• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

JR's Blog: JR's WWE Battleground Thoughts, Bout of the Night, NWA Legends in #Charlotte, Subscribe to The Ross Report Podcast for FREE at iTunes!

Posted: Jul 26th 2016 By: Jim Ross

Greetings everyone and welcome to our site. Busy Monday as usual with The Ross Report Podcast production set to record Bruce Mitchell of Pro Wrestling Torch and we will talk about the WWE Draft, Battleground, Waterloo HOF, and much more for a show that drops Tuesday night at 9 PM ET on PodcastOne and iTunes.

WWE Battleground was an enjoyable wrestling broadcast Sunday night on the WWE Network. Random thoughts include:

Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn was strong and one of the best WWE bouts of the year.

The Triple Threat bout for the WWE Title delivered while closing the show which is never easy in today's marketplace. I thought that the right man won and the finish was well done. Reigns got a viable, antagonist reaction that felt like money to me. Heel money is green too.

Why should I dislike alleged villain Seth Rollins? He rarely cheats, he's a great athlete that does tons of fan favorite spots and has overcome a potential career threatening injury that was well documented. Getting fans to dislike Rollins is going to be challenging abased on the current lay of the land.

Thought the aggression from Nattie and Becky Lynch was noticeable and well done. Nattie is evolving into a marketable villain and may be better cast in that role than as a fan favorite at this time. These women had to follow the likely match of the night which isn't easy.

Thought one of the best finishes of the night was in the pre game show where Tyler Breeze and Fandango, a highly underrated tag team, surprised the Uso's in a nice bout. The antagonists will benefit from creative continuity that hopefully he will come.

Enzo Amore was a star on the mic with one of the better in ring talking segments that I can recall in WWE in a long while. Really happy for Enzo and Cass especially considering that Cass was once considered to be expendable in NXT. I remember that production meeting where that matter was discussed as the ESPN cameras were there taping for the feature that was done on NXT.

The Jericho Highlight Reel was well done and Orton delivered a memorable line regarding not needing to be "enhanced" referring to Brock Lesnar's drug test failure surrounding UFC 200. Cool line. Most memorable line of the night. Jericho was a perfect foil for Orton Sunday night.

Thought the IC title bout was a bit of a train wreck but that can be attributed to trying to do too much in the time allotted and/or the general layout of the match. It did the IC Title no favors.

Smart booking to open the main show with Bailey joining Sasha Banks which the live audience responded to in a major way.

As I said on Twitter Sunday night, it doesn't hurt AJ Styles to lose a fall in a six man tag as he did while John Cena evened his record to 1-1 against Styles. Styles is an amazing talent if you haven't noticed, arguably the best in ring performer in WWE today.

There were some sloppy, in ring moments during the night that I attribute to talents working too fast and not taking the time to properly sell during their matches. Matches devoid of proper selling thoroughly discounts the talent's efforts and the perception of their bouts. It's a head scratcher as to why more talents don't comprehend the art of selling and that selling should not be perceived as a 'weakness.'

We taped a strong boxing card Saturday night in Cancun that will air on CBS Sports Network on Thursday night August 4. Please check your local listings and plan on join Al Bernstein and me for this broadcast.

Looking forward to all the activities next week I have on tap including a trip to LA to record several NJPW shows for AXSTV with Josh Barnett. Then I fly from Los Angeles to Charlotte to take part in the much anticipated NWA Legends Fan Fest August 4-7. This annual event is a 'must attend' event if you are able. For all the info, and there is a great deal of it, visit www.nwalegends.com.

As I have said numerous times, the WWE Draft jury will be out until at least Wrestlemania in Orlando as that will give everyone an indication what each brand, RAW and Smackdown, has developed to contribute to the biggest show of the year. I suggest that fans not get to wrapped up in the early going of this matter while fully realizing that this suggestion will likely fall on deaf ears.

Some took exception to my Twitter comment Sunday about the women of WWE and their long, flowing hair extensions and I merely suggested that the 'sameness' was my issue and that there wasn't enough individuality among the WWE women. This has nothing to do with 'real' hair but all about the lack of individuality that exists. Is it a big deal? Of course it isn't but was merely an observation. For those who might think that I am not a fan of the women in WWE then you must be new to the party.

For those who did protest loudly, I suggest that you "Lighten Up Francis."

The Q&A's here on the site are updated. Feel free to submit your questions and if they aren't to wordy I will do my best to address them. Please try and ask one question and not multiple questions in the same email. Thanks.

Please consider subscribing to The Ross Report on iTunes for FREE as it helps us in the ratings and it allows you to never miss a show as they will be automatically downloaded into the device of your choice as soon as the new show drops which is Tuesday nights at 9 pm ET.

Have a great day...

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ