Tag: Jim Ross

Jim Ross Says Ronda Rousey Had The Most Impactful Pro Wrestling Debut Ever

Throughout his over 40 years of being in the pro wrestling business, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has seen thousands of names make an indelible mark, as well as the same amount flounder and never make a successful career out of it. Throughout the infancy of Raw, and lasting nearly 15 years, J.R. was instrumental in adding a much-needed emotional element in matches that not only assisted with the storyline and kept the fan interest, but also successfully win the Monday Night War against their WCW rival. In addition, J.R. has called numerous memorable WrestleMania matches, adding an extra level of fondness to them.

Despite all the legendary names who J.R. has seen debut, there is one on the top of that list. That person is Ronda Rousey.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Ross elaborated on his thoughts of Rousey’s pro wrestling debut at WrestleMania.

“I thought that Ronda’s debut was the most impactful pro wrestling debut that I have seen in my 40-plus year career. If you look at her skill set, experience-wise, from this genre in pro wrestling, it was almost non-existent,” said Ross. “But she had so much pressure on her. The hype was amazing. The expectations were mixed. Some die-hard wrestling fans don’t even like her being there, which is absolutely insane. They are [sic] and goofy, no doubt about that. So, I was absolutely blown away by what she did and how she executed. She looked like an athlete; we knew she is an athlete. She’s a winner.”

J.R. also had a message for those who use Rousey’s two straight UFC losses as leverage to prove a point.

“Now look, some say, well, she lost her last two fights. Kiss my a**,” said Ross. “How’s that? C’mon. She won a lot of fights, guys. You know what I mean? She’s a winner. She goes to the Olympics and medals. She’s a winner. So I knew that she was not going to drop the ball.”

Despite the circumstances and criticisms, Ross felt that Rousey was very impressive at WrestleMania 34, and handled the pressure of having over 70 thousand fans at the stadium, and millions more at home, watch her compete in a WWE ring for the very first time.

“It’s WrestleMania, guys. If you’re an MMA fan, then you say, ‘Well, what does it matter? It’s still pro wrestling.’ There was almost 80,000 people there,” Ross said. “She had so much pressure at this massive event, it would’ve been very easy for her to slip the bit and not have a great outing. If she continues to train as diligently and as ferociously as she has been, the sky’s the limit for her. She can be really, really good.”

Source: MMA Junkie via WrestlingINC

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