Ross Report For 9/13

[Guest BoboBrazil]

Ross Report -- Sept. 13, 2002

Random thoughts from under the black 200X Resistol hat while wondering how General Scandor Akbar would cope in today's marketplace. Might be tough for the former squatty fullback for the Vernon (Texas) Lions.

Observations, opinions, and other basically useless information:

 

Tough break for Bradshaw, tearing his left biceps during Monday's RAW during his match with the Un-Americans. It required surgery on Tuesday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala., with Dr. Jim Andrews, and the big Texan being out of action four to six months. Bradshaw, known as John Layfield by his friends and neighbors in Athens, Texas, is one of the best all-around hands we have ever had in World Wrestling Entertainment for many reasons. We are going to miss his work ethic, leadership and sense of humor in our locker room and will be counting the days until he returns better than ever. I spoke with John this week and he was a little depressed about the situation, as anyone would be, but I guarantee you he will rehab like crazy and raise hell again before you know it. Our goal corporately should be to recruit and sign athletes with the character and intelligence of Bradshaw. Perhaps this unscheduled break in the action will give him the chance to complete the book he and Cody Monk of the Dallas Morning News have been working on, and to allow John to continue his tireless efforts with Smackdown Your Vote! and other worthwhile projects within the company. Bradshaw, a budding golfer, garnered his first hole-in-one just last week and has allegedly been beating Coach like a government mule once a month on the links for quite some time, or so the story goes.

 

Sean O'Haire, who we have reported here to have been improving significantly in the past several weeks, has a torn stomach muscle and will be out of action about six weeks to allow it to heal. I respect the fact that Sean continues to attend practice sessions at Ohio Valley Wrestling even though he can't physically participate.

 

Jazz is about ready to come off the injured list from ACL surgery. She could be cleared in a couple of weeks. Ladies, beware!

 

Rhyno has begun very light workouts in the ring and is seemingly on target for a November return to action from neck surgery. I wonder what creative plans await this talented youngster from Detroit, who will probably compete in OVW for a time while he knocks off the ring rust.

 

Kurt Angle's brother Eric has returned to OVW after injuring his biceps months ago and has had to basically start over with his training. Eric is an outstanding athlete, but sports entertainment does not come as naturally to him as it did for Kurt.

 

Ivory and Bill DeMott will be ready to return to the road in early October -- but to which roster is anyone's guess -- as they will have completed Tough Enough 3. Al Snow, being the senior member of the coaching staff, will take off a few weeks to restore Lima, Ohio, to normalcy before hitting the road again at non-televised events (house shows). We look forward to getting all three of these talents back in the mix, especially Bill, who is a very untapped hand from where I sit. I hope Bill is reintroduced in a big way and he gets a chance to really contribute, as he is another great locker-room leader who has certainly paid his dues and deserves a shot.

 

This week perhaps set the all-time record for yours truly in receiving negative e-mails from passionate fans about a variety of television issues. Made me feel like I had P.O.'d an ex-wife and the alimony check had bounced.

 

Even though the RAW rating is still the best number on the new TNN, it is obviously not what anyone here is comfortable with, and we have to continue to work hard to get it up (no pun intended, especially after this week's telecasts). I was surprised the Fatal Fourway did not earn a better rating because I thought it was a very solid match, especially the last seven or eight minutes. We have several talents on RAW who seem to be this close to elevating to consistent main-event-star status, and with continued hard work, a little luck and the right creative, will no doubt get there in time. Sooner than later would suit me. Some people liked Monday's RAW and some didn't due to many factors, including the "HLA." As I said here last week, we still seem to be searching for the right mix of steak and sizzle over the two-hour broadcast. Being more of an old-school product of our business, I prefer the in-ring, athletically dramatic presentation, even though compelling and entertaining promos and/or vignettes are also necessary ingredients for an overall successful show. Tastes have changed over the years with virtually every form of entertainment, and sports too, for that matter, but personally I like the physicality that our WWE Superstars bring to the dance better than anything else and would like to see more of it.

 

Unfortunately, I am no longer a member of our prime 18-34 demographic, so my voice is not heard as loudly as some of you young bucks who are. Some weeks I even feel like the business has passed me by and someone else should sit in my chair on RAW because I don't understand it anymore and think, "Well, maybe it's time for ol' J.R. to go fishing or enjoy more Sooners football games." And then I think, "To hell with that," remembering that the chase is always more exciting than the capture and the road back to ratings success are the type of challenges many of us "old-timers" have thrived on virtually our entire careers. Of course, that is simply just my opinion and I could be wrong, but it is damn sure the way I feel.

SmackDown! continues its string of very solid broadcasts and the different creative philosophy utilized on that show is obvious to most. The SmackDown! crew is to be commended for its efforts and the results of its efforts are that SmackDown!, right now in my view, is the better of our two primetime shows. The commitment ceremony was an awesome piece of production as it came together in one day, which is amazing in the TV world.

 

Three new developmental contracts were verbally agreed to this week and we should be able to announce them here next week. Aside from those three deals, we have also agreed to terms with Wes Brisco -- son of agent Jerry Brisco and nephew of the legendary former NWA World Champion Jack Brisco, both from Blackwell, Okla. -- to a sponsorship deal this season for the Pro Wakeboard Tour. Wes will hopefully one day follow in the famous footsteps of his dad and uncle by competing in the ring. This young man has some mighty big shoes to fill, to say the least.

 

I know how Kevin Dunn and John "Big" Gaburick, both Baltimore natives, must feel this week with the untimely death of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Unitas. The former Baltimore Colt great was a hero to any kid who grew up in Baltimore and even to some of us who grew up in Oklahoma and watched him play Sundays on TV. My late father told me to watch Johnny U. closely because he was the greatest quarterback of all time and I still believe my daddy was right. No. 19 with the flattop haircut and black high-top shoes was a leader of men, something we could use more of in these troubling times.

 

I look for a few of our young talents currently in OVW to be called up soon.

 

Some are more than ready to contribute with the right creative presentation and introduction to our TV viewers. Speaking of OVW, they are having some building code issues with the city that are being resolved as we speak, but it may result in a postponement of the TV taping scheduled for Sept. 18. Just a minor bump in the road for the hard-working crew down in Louisville, Ky.

Nothing new on the Scott Steiner or Bill Goldberg weekly rumor mill. Contrary to what "sources" have said and others have reported, we have made zero attempts to contact Scott Steiner in several months. We believe that Scott might be able to physically work a part-time schedule, but that remains to be seen. In any event, we have no plans to speak with Scott about coming to WWE at this time, but who knows? Creative could have a super concept for him and all of the sudden he shows up on RAW or SmackDown! next week. Goldberg's agent is Barry Bloom, who very capably represents several of our stars, but we have had no discussions with Barry or Bill about setting up a meeting to discuss a deal of any kind. It may be that Billy is very happy with his current situation and has no interest in getting back into the domestic sports-entertainment business with us. Time will tell.

 

My Sooners had their hands more than full last Saturday in Norman against the Crimson Tide of Alabama in one helluva great college football game. I think I aged 50 years while the game was on the line and, as I said last week, the 12-point spread was scary, as Oklahoma won by 10 by scoring two touchdowns with 2:11 to go in the game. Several of my friends called after the game to see if I was still alive. Great effort by Alabama. This week UTEP comes calling on the Sooners, who are 42-point favorites. Don't know quite what to expect, but I don't think it looks so good for the Miners from El Paso. Would love to be there but we will be preparing to head to Denver for Monday night's RAW. I wonder if Leon "Vader" White will drop by and say hello. Hope you will tune in, as we never quite know what to expect we when go live on the new TNN. (By the way, what ever happened to the OLD TNN?) Take good care of yourself and be sure and count your blessings.

 

J.R. (BOOMER SOONER!)

 

wwe.com

 

 

 

He sure gave Bradshaw a verbal blowjob. I'm guessing the 3 new developmental deals are all hosses as well.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

Man, they gotta bring in Stiener. Sure, he's most likely past his prime but he's intense! [/micheal cole]

I'm looking forward to Jazz's arrival. She's one of the most entertaining and dominating ladies of wrestling i've seen.

But i'm with JR. with the dramatic wrestling, promos and vignettes...instead of all this cheap entertainment stuff. (Although the Wedding came off a hell of a lot better than I suspected.) But I like those deep furious fueds, that boils over for a nice amount of time.

[Guest snowfan]

hell make it 5 hosses just to ease his pain....

 

I think any input on Lawler is going to be ignored.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Bradshaw, known as John Layfield by his friends and neighbors in Athens, Texas, is one of the best all-around hands we have ever had in World Wrestling Entertainment for many reasons.

Main reason: hazing

 

We are going to miss his work ethic, leadership and sense of humor in our locker room and will be counting the days until he returns better than ever.

Meanwhile, I won't miss him on my TV at all.

 

I spoke with John this week and he was a little depressed about the situation, as anyone would be, but I guarantee you he will rehab like crazy and raise hell again before you know it.

Oh, great

Our goal corporately should be to recruit and sign athletes with the character and intelligence of Bradshaw

I'd rather they concentrate on signing guys w/ talent, but what do *I* know?

 

I hope Bill DeMott is reintroduced in a big way and he gets a chance to really contribute, as he is another great locker-room leader who has certainly paid his dues and deserves a shot

I like DeMott (Hugh Morrus), and I'd like to see him get a shot, but I can't see him ME'ing like JR.

 

I was surprised the Fatal Fourway did not earn a better rating because I thought it was a very solid match, especially the last seven or eight minutes.

Hey, that's after Big Show & Jeff Hardy were eliminated. I don't think that's just coincidence.

 

We have several talents on RAW who seem to be this close to elevating to consistent main-event-star status, and with continued hard work, a little luck and the right creative, will no doubt get there in time

And by luck, do they mean HHH getting injured & retiring?

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

I'm surprised he didn't bury Alabama when talking about the football game.

 

On Bradshaw, meh... what else did you expect?

[Guest oldschoolwrestling]

Sounds like he is involved in reading the email feedback from fans, which is a good thing. Also sounds like he is burned out and if things don't turn around, he'll leave, which I think is a good thing.

 

He may not enjoy Lawler's actions, but I don't think he'd say so, as that would make it hard for him to work alongside The King.

[Guest FeArHaVoC]

<Bradshaw, known as John Layfield by his friends and neighbors in Athens, Texas, is one of the best all-around hands we have ever had in World Wrestling Entertainment for many reasons. We are going to miss his work ethic, leadership and sense of humor in our locker room and will be counting the days until he returns better than ever.>

 

So, No-Selling, being overly Stiff, putting out shit match after shit match, and harassing the rookies in the back is leadership?