• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

JR's Blog: JR Reviews NXT TAkeover Brooklyn..Preps for Summer Slam..Ross Report & Sunday Night's Taz Show CBS Radio Special

Posted: Aug 22nd 2016 By: Jim Ross

Beautiful Sunday here in Oklahoma with temps in the 70's this morning under blues skies. Another superb day to be alive as any day above ground is a good one. Tickets for our RINGSIDE with JIm Ross Shows Wrestlemania 33 weekend in Orlando go on sale Monday morning at 10 am ET at www.ticketfly.com. All tickets are limited but especially the VIP Meet & Greet tickets as we have only 100 per show and when they are gone we won't add more. More info is at mlw.com.

Thoroughly enjoyed the NXT Takeover Brooklyn presentation Saturday night on the WWE Network. The broadcast was a major hit for me and I tip the black hat to all involved in the process but especially the talents who truly brought it Saturday night.

First of all, Tom Phillips and Corey Graves did a super job of creating a logical, informed and enthusiastic narrative for the broadcast. Loved that only two voices were utilized and I think that the difference in the NXT 'sound' and Summer Slam's narrative will be striking specifically the two man announce team vs two, three man teams who will handle Summer Slam. That's not an indictment on any announce talents but merely my personal preference as to enjoying two man teams more than teams with more talkers.

Excellent placement of Austin Aries vs No Way Jose in the all important opener.

Nice debut for Ember Moon and her red contacts. Interesting talent for sure and one that I'm anxious to see evolve within the Performance Center system, Nice finisher by Moon to end an average but not bad bout.

Tremendous entrance for Bobby Roode and his new, updated persona. Roode is a main event level talent without question and he's a strong addition to the NXT roster for now.

Absolutely loved the Tag Title bout and both teams produced a strong performance relying heavily on traditional, established tag team strategies and execution that I found refreshing. Arguably, the match of the night in the eyes of many.

Revival reminds me of Arn and Tully which is a damn good thing.

Tweeted Saturday night @JRsBBQ that WWE is lucky to have two, organically 'over' female talents in Asuka and Bayley. I saw them wrestle in person in Dallas and it was one of the best wrestling bouts I've seen this year and Saturday night on the WWE Network was slightly better, Perhaps the commentary helped my perception of this match. Asuka sets atop the women's division in WWE right now for me and Bayley is certainly in that discussion as well. Bayley has a tremendous upside on the main roster.

So proud of the way that Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura closed this extravaganza before a sell out crowd of over 15,000+ and that number should not be overlooked by any of us. The physicality and subsequent selling was disturbing at times. Hopefully the talents who will compete at Summer Slam Sunday night will be as aware of 'selling' as Joe and the new NXT Champion were Saturday night.

The match felt 'legit' and was logical, not over thought, while the two talents facial expressions and body English were absolutely spot on in this match that will be hard to top from a fundamental standpoint the balance of the weekend in Brooklyn. These men reaffirmed my long standing mantra that great pro wrestling isn't ballet nor does it have to look overly choreographed. Nakamura's knee strikes are lethal, yet so simplistic and believable .

Both these men, with the proper presentation and back story would be marketable in a Wrestlemania main event in the future especially if Nakamura remains undefeated. Just as I said at WM31 in San Jose, Joe vs Lesnar is a dream match of mine,

Less talk for talk's sake was refreshing on the NXT show as it was an easy broadcast to watch, arguably, easier to watch than recent RAW's and Smackdown Live broadcasts.

Monday morning at 10 ET at www.ticketfly.com you can get your tickets for our two, RINGSIDE with Jim Ross Shows during Wrestlemania Weekend in Orlando. This year in Dallas we sold all our VIP Meet/Greet tickets on day one of the on sale and there are only 100 of these particular tickets available and when they are gone they will be gone. General Admission tickets start at only $25 and they too are somewhat limited. Join us in Orlando and get your tickets early when they go on sale Monday August 22 the day after Summer Slam.

We're taking RINGSIDE to Nashville on Wednesday November 9 and ticket info will be made available soon. Keep it here or visit www.zanies.com.

After Summer Slam tune in at 11 pm ET at your local, CBS Radio affiliate and enjoy The Taz Show with several special guests including yours truly to discuss Summer Slam and more. Visit www.tazshow.com for all the info and you can enjoy this broadcast online there too.

Lots of debate online regarding he conclusion Sunday night of the Lesnar-Orton match which will likely close the show of which I also concur with as well. Valid arguments can be made for both men winning which makes the eventual outcome not a predictable, lock. I think Lesnar wins but it is a great opportunity for WWE to enhance their Smackdown Live brand and to re-launch RKO in a significant manner with an Orton, upset victory.

Remember, that in pro wrestling, in particular, that there are generally multiple ways to do something correctly and this is certainly one of those situations.

Several Summer Slam bouts can easily go 'either way' which makes the broadcast that much more intriguing to watch. I simply hope that the talents get the time that they need to tell a valid,entertaining story and that they work at a pace that the audience can process. Hopefully, they remember their fundamentals including 'selling' and don't try to execute too much content which often times seems to make things rushed or compromised.

I fully expect that at Summer Slam that WWE will reach into their bag of tricks to offer up a few surprises at strategic times during Summer Slam. The table is set too well to not throw some, potential water cooler talk into the presentation.

If the matches are not 'memorized' but instead 'felt' it will be a superior night of in ring action.

Check out our new, tee shirt offer for Headlock on Hunger at www.represent.com/JimRoss. I need your help to raise funds to feed hungry, school children plus we designed a cool, Slobber Knocker shirt in men, women, and hoodie styles. Thanks for your consideration.

Amazing main event Saturday night at UFC 202 between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz who punished each other and checked their own fighter's mortality in a five round Slobber Knocker. The return match delivered in a big way as both men spent the better part of 25 minutes beating the hell out of each other while setting up an eventual, rubber match in an anticipated blow off of their trilogy. I predicted that Diaz would win and he almost did. However, setting up another big payday for the two warriors isn't a bad thing whatsoever.

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

The Ross Report this week that drops on Tuesday night and will be recorded with @BryanAlvarez of the WrestlingObserver.com Monday night. We will review ROH PPV, NXT Take Over, and Summer Slam among other bits of pro wrestling news. Please subscribe for FREE at iTunes and never miss a show as they will be automatically downloaded every Tuesday night at 9 ET on the device of your choice.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to read the other blogs that I've posted this week here.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ