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JR's Blog: RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross & Friends on PPV! Jarrett/Impact, SD Live, Who's the Villain?, Angle Needs an In Ring, WWE Farewell

Posted: Mar 2nd 2017 By: Jim Ross

Enjoying a beautiful day in Norman, Oklahoma and I hope that you are too no matter where you may be. I also hope that you are enjoying the current Ross Report Podcast featuring 2017 @WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long who is a tremendous guest with a compelling story that you will enjoy. Subscribe to the Ross Report podcast for FREE at iTunes and designate the device of your choice and you will get every show automatically downloaded every Tuesday evening at 9 ET.

Excited for our Wrestlemania/Orlando RINGSIDE shows coming to Plaza Live Orlando on Saturday April 1 and Sunday April 2. Tickets are still available at www.ticketfly.com starting at only $25 while they last. On Saturday, I will take the stage with the acclaimed novelist of 'Blood Red Turns Dollar Green' Paul O'Brien who is also co-writing my autobiography, plus the great, Tony Schiavone. Tony and I have never been together to discuss our individual roles in the Monday Night Wars. We'll tackle that topic and anything else that our audience wants to discuss in a free wheeling, no holds barred Q&A session that will start at 2:30 and will end at 4 pm.

On Sunday afternoon April 2 in Orlando at RINGSIDE. I will be joined by two podcast extraordinaires in Bruce Prichard and Jim Cornette and we will discuss, for the first time as a trio, our own Wrestlemania Memories and experiences plus take your questions on any topic.

Get your tickets and join us for two great shows, with two distinctively different panels discussing two different topics plus what ever is on the minds of our guests which would be you, hopefully. www.ticketfly.com and GO VIP!

Expecting to hear ample news this week out of Orlando from the latest Impact Wrestling tapings. Disappointed to see Mike Bennett and his wife Maria Kanellis leave Impact but with management changes and changes in booking philosophies, that is to be expected to some degree. It will be interesting to see who Impact designates as their first choices to assume vacant, main event level spots. Mike and Maria won't be looking for work long as they are a marketable, talented package as well as being strong enough personalities to stand on their own.

I am confident that Jeff Jarrett and his staff will make the Impact brand better but it still remains to be seen if they can get the product to the level that it needs to achieve to grow, specifically in North America. I hope that they do for sure but we all must have some degree of patience as these positive changes will not occur overnight but instead over a few months.

Happy to say that plans are being made for AXSTV and NJPW to significantly reduce the delay time of the Friday night broadcast within the few weeks/months. It seems that NJPW, TV Asahi and AXSTV are working diligently to create a stronger brand by working more closely together. At least that's my observation and it's certainly my goal to see that occur.

Interesting conclusion to SD Live Tuesday night that created a memorable visual for sure. Not sure who the protagonist and the antagonist in this creative equation was supposed to be but Bray Wyatt seemed to come off as a somewhat sympathetic character after Orton's heinous deed of arson. Based on what I have seen thus far, I'd book Orton as the villain and Bray as the character 'face but you likely already knew that. I simply feel that's what the fans would prefer to see based on their reactions to both talents.

Plus, I'm challenged to look at Luke Harper as a fan favorite just yet but I applaud WWE creative for providing Harper a chance to move up the card and to contribute more to the company. Harper deserves the opportunity that he is receiving.

Enjoyed the mic work of the first segment featuring John Cena, The Miz, Maryse and Nikki Bella. Good work done by all in what can oftentimes be a much too long talking segment to open a show that has little or tepid payoff at best. Excellent execution plus the segment did not over stay its welcome.

Thought Mickie James vs Becky Lynch did not need a three fall match, in hindsight, but I am in favor of continuing to provide quality minutes to the women on the roster. Always enjoy the work of both Mickie and Becky, if that is their real names.

Fastlane feels a bit flat going into this Sunday on the WWE Network. That might just be me as I'm on borderline TV rasslin overload. I'll be watching nonetheless.

Next week, I will be joined by Mike Johnson of PWInsider to review Fastlane, RAW and all things under the pro wrestling sun on our next Ross Report which will be headlined by @ShawnMichaels.

Remember, you can subscribe to The Ross Report Podcast for FREE at iTunes and they will deliver every show as soon as it drops to the device of your choice at no charge to you.

Big things could be potentially on the horizon for ROH as they are having ongoing talks with Tribune Media about potential growth opportunities. If this occurs it will increase ROH's TV exposure immensely. If a merger occurs it will certainly continues to make the rasslin biz have an interesting, growth year in 2017.

Remember that the FITE App will be presenting a $5.99 PPV of the best of our three, Dallas House of Blues RINGSIDE with JIm Ross and Friends shows from 2016 on Wednesday March 8 at 5 pm ET, 2 PM PT, and 10 PM U.K. time. All you need to watch our first ever, PPV presentation is a smart device and WiFi. I hope that you will enjoy this presentation and we think that we've made it fan friendly with the $5.99 price tag. It will air for 30 days commencing on March 8.

Expect WWE to carve out significant, TV opportunities fo 2017 Hall of Famer Kurt Angle including a much anticipated bout somewhere down the road. It's too good an opportunity to not to do and WWE certainly will not want to pass on what could be a highly productive, Kurt Angle wrestling match/storyline. I could see doing one, major bout but doing 2-3 bouts seems challenging unless the bouts are spread out to allow the story to be better told. I.E. Kurt could have a 2017 Summer Slam bout and then WWE could program him to have something bigger at WM in NOLA.

Kurt Angle is too big a star, too talented plus he's healthy and motivated to do great work at this point in this career. I'vee seen Kurt in the ring recently and he's still got it especially if he's not over exposed i.e. rode hard and out up wet.

Sauce it from Ingles Markets and via online shopping for JR's delicious products from www.wweshop.com and www.americansoda.co.uk

No idea what Matt and Jeff Hardy are going to do now that they are free agents but the smart money seems to be on a customized, WWE contact of some degree. I have a hard time believing that WWE isn't aware of the success of the "Broken Hardy" creative concept and that they would be adverse to utilizing what has already been market researched and seems to be embraced by many fans especially those on social media, etc. Plus, if used strategically, the Hardy's can help WWE invigorate their tag team scene which needs some help.

The Hardy's are in a great spot professionally and I couldn't be happier for them. Enjoy your day and count your blessings!

Check out our other, recent blogs and the updated Q&A's here on the site. Thanks!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ