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JR's Blog: New Blog, JR Breaks Down Goldberg vs Lesnar, RINGSIDE headed to San Antonio on Royal Rumble Sunday Afternoon & Tickets go on sale Tuesday!

Posted: Nov 22nd 2016 By: Jim Ross

It's great to be back home for a few days before we observe Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday with a football oriented holiday. Insane buzz created by WWE via the conclusion of the Brock Lesnar vs Bill Goldberg match catching everyone that will admit it completely off guard. Check out my thoughts on the matter.

Recording this week's Ross Report tonight with PWInsider's Mike Johnson for a new show that will drop Tuesday night at 9 pm ET as usual on podcastone.com and iTunes plus catching up with Matt Hardy for next weeks's Podcast. Our podcast listener ship continues to grow at an amazing rate of which we thank you all.

Tickets for our Royal Rumble Sunday afternoon RINGSIDE with Jim Ross Show in San Antonio go on sale Tuesday at www.rivercentercomedyclub.com for our show on Sunday January 29 just before the Royal Rumble at the Alamo Dome. VIP Meet and Greet Photo Op tickets are limited and generally go first. The doors for the VIP's open at noon and we will meet the fans attending until 2 pm. Doors open at 2 for the general admission ticket holders with our show starting at 2:30 and ending at 4 pm. General admission tickets are $25 while VIP tickets are $75.

Many thanks to the Live Nation team and the wonderful fans who packed our Toronto show this past Sunday before the Survivor Series at The Second City. We had a great time and met so many really cool fans who love the biz as much as any one in it. That's what is great about the VIP aspect of our shows is that we get a chance to actually interact in a relaxed environment with the wrestling fans.

The reaction that the Survivor Series main event garnered via social media was nothing short of extraordinary meaning that water coolers throughout the land were 'sold out.'

The vitriol that some defiant fans displayed on various social media outlets has, at times, been shocking as it was clear to me that some fans took this matter WAY too seriously. These 'outraged' fans certainly have made a strong, emotional investment in the process which should actually answer most of their own questions regarding if this was the right way to go or not creatively.

Seems logical to assume that when Goldberg accepted WW's offer to extend his stay with the company that it likely changed the creative for the Survivor Series main event Sunday night in Toronto. In other words, this saga between the two will continue so that WWE can sail into WM33 with some momentum and interest in seeing what will hopefully be a creative and compelling conclusion to this rivalry.

Plus, it is obvious that Goldberg and Lesnar have a mutual respect for each other and they apparently enjoy competing with each other, as well.

One of the most utilized creative touches on the wrestling territory TV shows over the years was when someone grabbed an upset in a match that said, wining wrestler was supposed to lose. This general concept was used somewhat often with the NWA Title when the champ would lose in a rare, local TV non title match or even drop a fall in a tag match which would lead to something bigger in the live event world of those days.

Big picture booking has been around as long as the ring has.

Old school wrestling logic that I was taught was that a star losing a fast, unpredictable and completely shocking match did not adversely affect the individual doing the honors while instead providing them a valid reason to be pissed and to want vindication for their embarrassment over their 'fluky' loss. I expect that story to be basically told going forward as it relates to Brock and Goldberg.

Logically, the place to blow this storyline off is on April 2 in Orlando at Wrestlemania or at least it is in my opinion. I could see Goldberg involved in the Royal Rumble but I'm told that as of Monday morning that January 29 date has yet to be confirmed. I expect that it will be nonetheless.

Again, this upset scenario has been used over the years sparingly but effectively. Just as in recent years when combat sports events such as Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas, Holly Holm shocking Ronda Rousey plus Max Schmeling upsetting Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali losing to Leon Spinks got people talking. The issue in pro wrestling is that the decision makers can determine when these upsets are going to occur and I for one endorse beating the heavy favorite quickly and almost in a perfect storm sort of manner that one would assume will be challenging to ever be replicated again.

One thing is for sure and that is WWE is dong a terrific job of promoting and marketing the true and established Goldberg persona so much better than in Bill's first tenure in the company which is refreshing.

Even though many will disagree with me on this one, Lesnar losing in the manner that the did was better than losing to a returning Goldberg in a 15-20 minute bout. My take is that Brock Lesnar is still Teflon coated and is as relevant if not more today than he was before Survivor Series.

While WWE is crafting the Lesnar-Goldberg story it also gives the balance of the roster an opportunity to continue to evolve and to hopefully one day be on the same level of Lesnar, Cena and now Goldberg.

Perhaps at the end of the day, we can only hope that for all those fans who expressed themselves so passionately while disagreeing with pro wrestling creative that they are equally as passionate and emotionally invested in the truly important aspects of their lives.

One can only hope.

Big week for us in the Podcast game and I hope that you will check out The Ross Report podcast when it drops this Tuesday night at 9 PM ET. There is a lot to discuss. Great time to be a wrestling fan. Subscribe for FREE at iTunes.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ