Tag: Jim Ross

Jim Ross Reacts To Strong Style Evolved Commentary Criticism (AUDIO)

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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross received some harsh criticism towards his commentary following Strong Style Evolved … but he believes it’s because die-hard fans want Don Callis and Kevin Kelly.

Ross was interviewed by WrestleZone Radio and said:

I read some of the criticisms about my work and the broadcast in general but essentially people want, the die-hards who follow New Japan World, they want their team. They want Kevin Kelly and Don Callis to do the show. I don’t blame them. I don’t even get mad about it. The only thing that gets frustrating is when you’ve got wrestling fans who’ve got like 40 followers on Twitter that tell you, “your career sucks,” and that you should be dead or not allowed to be on television. That’s kind of crude, I think. Does that really feel necessary for not knowing the certain name of a certain hold?

I have a pet peeve about that deal, to be honest with you. A bodyslam is a God damned bodyslam. You can give it 18 different names to sell t-shirts, that’s fine and I don’t care but to me it’s a bodyslam. We find ourselves talking about this variant or that variant and worry about not pissing off the talent because we didn’t give their hold a name or use the name they use in their niche marketing. I find it almost embarrassing to be quite frank about it.

(NJPW talk starts around the 13-minute mark)

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Jim Ross Says Charges Dropped Against Driver Responsible For Wife’s Death

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Jim Ross says a vehicular homicide charge against the 17-year-old driver responsible for his wife’s death has been dropped, despite an objection from the state.

Ross tweeted, “This morning norman judge Steven Stice felt compelled to dismiss vehicular homicide charge against the 17 year old in my wife Jan’s death. The state objected to no avail.”

“The driver never even lost his drivers license,” he added. “Sad world in which we live, folks.”

Case details seem to be unavailable due to a minor being involved, but we’re told the charges were dropped because the judge believed the driver had fulfilled his sentence — which was apparently counseling and undisclosed community service.

As we previously reported, Jan was driving to the gym without a helmet last year when her Vespa was struck from behind. She was thrown from the vehicle as it caught fire and sadly passed away days later. Jan Ross was 55-years-old.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Jerry “The King” Lawler & Jim Ross Announced For RAW 25th Anniversary Pre-show

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WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler have been announced for a special one-hour RAW 25th Anniversary pre-show this coming Monday night. They will join Renee Young, Sam Roberts, Peter Rosenberg and David Otunga on the panel. Later Lawler & JR will call matches on the RAW 25th Anniversary broadcast from the Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom.

The RAW 25th Anniversary pre-show will air at 7pm EST on the WWE Network, the WWE website, the WWE App and WWE’s social media platforms.

Below is the full announcement on the pre-show:

Raw Pre-Show to kick off monumental 25th anniversary specialGet ready for the biggest Raw in history with a live Pre-Show starting at 7 p.m. ET this Monday, Jan. 22, on WWE Network, WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Join hosts Renee Young, Peter Rosenberg, David Otunga and Sam Roberts as they bring you everything you need to know to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the longest-running weekly episodic show in television history. Plus, WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler join the celebration from the original home of Monday Night Raw, The Manhattan Center.

Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler Confirmed To Be At WWE RAW 25th Anniversary

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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross confirmed on Twitter yesterday that he and fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler are booked to be at the RAW 25th Anniversary episode on January 22nd in New York City.

 JR did not confirm that he and Lawler will be reuniting for TV but that has been the speculation. Lawler just noted on Twitter this week that he was still hoping to reunite with JR at the special event.

The RAW 25th Anniversary will air live from New York City at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom, the original home of RAW. Superstars confirmed as of this writing include The Undertaker, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, John Cena, WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Asuka, Braun Strowman, RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Samoa Joe, Sheamus, Cesaro, Kane and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. SmackDown Superstars are also advertised – WWE Champion AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal.

Source: WrestlingINC

Jim Ross Returning To AXS TV In 2018 For NJPW

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AXS TV announced that Jim Ross will continue calling the action for NJPW programming in 2018, despite also being under contract with WWE.

The announcement was made via press release and it notes that he and Josh Barnett will kick off the new year doing commentary for the Wrestle Kingdom 12 special on January 6.

Good Ole JR was quoted saying, “I’m excited to be returning to AXS TV and with my partner Josh Barnett we look forward to another exciting year with AXS TV and their NJPW programming. NJPW has some of the finest athletes in the world performing for them and it’s an honor to be able to add a narrative to their bouts.”

JR reportedly signed a two-year deal with WWE for a “specific number of dates” when he returned for WrestleMania this year. He also did commentary for the Mae Young Classic.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

We previously reported two weeks ago that JR verbally agreed to a contract extension with AXS TV.

Jim Ross Verbally Agrees to Contract Extension With AXS TV

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jim Ross and AXS TV have verbally agreed to a contract extension, and the new contract is being finalized. Since Ross isn’t appearing on WWE TV (he was signed for the UK project, which hasn’t launched), WWE didn’t stand in the way of the deal. Aldo, his WWE deal allowed him to continue doing existing work.

Source: 411Mania

Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler Planning ‘Ringside’ Events

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WWE Hall of Famers Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross will be reuniting in 2017 for several “Ringside” two-man stage shows. JR tweeted the following on their first “production meeting” this weekend:

Source: WrestlingINC

Buff Bagwell Claims Jim Ross Ruined His Career

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Buff Bagwell has long-maintained that Jim Ross had something to do with him being fired from the WWE. In a recent interview with Title Match Wrestling, Bagwell stuck to his claims and went on a long-winded rant about JR.

Bagwell asserts that Ross spread rumors about Bagwell’s mother, Judy, calling him to ask if her son could have the weekend off. He said this, coupled with a lackluster match against Booker T on RAW that same week, led to him being released from the company.

“Do you really believe that you’re gonna fire Buff Bagwell over one bad match? Come on, man,” Bagwell said. “Do you really believe, out there in video world, that Buff Bagwell got fired because of his mother? Do people really believe that I had my mother call the WWF and say let him off Augusta in Birmingham? Well f**k no that’s not true! Why would I do that? But people believed it. And one person was responsible: Jim Ross. And only God, Jim Ross and me know the truth, and who’s gonna believe me. Nobody… The true, true story is Jim Ross created that monster, and people believed it.”

As the head of talent relations at the time, it was Ross’ job to inform superstars when their contracts have been terminated. Bagwell understands it wasn’t actually Ross’ decision to let him go.

“It may not have been Jim. Jim made the call, and that’s the route he took,” Bagwell said. “He said, ‘Hey, it’s a s****y job what I got here. It’s a job I gotta do, I gotta call people. It’s a bad job.'”

Ross had responded to Bagwell’s claims on his podcast in 2015, saying he was just doing his job by delivering the news of his firing and he never did anything to ruin his reputation. But Bagwell stands by his beliefs.

“To be honest with you, that could be true,” he said. “But somebody, and I was told it was Jim, somebody started the ‘mother called in’ [rumor]. And what Jim’s leaving out right there, is on video they have a roundtable meeting, and Jim Ross rips my f***ing ass out.”

Bagwell says that he never saw the tape himself because his father told him not to watch it. He then goes into a profanity-laced tirade against Ross, calling him a liar and saying he ruined his career. Bagwell said it would be impossible for him to ever forgive Ross.

“Absolutely not, there’s no way… There’s no way to mend a fence, brother, of costing me my life,” he said. “Jim Ross, I feel and I just proved on tape, Jim Ross ruined my career. He started this f***ing rumor about my mother and ruined my career. How do you mend that fence? How do you do that? Now, do I think he was the mastermind behind it all? Absolutely not… But I think Jim has all to do with what I’m talking about with my mother calling the office, and starting that rumor and everybody believed it. I think Jim was 1,000 percent behind that.”

Source: WrestlingINC

Jim Ross Likely Re-Signing With AXS TV

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it appears that Jim Ross will be renewing his AXS TV deal for another year to do commentary on NJPW shows. AXS wants to keep him and he wants to keep doing it, so as long as WWE doesn’t block the deal, which they haven’t had an issue with so far, he will be staying. Ross is not working any television for WWE right now, and is on a limited date deal, and due to the U.K. show not happening, which is what he was brought in for, he hasn’t worked for WWE since the Mae Young Classic.

Source: 411Mania

Steve Austin Frustrated With How WWE Is Booking Shinsuke Nakamura, Has Advice For Braun Strowman

Recently on The Steve Austin Show, pro wrestling great Steve Austin chatted with his long time friend and colleague, Jim Ross. Among other things, the pair discussed potential WrestleMania matches and SmackDown Live’s Shinsuke Nakamura’s ongoing slump.

During the podcast, Austin and Ross shared their thoughts on RAW’s Samoa Joe. Austin called Joe “one of the best workers in the world” and Ross suggested that he would have saved a match between current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe for WrestleMania.

“If I was booking WWE or if I had influence on the booking of WWE, or whatever, my WrestleMania main event would be Joe and Brock and I would build it and by the time we got there, people would be going crazy to see it.”

Ross continued, “for a guy like me at my stage of life, that’s the fountain of youth because that’s back to old school, two tough, legit tough son-of-a-b—–s that aren’t out there playing a role of a pro wrestler, locking up like two invalids. Locking up like two men, like two athletes of any gender.”

Additionally, Ross claimed he most interested in seeing RAW’s Braun Strowman face off against Lesnar.

“I know that somewhere down the road it’s Strowman and Lesnar. That’s foolproof, right? And I’d probably save that till WrestleMania. I know at one point, they talked about doing it at SummerSlam.” Ross reflected, “I’m curious as tow what they would get out of that match, and how athletic the big boy would be, and how Brock would be. There’s a two-way street here.”

While Austin also spoke favorably of Strowman, saying ‘The Monster Among Men’ has a lot of potential, but cautioned him not to be too athletic in the ring.

“I don’t want Braun to be too athletic and start doing stuff that is out of his wheelhouse. No, no, no, I mean stick with the ground game! Don’t need to jump off s–t!”

Aside from fantasy booking Joe versus Lesnar for WrestleMania, Ross indicated that he would like to see a blue brand battle between Nakamura and AJ Styles at WrestleMania.

“I think Shinsuke Nakamura, we haven’t seen his best yet and I think AJ Styles may be as good of a worker as I’ve seen in years. He may be the best worker in the world right now.” Ross recalled, “you felt something in the crowd at [WWE Money In The Bank] with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ. The fans that’ve followed their career know they’ve got a great history. And they’ve, I’ve seen it, had one of the best matches I’ve ever seen with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ. We haven’t seen that yet in Shinsuke, but that WrestleMania match would be a great wrestling match.”

Austin agreed, stating that Styles may be the best worker in the world and could bring out the best of Nakamura.

“I know that Styles is going to bring the best out of Shinsuke because I don’t think, from what I’ve seen, we’ve seen Shinsuke’s best in [WWE].” Austin added, “I’m sure he will get the best of of that guy. I’m sure they’re great friends from way back or whatever the deal is. But from what I know of AJ, if Shinsuke’s going to really work his ass off, it’s going to be with Styles.”

Austin expressed his disappointment about WWE not getting the most out of Nakamura, saying Nakamura’s work in Japan is better than his WWE work. Austin went on to say that WWE is booking Nakamura like “another Joe Blow”.

“You bring him over and he’s going 30-minute broadways with half the damn roster. Debuted down there in WrestleMania 32, NXT, with Sami Zayn, hell of a match. Hell of a match! A lot of credit to Sami Zayn and Shinsuke, but here’s ‘The King Of Strong Style’ and all-of-a-sudden, he comes in and he’s working Dolph [Ziggler] and it took him a long time to finish off Dolph for ‘The King Of Strong Style’. Do you understand where I’m going with this gimmick? That’s booking though. What is the plan? You’ve got this guy who’s one of those talents that just don’t come around every single day. He’s special. He comes in and you treat him like he’s another Joe Blow.”

Ross reminded Austin that ‘The Ringmaster’ became ‘Stone Cold’, but conceded that Nakamura, the natural heel, is in “a little bit more than “‘Ringmaster mode’, but not quite there yet” as a finished product and more aggression is needed from the former NXT Champion.

“I’ll tell [Austin] this: there was a guy called ‘The Ringmaster’ who came in that nobody thought was going to be special. Even though [Austin] had [Ted] DiBiase and all that stuff, Teddy was uncomfortable in that role and it wasn’t a natural fit, and he’ll tell you, and [Austin] sure as hell wasn’t a ringmaster, but the thing about it was [Austin] broke loose and created a different image and ‘The Ringmaster’ went away.” Ross added, “and it seems like [Nakamura]’s just a smidge under, for me, the desired aggression than I’ve seen him execute before.”

Ross purported that behind-the-scenes factors could be making Nakamura’s transition to WWE difficult. ‘Good Ol’ J.R.’ also floated the idea that ‘The Rockstar’ might be holding back in the WWE ring.

“Getting acclimated. There [are] a lot of issues there that we take for granted, that we don’t even want to take into consideration. Moving, living in Orlando [Florida] as opposed to living in for his entire life in Japan, his promotion – he was a fixture. He’d be like [Austin] leaving WWE and going to work for them, New Japan back when you were hot.” Ross said, “I wonder if he doesn’t think that him kicking as aggressively in WWE would be tolerated based on how hard he kicked in, I saw him kick in New Japan. Different feel, different style, different expectation, I don’t know. I’m not saying the talents are tougher, nothing [like that], but maybe there [are] different expectation level, but there’s something missing, something a little bit missing, in what he does, but I am encouraged to know there is greatness there. The right person, the right situation, the right angle.”

Click here to check out the show.

Source: The Steve Austin Show via WrestlingINC