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JR's Blog: Baltimore Report, WWE Payback Thoughts, Austin/WWE Network, Impact Wrestling Moves to Wednesdays=Daunting, New Japan-ROH Success, WWEShop.com has JR's Ready to Deliver

Posted: May 18th 2015 By: Jim Ross

What a weekend with our successful show in Baltimore at Rams Head Live, eating some amazing food, hanging with the great guys from Maryland Championship Wrestling and then flying home in time to watch WWE's Payback event also in Baltimore. My sincere thanks to all the folks in Baltimore who made my three days there so special. Our next two RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross Shows are going to be in August, at this time, on Wednesday August 19 from the Washington, D.C. Improv followed later in the week, Summer Slam weekend, on Saturday August 22 in the Gramercy Theater in New York City with both shows starting at 8 pm. The Gramercy event has tickets on sale now at ticketmaster.com. The D.C. Improv show hasn't put tickets on sale and we will update every one of the on sale info ASAP.

WWE Payback Thoughts:

Overall, I thought the show was solid...not great but certainly a solid show that had it's moments. With the overall lack of main event depth in the business, I often wonder if it's possible to have a successful run of 'great' shows from beginning until end within the PPV world. Nonetheless, Payback was solid and I'm happy that I got home in time to watch it live.

Thought Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler had a damn good opener and Ziggler demonstrated how important it is to sell. Selling is one of the key, lost arts in the wrestling biz and Ziggler is great at it. Sheamus is much more comfortable as a villain then he ever was as a fan favorite.

Still like the duo of Cesaro & Kidd adding much needed credibility to the tag team scene and feel that New Day has the potential of being a viable tag team. New Day has the necessary traits to not be cheered as as they continue to learn the art of 'cheating' their stock will rise. Fun to see a two out of three fall match brought out of the moth balls as well.

Innovative conclusion of the Cena vs. Rusev 'I Quit' match and now I wonder what fan favorite is going to come to Lana's aid as it's relatively obvious that she and her burly associate are essentially done. I don't think that we need to see to many more Cena vs. Rusev TV bouts especially considering Rusev has lost three in a row on PPV's to Cena. The question is who's next for Cena of which I'd assume we will find out Monday night. Breaking things and 'stunts' equates to today's blood in a PG world of wrestling.

The Naomi/Tamina combo is a nice pairing and these two can add to the main roster Divas action especially when some of the NXT ladies are called up to add some quality depth to this area of WWE programming. I feel for the RAW/Smackdown ladies as the crowds seem disconnected with them unlike their peers in NXT. It's all a matter of positioning and perception.

As I've said for a good while, I think that Bray Wyatt is a frog hair away from being a viable, ticket and merch selling, character baby face/fan favorite. Admirable that Wyatt & Ryback tried some new, risky content but was it really necessary? Tough booking as neither guy is hot and both are liked by various factions of fans which makes their matches against each other tough to successfully pull off. I do appreciate the effort of both men to work hard to deliver in a tough spot.

Not sure why Neville did not beat Wade Barrett as the countout conclusion and then the post match action lost me. The match between the two Brits was fine but the conclusion did no one any favors. What did it accomplish?

The show did need a big finish and the Fatal Four Way WWE Title bout delivered that result. The fans certainly made their feelings known that they wanted the Shield to get back together. Will WWE listen or do they have a better plan in mind? I do feel that Reigns should be a villain without question which will subsequently foster him straight into the upper echelon as a fan favorite if executed soundly and logically. I had no problem with Rollins winning even though some fans via Twitter @JRsBBQ did but Rollins is still evolving and I say let him grow. As I've said on the Ross Report podcast, I'd keep Rollins as the champion including him dodging a Lesnar bullet at Summer Slam, Lesnar wins the Royal Rumble and then it's Brock vs Rollins at WrestleMania in Texas where the 'chasing' fan favorite regains the championship.

Fun seeing my pal Baltimore Oriole Adam Jones interacting with the New Day trio as Adam is a huge fan who I met at Camden Yards Friday night at the Orioles game. Adam is one of MLB's best players and he was excited to be attending the Sunday night show.

As I eluded to in one of our last blogs here a few days ago, Steve Austin is returning to the WWE Network on June 1 to interview Paul Heyman. That will be a great piece of business between two old friends. Smart positioning by WWE to entice fans to subscribe to the WWE Network. That interview alone is worth the $9.99.

Ross Report Podcast this week is going to be special and no doubt controversial because my guest loves speaking his mind on a variety of subjects. I will be joined by former WCW broadcaster and current Pittsburgh radio Icon Mark Madden. Mark is one our best guests and we will review WWE Payback, TNA, ROH, the Steelers, Tom Brady and much more. The new show drops at 9 pm ET on iTunes, Podcastone.com, and here on the home page this website.

Also this week I will be talking to both Bret 'Hitman' Hart and Mike Tenay for future Ross Report Podcasts. Then Wednesday night I finally get to exhale as the Mrs. and I will go see the Eagles live in concert in OKC. Nice week to say the least.

TNA Impact moving to Wednesday nights on the elusive Destination America is ill timed but might work out better for TNA in the Long run. Going to the virtually unknown network is one hurdle and now challenging their viewers to follow them to another night is even more daunting.

Apparently the NJPW-ROH shows were badass wrestling events the past few days in Philly and Toronto. That comes as no shock to me. Now how does ROH maximize their opportunity post live event? I'd love to see a DVD of the shows.

Thanks to all that braved the rain in downtown Baltimore Saturday night to join me at Rams Head Live which is a superb venue that we will play again. We had approximately 300+ fans on hand who were great to speak to and I particularly enjoyed the Q&A portion of our show. Loved dining at Sabatino's, Chaps Pit Beef, and Jimmy's Seafood.

Find JR's products for North American delivery at www.wweshop.com.

Thanks for stopping by.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ