Ross Report For 9/27

[Guest BoboBrazil]

Greetings from under the black 200X Resistol hat while happily reporting that Cowboy Bill Watts has mellowed in his later years and is still living in Bixby, Oklahoma the former headquarters of Mid South and UWF Wrestling.

Random thoughts, opinion, cryptic information, and other basically useless information.

 

UNFORGIVEN had its moments. Loved the overall effort of the talent. The live audience in Los Angeles was super. The catering was good and the weather was hot. Edge versus Eddie was tremendous and so was the Angle versus Benoit match, a real classic WRESTLING match. Loved watching it. Wished I had the privilege of calling them both.

 

RAW had some bright spots and seemed to flow well at times. Another strong effort by the talent. The pieces of this puzzle are beginning to come together, contrary to what some folks may think. Too many talented people are working too hard for the flagship, live broadcast of WWE to not improve. The establishing of marketable main event level talents is a slow process, as has been mentioned here before. It will happen but it will not happen quick enough for most of us. More often than not, this broadcast is over-analyzed by all involved. Everybody has an idea Tuesday morning including yours truly. I say we slow down, tell better stories, allow the talents to continue to develop, give some deserving talents a chance to prove themselves, and do all we can to provide a better all around in-ring product. Sounds easy enough but it's not in today's marketplace. None of us seem to have any patience when it comes to this re-building period. The goal has got to be to have one spectacular broadcast and then follow it up with one more. And so on. Just like a good rack of baby back ribs, the best tasting ones are slow cooked.

 

SMACKDOWN! was a fun show to watch with some great in-ring content and some very entertaining, albeit short, backstage content. Edge vs. Eddie was amazing. Both these talents are spectacular. Eddie Guerrero is a wonderful success story and Latino Heat is absolutely one of best in-ring performers in the world. Angle, Benoit and Rey Rey was a hot triple threat match. All three talents are to be commended. Looks like Lesnar and Taker are headed for some sort of Waterloo at No Mercy in Little Rock on October 20 on Pay-Per-View.

 

RAW weekend houseshows will feature Triple H versus Bubba Dudley, RVD vs. Flair, and a tag title rematch between the new tag champs, Kane and Hurricane, against the Un-Americans in West Palm Beach on Saturday and Beaumont, Texas on Sunday. Newcomers Mark Jindrak and Johnny Stamboli will also get more in-ring time this weekend on the RAW events.

 

SMACKDOWN! weekend houseshows will see Edge versus Lesnar, Rikishi vs. Kurt Angle, and a Heat return match featuring Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero will be off until Tuesday in Lafayette to allow him to get over a sinus infection. Much needed time off for this outstanding talent. Sunday's SmackDown! event will be in Bossier City, Louisiana, just outside Shreveport, while Monday's live SmackDown! event will be in Monroe, Louisiana. Sounds like an old Mid-South houseshow run which brings back fond memories for yours truly.

 

Fozzy is in concert Saturday Night in Atlanta, so Chris Jericho is not booked in West Palm but he will be in Beaumont versus Booker T. for the IC Title.

 

No Mercy tickets go on sale in Little Rock this Saturday morning with Kevin Nash at the box office, while Lita will be at the box office in Jackson, Tenn. as tickets go on sale there for a Oct. 21 live event.

 

WWE Divas will invade Chandler, Arizona over the next couple of weeks for a major photo shoot. I volunteered to chaperone but my bride decided that wasn't a good idea. As usual, she's right.

 

I read recently where RVD was not in St. Louis on 9/13 and no reason was given. It's simple, he was never booked and was off to celebrate his anniversary.

 

Sure hope Houston's live RAW crowd is hot, as they often have been in the city made famous by Promoter Paul Boesch's Friday nights at the Sam Houston Coliseum. Johnny Valentine, Wahoo McDaniel, Jose Lothario, Nick Bockwinkle and many others excited fans every Friday night in Houston for years. We did some pretty solid TV out of Houston in the 1980's with the Mid South and UWF stars, too. Boesch was a very unique man who had a great reputation in our business for his fair payoffs and his straight forward approach to handling talent. I had some very interesting personal experiences with Paul that I plan on writing about some day. His wrestling memorabilia collection was second only to Jim Cornette's that I have personally ever seen.

 

Torrie Wilson will return to her home state of Idaho next Friday night to "wrestle" Dawn Marie in a bra 'n panties match in Boise on a RAW houseshow. This will be billed as a SmackDown! attraction. Later in the month of October, several "mixed cards" will highlight a variety of live events including Edmonton, Calgary, Rochester, and Buffalo which will see SmackDown! stars on RAW events and visa versa. These cards are talent friendly and should provide some unique action for our fans. Just makes sense to feature some of our outstanding Canadian athletes, who happen to frequent RAW, on the SmackDown! events in Canada. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

In addition to traveling next month to India, Seoul, Korea, and Tokyo, Bradshaw will also head down under to stop in Australia for P.R. work. Ivory will be on this journey except for the Australian leg.

 

The RAW crew will wrestle in India Nov. 21-23, in Bombay, Bangalore, and Delhi respectively. This same group of talents will also see action in Seoul and Tokyo in late January with our fans in Tokyo set to see two events on consecutive nights. Details are still being addressed as we speak.

 

Ticket sales for the SmackDown! event in Helsinki on Thursday Oct. 24 are selling very well and look to be on target to be a sellout or very close. All other events on this tour are sold out. The Rebellion Pay-Per-View will be in the largest venue on the tour in Manchester on Sat. Oct. 26. Our fans in this part of the world are sure hard to beat. Very loud and very enthusiastic which makes everything work better.

 

Speaking of enthusiastic, Seattle fans were pumped Tuesday morning at the WrestleMania press conference. March 30, 2003 is the date for WrestleMania XIX at SAFECO Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. We are all looking forward to spending some quality time in the Pacific Northwest for our first WrestleMania in that part of the country. It is truly beautiful there.

 

We had a productive meeting with the Ultimate Dragon in Anaheim Monday afternoon. He was an amazing cruiserweight before he was injured while working for WCW in Atlanta and is just beginning to get back in the ring after several years, while he has attempted to recover from a reported blotched arm surgery. He is several months away from being ready to debut in WWE, but we hope to do business with him in 2003. He was a pleasure to speak with and is a class act.

 

We are going to, hopefully, take another look at cruiserweight Spanky in the next couple of weeks in a dark match, perhaps in Las Vegas and/or Phoenix. Several other cruiserweights are also being evaluated and will probably get tryouts soon. There sure seems to be some outstanding talents in this weight category out there. We have missed on some of these smaller talents in the past but will, hopefully, be able to get back in the hunt for some of them in the future. Agents Dean Malenko and Fit Finley do an awesome job working with these talents in my view. I have been a fan of this weight division since the days of the legendary Danny Hodge, the greatest Junior Heavyweight Champion of all time, bar none!

 

If you want to see some classic, old time wrestling TV, check out OVWWrestling.com for info on how to order OVW Wrestling's weekly one-hour TV show. The issues with the local politicians in Louisville seem to have been all worked out regarding building code problems and the Louisville based outfit resumed its Wednesday Night taping this week. Not a lot of whistles and bells but some solid, old-fashioned wrestling is featured from this group headed by Jim Cornette and Danny Davis. It's a fun show to watch, as I am sure many of you will agree.

 

Our superstars are being encouraged to slow down a little and tell a better wrestling oriented story and it is working for many of them. The "art" of telling a story in the ring is being slowly re-established but it is an acquired skill that not everyone in our business "gets" or totally understands. It's all a part of the re-building mode we are currently in and will result in a better in-ring product and longer careers for many of our young talents. Because we have so many life long fans of the business, some of these kids fully understand how important it is to develop these much needed skills. Unfortunately, there are so few places to learn these skills. Many wrestlers are being asked to learn on the job in front of a national TV audience, which is pretty challenging. I just don't think a wrestler can make it in today's marketplace without being a longtime fan of the business.

 

Mark Henry is having ankle problems as a result of some bone chips.

 

Bubba Dudley had a pinched nerve in his neck early in the week and was given an MRI, received treatment from a specialist, and has been cleared to return to work. Bubba is a tough guy who really wants to make it as a single, main event level star.

 

RVD has an injured hand which limited his effectiveness at Unforgiven and on RAW. This young man is a magnificently talented athlete who is working through pain but will not miss any of his commitments. His TV persona is still evolving.

 

Chris Nowinski had jaw surgery Tuesday in Boston and will be out of action approximately 4-6 weeks. Everyone here really likes this Harvard grad's upside.

 

Chris Kanyon hopes to get a medical release in about a week or two and will then report to OVW for an extended stay to get back in ring shape. He has had some tough hands dealt to him and sure deserves some good luck.

 

Rhyno is scheduled to get back in the ring this week and begin light workouts preparing for a late November/early-December return. We are all anxious for this Detroit hand to get back to developing into one of our best all around performers. A quality human being, too.

 

Jazz has begun her in ring workouts following ACL surgery and should be 100% in December if not a little sooner. She will head back to RAW with the majority of the other female grapplers.

 

All other injured athletes are progressing on schedule.

 

Mike Awesome, Shawn Stasiak, and Mike Bollea -- aka Horace Hogan, have all been released and we wish them all well in their future endeavors. Stasiak, in particular, has potential and will hopefully head to Japan for more seasoning and a different learning environment.

 

Matt Hardy's new TV persona is developing slowly but surely, from where I sit. Another life long fan who really seems to be "getting it".

 

John Cena seems to be a natural antagonist and will someday, I predict, be one of our best at that role.

 

As good as our cruiserweights are now, by adding a few more quality hands to this group, this roster will be untouchable.

 

It's hard to believe I'm sure for some, but Billy and Chuck are rapidly becoming significant fan favorites.

 

Raven, Justin Credible, D'Lo Brown, and Steven Richards are among the talents who are under utilized on our roster. Same goes to a lesser degree to Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley.

 

I think that Lance Storm and Christian are one of the potentially better teams we have had in WWE in quite some time. More aggression and a more pronounced mean streak is about all they need.

 

Bob Holly has been unbooked after being dropped on his head recently and is feeling much better. Another very tough human being who hates to miss work.

 

Recent tag team work by Eddie and Chavo Guerrero has been off the charts.

 

All of our Divas are working diligently to improve their in-ring abilities through the teaching of the tough Irishman Fit Finley. These ladies have learned very quickly that Mr. Finley doesn't teach ballet.

 

D-Von Dudley and Faarooq will be teaming up together this weekend to see if they have any chemistry. We sure hope they will.

 

Doug Basham continues to impress folks with his in-ring skills and he is not bad on the mic either. This OVW alum may be headed for SmackDown! but that has yet to be determined.

 

I have high hopes for the tag team of Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway in WWE and would love to see them introduced on RAW in a big way. They remind me of the great team known as the Midnight Express from the 80's in their physical appearance and in-ring style. Of course, the Midnight's famous manager Jim Cornette is one of their mentors. Cornette, along with Paul E. Dangerously, incited many crowds in the 80's and early 90's. Both these managers knew how to create chaos at ringside. It's another one of the "lost arts" of our business, it seems.

 

Nice to get Hurricane and Randy Orton on the RAW side as these two youngsters will bring more enthusiasm to Monday nights. As they both continue to evolve and develop, we should have two outstanding talents on our hands in the future. Two more long time fans of the genre, too.

 

Brock Lesnar is like a young bull who discovers more every day that he can control the entire herd if he chooses. Brock is a long way away from where he is going to be someday, but he is a natural and continues to listen and improve with every outing. Another amateur who is making his mark in our business. We need to recruit more athletes of his stature and certainly plan on doing so.

 

My Sooners play on TBS Saturday Night against South Florida at 6 p.m. ET. You know where to find me about that time. OU is a 26 point favorite at home but for some reason, I think the game will be closer than advertised. Oct. 12 will not be for the weak at heart, as that is the day for the Red River Shootout with the mighty Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl, not that I'm counting down the days or anything. Have you figured out that I love college football??

 

We are working overtime on our next cookbook and the stories to go with it, and I am having a blast writing about some of my experiences in the business and some of the crazy characters I have known. My wife Jan has put in tons of hours on the recipes, and I guarantee you have never seen a cookbook like the one we are writing. My friend Dennis Brent and I are really enjoying going back in our memory banks and making some of the stories come to life. This has been a very rewarding project and we should have it finished in about two weeks, and ready to hand off to Simon and Schuster.

 

Also, on the BBQ Sauce front, it looks as if our Toronto office, headed by Carl DeMarco, has signed a deal with a Canadian company to manufacture and distribute our BBQ Sauce. More on that soon.

 

I hope you check out Monday Night RAW live from Houston, Texas. You might just like what you see.

 

Take care.

 

J.R. (BOOMER SOONER!!)

[Guest Phoenix Fury Legdrop]

We are going to, hopefully, take another look at cruiserweight Spanky in the next couple of weeks in a dark match, perhaps in Las Vegas and/or Phoenix.

 

FUCK YES! He better get signed, not just because he's a swank worker, but also because, hopefully, he gets to keep his finisher's name, Sliced Bread #2, which would be (to the best of my knowledge), the first "Mr Show With Bob And David" reference on WWE TV.

[Guest Brian]

"We had a productive meeting with the Ultimate Dragon in Anaheim Monday afternoon. He was an amazing cruiserweight before he was injured while working for WCW in Atlanta and is just beginning to get back in the ring after several years, while he has attempted to recover from a reported blotched arm surgery. He is several months away from being ready to debut in WWE, but we hope to do business with him in 2003. He was a pleasure to speak with and is a class act."

 

I'm stunned he mentioned this.

[Guest Invader3k]

I used to love watching Ultimo Dragon when he was in WCW. It would be pretty awesome to see him wrestle Eddie Guerrerro, Rey Misterio, and the like.

[Guest Human Fly]

Hopefully, through Dragon, they could bring in some of the talent that he's trained in Japan. Maybe they are really going to start beefing up the CW division.

[Guest Trivia247]

Ultimo and Mystero under the same roof again...

 

DROOLING at the prospect.

[Guest papacita]

Fozzy is in concert Saturday Night in Atlanta, so Chris Jericho is not booked in West Palm but he will be in Beaumont versus Booker T. for the IC Title.

Hopefully this is a sign that a Booker/Jericho program is on the way.

 

We had a productive meeting with the Ultimate Dragon in Anaheim Monday afternoon. He was an amazing cruiserweight before he was injured while working for WCW in Atlanta and is just beginning to get back in the ring after several years, while he has attempted to recover from a reported blotched arm surgery. He is several months away from being ready to debut in WWE, but we hope to do business with him in 2003. He was a pleasure to speak with and is a class act.

Is it some sort of crime to say the word "Ultimo" in the US?

[Guest razazteca]

Several other cruiserweights are also being evaluated and will probably get tryouts soon. There sure seems to be some outstanding talents in this weight category out there. We have missed on some of these smaller talents in the past but will, hopefully, be able to get back in the hunt for some of them in the future

 

will American Dragon get another look? He works well with Spanky. Maybe some luchadores can get a shot.....Shocker is doing the MLW show.

[Guest Brian]

No, keep Shocker away. Just way too good.

[Guest New World Order of Wrestling]

I am absolutly salivating at the thought of Ultimo Dragon in the company. He would play a great heel foil to Rey Mysterio.

 

So whats this; Spanky, Dragon, other Cruisers being looked at while Stasiak, Awesome, and Horace being cut - that just RULES.

[Guest Nevermortal]

What is Sliced Bread #2, by the way?

[Guest razazteca]

Shocker can have some good matches if he is to work with Tajiri, Angle, Benoit, Eddy or Chavo, Rey Misterio, RVD, Hurricane.

 

Shocker, Mascara Magica, Black Tiger vs Eddy, Chavo, Rey could be a damn good PPV match :drools:

[Guest Nevermortal]

I don't get the big deal over Shocker. I watched him on the Galavision Lucha block a few times and didn't think he was anything special.

 

Although the skit where he auditioned new wrestlers, then put on a hardhat and utility belt was hillarious, even through the language barrier!

[Guest Ram]

Man, I love the cruiserweight division enough as it is. Add Ultimo Dragon and some other badass cruiserweights, and I won't need sunlight!

[Guest buffybeast]

Bubba Dudley had a pinched nerve in his neck early in the week and was given an MRI, received treatment from a specialist, and has been cleared to return to work. Bubba is a tough guy who really wants to make it as a single, main event level star.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Spanky has a ZERO ONE contract and Am Drag starts with New Japan in October for a long tour. Neither will be in the Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee any time soon.

 

Tim

[Guest TheyCallMeMark]

Bob Holly has been unbooked after being dropped on his head recently and is feeling much better.

 

Gee, how did he get dropped on his head, JR? Did he get hit buy a bull or something?

[EL DANDY~! 0]

I'm hoping it's not sarcasm dude, but he got dropped on his head by Brock Lesnar...

[Guest AnnieEclectic]

Raven, Justin Credible, D'Lo Brown, and Steven Richards are among the talents who are under utilized on our roster. Same goes to a lesser degree to Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley.

 

 

*holds arms straight out, then screams out VIOLENCE~!*

 

 

hope, pray

 

pray, hope...

 

-Annie

[Guest C-Bacon]

My real appreaction for actual *Wrestling* in terms of work-rate was when I witnessed Ultimo Dragon vs. a face Chris Jericho in a WCW PPV which slips my mind right now in 1997. Glad to hear he's coming back!

[EL DANDY~! 0]

Ultimo Dragon vs. any cruiser

 

Dragon supplies the psychology, everybody else supplies the moveset

 

***+ TV matches, ****+ PPV matches...but it's the WWE. Maybe then want him to work the WWE style...

 

Ulitmo: Vince-san, I'd like to do Running Lygahbomb.

Vince: What if you worked on a spinebuster?...yeah. I think you need to work on a spinebuster.

Ultimo: Pine...bustah?

Vince: *rings to his secretary* Ma'am, send Rocky in here right away. I got a guy who wants to learn how to do his Pinebuster...

 

You know how Vince gets...

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Newcomers Mark Jindrak and Johnny Stamboli will also get more in-ring time this weekend on the RAW events.

Nice. I'm a mark for Johnny, sue me

 

Mark Henry is having ankle problems as a result of some bone chips.

I think this would read better as "Mark Henry is having some suck problems as a result of sucking."

 

Bubba is a tough guy who really wants to make it as a single, main event level star.

Uhhhhhh, no

 

Chris Kanyon hopes to get a medical release in about a week or two and will then report to OVW for an extended stay to get back in ring shape. He has had some tough hands dealt to him and sure deserves some good luck

::gets giddy::

 

As good as our cruiserweights are now, by adding a few more quality hands to this group, this roster will be untouchable.

Then why pull Hurricane *out* of the division?

 

Bob Holly has been unbooked after being dropped on his head recently

Is it wrong for me to get a chuckle out of this?

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Chris Kanyon hopes to get a medical release in about a week or two and will then report to OVW for an extended stay to get back in ring shape. He has had some tough hands dealt to him and sure deserves some good luck.

 

Rhyno is scheduled to get back in the ring this week and begin light workouts preparing for a late November/early-December return. We are all anxious for this Detroit hand to get back to developing into one of our best all around performers. A quality human being, too.

 

Jazz has begun her in ring workouts following ACL surgery and should be 100% in December if not a little sooner. She will head back to RAW with the majority of the other female grapplers.

Kanyon, Rhyno & Jazz back in action, (boomer) sooner rather than later? ::marks out::

 

John Cena seems to be a natural antagonist and will someday, I predict, be one of our best at that role.

 

I guess that's why he's a vanilla face, right? And they wonder why he's bombing...

 

Raven, Justin Credible, D'Lo Brown, and Steven Richards are among the talents who are under utilized on our roster. Same goes to a lesser degree to Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley.

 

OMG EC-DUB REUNION~! ::marks out:: Seriously though... Raven is SORELY under-utilized; I don't get how Raven & D'Lo's Sunday Night Heat program went so well and they're still not being booked to do anything other than get the occasional beatdown from Island Boys or get kicked off RAW.

 

D-Von Dudley and Faarooq will be teaming up together this weekend to see if they have any chemistry. We sure hope they will.

 

Call me crazy, but didn't Reverend D-Von kick Faarrrrooooqqqqqq's baaaad-asssss because of his character last time Faarrrrooooqqqq was in action? How are they going to fix those two up storyline wise? I mean D-Von's even got a t-shirt, so its pretty obvious they won't be changing him right away.

 

Doug Basham continues to impress folks with his in-ring skills and he is not bad on the mic either. This OVW alum may be headed for SmackDown! but that has yet to be determined.

 

OMG THE MACHINE ON SMACKDOWN~! ::marks out:: He's like the top heel in OVW right now, if memory serves me right, he's certainly the top guy in their biggest storyline. I'd love to see him in action on Smackdown, but how will OVW survive without him?

 

Brock is a long way away from where he is going to be someday...

 

He's already the champion... what more could you possibly want to do with him?

[Guest nikowwf]

Ultimo Dragon? New Cruisers? Doug Basham? All probably on smackdown too...that show will rock.

 

Reading Ross say Ultimo Dragon is a good thing....surreal, but good...

 

NiKo

[Guest MaxPower27]

Well, I guess that they feel Raw is doing fine. ::checks tape of recent Raw:: Are they watching the same show as I am?

 

I'm salvating over the return to my TV of Ultimo Dragon, he's one of my favorite workers ever. Rhyno, Kanyon, and Jazz coming back makes me happy too. Ahh..now if only Mark Henry got the Stasiak/Awesome/Bollea treatment.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

Henry and Big Show should have their contracts bought out since they both remain overweight bad workers.

 

To liven up Raw I would start a cruiserweight tag team division, Smackdown and the cruiserweights are great because they are an exciting change of pace. Get rid of the high-priced no talents and sign more cruiserweights. Also they can be traded when either division gets dull from guys meeting the same guys over and over again.

 

I don't like Stamboli so a tag team with him and Jindrak doesn't impress me. I want a D'Lo/Benjamin tag team. D'Lo is a guy with charisma and wrestling ability and they keep him on heat, why? Benjamin looks like he has a great upside, together I can seehim and D'Lo going places.

 

Rhyno and Kanyon boh are great and I look forward to their returns.

 

I'm worried if U.Dragon comes back it'll end in disappointment.

 

The releashes were a positive, I hated when they cut Bradley, Joey Abs and others but these cuts don't bother me.

[Guest TheGame2705]

That portion of the report shows Ross spouts out bull$h!t. Ultimate Dragon? Blotched Arm Surgery? Obviously he knows crap about Japan and it shows Vince wants to take over Japan now too if he's gonna sign the head of Toryumon.

[Guest NoCalMike]

When I read the thread title and the "Oh My God" I thought you were gonna mention Joey Styles.....aww damn. Ultimo Dragon would be nice, but being realistic, I doubt it will amount to anything.

[Guest LaParkaMarka]

I would flip the fuck out if my boy Ultimo came to WWE. If he brings CIMA and Magnum Tokyo with him, I'd be happier. But, well, they probably would get treated like jobbers for Albert or something, so maybe it's a good thing. Ultimo coming back as a foil for Ron though...*salivates*. They have put on wicked matches before. Same with Ultimo/Jericho. An Ultimo/Eddy match would just rock my world. Ultimo/Angle!!! Dear god. Ok, I should stop wildly speculating now. I would just be so happy if they brought him in and didn't treat him like a joke.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

FUCK!!!!!!

 

Bubba cleared to wrestle.

 

Well...one more ppv I don't have to order.