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JR's Blog: New, JR's Blog, NBA vs RAW, WWE Draft, 1st UWF Title Tourney, Ricochet-Ospreay, GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY

Posted: May 31st 2016 By: Jim Ross

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE AND TO THE MILITARY HEROES AND THEIR FAMILIES IN OUR LIVES WHO HAVE PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR OUR FREEDOM. MANY BLESSINGS TO EACH OF YOU WHERE EVER YOU ARE TODAY.

Here are a few random thoughts before I fire up our grill and then button up this week's The Ross Report Podcast featuring an entertaining and informative conversation with former WWE Cryme Tyme member JTG. A new, The Ross Report drops every Tuesday night at 9 ET at podcastone.com, iTunes and here on the homepage of our site.

You can easily listen to our most current The Ross Report with former WWE creative team member Andrew Goldstein and me by going to the home page of this site and making one, simple click.

Latest autobiography timeline...Paul O'Brien and I hope to have our labor of love completed in time for a 2017 release. Funny how some major publishing houses were more interested in our book before they found out it was not going to be a salacious, low brow, tell all lined with dirt and embarrassing stories of many of the noteworthy individuals that I have worked with in my career. We are compiling a helluva book with tons of stories, life experiences and professional experiences of a life long pro wresting fan enduring all that comes with that distinction of one who left the farm of rural Oklahoma to become a 'rasslin' lifer.' Honored to say that no one in pro wrestling history has had a journey like ours. Also happy to proclaim that we do have some top publishing companies interested in our work. Excited, publishing days lie ahead.

While I would love to see the OKC Thunder shock the NBA world by winning Monday night's game 7 in Oakland and advance to the NBA Finals vs Cleveland, it will take a massive effort and a bit of luck for my OKC to do so. This game will also likely motivate more fans than usual to DVR Monday Night RAW which will feature the long awaited return of John Cena.

It would be interesting to see Cena and Roman Reigns together in an in ring segment together before the live, Green Bay crowd. I'd be curious as to the fan's reactions.

The announcement of the upcoming WWE brand separation has created endless speculation as to how WWE will successfully accomplish what they did not accomplish the first time the brand separation occurred. I've outlined many of my thoughts on this matter in previous blogs posted over the past few days here on the site. Check them out as they are quick reads and will provide you a sense of where I think this potentially, rewarding move may evolve.

The one thing that I think most can agree on is that there will be plenty of second guessing by fans once the "Draft" happens. WWE is damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to the Draft. I suggest letting it happen and then give it an opportunity to see how it develops or is that asking too much?

WWE Raw emanates from Green Bay and one of the last times that I recall broadcasting from of the home of the Packers was the night Donald Trump was there and I remember having a positive conversation with the billionaire, Presidential candidate. He never took off his cashmere overcoat the entire night as I recall.

John Cena does not need to be in the upcoming MITB match IMO. Why not get him back involved in the United State Title picture including a potential USA vs Bulgaria US Title match on Memorial Day? I can already hear the screams of some fans.

I'd love to see WWE do the Draft Show on their network and make it a 2 hour, or more, show to make it as special as possible. The viewers won't perceive the Draft to be momentous unless it is presented as such. The start to making this brand separation, Smackdown going LIVE on Tuesdays on the USA Network, etc scenario to be big league is to produce a big league, Draft Day broadcast. I assume that the three hour RAW window will likely be used to consummate the Draft and to launch three, separate rosters.

As I wrote about several days ago, this is a prime opportunity to see broadcaster Cory Graves migrate to the Smackdown announce trio joining Jerry Lawler and Mauro Ranallo.

Getting great feedback on @AXSTV coverage of New Japan's G1 Climax tournament on Friday nights at 9/8CT. It's arguably the best in ring product in the world and the 2015 G1 helped cement several wrestlers to superstar status it can be debated. It also may have helped 4, former NJPW grapplers to secure jobs in WWE. The coverage continues this Friday night so join us if you can.

28 years ago today I was in Houston for the tournament to crown the first ever UWF Champion after Bill Watts changed the name of the company from Mid South Wrestling to the UWF, Universal Wrestling Federation, while posturing for a run at national expansion. The national expansion plans did not work for us as our core territory fell upon horrific, economic times and attendance drastically eroded. Folks simply did not have the cash to spend on non essential items like pro wrestling tickets. Our TV ratings stayed strong nonetheless. This effort by all of us in Mid South was draining, so much so that the Big Cowboy blessed my idea to sell UWf to a motivated buyer, whether it be Vince McMahon or Jim Crockett Promotions or another entrepreneur. Nonetheless, the tournament was brilliantly booked to feature a wounded Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Freebird Terry Gordy in the final after the One Man Gang had ran Hack's head into the ring post that actually saw an exposed bolt virtually imbedded itself in Duggan's head opening him up big time before the final match began. That gave Hack a program with OMG or Bam Bam which was highly strategic booking to say the least.

It was a helluva tournament to broadcast as it had SEVEN WWE HOFERS involved in the matches and eight if you count yours truly. I hope that this event makes air on the WWE Network in the future. The tournament was episodic, unpredictable and featured some amazingly sound pro wrestling with some of the game's toughest and best when they were in their prime.

I watched the Will Ospreay vs Ricochet bout that has been the center of attention over the past few days and found the match to be a uniquely told story with an abundance of athleticism, high risk move sets and, most of all, great passion. I certainly give the match a stellar grade but I realize that it might not be everyone's favorite sauce but that's not a sin. Could the talents have slowed down a cadence and sold/registered a bit more? Of course they could and if they had it would have generated even more emotions to take away from the MOTY candidate. Pro wrestling needs diversity in multiple areas including the in ring presentations of today's athletes.

Wrestling needs to be unpredictable, fundamentally sound, logical so as to not remove anyone watching from their zone of suspended disbelief and at a pace that the majority of the audience can process what they are seeing.

Congrats to Ricochet and to Will Ospreay for going above and beyond the call of duty with the sole purpose of stealing the show and presenting a match that many, me included, are talking about today. Stay healthy gentlemen as the bar continues to raise for better or for worse.

I have no idea who Chris Jericho was referring to in a recent tweet from @IAmJericho, and nor do I care, but I do know that he wasn't calling The Ross Report a "hack podcast" when speaking of former WWE writers appearing on other podcasts. Some fans insist that Chris was dissing us but I strongly disagree. Chris and I have been friends since Jerry Brisco and I convinced him to leave WCW for WWE which ended up making all involved a bunch of cash.

Interesting facet of this week's The Ross Report conversation with JTG on The Ross Report is exploring his unique relationship with Vince McMahon.

Please consider buying one of our limited edition tees, GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY, from www.represent.com/jimross to help us support Headlock on Hunger which is a 100% charity that helps provide food for hungry school children when they are not in school and can partake in their school's meal programs. We will ship your shirts anywhere in the world. Thanks.

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

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Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ