Jim Ross Talks When Seth Rollins Should Drop The Title, Who The Future Of The WWE Is, More
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke to the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling Podcast recently to discuss his one-man show, as well as the current state of the WWE. You can see highlights below, or the full podcast at this link.
The South-Eastern leg of his one-man show: Ringside: An Evening with Jim Ross:
"Anytime you play a market that was a territorial hub then you generally get a very educated fan base that are very loyal. That translates into some very compelling and intriguing question and answers. I've found that a big part of my shows and the most entertaining aspects are the question and answer portions which we devote about ninety minutes to and it's all uncensored, nothing off limits but you just hope that people use good judgment in their questioning but that sometimes is what it is. In the hub cities like Charlotte or Knoxville generally the difference is that the Q and A's go a little deeper and the fans are a little bit more territorial as far as their questions going territory oriented and "back in the day" oriented rather then what is going on like the last week on Raw."
If there is still a true "heel," and WrestleMania 32:
"I would not take the championship of Seth Rollins until WrestleMania. At WrestleMania if I have something that I believes work then that is where he would drop the title. By then he would have had a full year and if he is not over and he is not a "made man" after being champion then you can't blame the promotion. He's like any of the villains on TV whether it is WWE, Ring of Honor, TNA or Lucha Underground there is not enough of guys that cheat to gain an unfair advantage. Villains must stop working for the "pop" or the "this is awesome". If I were a villain in a true sense of the word that would piss me off to no end. My work should be menacing, dangerous and dirty. It is supposed to enhance your dance partner and make the baby-face more of a bigger, stronger and powerful ticket selling, merchandise selling entity. Too many heels would rather work for a "pop", then work for "heat". When you take that angst away there is a fine line between good and evil and if it disappears I say good luck to the business. When you take away the "heel"/"villain dynamic I don't know what you have got?"
Seth Rollins being the future of WWE:
"I don't know that the WWE Champion has to be the future of the company, I don't know if anyone person should be the future of the company. If it is that's poor management because you don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket. I am very proud of the worker that he (Seth Rollins) has become. He has a great mind for the business. He is a bookers dream, in other words he is a beatable champion. In the territory days or the live event days theoretically on any given night that he is defending the title he can be beat. He's not so physically imposing that he looks unbeatable and I like that. If you are going to have a heel champion then I like one that has vulnerability."
Not knowing match finishes when he called them:
"How can you listen to The Undertaker/ Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match and say I wasn't emotionally involved in that. I thought he (Foley) died. I thought "we" killed him, "we" meaning the company and booking that match and putting the pressure on this big main event that he had paid the ultimate price to have a great match. Everything you hear on that sound bite was nothing rehearsed because (Jerry) Lawler and I didn't even know what they were going to do that night. I was talking with Jerry the other day and asked if he remembered us sitting down and going over finishes and he said "we never did". We didn't want to know, we wanted to be surprised. Even Bob Caudle, we hardly ever knew. I think sometimes with announcers in today's world, the less you know about what is supposed to happen the better off you are. You broadcast what you see and you communicate it in an organic, natural fashion. I think that's why at one point in time my work was accepted well because my style was physical, it was snug, it was athletic and as my first wrestling boss Bill Watts wanted it was called as a "shoot"."
Who brought out his most raw emotions while on commentary:
"With Sting, he started in Mid-South and I saw him from when he had gone to Tennessee (he and Hellwig) very very briefly then he came to work for Bill (Watts) in Mid-South so I've known him forever. I had a great re-pour with him. I had an emotional investment into that character. When he was in WCW he was our guy and one of the survivors that made it after the buyout when Crocket bought UWF. Sting was one of the guys that actually survived. So I kind of felt a kinship with him and I liked him a great deal personally. The guy that brought out the most organic, guttural passion from me was Stone Cold and I would say that later on guys like The Rock because I signed him and he was "my boy" from day one as a rookie, Shawn Michaels coming back after being gone for four years was amazing to me and I got so into his matches. When I was being phased out when he got to his run with The Undertaker i got to call WrestleMania 25 and that one match and I am thankful for that. There are different guys at different times in my life and my career that brought just a little more juice in me. But over the long haul Austin from start to finish was special but he wasn't the only one because Sting was my Stone Cold before Stone Cold became that guy and before Sting there was Dr. Death (Steve Williams). He was like my little brother, well maybe not so little."
His friendship with Dr. Death Steve Williams:
"It was a great honor and also a great heartbreak to give the Eulogy at his funeral. I've been able to give the Eulogies at Jack Brisco's funeral and Steve "Dr. Death" Williams' funeral and I am not trying to make a career out of doing Eulogies but it's just nice enough that the families think enough about the relationships I had with the deceased that they ask me to say a few words. Doc was very special. Doc should have had a long run in Jim Crocket Promotions. Doc should have been NWA Champion at least for a run, because he damn sure would have been believable. He just didn't feel that it would be a steady thing to build his career on so he decided to go the Japanese route and that worked out for him just fine."
Jim Ross talks about so many other phenomenal aspects of his career including the similarities between Bill Watts, Vince McMahon and his father, not signing AJ Styles in 2001, calling the action of New Japan Pro Wrestling and loving the stars they produce, Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, his favorite color commentator, his blog, his podcast and his last departure from the WWE.