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JR's Blog: Tuesday Blog, Thoughts on Conor McGregor & Who Worked Who, RAW Thoughts, Rusev, Cesaro, Joey Styles, @Sheltyb803 & @KingRicochet on new, Ross Report

Posted: Aug 10th 2016 By: Jim Ross

Big night on the Ross Report podcast as @Sheltyb803 and @KingRicochet join me at 9 pm ET on podcastone.com and iTunes as well as right here on our homepage. Some folks had issues with a technical delay in iTunes downloading our show last week but if you subscribe for FREE, I might add, to The Ross Report on iTunes every show will be downloaded automatically into the device of your choice each Tuesday evening. Shelton gives us a first hand report on his injury, the pending surgery and his @WWE future while Ricochet and I talk his career, Lucha Underground, New Japan Pro Wrestling and his thoughts on WWE as it relates to the genre's hottest free agent. This is one of our better shows and I hope that you will join us. Your support is certainly appreciated.

Tonight on The Ross Report I address thoroughly my thoughts on the recent social media firestorm created when @TheNotoriousMMA insulted many pro wrestling fans and some talents in a well placed and timed rant. I did not respond on Twitter @JRsBBQ even though many asked for my take on this matter. The reason was that I saw McGregor's acid tongue remarks as nothing more than an attempt to create a buzz in advance of his next UFC PPV fight of which the Irishman can make a significant amount of cash based on the number of PPV buys that are purchased.

McGregor has realized that his remarks are often times polarizing and they spread like wildfire. He has become a great, self promoter of his fights and his own enhanced public persona which is not meant to be an insult in any way. To the contrary, fans of pro wrestling should admire that McGregor is a talented talker like many of the pro wrestling greats in history and who knows how to stir up controversy which creates cash more often than not.

The great 'heels' in pro wrestling had the ability to touch the raw nerves of the fan base aka consumers in such a way that those fans would pay hard earned cash to see these 'heels' get their asses handed to them in the ring or, in this case, the octagon. Insulted wrestling fans can live out this theory by buying McGregor's next PPV fight against Nate Diaz who beat the talkative Irishman in their last battle.

I certainly plan on buying this PPV and had planned on doing so long before Conor's controversial remarks.

It's somewhat amusing and incredible that some wrestlers who definitely should have known better took McGregor's bait, hook, line and sinker. I'm curious if they now realize that they have been 'worked' in their own genre's game?

I remember when I was a boy that my late father, J.D. Ross, would have the same reaction when Muhammad Ali would cut promos on TV to piss off the fans who would then make the emotional investment to watch or listen to Ali's fights in hopes that someone would shut the mouth of the Louisville Lip. Later in my life, Ali told me straight up after I shared my Dad's story with him that he knew what he was doing and that he was simply doing what he saw on TV from the likes of Freddie Blassie and other pro wrestling heels because Ali realized early on that he could earn more money getting people to invest in his fights to see him lose than to see him win.

Bravo to Conor McGregor for using the correct 'bait' to catch naive and emotional 'fish' in his latest, entertaining rant.

Caught bits and pieces of Monday Night RAW while doing The Ross Report podcast production last night so my feedback is more of a causal take on the show than a through one in all honesty.

In general, I will say what I have said on other occasions and that is when scripted humor is attempted on any pro wrestling show that is definitely a hit and miss proposition and that was the case Monday night on Raw for me.

I do like the casting of both Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan on their respective shows but I'm not overly wild about the cross pollination, for lack of a better term, of the RAW and Smackdown Live talents on each others shows. I'm hopeful that this will be an occasional matter and is only being used to promote Lesnar vs Orton at Summer Slam.

Considering that essentially Brock Lesnar and John Cena are the only true, 'over' talents on WWE TV these days when it comes to selling out live events, scores of merch, and motivating a multitude of fans to enjoy major events and more on the @WWENetwork, I applaud WWE for continuing to do all that they can to get other talents elevated to that elusive, next level.

This is by far no indictment on any talent as 'getting over' as a true and complete main event level talent is a daunting task in any generation and arguably even more difficult today than ever before thanks in part to the social media information flow and the fact that the lack of territories has slowed the in ring growth of many talents that are featured on today's TV broadcasts.

Rusev had a good night and he is working hard to ascend to the next level and to make the US Title develop more equity along the way. I like the positive steps that Rusev is taking.

Cesaro had a solid night and I have long championed his cause as a talent who could easily take the next step. Hes a believable worker with a magnificent skill set in the ring and his charismatic/talking skills have been evolving nicely thanks to WWE's efforts on Cesaro's behalf.

I could certainly Seth Rollins becoming one of WWE's biggest stars in years but perhaps he's better suited in today's marketplace as a fan favorite especially as long as he continues to execute in the ring with his current move set and techniques of which fans totally embrace. Nonetheless, Rollins and Finn Balor should have a fantastic match at Summer Slam that could well be the show stealer. I can't wait to watch it and then to talk with Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez about it on our podcast.

Sad to hear that my friend Joey Styles has left WWE. I know that Joey enjoyed his work there and was a life long WWE fan while growing up in Stamford, CT. I'd love to tag team with Joe on some RINGSIDE Shows in the future plus get him on our podcast too. Joey Styles is a great guy who has plenty to offer.

The Q&A's elsewhere here are updated.

Remember to subscribe to The Ross Report podcast on iTunes for FREE and never miss a show and enjoy tonight's new show with Shelton Benjamin and Ricochet...two superb guests.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit often.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ