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JR's Blog: Thanks Toronto, Trish Stratus, ROH Wrestling, JR'S Chicago Show, Part 2 w/ Shawn Michaels On Ross Report Podcast, It's Grilling Season!

Posted: May 12th 2014 By: Jim Ross

Great to be back in Oklahoma after a terrific trip to Toronto. Here's more...

I want to thank all the great fans and the members of the TO media for their help in making our show in Toronto such a success. The Danforth Music Hall is a classy venue who treated us royally and with total professionalism. John Pollock did his usual stellar job MC'ing our, at times, run away train not to mention the tireless work that he and his team did in promoting our show. Thanks to John and his crew and the nearly 750 folks who saw our show.

It was great seeing Carl Demarco, former President of WWE Canada, along with former WWE referee Jimmy Korderus, wrestling trainer extraordinaire Ron Hutchinson, and, of course, the amazing WWE HOFer and one of my most favorite people in the world, Trish Stratus, who joined me on stage as a surprise participant on our Q&A's. WE ate the bet Greek food I've ever had in Greek Town near the Danforth thanks to Trish. It was an unforgettable night.

Our next RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross show will be on Saturday afternoon May 31 in Chicago at the House of Blues with a special start time of 2 pm. The VIP meet and greet facet of the show will be BEFORE the show starts likely starting at noon. Tickets are limited for the VIP's so if that's of interest to you I'd suggest that you visit ticketmaster.com sooner than later. Tickets will also be available at the door the day of the event which is 24 hours before WWE is in Chicago for Payback. I hope that if you are in the Chicagoland area that you will plan on joining us in a city that hosted one of my all time favorite memories of my entire career. Let's celebrate together on Saturday May 31 starting at 2 pm.

We'll have some new, JR's tee's at the event from http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/JimRoss at the event not to mention JR's BBQ Sauces, Chipotle Ketchup and Main Event Mustard. We might even bring along some beef jerky.

The funny and talented Marty DeRosa will MC our Chicago show and I'm already planning on a few surprises.

Very grateful to Fox Sports and Golden Boy Promotions for extending me the opportunity to jump back on some play by play for their Memorial Day night boxing from Ft. Bliss, Texas that will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. My old pal Mauro Ranallo will "coach me up" and I will be ready to rock the Monday night away.

I've been a lifelong boxing fan so this will be a big thrill for me to be able to stick my toe in new water. I hope that you will check it out and I will have more info on the special night in the next few days. My late father was a HUGE boxing fan and I know that he would be so proud of me which makes the whole process a win before I even fly to El Paso.

Really enjoyed what I saw of the ROH-New Japan event Saturday night in Toronto. I had another meeting to attend so I only got to see a little over half the event but it was fun to see so many wrestlers who truly love the business and who bust their ass for their fans. No group from top to bottom that I've seen in a good while works harder than the talents that I saw work Saturday night. I love the Briscoe Brothers and know they would have kicked ass in the Attitude Era. Two, naturally colorful characters and a helluva tag team. Got to meet Kevin Steen, who I like a great deal, and AJ Styles who will be my guest on an up coming Ross Report Podcast this summer. All are outstanding talents and, without question, and how a major promotion couldn't utilize these men's skills, among others, is a mystery to me.

My thanks to Joe Koff and to Gary Juster of ROH for their hospitality and to all the "boys" that I got to meet and visit with throughout the night. Good catching up with my former broadcast partner and Florida State alum Kevin Kelly, who along with Steve Corino, are a fun combo to have broadcasting a wrestling show. TV director Dan Bynum is an old pal from our early as in from the beginning of the WCW days and he's still doing his thing. It was also good seeing the lovely Maria Kanellis, another former WWE diva, who was as nice and personable as ever plus she took a helluva bump in the match in which she was involved.

The IPPV this Saturday featuring War of the Worlds should be a fantastic show especially if one likes fast paced, in ring wrestling action and not too much talk or lame skits. I'd still like to see the pace of the ROH matches slow down a bit and the talent sell more but no one and I mean no one can fault the effort of the talents. One more thing ROH should invest in is better ring lighting.

Check out Belly Buster Subs in Toronto for JR's products as they are now going to stock them in their sub shops.

We had a great week on the Ross Report Podcast that you can download for free at podcastone.com and over at iTunes. The Shawn Michaels part one interview was a hit and part two will drop on Tuesday at 6 pm pacific time. HBK and I talk about him laying out the Flair Retirement Match which is captivating, working with Mr. McMahon at WrestleMania, how close HBK came to coming out of retirement to wrestle Daniel Bryan and much more. Part two of the Shawn Michaels interview is truly excellent because of Shawn's non agenda honesty and the wide range of topics that he discusses.

I really appreciate everyone supporting our podcast and our sponsors as well. The Ross Report was #1 in the iTunes Sports category most of the week last week which is huge considering that we only produce one show per week. That success is because of the great fans who give our show a listen. Together we're building something special.

Remember, for a very limited time only if you use the code Ross Report at wweshop.com that you will save 20% off on all purchases of JR's products. Great savings right here at the grilling season. This promotion is in conjunction with our podcast and WWEShop.com

It's a best of three series now with the OKC Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers. Like many other athletic and show biz endeavors it will come down to FUNDAMENTALS....who gets the 50/50 loose balls, who bangs the hardest on the boards and who really wants to play defense for four quarters. I'm an OKC guy but I really like the coaching of Doc Rivers and what he's done with the Clips especially since the Donald Sterling fiasco.

If you live in the UK, Ireland or Europe you can order JR's products online with rapid delivery and great service from americansoda.co.uk and beyondtheropes.co.uk.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you will follow me on Twitter @JRsBBQ. I will endeavor to answer many of the Q&A's ASAP so bear with me.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ