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JR's Blog: Subscribe to Ross Report Podcast 4 FREE at iTunes, Dave Scherer, Tony Schiavone, Summer Slam, Taker is not a Villain, RINGSIDE Shows in Knoxville and Houston, New Gig for Taz, jrsvideos.com on You Tube, 2K Puts The Band Back Together for

Posted: Aug 25th 2015 By: Jim Ross

Greetings to all on Vince McMahon's 70th birthday! I appreciate all my days in WWE even though some were brighter days than others, like any other job, but the 21 years I was there working with Vince were always eventful and, along with Cowboy Bill Watts, Vince taught me the most of anyone in the business. We never always agreed on pro wrestling philosophies but the same can be said of the Cowboy and me. That merely means we both had strong opinions as there are always multiple, right ways to positively execute something in a pro wrestling match.

Thanks to all the fans who attended my RINGSIDE shows in Washington, DC and in NYC last week. We sold out and had SRO in DC Wednesday night while the Gramercy Theater did about 250 fans who were a wonderful audience but our attendance was adversely affected due to the popularity of NXT in Barclay in Brooklyn. I wanted to move our starting time to 4 pm Saturday but was not given permission to do so by our promoters and agent which, in hindsight, was a mistake. Can't worry about those issues now but I'm still am grateful for all the fans who came to our shows and I hope that you all got your monies worth. No one can ever say I am not accommodating to all that are VIP ticket holders. This is one of my favorite aspects of RINGSIDE with Jim Ross Shows. Both venues, @DCImprov and @GramercyTheatre, were terrific hosts.

Our Tony Schiavone podcast is garnering a great deal of feedback and I hope that you will listen FREE at podcastone.com, iTunes, and here on the homepage of our website. Tonight I visit with PWInsider Dave Scherer and we will talk Summer Slam and the overall state of the business from varying perspectives. Should be a Helluva podcast as Dave has a bright mind who doesn't mind speaking his opinion completely unfiltered.

Subscribe to the Ross Report podcast for FREE at iTunes as it helps us a great deal, costs you nothing, and insure that each podcast is downloaded automatically and you won't miss a show.

I certainly would give Summer Slam a good grade as in a B+. I enjoyed watching it at home even though my Chrome Cast apparatus did not work for me and forced me to watch the show on my iPad. It still worked but not as easy to watch as our big screen TV.

One thing for sure and that it s impossible to make all fans happy these days when it comes to match structure or how the matches end. As I have said, and it's true, there are multiple ways to do something right in a pro wrestling match and everyone's taste will never be the same. I had no major issues with any thing that I saw but I liked some things better than others.

The Jon Stewart using a chair on John Cena was a head scratcher but hopefully we will find out more about that matter tonight on RAW. I hope that the reason leads to something significant as it should. It would be poor booking if it doesn't.

Rollins had a great night as did Cena for that matter and I enjoyed their in ring work a great deal. Some think that Seth Rollins is being booked incorrectly but I do not. A heel champion of Rollins size needs to be vulnerable but resilient who always finds a way to win/survive by hook or crook. Again, Rollins is an old school bookers dream in that regard. I am also happy that this match was separated from the Lesnar-Taker match as it was and, no, it did not bother me that the Title bout did not go on last.

Lesnar vs. Undertaker was the main event of his show.

Interesting and controversial conclusion to the Lesnar-Taker bout that did not adversely affect either man and facilitated a potential rematch in the future, likely at Wrestlemania in April, but perhaps not. That's TBD I assume but if Taker considers retiring there then a Lesnar-Taker Hell in a Cell match with Lesnar winning in Satan's Playground would be another ground breaking moment for Brock. Does Taker need to win his 'retirement' match? Not specifically and especially if it elevates WWE's biggest star and monetizes their investment in Brock. Perhaps the 'rubber match' will be help prior to WM32 and Taker ends his 'run' at the Texas sized event with another opponent that's unlikely to be Sting.

Unlike many, I do not feel that Taker turned heel Sunday night against Brock. They both wrestling a rough, unforgiving style including low blows, etc but it's obvious that many younger fans have not had the luxury of growing up enjoying some of the great personal issue laden storylines as us older fans. This is a unique situation where having a definitive heel and face isn't essential.

Enjoyed Cesaro and Owens even though I'd had preferred that Cesaro win a close one. For my money, Cesaro is the most underutilized talent on the WWE roster. Thought Owens & Cesaro had a damn good match.

Not sure who was 'forwarded' in the 9 Divas elimination tag but, at worst, 9 Divas were allotted ample time on the big show. I'm ready for the faction thing to now morph into some personal issues featuring these women.

Don't see New Day as villains and I haven't for several weeks. They are too entertaining and because they rarely cheat why am I supposed to dislike them? An entertaining and charismatic trio. They need to have more than a cup of coffee with the Tag Titles if WWE wants this championship to regain much needed luster.

Thought the Amell tag exceeded expectations and Stephen Amell arguably did better than any actor has done in a WWE produced match. He should be commended. Amell did not go through the motions and obviously took his role seriously.

Congrats to Taz on his new, daily radio show on CBS that will be titled 'The Taz Show and will air from 7am-9am daily starting September 14 and will be broadcast live on Radio.com and archived on Play It. Happy for my friend.

With RAW tonight I'd expect big TV #'s which means it would be great timing to re-introduce Sting to the WWE Universe. I still believe that there is ample 'tread' left on the star.

www.prowrestlingtees.com/jimross has our NEW, Slobber Knocker caps in stock and ready to ship! I got a couple over the weekend and love them.

www.wweshop.com is fully stocked and ready to ship your order of JR's products straight to your home with no hassle shopping and quick delivery.

@americansoda in Manchester. England should start selling JR's products again this week in the UK and Ireland. Their shipment has arrived and we are now only awaiting for it to clear customs. Shop in bulk and stock up!

Our next RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross Shows will be on Thursday September 10 in Knoxville at The International at 8 pm and tickets start at only $20 and are on sale now at www.ticketweb.com. This is the Thursday night before Sooners play the Vols at the famed, Neyland Stadium in a huge, college football game on Saturday Sept 12.

Then on Sunday afternoon September 20, RINGSIDE moves to Houston for a 4 pm show preceding WWE's Night of Champions PPV just a 10 minute walk from the Toyota Center as we will be at Warehouse Live. Tickets for this event start at $20 at www.ticketfly.com.

I suggest that you go with the VIP option for both Knoxville and Houston and enjoy the meet/greet/photo op and FREE photos that I personalize to every VIP ticket holder.

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

Subscribe for FREE to my You Tube channel at www.jrsvideos.com and I thank you.

We're on Facebook at JimRossBBQ.

Excited to be reunited with @JerryLawler on the Stone Cold mode of the new, WWE 2K16 video game. The old band did not miss a beat I assure you. We had a blast together in the audio booth calling Austin matches with NO SCRIPT! Sitting side by side with The King was wonderful and likely for the last time.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to subscribe for FREE at iTunes to the Ross Report podcast and never miss our show. We're grateful to all who support our many projects.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ