Jim Ross has posted his latest blog entry on his official website. Below are the highlights:
– I would be willing to wager that the mere mention of John Cena, who, as best I know, will only be on the Monday Night Raw show in London in between filming a movie in New Orleans for the WWE, will flood arenas with boos, but at the end of the day Cena will still sell more merchandise than any other WWE Superstar who is on the tour in its entirety.
– Yours truly exchanged emails this week with Larry Hamel, a big time sports writer for the powerful Chicago Sun Times about Ric Flair. Larry wrote a nice blurb in the Sunday Sun Times that I picked up while passing thru Chicagoâs OâHare Airport Sunday on my way to Albany, N.Y. Larry grew up listening to Gordon Solie while he lived in Florida as a young man and thinks Flairâs most lasting legacy might prove to be that Ric was able to transition so successfully when actual wrestling turned to mostly punching and kicking and at the same time became so much more physical.
– A personal issue is what is evolving between Shawn Michaels and Batista and neither have to change their present personaâs to make it work. I keep reading where one or the other and mostly Batista is going to “turn on HBK” but I donât see that happening. I love surprises as most wrestling fans do, but I think these two men can have their match or matches and HBK will have his fans, as will Batista, but I do expect The Animal to hear more boos than will Shawn. Iâm personally invested and interested in this issue.
– Reid Flair is going to have to work long and hard and demonstrate great patience and professionalism, while in the WWE Developmental Camp in Tampa, to ever have a chance of casting his own shadow and stepping out from his Dadâs. Sons of wrestling Superstars have tall trees to climbâ¦just ask the Gagneâs, the Wattsâ, the Grahamâs, and the Von Erichâs to name a few. Patience and self discipline need to be instilled in this young man from the very first day he steps into the environment. I am genuinely anxious to see Reid Flairâs progress over the next year or so. Much will be expected of Reid, but he canât forget to have fun learning the family business and that would be the kind of fun a young athlete has inside the facility wrestling and learning new things every day. Not the kind of fun like Reidâs Dad, often time accompanied by J.R., used to have when we had no issues ordering 100 cocktails at a time in a bar. I am pulling big time for Reid Flair to simply be “his own man” because there will never be another “the man”. Reid was an outstanding amateur wrestler, which will bode well for him while he is learning the ropes.
– When I asked Floyd Mayweather for his thoughts on his September fight against Oscar De La Hoya, “Money” simply said to my face, “Iâm gonna knock his ass out. End of story.” After watching Floyd perform at WM24, it is easy to see up close and personal that Mayweather is an athletic freak with the marketing awareness of Muhammad Ali in the Champâs best, stirring the do-do days. I have said it for years, great bad guys are the oneâs that make people leave their homes and pay good money to come see them get their asses handed to them and to be humbled.
– BTW Which one is Hawkings and which one is Ryder? You know â~em, those two, talented young guys who need some individual identity. I enjoy their work but half the time I donât know what one is which.
Click here to read JR’s latest in its entirety.
Jim Ross has also posted a new batch of “Q&A” answers on his website. You can read the entire feature here. Some highlights:
On who JR sees “leading the charge” for WWE in the next five years: Orton, Edge, Burke, MVP, Kennedy, Hardyâs, Punk, to name a few guys I think are good now and should be really good in “5 years”. The developmental area has some studs and they will be stars if they arenât “picked too green”.
The idea of WWE having a drug counselor on the road: The company offers all sorts of counseling opportunities but it takes two to tango more often than not. Education in the developmental area is a key to reducing issues when talents get called up.
Squash matches on television: I think that the occasional squash match is fine. I also think that there should be longer matches on TV so better stories could be told.
Mickie James being pushed less due to the focus on Maria: Mickie is still getting plenty of work and seems to be happy. Mickie has already lasted longer than some predicted because her “look” is not that of a stereotypical WWE Diva. I think Mickie is very attractive/sexy and she damn sure can wrestle.
The possibility of Chris Jericho getting a major title run: Yes, I think Jericho has the ability to be WWE or Worldâs Champion and will likely get there if he stays long enough in the WWE.
Signing autographs: I have no problem signing autographs except when I am in the middle of a meal or in the menâs room. I donât like signing the same item several times like the same 8X10âs several times.
