Ross report for may 24, 2002

[Guest]

Ross Report for May 24, 2002

 

Greetings from under a well-traveled black Resistol hat after visiting Nashville, Memphis, Tupelo and Louisville this week, in addition to attempting to also do my "day job." As my late mama used to say, "staying busy keeps a person out of trouble.

 

"Injury update:Undertaker re-aggravated his SI joint and low back, similar to what he experienced a few months back. He will continue to work through any discomfort.

 

Spike Dudley had whiplash and stinger-like symptoms and was in pain after landing awkwardly during a match last Monday. He saw his orthopedist at home, who is not worried about this injury as Spike has steadily improved since coming home. Previously, Spike had a similar pinched nerve in the same area and his doctor want's to do a MRI next week to be sure there is no further damage. With a slightly sore neck, Spike feels he's ready to go and will work this weekend.

 

The Hurricane landed on his shoulder awkwardly last weekend and has experienced some slight pain that has gotten better since. He says this has happened before and will continue to work through it.

 

Triple H saw Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday and had his knee checked. The small fracture has opened up slightly and Dr. Andrews still feels he can continue to work around it as long as he can tolerate the pain.

 

The Rock had a MRI done earlier this week on his knee. He has a small tear in his PCL, will need to have some therapy for a few weeks to assist in the recovery and should be able to go upon his return. If surgery is performed, it will require two to three weeks of rehab.

 

Edge had some pain in his leg and saw Dr. Andrews in Birmingham. He has a bruise on his fibula and will be able to continue working.

 

Hulk Hogan has some pains in his SI joint and lower back.

 

Hugh Morrus hurt his leg on his motorcycle late last week and had some pain and swelling. He is feeling better and the swelling has gone down. He will continue to work through any pain he may experience.

 

Referee Tim White dislocated his shoulder at Judgment Day and had it reset at a Nashville hospital. The swelling increased in the joint and his doctor at home wants it to subside before doing a MRI to make sure there is no further damage. Tim will begin therapy immediately and will be out at least six weeks, longer if surgery is needed.

 

Kanyon is in Louisville working out in the ring each day and having no problems with his knee. He will stay in Louisville until the end of the month, and he is ready to go anytime.

 

Chris Benoit returned home this week and has appearances through the beginning of next week. Dr. Lloyd Youngblood wants to see him about a month after he is back in the ring full time and wants him to continue progressing at a slow pace. Dr. Youngblood has said that he expects Chris to be able to return from his neck injury to full action by the end of June.

 

Mike Awesome returns to the doctor's office on June 6 for a follow-up on his knee, and he expects to be able to return to the ring after the appointment. We are planning to send him to Cincinnati for a few weeks of conditioning.

 

Sharmell Sullivan continues her rehab in Louisville, Ky. Kane continues his therapy at home for his biceps and has an appointment with Dr. Andrews on June 3. His surgery was on April 16 and he is expected to be out a total of three to four months.

 

Rhyno returns to Dr. Youngblood on Thursday for a six-month evaluation after neck surgery. At his last visit with Dr. Youngblood he mentioned some back pain that he had been experiencing and they decided to have it checked when he returns.

 

Jazz is doing well and feeling much better a week after her knee surgery. She will visit the doctor tomorrow for a follow-up and is expected to begin therapy sometime in the next week or so.

 

DDP was medically cleared to return to action, but if he does he may need surgery down the line. He continues to rehab the area to strengthen it as directed by another spine specialist. A decision to return to the ring has not been made.

 

In Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), B.J. Payne saw his doctor today about his neck, and she is very happy with his progress. She has released him to begin light workouts starting Monday and expects for him to be back to 100 percent in two to three weeks. She cautioned him about taking blows to the head and the symptoms returning.

 

All other injured competitors are healing on schedule with no new updates this week.

 

Random thoughts:

Lots of mixed reviews and criticisms on our TV broadcasts this week, including our Pay-Per-View, cable and network efforts. There are many reasons that we are not where we want to be with our on-air presentations, contrary to the 'Net reports we do not realize what our problems are and don't know how to "fix them." Simply put, we are not providing the product our fans want to see. We need to create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces.

 

The brand extension, an abnormally high number of injuries, and the challenging economy all have contributed to our challenges also. As long as our talent refuse to "phone it in" and continue to give our fans great effort, we will get back on track, hopefully sooner than later. The balance between time devoted to in-ring action and talk must also be addressed, from where I sit. All involved in this process are working very diligently on this solvable problem.

 

I really enjoyed visiting OVW on Wednesday and attending their TV taping. OVW will soon move to a new facility, which will significantly upgrade their presentation on TV and create a much better training facility.There are several outstanding prospects in Louisville who will be booked on selected World Wrestling Entertainment live events over the next several weeks and on dark matches (non-televised) at our RAW and SmackDown! events. These men and women are young, healthy and athletic. They have all worked extremely hard to improve and are, in my view, ready to be integrated into the RAW or SmackDown! rosters now.

 

Rey Mysterio Jr. and Nova had a very good match on OVW TV, as did Kanyon, who looks excellent, and Prototype John Cena. Cena is one of our top prospects and has the potential to be a main-event-level hand for years to come in this company.

 

Doug Basham, Rob Conway, Nick Dinsmore, Damaja and Victoria all seemed to have good outings too. Shelton Benjamin, a college teammate of Brock Lesnar, had made significant strides in the ring and still reminds me of a young Kurt Angle, which is a real good thing.

 

Heartland Wrestling Alliance (HWA) in Cincinnati certainly is not without viable prospects either. Jamie Knoble and Shannon Moore, once they slowed down somewhat, have done excellently at out WWE events, and could become awesome cruiserweights. Lance Cade is slowly maturing into a controversial HWA Champion. Steve Bradley, although injured at this time, is an excellent in-ring performer, and the Island Boys could become a marketable duo once healthy and in top physical condition.

 

With these development talents progressing well and with some talented hands on the injured list, WWE has a significant number of talents who will really freshen up our rosters and TV broadcasts once they are introduced or return to the ring from injury.

 

Raven has decided to concentrate on in-ring activities and will step away from the broadcast booth soon. Raven certainly has broadcast potential and was doing well in that role, but his heart is in the ring.

 

Doing TV "color" is a challenging role than cannot be accomplished without ample pre-show preparation and the ability to jell with the play-by-play person.

 

Tom Prichard recently finished a mini-camp with Dawn Marie and Kim Nielsen, and while both demonstrate potential, there is still a significant amount of work to be done by both ladies to make it long-term on RAW or SmackDown! Each lady has a positive attitude and seems to work hard, which is always a great place to start.

 

Almost 47,000 tickets have been sold for the WWE Global Warning Tour, set for August 10 in Melbourne, Australia. Additional tickets for this extravaganza Down Under will be released once production requirements are finalized.

 

Our international business seems to be extremely healthy.

 

Lots of WWE action in Canada this week, culminating with RAW live in Edmonton on Monday and a SmackDown! taping on Tuesday in Calgary.

 

My condolences to the family of Davey Boy Smith, the British Bulldog, who passed away last weekend in British Columbia. The Bulldog's life seemed to be filled with peaks and valleys, and our prayers go out to his family, especially his two teenage children.

 

Take care and stay safe during the busy Memorial Day weekend.

 

See you next week.

 

J.R.

[Guest Ash Ketchum]

A referee dislocating a shoulder... that's a first.

[Guest]

"Jamie Knoble and Shannon Moore, once they slowed down somewhat, have done excellently at out WWE events, and could become awesome cruiserweights."

 

Great. Take the fast high flying action out of cruiserweight matches and you just have boring WWF style matches. They might as well cancel this division now.

[Guest]

I'm waiting for the day J.R. finally loses it and starts shooting on people. I would lmfao, if Jim Ross said, "We need our Veterans around here to help create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces."

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

"Triple H saw Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday and had his knee checked. The small fracture has opened up slightly and Dr. Andrews still feels he can continue to work around it as long as he can tolerate the pain."

 

Does this mean that they won't have a Taker vs. HHH match at KOTR?  cause I hope it does.

[Guest]

C'mon Triple H... the pain is too much.  Just take a LONG, extended break.

[Guest]

"Jamie Knoble and Shannon Moore, once they slowed down somewhat, have done excellently at out WWE events, and could become awesome cruiserweights."

 

Great. Take the fast high flying action out of cruiserweight matches and you just have boring WWF style matches. They might as well cancel this division now.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Guest bcu1979]

Lots of mixed reviews and criticisms on our TV broadcasts this week, including our Pay-Per-View, cable and network efforts. There are many reasons that we are not where we want to be with our on-air presentations, contrary to the 'Net reports we do not realize what our problems are and don't know how to "fix them." Simply put, we are not providing the product our fans want to see. We need to create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces.

 

The brand extension, an abnormally high number of injuries, and the challenging economy all have contributed to our challenges also. As long as our talent refuse to "phone it in" and continue to give our fans great effort, we will get back on track, hopefully sooner than later. The balance between time devoted to in-ring action and talk must also be addressed, from where I sit. All involved in this process are working very diligently on this solvable problem.

Does J.R. even know what he's saying anymore? He basically said that the WWE knew their product was crap. They just decided not to do anything about it before. But NOW things are going to change. I'd be more optimistic if he hasn't said this before.

 

And if they really had any idea what their problems were, why in the hell would they put the title on Undertaker and make the main event of Smackdown an interview segment with three old fossils (Hogan/Taker/Vince)?

 

He did have it right though when he said they were putting out a product the fans did not want to see.

 

But blaming it on the brand extenstion or injuries is complete bullshit. None of their top stars or building blocks for the future are on the injured list besides Chris Benoit. They've got plenty of guys who could carry the load if they had not been treated like jobbers.

 

The WWE has no one to blame but themselves for failing to elevate any new main event talent in 2 1/2 years. They had numerous chances to make stars out of the same guys we bitch about not being main eventers every day. But every single time someone got too close to the top they got cut off at the knees to keep the current hierarcy in place.

 

Nothing's going to change until Vince throws out his whole hierarchy system and starts from scratch like he did with the Attitude era.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

WOW! It's been like 5! posts and no one has yet to say this! I feel honoured to be the one of many who has gotten to say the following...

 

Jr is full of shit.

 

YAAAAAHOOOOO!!!!

 

Anyways

-------

Simply put, we are not providing the product our fans want to see. We need to create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces.

-------------

I disagree.  This should have been done either LAST YEAR, or TWO YEARS AGO.  Now is not the time for new, now is the time for GOOD.  I like how Jr says 'athletic', since athletic ability and wrestling talent are two very different things.  This means guys like Brock and Randy..aka guys who suck but the Wwf likes because of their pedigree/potential.  I have a good idea... SENSIBLE STORYLINES!  QUALITY FEUDS!  I am REALLY hoping that 'well-prepared new faces' means Chris Benoit... But I seriously doubt it...sigh...It probably means the prototype...*shudders*

 

--------------

The brand extension, an abnormally high number of injuries, and the challenging economy all have contributed to our challenges also. As long as our talent refuse to "phone it in" and continue to give our fans great effort, we will get back on track, hopefully sooner than later. The balance between time devoted to in-ring action and talk must also be addressed, from where I sit. All involved in this process are working very diligently on this solvable problem.

--------

No, stupid writers and bad bookers have.  Way to displace the blame JR, too bad you are as transparent as the Vodka I have to drink just to make some sense of most storylines.  The Wwf has let down the fans storyline after storyline after storyline and they are fed up.  They saw this with the Invasion and their eyes have been open ever since.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Nothing's going to change until Vince throws out his whole hierarchy system and starts from scratch like he did with the Attitude era.

 

I TOTALLY agree with this.  Vince's problem over the last year or so is that he has been afraid to go balls-out.  He didn't do the invasion to 100% and he hasn't done the split like that either.  He is too afraid to take risks, gradual changes just aren't going to cut it anymore.  Fans have lost faith in the product and are hanging on in hope to see a big change, when that change won't come (coughNWOcoughRicFlaircoughRockcoughFoleycoughInvasion) they will leave...They have been leaving.

[Guest Anglesault]

"Jamie Knoble and Shannon Moore, once they slowed down somewhat, have done excellently at out WWE events, and could become awesome cruiserweights."

 

Great. Take the fast high flying action out of cruiserweight matches and you just have boring WWF style matches. They might as well cancel this division now.

DAMN YOU JR! DAMN YOU! We WANT them to flip around aimlessly! DAMN YOUR SOUL TO BAH GAWD HELL!

[Guest Brian]

The same ignorant and prejudiced opinion we hear everytime.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Oh come on....Anglesault isn't that bad.

 

...oh you were talking about JR.

[Guest Human Fly]

Triple H and Undertaker are both hurt. Hopefully that match won't go down. It would be worse then usual.

 

I'm not really sure what he meant by the slowing down comment. Both of those guys can work though so I don't think it will be a problem.

[Guest papacita]

The brand extension, an abnormally high number of injuries, and the challenging economy all have contributed to our challenges also.

 

I can buy the brand extension excuse to a certain extent...even the injury excuse is somewhat credible...but how does he expect us to buy that the economy excuse? Their writers can't put out quality storylines because the economy is bad? BULLSHIT!

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

DUDE!  Don't you know, people don't watch more TV when in recessions, they don't want an escape from reality...

 

Wouldn't the other shows on television suffer the same fate as the Wwf?  Isn't the economy an 'across-the-board' sorta thing?  Or does the economy have a bias against the Wwf.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Kanyon is in Louisville working out in the ring each day and having no problems with his knee. He will stay in Louisville until the end of the month, and he is ready to go anytime

Awesome.  That makes me very, very happy.

 

Mike Awesome returns to the doctor's office on June 6 for a follow-up on his knee, and he expects to be able to return to the ring after the appointment. We are planning to send him to Cincinnati for a few weeks of conditioning.

That, too.

 

Oh come on....Anglesault isn't that bad.

 

...oh you were talking about JR

Took the words out of my mouth.

[Guest godthedog]

does anyone else think it's weird that rey mysterio jr is wrestling on ovw?  did they put window cleaner in the crack that ross was smoking that night he decided that the greatest cruiserweight in the world should be sent to ohio valley wrestling?  put him on television NOW.  give him the cruiserweight title and let him run rampant over everybody.  let jericho have a feud with him.  anything, i don't care, just put him on television NOW.

 

it seems that everybody at the front office is half-assing it and just biding their time till the next big thing comes & bites them in the ass.  it's not gonna work like that, they have to MAKE a next big thing.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

They had to put Misterio down there as a precautionary measure.

 

Despite being in the business for years...and arguably at the top of the cruiser world in the US...

 

He has to go to OVW to pay some sick and twisted WWE style dues...

 

...Or HHH will eat him.

[Guest godthedog]

speaking of trips eating rey rey...how awesome would it have been to see those 2 fight in 2000?  (shudder)

 

something else pissing me off, about the injuries: this has been about the same amount of injuries the roster has been having for the last year or 2.  actually, this year probably has LESS crucial injuries than last year, 2002's numbers are probably artificially inflated cause so many god damn old people got signed.  anyway, i'm gonna keep bitching about the wwF's current wrestling style until they change it and the injuries are reduced.  the company is pushing these guys way too hard, they need to ease off.  tell them to make a rest hold interesting instead of telling them to avoid one at all costs.  stop putting people through tables every other week.  stop using so many chair shots.  let the guys BUILD a match, instead of trying to do a full-volume match from beginning to end.  it's little shit like this that puts the extra strain on a wrestler's body and shortens his career.

[Guest Human Fly]

Was watching some Mike Awesome matches the other day from when he was running through ECW. I hope they let him do what he was capable of. He could get over pretty fast IMO. Kanyon too.

 

How much has Mysterio wrestled lately? I was wondering if they sent him to OVW just to get into ring shape.

[Guest]

Was watching some Mike Awesome matches the other day from when he was running through ECW. I hope they let him do what he was capable of.

 

The problem with that is that in WWE Awesome can't be so stiff and brutal in the ring. WWE doesn't let people work that style

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

"How much has Mysterio wrestled lately? I was wondering if they sent him to OVW just to get into ring shape. "

 

 

I'm sure he was sent down there to learn the WWE style.  IE:  no high flying moves...or anything that can be even close to resembling exciting.  Hey wasn't Lesnar a National amateur champion?  What happened to him...oh yeah...WWE style.

[Guest]

I think they just sent Mysterio down to shake off ring rust

[Guest JHawk]

The problem with that is that in WWE Awesome can't be so stiff and brutal in the ring. WWE doesn't let people work that style

And that in itself is part of the problem.  RVD and Tajiri got over initially because they didn't work the WWF style.  They're still pretty over working the WWF style, but it just isn't the same.  When was the last time Tajiri successfully used the Tarantula?  When was the last time Tazz, someone else who was getting over and never given a shot, allowed to suplex the hell out of somebody?  Note to the WWE:  We want our wrestlers to work different styles so they can have their own identity.

[Guest]

The Rock had a MRI done earlier this week on his knee. He has a small tear in his PCL, will need to have some therapy for a few weeks to assist in the recovery and should be able to go upon his return. If surgery is performed, it will require two to three weeks of rehab.

How in the Hell did the Rock get injured, if he hasn't done anything in the past few months?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I have a theory about that.

 

Why RVD and Tajiri work differently than others.

 

Remember when Taka used to wrestle on tv...and he was just different then the rest of the roster (because he was the only real cruiser they signed).  Well the division didn't get over...so they took him off tv.

 

Now Tajiri got over because of skits.  then he got in the ring...was over...and worked a different style.

 

RVD was over right away...so Vince never had a chance to tell him that his style wouldn't work...cause it does.

[Guest Brian]

But if they worked their own styles, they would just be hurt more.

 

They could deliver an incredibly diverse product which would probably stop the bleeding, but they don't want to.

[Guest]

that makes sense. vince isn't dumb enough to ruin a good thing....at least i hope he isn't!

[Guest alfdogg]

A referee dislocating a shoulder... that's a first.

Hey, it was a pretty good bump.