem a little busy. Luckily, Michael Cole was there to keep everything under control and he thought Cole did a good job. He thought the Women’s Money in the Bank match was great, possibly better than the men’s match.
He was proud of Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey for putting on a great match at Money in the Bank. Considering the limited experience of both performers he thought they delivered an entertaining match. He also thought it was “booking genius” for Alexa Bliss to cash in her contract at the finale of this match, just a couple of hours after winning the contract.
Ross enjoyed the WWE Title match between Nakamura and A.J. Styles, noting that this match had more physicality than their previous bouts. It appears that Nakamura is moving onto a feud with Jeff Hardy now, and Ross expects Nakamura to beat Hardy for the United States Title sooner rather than later.
Ross was happy to see that Elias fared well during his match with Seth Rollins. He notes that Elias has the gift of gab, and there’s no reason that he can’t be a big-time player in WWE if he can hang in the ring with the likes of Rollins. After watching this match, Ross has no doubts that Elias can be a big star.
Ross thought Rousey stole the show in the opening segment of Monday Night RAW this week. We all saw Rousey’s star power in this opening segment, and he points out that Rousey was certainly a big part of WWE’s new television deal with FOX. Rousey is a crossover star, and officials at FOX certainly would have known Rousey even if they weren’t wrestling fans.
Ross thought the Gauntlet Match on Smackdown Live was booked well. He’s interested in seeing a program between Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan. He adds that those two guys are legitimate professionals, and he’s a big fan of both of them.
Ross comments on Big Cass’ release from WWE. He points out that Cass has natural talents such as good looks and size. He urges Cass to continue to work because he’s still young and has a bright future ahead of him. He thinks it’s entirely possible that if Cass continues to work and get better we may see him again at some point down the line.
A listener writes into the show and asks Ross why Taz didn’t get a bigger push after debuting to a huge pop at Royal Rumble 2000. Ross recalls the incredible reaction that Taz received that night, but unfortunately injuries took a toll on Taz shortly after his debut in WWE. He says that Taz is a good dude and tough guy, and he’s still friends with him to this day.
Another listener writes into the show and asks Ross if he thinks Aleister Black will be called up to the main roster before breaking Neville’s NXT Title reign record. Ross thinks Black is ready to be called up now, and he thinks that call-up will happen by WrestleMania at the latest, possibly before.
Ross welcomes Filthy Tom Lawlor to the show.
Lawlor is currently transitioning from MMA to a career in professional wrestling. He’s doing some work for MLW now and Ross thinks it’d be in his best interest to embrace an MMA-based character. The most successful characters are always amped up versions of the performer’s true self, and since MMA is what brought Lawlor to the dance, Ross thinks that’s a natural wrestling persona for him.
Lawlor thinks the shine has worn off of the CM Punk experiment in UFC. He admits that while Punk may not have been successful in his bouts he certainly helped the PPV’s buy-rate. Ross informs that he bought the PPV solely to see Punk fight and he assumes Punk saw a $1 Million payday from this fight. Lawlor thinks that figure is about right.
Ross doubts Punk will ever return to wrestling full time. Lawler agrees, noting that the travel is much harder as a professional wrestler compared to a career in MMA.
That sums up this week’s episode of The Jim Ross Report. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
June 21, 2018 12:31 am
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