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JR's Blog: WK11 to AXSTV, Phoenix Stand Up Live, Strowman Development, A. Riley on Ross Report, Impactful Jarrett, ITV

Posted: Jan 9th 2017 By: Jim Ross

Welcome and a belated Happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for the January 3 birthday wishes, too. I'm burning daylight so here we go...

Some busy and exciting days on the horizon including joining Josh Barnett next week to voiceover the Wrestle Kingdom 11 card that will begin airing on AXSTV Friday night January 13 at 8/7 CT with the main event kicking off our 4 Fridays of WK11 action on Mark Cuban's network. I'm told that the bouts that will be airing on AXSTV will be airing essentially in their entirely which means that important match elements will not be edited due to time issues. That's good news for us all thanks to AXSTV.

I am refraining from watching the show broadcast live by my friends Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino who I am told did a stellar job which comes as no surprise. I want to see the show for the first time from start to finish when we voice it over. It;s alike a sporting event to me and I will call what I see as it relates to the video but will certainly prepare adequately in advance of these much anticipated VO's.

Tickets for our RINGSIDE with Jim Ross Show in Phoenix at Stand Up Live on Thursday night January 12 are available at www.standuplive.com starting at ony $25 and tickets will also be available at the door the night of the show. VIP tickets that get you early entry, meet/greet. photo op, personalized autographs, etc are also still available but those tickets are limited. Go VIP if you can and I will definitely make it worth your while.

Watched Monday's RAW via DVR as I was at the Sugar Bowl (Big, OU Win!) when RAW aired live. Takeaways include the return of Bill Goldberg who made a noticeable impact and the continued build of Braun Strowman who is seemingly in route to becoming a major player in WWE. Hopefully Strowman's evolution with continue to conceal his inexperience especially his 'selling' skill set. WWE has done a good job in separating the big man from the pack and now we will see how he adds to the company's faith in him by getting better each day in some area of his profession.

Interesting note.. a NOLA police officer told me that Wrestlemania 2018 would be back at the Super Dome which is great for NOLA if true.

SDLive was highlighted by the AJ-Cena contract signing, Dean Ambrose having a strong bout with The Miz in wining the IC title, and Dolph Ziggler carrying the rapidly improving Baron Corbin to what was arguably Corbin's best WWE TV bout to date.

If Ziggler becoming a TV villain gets Dolph moved up in the cards and moe exposure then it is a great move as the talented athlete is a natural, antagonist.

Enjoyed talking to Alex Riley who is now known as Kevin Kiley, Jr, his legal name, on this week's Ross Report Podcast available at www.podcastone.com, iTunes and here on the homepage of our site. Why did the one time highly regarded, former Boston College linebacker never make it over the hump in WWE as many predicted that he would? This is a revealing interview that I think that you will enjoy.

Next Tuesday night at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET on a new Ross Report, Drew Galloway will join me for the first time on the show. Drew is a great guest with plenty to discuss.

We are working on a couple of fun appearances at this year's WrestleCon in Orlando and an announcement will be coming soon.

Our traditional RINGSIDE shows at Wrestlemania are on sale now at www.ticketfly.com and those events will both be noon matinees on Saturday April 1 and Sunday April 2 at Plaza Live. Tickets start at only $25 and we've got a limited amount of VIP tickets for both shows available. Those that have attended our past Wrestlemania shows know that we deliver and have a blast at these events.

Jeff Jarrett to the new ownership group of Impact Wrestling is good news IMO. Jeff has many viable projects at play and he knows that he has my support. The pro wrestling business needs every viable company that it can muster to be successful and provide each other with much needed competition and crucial, talent development. This arrangement could eventually wind up being a part of something even bigger. Stay tuned. It sounds like the new ownership group, Anthem, has made some wise decisions early in their tenure. Jeff was brought back to be a consultant.

The Q&A's here on the site are updated as of Thursday midday CT. Check them out...the price is right..another free service.

No word yet on ITV picking up the World of Sport wrestling series after the successful two hour special that aired in Britain on New Years Eve that apparently garnered over 1M viewers on what I'd assume was a challenging night. I do know that ITV executive were happy with the feedback that they have received and that an announcement is expected soon as in any time.

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Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ