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JR's Blog: Big News on Ross Report Podcast, @RealMelina booked, Some in IWC Weak, @RondaRousey at WM31?, Phone Call From The Natich, Online Shopping Open Today for JR's, Droz Story Strikes Home

Posted: Dec 22nd 2014 By: Jim Ross

It's crunch time for online shopping here at the holidays. Good idea to order today to try and squeeze in that last minute delivery from http://www.wweshop.com for JR's products that make great stocking stuffers, etc. Same goes for our friends in the UK, http://www.americansoda.c.uk and http://www.beyondtheropes.co.uk . Also keep in mind our partners at http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/jimross. Lots of designs, virtually every size including BIG sizes and they ship WORLDWIDE. Let's grill.....

Great week for the Ross Report Podcast as we were ranked #5 in the world Sunday morning on the iTunes Top 300 Sports Podcasts in the world. l am SO grateful to all of you that download our shows for FREE at podcastone.com and @iTunes each week. A new show drops every Tuesday night at 9 PM ET. My show with Jeff Jarrett is playing right now and JJ talks about Wrestle Kingdom 9, Global Force Wrestling, the first ever Japanese PPV in North America to be broadcast in English by Matt Striker and myself, his thoughts as a promoter/booker on the WWE TLC PPV and so much more.

This Tuesday my guest will be one of the all time great Super Heavyweights, VADER, who's had one of the more interesting careers not only in the USA but in Japan and other far reaching parts of the Globe as well. I hope that you will tune in. Plus, this Tuesday I will be interviewing Chris DeJoseph co-executive producer of Lucha Underground and who was also a WWE creative team member once upon a time and also played the character known as Big Dick Johnson. This podcast will air in early 2015.

On December 30, the Ross Report will have two guests, Bryan Alvarez, who co wrote the book 'Death of WCW' and Karl 'Machine Gun' Anderson a member of the Bullet Club and who will be competing on PPV January 4 during the Wrestle Kingdom 9 event from the Tokyo Dome.

On January 6, our first show of 2015 we will kick it off in a big way with the President of Impact Wrestling Dixie Carter. I will tape this show with Miss Dixie on December 30 and it will air on Tuesday January 6, one week later. I'm looking forward to speaking with Dixie about Impact's move to Discover America from Spike TV that launches the first week of January.

Future guests who I've already recorded include Lisa Varon, Terry Funk, Len "The Grappler" Denton, and Adam Cole. I've also booked Melina for a podcast in early 2015 as well.

Some, not all, who comprise the IWC and operate websites, etc love to walk a fine line. When asked if I thought Roman Reigns was ready for the WWE World Title run that might be in his future, I said "not now but he's got until April to become ready and that I was optimistic that he could get there. Some in the IWC, to create more traffic, then went into business for themselves printed that I said that Roman wasn't ready and inferred that I had little confidence in him of getting ready. That's like 'borrowing' from my blogs fpr their own sites and never mentioning how to order our products which is the primary reason hat I write so many blogs each week....to create a forum to sell my family's products. At least I'm honest.

To set the record straight, anyone who can guarantee that they know if Reigns will be ready or not are BS'ing themselves and who ever listens to them. If you have a crystal ball I'd suggest that you use to it win some sports bets and to play the stock market.

By the way, what if Reigns is NOT slated to become the next big thing at WM31? The eraser is a mighty weapon. Bottom line is to simply stay tuned and enjoy the ride and try not to over analyze the TV programming of any company that promotes the genre.

@Lance Storm tweeted that it was 12 years ago today that @JerryLawler and I 'defeated' Lance and @RealKingRegal in OKC on a Monday night RAW taping. BTW that was thanks to the interference of those Damn Dudley's. Nonetheless, I annually apologize to two, great talents in Storm and Regal for doing the 'honors' that night that the OKC crowd devoured like it was slow smoked ribs.

Loved the comments made by my favorite MMA star @RondaRousey who said recently that if she ever appeared in WWE she would prefer to be a villain. That would be easy to execute and would make a great presentation IMO. I predicted long ago that Ronda and the Four Horsewomen would be outstanding additions to a WrestleMania card. It's a one off, fun opportunity that earns Ms Rousey and company some extra cash and provide UFC with ample, NEW promotion and PR.

Get asked daily who has the best chance of headlining a future WrestleMania from the current NXT roster and that's an impossible question for me to answer. I will say that from what I see of the NXT roster that their cupboards are far from empty. It largely depends on continued good coaching and MENTORING and the athletes themselves going the extra mile to improve their game in all phases. It's not only about the PUSH or the GIMMICK but the work rate and ability to out prepare their peers by these formative, young talents.

Will WWE get a new announcing team for Smackdown when it move to Thursday night? I would be willing to 'guess,' likely so. That would provide the duo of @MichaelCole and @JCLayfield a much needed break and keep them fresher and extend both their shelf lives.

Trying to arrange a quick flight to Orlando to watch my @Oklahoma_Football team play Clemson in the Russell Athletics Bowl at the newly refurbished Citrus Bowl the home of WM24 where HBK beat Ric Flair in what was set to be Ric's WWE, retirement match. Going to be a tight fit as I have to leave for Tokyo just a few days after the game in Florida.

Enjoyed getting a surprising phone all from Ric Fair a few days ago who was preparing to hit the road for WWE for a referee assignment. Ric was in a melancholy, holiday mood as he started talking about his late, son Reid. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a child and I pray that I never know. I've never had a single issue with Ric over the train wreck that we, along with others, were involved in at the Summer Slam Symposium for 2K Sports in LA over a year ago. There's two sides to every story and I will have mine in my book when it comes out later in 2015. This is one of the more embellished stories that I have been involved in during my long, career to the point that I chuckle about it more often than not. Ric was pleased that I mentioned him in a @USAToday piece that I did.

I'm thinking that the Cena vs.Lesnar WWE World Title match at the Royal Rumble in Philly will be one of the more compelling WWE Title matches that we've seen a good while. Does Lesnar stay or does he go? Is Brock going back to MMA or is he staying around. Does Cena prepare Brock for Reigns or another young talent WM31? Is there a return match in the works for Cena and Lesnar? Will Rollins cash in his MITB Contract? Could a new 'player' step into the title picture in some manner?

Q&A's are updated here.

Thanks to all who checked out my story on Darren Drozdov that appeared foxsports.com. Pease check out the story and I guarantee that you will feel better about yourself after reading it.

Do you really think that Sony after spending north of 43M on the film 'The Interview' isn't going to market it? Really?

Off the wall idea....WWE could do worse than see Rusev become WWE World Champion at some point in 2015. Oh, yeah, BTW he's not 'ready' either but that doesn't mean that he won't be at some point soon.

Oh, yeah....Cesaro doesn't Need a 'mouthpiece' to 'get over' and move into main events IMHO.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ