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JR's Blog: Ariel Helwani on Ross Report Podcast, RAW & TNA Impact Wrestling Feedback, @HOBDallas, NJPW Talents to WWE??

Posted: Jan 7th 2016 By: Jim Ross

Greetings all! Thanks for stopping by our site. Be sure and download our new, Ross Report Podcast at podcastone.com and iTunes featuring MMA's most honored journalist and life long pro wrestling fan @ArielHelwani. It's a powerful show that I know that you will enjoy. We talk about Ariel's pro wrestling memories as he was a pro wrestling fan long before he became MMA's top journalist. We talk Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, and Ariel's memories of seeing the Montreal Screw Job in person and the Rock vs Hulk out at WM18 in Toronto. This is a superb show that we are proud of to say the least. Subscribe for FREE at iTunes to the Ross Report as it helps us a great deal, makes sure that you never miss a show and it costs you zilch.

RAW San Antonio Feedback...

WWE TV from San Antonio always reminds me of the night in 2008 that I was 'drafted' to Smackdown after being told that wasn't going to happen. I did not handle the matter well of which I regret. But as the King often says, "One can't grieve forever, JR."

Stephanie McMahon again proved that she is arguably the best villain on WWE TV in the manner of which she played off of Roman Reigns.

Reigns vs. Sheamus was a solid match and Mr. McMahon as the referee was intriguing but alas it came at the end of the three hour marathon so that affected the proceeding somewhat. Nonetheless, McMahon providing Reigns the 'rub' is a good thing and now Reigns is booked in the most challenging of circumstances at the Rumble whereas he apparently must win the Rumble to retain WWE World Title. Indeed the hero is in deep jeopardy.

Enjoyed Kevin Owens vs.Neville. Fans have to remember that some talents must sacrifice to put others over for the good of the big picture. Great workers know how to lose to accomplish the big picture goals. Thought Ambrose had a good night on commentary as he did well highlighting KO.

I assume that Charlotte is now a villain and that her father the Nature Boy is as well. I can see Ric helping Charlotte get established but Natich doesn't need to be in his daughters corner for the long haul. He's too powerful a presence to allow Charlotte to grow over the long haul, IMO.

Solid tag between ADR/Rusev vs The Usos.

I don't think that Chris Jericho wrote is own promo. Nonetheless it was good to see Chris back for his seemingly, annual Rumble to Wrestlemania run. Jericho can help get young talents over.

Anxious to see if Bo Dallas, Slater, Rose and Axel can escape being typecast and create their own following. Stranger things have happened but they need to win some matches to see if there is any thing there.

Titus O'Neil vs Stardust was better than expected and wasn't a comedy match which I perceive to be a good thing.

The new stipulation involving the Rumble match & Reigns is interesting and feels fresh.

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING FEEDBACK....

Solid show but it featured too much long form talk for my taste. The TNA roster is best suited to wrestle and to not engage in multiple, long form promos IMO.

Not a fan of talents kicking out of established finishing moves on any TV wrestling show. There was too much of that here for me.

Thought TNA talents worked hard and that's always where it starts.

Enjoyed seeing clean finishes for the most part.

Encouraged that the main was not interrupted by a commercial break. Bravo, TNA.

TNA has done a nice job of developing their roster and adding Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis is a good addition to the team.

Putting Beer Money back together is another positive.

Overall, the in ring presentations were not off the page but were generally solid.

Tickets for our Dallas House of Blues shows are still available at ticketmaster.com. We're doing Saturday April 2 before and after the WWE HOF Ceremony at the ACC which is only an 8 minute walk from the @HOBDallas. We do our third show Monday night after RAW on April 4 at 11 pm. Tickets start at only $20 but are selling fast. Try to join us if you are coming to Texas in April.

Hard to believe that we do our 100th Ross Report next week and we are grateful that our podcast has been named one of the top 100 podcasts in the game.

www.wweshop.com is restocked with JR's products. www.americansoda.co.uk will be restocked soon for our UK, Ireland and European supporters.

If WWE signs the NJPW talents that they are rumored to be romancing, it can be a HUGE development for WWE if they handle it efficiently and position these talents as top hands from the get go. Impactful debuts should be the order of the day. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakumura can both be major, singles stars for WWE. WWE does not have two, better singles wrestlers currently on their roster than AJ and Nakumura.

I shared my take on these talents with WWE management after I broadcast Wrestle Kingdom 9 last year. I raved about all four of the men that WWE is allegedly recruiting. I hope that this deal comes to fruition for WWE fans sake.

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

Over 200 Ingles Markets in the southeast USA now stock JR's products!

Mauro Ranallo, Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton are the new, Smackdown announce team that debuts on the USA Network this Thursday night. I will be curious to see how WWE books their announce teams for upcoming PPV's. I expect some tweaking.

Have a great day and be sure and check out The Ross Report Podcast with @ArielHelwani and download it for FREE!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ