The Jim Ross Report
Release Date: August 8th, 2018
Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo
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0:00 – Intro
Welcome back to another week of Slobberknocker audio with J.R. Coming up on the show will be NWA Champion Nick Aldis who will be defending his title against Cody Rhodes at the All-In event.
2:06 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
J.R. gives a congratulatory shout out to the man who once set him on fire, Glenn Jacobs (Kane) for becoming the Mayor of Knox county. J.R. says they never hired a more reliable, trustworthy and professional talent than Glenn Jacobs. He’ll do a great job in the role of Mayor and will be honest and forthright. He will not be a politician but a true public servant.
Tickets for the April 6th MSG event co-ventured by Ring of Honor and NJPW go on sale Friday August 10th. J.R. is curious to see if they sell out during the first weekend since there is precedent for it with the All-In event. It’s great for ROH and NJPW to have an event at MSG.
Dan McDevitt has built the Maryland Championship wrestling promotion and has helped a lot of guys including Shane Strickland who beat WWE bound Matt Riddle for the Evolve WWN Championship. Riddle who started in MMA is a fascinating prospect with an amazing skill set and a unique look.
J.R. is in LA for AXS TV’s continuing coverage of the G1 tournament with Josh Barnett. J.R. has always said wrestlers make music and if the action is great (like the G1 has been), it makes it easy for the broadcaster to ‘provide the lyrics’. They did 3 shows today and the beautiful part about these matches is that two matches will take an hour. Coverage on AXS TV continues Friday night at 8:00 pm ET, 7:00 pm CT. J.R. loves the tournament format as it has a mainstream sports feel to it similar to the NFL and NBA playoffs.
Last week was a tough week on Jerry Lawler who lost his son Brian Christopher. J.R. is looking forward to reuniting with Jerry for their show at Zanies in Nashville and Chicago. You can get tickets for this show by going to nashville.zanies.com and rosemont.zanies.com. This is a great opportunity to meet and hear the voices of the attitude era.
J.R. saw some speculation on the future of Matt Hardy who is having issues with his lower back. Matt has taken some amazing bumps however there are are only so many bumps you have on your bump card. He has done very well and has been very successful in the business. There are a number of things Matt can do in the business that have nothing to do with wrestling such as coaching, training and commentating so let’s not count him out of the game.
One of the more interesting rivalries on TV has been the Miz and Daniel Bryan. It’s been very personal and on Smackdown, they let it get physical. J.R. likes this pairing and their match at Summerslam should be excellent. Making it personal with real life information in good taste allows the audience to get more involved in the storyline. If the story is so sensationalistic and eye rolling where the audience can’t connect to it, it’s not going to work.
The Young Bucks will be on the podcast on August 22nd talking about the All-In event. The Bucks will team up with Kota Ibushi against Rey Mysterio, Ray Fenix and Bandido. Some of the other matches will be Hangman Page vs Joey Janella and Kazuchika Okada vs Marty Scurll. The event will be available on the FITE app.
The Summerslam card is coming together with Lesnar vs Reigns, A.J. Styles vs Samoa Joe, Rousey vs Bliss, Rollins vs Ziggler for the IC title, Owens vs Strowman and Miz vs Daniel Bryan. How the matches are set up will have a direct bearing on how successful the event will be. You can’t have great momentum then put a filler match as a buffer on a big event like this. When you step on the gas, you keep your foot on the gas until the night is over.
J.R. figures either the Brock vs Reigns or Styles vs Joe will be the last match. Normally J.R. would say Brock and Reigns would be his choice for last match but wonders if the fans will hijack the match and make it a less enjoyable situation. The safest route is to have A.J. and Joe close the PPV because both will burn the house down and kick a**. Having winners and losers is important not just for Summerslam but for All-In as well. Why do you need to have a count out or DQ (amen to that). If you’re not a good enough talent to know how to lose without it burying you, then you need to move on (amen to that too).
Just when you thought Impact Wrestling was building momentum, their recent TV ratings have been the lowest they’ve been this year. J.R. thinks the issue is being on Pop TV which doesn’t have a lot of viewers to begin with. They have a talented nucleus but they have to get on a network that will give them a chance to survive.
J.R. is excited about the Mae Young Classic this year. There are some really cool talents such as Rachel Evers (Paul Ellering’s daughter), Xia Brookside (Robbie Brookside’s daughter), M.J. Jenkins, a former foster care child who has a great story. She took a 22 hour bus ride from New York to Orlando for the tryouts. The tournament is always fun and it creates opportunities. J.R. isn’t sure who he likes to win it but he wishes all the ladies the best of luck.
Big Cass (or is it Big Cazz) has announced his first post WWE appearance. He’ll be at Big Time Wrestling’s upcoming event on Friday, September 21st at the Spartanburg Auditorium, South Carolina. J.R. wonders if Impact Wrestling has their eye on him. He also thinks given the right circumstances, Big Cazz has a lot of potential. What about Impact Wrestling having Enzo Amore and Big Cazz on their show? And by the way, Bound For Glory will be in Queen’s New York so who knows?
Thoughts On RAW:
- Paul Heyman’s interview really stood out to J.R. Renee Young who also did a great job on the interview as well.
- Alicia Fox had a great outing with Ronda Rousey and took a great a** whipping. Rousey has yet to disappoint and is a natural. She is one of the reasons J.R. is not going to miss Summerslam.
- Roman Reigns had a good night and his sit down interview was logical. J.R. asks what is there to dislike other than it’s a trendy thing to do (which I completely disagree with). Roman is talented, a hard worker and you want him on your team (which I completely agree with).
Thoughts on Smackdown:
- Miz’s backstage promo where he interacted in a physical way with Daniel Bryan was excellent. They told a great story which can be credited to good writing. This is why J.R. thinks Smackdown is a better show than RAW.
32:30 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
Candidates include:
- Jerry Lawler who held his family together when his son passed. He did it with dignity and class.
- Randy Orton is reinventing himself. He’s believable, he’s credible and is a great villain.
- Glenn Jacobs the new mayor of Knox County Tennessee. It could not have gone to a better person.
- J.R. was impressed with a lot of the NFL Hall Of Fame speeches. The inductees brought it. Brian Dawkins, Randy Moss and Ray Lewis were in competition. Ray’s speech was the second longest acceptance speech behind Brett Favre
This week’s winner is King James, Lebron James. He launched a new school for at risk 3rd and 4th graders. J.R. is amazed at what James gets done and how he gives back to his community. There aren’t enough people that do significantly enough for their community and especially kids. Lebron does a phenomenal job of giving back.
38:13 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
This week’s candidates include:
- Steven Seagal (who wears too much Just For Men hair dye) has been names special envoy on US/Russian humanitarian ties by Vladimir Putin.
- The Urban Meyer fiasco. J.R. thinks Meyer is a good football coach and inherently a good man. But we can’t become so protective of our turf and legacy that we’re willing to make bad mistakes (he lied about his knowledge of a domestic dispute involving one of his coaching staff). J.R. thinks he might get fined or suspended but doesn’t see Meyer leaving Ohio. J.R. does think this whole debacle is embarrassing.
- Donald Trump for knocking Lebron James the week James opened a school for underprivileged children.
- MLB. The game is pet coon goofy sometimes and at this time of the year, a lot of people don’t care about baseball.
- Brian France of Nascar who got arrested for driving under the influence.
This week’s award goes to a TSA officer who felt compelled to encourage a pat down of Torrie Wilson in the Orlando airport. J.R. says it’s a shame that things like this happen under the cloak of ‘we’re just doing our job’. Shame on the TSA officer for orchestrating a farce against a lovely woman trying to make her way home.
40:01 – This Week In Wrestling
48 years ago – August, 15th, 1970 – Comiskey Park – Over 30,000 fans saw Verne Gagne retain the AWA Championship against Baron Von Raschke in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
33 years ago – August 10th, 1985 – MSG – Andre the Giant teamed up with Paul Orndorff to defeat Roddy Piper and Bob Orton Jr.
20 years ago – August 8th, 1988 – WCW Road Wild – DDP and Jay Leno defeated Eric Bischoff and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. This was great exposure for WCW. The match wasn’t the greatest but it got a lot of publicity.
20 years ago – August 10th, 1998 – Monday Night RAW – Kane and Mankind became the WWF Tag team champions defeating the New Age Outlaws, Steve Austin/Undertaker and Rock/D-Lo Brown in a four corners tag team match.
August 9th, 1999 – One of the most memorable moments of the Attitude Era was the countdown clock leading to Chris Jericho’s first appearance on RAW interrupting the Rock.
16 years ago – August 10th, 2002 – WWE Global Warning – The Rock defeated Triple H and Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match to retain the WWE title.
11 years ago – August 12th, 2007 – TNA Hard Justice – Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe. Kurt will soon be 50 and thinks he has one more run in him. J.R. thnks Kurt doesn’t need another run.
7 years ago – August 14th, 2011 – Summerslam – Staple Center in LA – CM Punk beats John Cena in a champion vs champion match.
This week’s Birthdays
Scott D’Amore (44), the late Alfred Hayes would have been 90, Alexa Bliss (27), King Kong (39), Savio Vega (52), Hulk Hogan (65), Bill Alfonso (61), John Coachman (46), Doc Wagner Jr. (53), Terry Taylor (63), Spike Dudley (48), Jim Brunzell (69), Johnny Gargano (31), Kofi Kingston (37), the late Eddie Gilbert would have been 57, Bobby Eaton (60), the late Gino Hernandez would have been 59 and Bob Backlund (69).
58:11 – Mailbag
Send comments and questions to TheJimRossReport@gmail.com.
Q: When will the Rock get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?
A: One thing we can all agree on is that it will happen. Why not 2019 on NYC or some Wrestlemania in Miami.
Q: Why is J.R. a big fan of John Wayne?
A: John Wayne was a favorite of J.R.’s father. and when J.R. was a kid, he would watch a lot of John Wayne movies. Also there would be companies that would buy a movie for commercial block and many of those movies were John Wayne movies.
Q: Fan asks if he can get a shout out for his 9 year wedding anniversary.
A: J.R. can’t do that because if he does it for this person he would have to do it for everyone. He says he wishes he can congratulate the fan on his wedding anniversary on the 11th but he can’t do it (which he obviously did).
Q: Can J.R. think of smaller, lesser known arenas that are special to him.
A: The downtown Municipal Arena in New Orleans was amazing. When JYD was hot, it was an amazing place.
Q: What does J.R. think of Braun Strowman cashing in his MITB for the IC title instead of the Universal Title?
A: Ain’t gonna happen. Braun is primed to be the man and quite frankly, what title in any wrestling company is hot right now? Not many. J.R. ultimately says no on the IC title. J.R. still thinks Braun should be anointed at Wrestlemania.
Q: Why was the British Bulldog never the WWE champion?
A: J.R. doesn’t know any specific reason but whatever the reason was had nothing to do with his bell to bell skillset.
1:06:12 – Nick Aldis
J.R. welcomes the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis to the show which is a term Jim has not said in a long time and says it feels good to say that.
Nick says it feels good to hear J.R. call him that. Even though Jim has never called any of Nick’s matches, he’s pictured Jim calling him that and it’s very cool to hear it.
J.R. says people may have had some doubts about the NWA coming back on the scene, trying to inject life into a dead animal that was once great. Even J.R. thought it didn’t have much hope but all of a sudden, the NWA has a strong pulse and the NWA champion is going to headline All In against Cody which is a hell of a step from where the NWA was.
Q: How much pressure does this put on Nick to deliver because he’s the guy they’re counting on?
A: This is the business they’re in and while it’s pressure, it’s a good kind of pressure. It’s the right stage of the game for Nick to do this. This isn’t the first time he’s been in a high pressure situation. He was the world champion of TNA and one could argue, he got the title in a strange time of the company as there was a lot of turmoil with TNA at the time. It’s different now because he’s a more mature person at 31. He’s a father with a whole different perspective on life and he’s been humbled a little bit.
The NWA had no expectation on them at first but now they have a strong core team at the heart of the new NWA and they’ve realized they want the same thing which is to present pro wrestling in a way can work in the modern era but still stay true to the legacy of the NWA. They also want to provide an alternative to the WWE product. They want to present pro wrestling in a way the NWA was known for which was gritty and more athletic but took the modern HBO approach in building a prize fight.
Coming back to J.R.’s question, it is pressure but Nick is coming into it with a great deal of confidence knowing what they’ve done so far has worked. Nick is comfortable driving the car and they’re all on the same page and want the same thing. Nick compares this to the Attitude Era when they were firing on all cylinders. The WWE knew what they had and wanted to keep the energy going, harness it and take it as far as possible.
Q: What were Nick’s thoughts when he heard about All-In?
A: Nick has known Marty (Scurll) so he’s kept up with that group of guys (he calls them The Being The Elite Guys). He also knew Nick and Matt Jackson when they were in TNA. There was a moment in time when The Bucks, Nick and Okada were in the TNA locker room week after week not having much to do. It’s very gratifying to see how they’ve all gone in their different direction, stuck it out in the business and fast forwarding a few years to see where they’re at and then to come full circle for them to all be at All-In.
He remembers thinking it was going to sell out but nobody saw the 30 minute sell out happening. With regards to the NWA, they were glad they had done enough to get Cody and the Young Buck’s attention. Even though Nick knew Marty and the Bucks, it wasn’t a case of the NWA lobbying Cody or the Bucks to feature them. Nick and the NWA got their attention and Cody admitted that from the beginning.
J.R. has always been a proponent of perseverance in anyone who has been in a challenging situation. He says you never get to your destination if you quit and secondly, the fact that the NWA didn’t give up speaks well for everybody. J.R. compliments Nick on being able to get to where he is now.
Nick says where he’s at now is a testament to keeping a strong sense of who he wants to be. He uses the example of Hulk Hogan starting in the business during the territory days. Hogan had no way of knowing the New York territory was going to turn into a world wide conglomerate. Hogan never thought he wanted to be the top guy in the WWF, he had a vision of who he wanted to be as Hulk Hogan which intersected with Vince McMahon’s vision of what he wanted his company to be and the result was incredible.
Many wrestlers in Nick’s generation and after create a thought that the WWE is the destination as opposed to just having a vision in your mind of who and what you want to be. Nick had this issue as well and Scott Hall snapped him out of it. Scott told Nick that he (Scott) just wanted to be a big time pro wrestler. It was so simple but that’s all Nick wanted to.
Nick continues saying, be the guy that the 15 year old you saw yourself as when you were watching wrestling. As corny as this sound, if you maintain that vision of who you want to be and stay open to an ever changing landscape and adapt, you’ll find a way to get to your goal (or very close).
J.R. says Nick has the right mindset and hopes other wrestlers have the same mindset. There’s been no better time to be a wrestling fan than now and it can be argued there’s no better time to be a wrestler. Non-WWE guys are able to go out and make a good living because the business is healthy.
Nick says it’s fitting to him that the NWA is a headline attraction for the All-In event. For different reasons, Cody and Nick represent a throwback to the previous NWA champions who were their own men. They have handled their business and negotiated this as a prize fight. There’s a healthy gamesmanship and rivalry to this match and for it to feel real, it has to be a little real.
Q: Does Nick feel Cody and he should go on last?
A: The simple answer is that it’s not Nick’s call. Also knowing some of the other things that are on that card, he can see why they may not be last. What’s most important to Nick and what he appreciates is that people in the business that he respects like J.R. have said Nick and Cody should close the show. There is a strong thread that this match should close the show which Nick takes as a huge compliment. Nick won the NWA championship on December 9th, 2017 in front of an audience that was not kind. He made a promise to himself and told Billy Corgan and Dave Lagana. He said he was going to take this championship and one way or another, get this where it needs to be and get it on the platform it deserves. Where the NWA is now is a manifestation of Nick’s work so far.
J.R. thinks the match should go last. If you’re trying to build the title, you can’t build it going on in the middle of the card or a semi-main. From a big picture perspective, they should cultivate the NWA title which can be utilized moving forward. Win, lose or draw, the NWA title needs to come out the winner.
Q: Is Cody going to be the big hero in Chicago?
A: Nick thinks Cody will get a positive response. He is also not under any illusions that he had any part of building that house. He does believe the build to their match has been very good business and believes that will be reflected in the PPV buy rate. He also believes their work and the anticipation of this match is a strong reason why the event went to PPV. Having said that, Cody is under a lot of pressure. He answered the first call of putting the card together and now Cody has to deliver and wants that big moment. Nick also looks at this as his coming out party which is the theme for everyone at All-In. It’s a bunch of self starters that bet on themselves and you can be sure every single person is going to show the world this is why they should be on this stage. They are all going to feed off each other and there will be a lot of ‘follow that’ going on.
J.R. hopes the matches are managed well where there aren’t a lot of the same spots and set ups in all the matches because it takes away from the individuality. Nick agrees and his been very vocal about this. He sees this as an issue in his generation and think it’s a leadership role to keep remind the wrestlers not to do this. From what he’s seen in ROH, Cody takes on that leadership role as best he can and treads the line carefully as you can get heat from that. Also, Joey Mercury will be backstage at the event and is a brilliant guy. Nick believes there are very few people more valuable than Joey (as an agent). J.R. agrees that Joey has a great wrestling mind.
J.R. says the thing for Cody and the Bucks is that they can’t get too concerned about everyone’s issues. Usually the bookers would entertain those issues but Cody and the Bucks are talent who have their own matches to worry about.
There’s also a lot of potential emotional storylines which can be hard to harness. Nick says Billy (Corgan) made an interesting point. While they look at the family lineage element as a cool wrestling thing, to Cody it’s about making his father proud. These things all exist for Nick as well because he wants to make his family proud and on top of that, Dusty Rhodes is one of the greatest of all time and is synonymous with the NWA title and brand. The fact that Dusty is a part of this storyline is big to Nick also. He wants to make Dream proud as well and honor not just Dusty’s legacy but Ric Flair, Terry Funk and Jack Brisco’s legacies as well. It’s something he takes very seriously and when he hears his name mentioned in that list of names, it’s odd to him because he doesn’t feel he deserves it but will do his best to earn that.
Q: How is Mickie James doing?
A: She’s great. She was recently in Orlando doing photo shoots for the Evolution PPV. She’s grateful for getting another shot in the WWE. He’s very proud of her and thinks Mickie will go down as one of the best of all time. J.R. agrees and says she is one of the best females they ever hired in any era.
J.R. wishes Nick the best of luck at All-In and hopes he has the match of his life. Don’t try to do too much, have fun and tell a great story. J.R. thanks Nick for being on the show and they sign off.
1:36:24 – Show Wrap
J.R. reads some of his 5 star reviews, pushes some of the other Westwood One wrestling podcasts. On the podcast next week will be the one and only Nature Boy Ric Flair. And that is a wrap.
Rating – 8/10
Strong show from J.R. this week. As someone who grew up in the territory days it was nice (and nostalgic) to hear from the NWA champ even though the NWA is not what it used to be. I didn’t know too much about Aldis but I love his attitude and views on the business. He and the NWA team seem to be going in the right direction. I would love to see them get to a place of prominence again even though it would be completely different than it was. I hope he and Cody do have a great match and can live up to the legacy of the old NWA. Overall, good podcast.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
2:06 – What’s On J.R.’s Mind
32:30 – Slobberknocker Of The Week
38:13 – Pet Coon Goofy Award
58:11 – Mailbag
1:06:12 – Nick Aldis
1:36:24 – Show Wrap
About Joe:
Joe is a long time wrestling fan from Toronto. One of his life goals is to be a guest host on one of Wade Keller’s post show podcasts but until that happens, he’ll keep writing for PW Podcasts. He doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert, mark, smark or IWC type. He just likes wrestling. Check him out on twitter and instagram @ja113.
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