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JR's Blog: RIP George 'The Animal' Steele and Nicole Bass, WM/Orlando RINGSIDE Shows Update, HBK & Teddy Long Both Headed to Ross Report Podcast

Posted: Feb 22nd 2017 By: Jim Ross

Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by our site. After a productive trip to the U.K. it has been great to be back in Oklahoma and catching up on a variety of on going projects. Life is good as we've been blessed with another day above ground. We're burning daylight.

So sad to hear of the passing of our old friend Jim Myers aka George "The Animal" Steele Thursday night at the age of 79 of kidney failure while in hospice care in Florida. Jim was a Michigan State graduate who coached high school football and was a school teacher for many years while moonlighting as a pro wrestler during the summers.

When I first arrived on the WWE scene in 1993 George was one of the veterans who welcomed me to the team. William James Myers, we used to kid about our names as I'm James William, was a kind hearted, highly intelligent man who parlayed his unique in ring persona into a post educator career by becoming one of WWE's most recognizable characters. George was an old friend of Cowboy Bill Watts and actually advised Watts when Bill was breaking into the business and they played semi pro football against each other.

That meeting on the field had to be a 'potato fest.'

The outpouring of sentiment for "The Animal's" passing has been nothing short of extraordinary. The old, MSU Spartan would have liked that and celebrated with a mischievous smile.

RIP Jim and thanks for being a needed voice of reason and for listening to me when I first arrived in Titanland from the enemy (WCW).

Also sad to hear of Nicolle Bass' death at the age of 52. Nicole is likely best known for her many appearances on the Howard Stern radio show over the years as Howard, as he has done for so many, made Nicole a 'star' of some degree, without question. I seriously doubt that Nicole would have been suggested by WWE creative to bring her on board if it had not been for the Howard Stern Show. Her skills in the ring were limited, at best, but she did have a head turning 'look' that seemed to resonate to some degree for a short time during the Attitude Era of WWE. I do not recall any significant issues that I had with Nicole during her WWE run while I was heading talent relations. I did testify in the trial where she sued WWE for millions but at the end of the day the jury awarded her no damages.

Nicole Bass was an 'attraction' talent who, like all attraction type talents. was best utilized when used sparingly and never outside of her physical, skill set which is challenging to do over an extended period of time.

RIP Ms Bass and our condolences to Nicole's family, friends and fans.

This Monday night I am speaking with both Teddy Long and Shawn Michaels for future Ross Report Podcasts. Excited to catchup with both men who have been friends of mine for longer than any of us want to admit.

Next week's Ross Report will feature an interview that I did with Ryback who has plenty to say about his WWE past and his future in a show that I think folks will enjoy as it certainly demonstrates a unique side of "The Big Guy. "

On the current edition of The Ross Report with @GrishamMMA aka Todd Grisham does an award winning impersonation of WWE honcho Vince McMahon. It's funny as hell. Subscribe for free to iTunes and get every show downloaded into the device of your choosing every Tuesday night when a new show drops.

Strong, TV show tonight on AXSTV for NJPW with Josh Barnett and me featuring the Finals of the last Best of the Super Juniors match featuring Ryusuke Taguchi vs Will Ospreay. Plus, Kenny Omega and Mike Elgin are both in action. I watch our shows via Direct TV on channel 340. Older shows are also available I'm told on Direct TVs' VOD service.

Speaking of Josh Barnett he seemed to enjoy his Impact Wrestling experience and it appears that he would like to do more pro wrestling in the future in Orlando for Impact. Hopefully, Josh won't be booked in any 'party scenes' if he does return to Impact. Enjoyed several elements of the Impact broadcast on Pop TV Thursday night but the bachelor and bachelorette parties weren't on my list of things that I'd like to see more of in the future.

The Matt and Jeff Hardy content continues to be the highlight of most Impact broadcasts IMO.

We expect to announce soon who will be joining me on stage in Orlando during Wrestlemania weekend at Plaza Live Orlando for our two, RINGSIDE with JIm Ross and Friends Shows on April 1 and April 2. Each show will have two, different "Friends" who will join me on stage for our super sized Q&A's plus we are bringing on board a special, MC that will make your experience even better. So both RINGSIDE Shows will be different with different themes and panelists who will join yours truly for a helluva lot of fun. The VIP functions at both our shows in Orlando will start at noon and conclude by 2 pm and our RINGSIDE show will start at 2:30 ending at approximately 4 pm which give everyone plenty of time to attend, N/XT and Wrestlemania, among other weekend events.

VIP tickets for our Orlando shows are getting scarce so I encourage you to make your move on them sooner than later plus general admission tickets start at only $25 while they last at www.ticketfly.com. New concepts, new guests, and now all we need is you! ticketfly.com

www.wweshop.com and www.americansoda.co.uk have our delicious products awaiting your order and they will ship right to your home or office.

Our Facebook is JimRossBBQ

Take care of one another and always maximize life's minutes because we all know that our tomorrow's are never guaranteed.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ