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JR's Blog: Austin Aries on Ross Report, JR on Conor McGregor, RAW London Feedback, Boxing News

Posted: Apr 20th 2016 By: Jim Ross

Happy to welcome one of the top hands in all of pro wrestling to this week's Ross Report Podcast when Austin Aries joins me for the first time. A new Ross Report drops every Tuesday night at 9 PM ET on www.podcastone.com , iTunes and right here on the home page of our website. Austin and I talk ROH, TNA and his new home in WWE. Find out how a guy under 6 feet tall is able to wrestle "big,"

Monday night I had the pleasure of conducting two long conversations with Joe Koff, COO of Ring of Honor Wrestling and with my old pal The Coach, Jonathan Coachman of ESPN. These two ross Reprts will air over the next two weeks starting with Joe Koff next week followed by The Coach. You are going to enjoy both these conversations I assure you. Thanks to those of you that submitted Twitter questions to me at @JRsBBQ.

UFC superstar Conor McGregor sent out a mysterious Tweet Tuesday afternoon hinting that he might be retiring. Let's cut to the chase..unless McGregor has been so touched by the tragic and unexpected death of a fighting colleague recently and has possibly lost his will to compete, this matter is likely about one the two C's.

The two C's you ask?

They would be ..cash and creative.

I'd likely lay some more cash i.e. 'cheese' at McGregor's alligator shoes wearing feet and make him happy.

Could McGregor's lifestyle demands require new funding?

Or could the savvy Irishman realize that the UFC needs him much worse at this time than they might want to admit?

Finally, and after further review, could a McGregor management decision have been made that fighting Mr. Diaz simply isn't a sound, stylistic fight for McGregor to take?

Nonetheless, I'll hang my black hat on this matter about being about one of the two C's and if it's not I might be persuaded to eat said black hat as long as I could sauce it in some JR's.

"Conor, we hardly knew ye." Say it ain't so.

McGregor is too much fun to watch fight and the UFC is too smart an organization to not quickly and efficiently address this matter.

RAW London Feedback..

3 hours is still a long time to watch any TV show, movie, etc for many of us but somehow, no matter how busy we may be, we find a way to watch the WWE's flagship broadcast most every Monday night. For me, I DVR the show and watch when I can and often times in varying intervals. Monday's show was solid and I particularly enjoyed the new faces on the show especially those that have begun appearing on RAW since January. WWE has signed some of the best in ring workers in the world and smart booking should indicate that those highly skilled talents be turned loose in the ring. Great bookers have always exposed their performer's perceived strengths and then do all that's possible to conceal said talent's weaknesses.

Thought the Bullet Club's Anderson and Gallows had a nice, impactful debut. I need to see them get on a winning roll on RAW and Smackdown and for WWE to do all that they can from a creative standpoint to tell me who or what the Bullet Club is or was even if WWE can't utilize the actual Bullet Club logo. It's still possible to do the same faction with another name if need be.

Didn't bother me seeing the villain, Jericho, defeat the hero, Zayn. These two are merely laying foundations for the future and any top star ala Sami Zayn should be able to lose to another star's finisher. In a smart booking universe, no one talent would be immune to that rule of thumb. Sami Zayn is a classic overachieving, underdog type wrestler who will never quit and as long as he never quits and gets his share of wins the Montreal native will evolve quite nicely.

Nice job with Ambrose and Owens doing strong work on Monday night. Grateful to see a finish and not a lame, benign ending. Great workers should know how to preserve themselves even in a losing effort and Owens certainly has the skill level to do so. I see big money in Kevin Owens, a legit, pro wresting villain.

WWE is booking Baron Corbin well and hopefully he's getting valuable experience and teaching on the road at live events. Plus, I will enjoy seeing how Corbin holds up to a motivated, Dolph Ziggler in their first significant, TV bout. Timely opportunities await the winner of the Andre Battle Royal at W32. My advice for Mr. Corbin is to seize them tightly.

The more WWE can highlight Cesaro the better it is for me. He's a wrestler who knows how to present the product in an old school, fundament way with the proper nuances that keep him contemporary.

The women got on TV, that's a minor win in itself, but the multiple person scenario makes it hard for many of them to shine. I do look forward to Charlotte vs Natalya as the match should be excellent if adequate time is devoted to it plus with Natich and the Hitman at ringside that adds a nice wrinkle.

I find the fan friendly authority figure to role to be a refreshing change of pace from the nearly two decade role of the antagonist authority figure. I'm happy to see Shane McMahon back on TV as he's an established TV character who's fresh again.

Our boxing broadcast last Saturday night on @CBSSportsNet from the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center next to the D Hotel and Casino has received excellent reviews from many and we have another Knockout Night at the D scheduled for Saturday night May 21. Talks are ongoing from what I'm told about perhaps up to 20 shows being scheduled in the future in multiple locations. This is an exciting new venture for me and I'm excited for what the future may hold and I hope that you will come along for the journey.

The Q&A's elsewhere on the site are updated.

Enjoy our Austin Aries Podcast on www.podcastone.com, via iTunes and right here on the homepage of our site.

Please download our @FiteTV App for FREE and see how great it is especially if you are a fan of pro wrestling, MMA, Boxing and more combat sports.

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J.R. @JRsBBQ