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JR's Blog: RIP Billy Robinson, Chicago RAW, No Punk..No Hijacking, Mauro Ranallo on Ross Report Podcast, Q&A's Updated

Posted: Mar 4th 2014 By: mikeiles

Another great day to be above ground and my thanks to you for stopping by. The daylight is a burning so let's roll...

Lots of random thoughts:

Wonderful to hear that my old pal Paul Bearer also known as Percy Pringle was announced in Chicago as going into this year's class of the WWE Hall of Fame. Very deserving honor and another product of the territory system to be honored. The loyal, Alabama football and George Jones fan will be smiling down from Heaven when he's honored in NOLA.

Ironic that it was the same, Chicago arena that I was announced as a Hall of Fame honoree in 2007 on a night that I will never forget.

Condolences to the family, friends and fans of the UK's Billy Robinson who passed away this week at the age of 74. Mr. Robinson was well known as one of the legit tough guys in the business and was the foremost expert in "Catch Wrestling" in the world. His work that can be found on You Tube is simply amazing.

My conversation with Billy and Dan Hodge in Charlotte a few years ago is one of my career highlights.

RIP, sir.

Enjoyed many aspects of RAW Monday night. No Punk. No hijacking. The WWE folks steered the course just as I had suggested here and at on my show in NYC Saturday night. Seems like many in the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) were pulling for a disruptive show and I'm pleased that did not occur.

For me, the highlight of RAW was the 6 man tag featuring The Shield versus The Wyatt Family. That was one, badass bout and many aspects of the WWE's future was on display. Surprised that Seth Rollins seemingly walked away from his team but time will tell if that will be permanent or not. Somehow, I think not but that's merely one man's assumption.

The six men in the featured tag should feel really good about their efforts. I was very proud of them as I got to know them all when I used to travel down to NXT.

Great promo to start the show by Paul Heyman. Heyman has no equal on the mic in today's business. Who has more animalistic presence than Brock Lesnar? I've got your answer....nobody!

I rally liked the Batista promo on RAW. It sounded real, was succinct, and did not appear that it was just another memorized piece of material.

Liked that the villains kept the heat turned up on Daniel Bryan who was featured prominently on RAW. So prominently, in fact, that it might actually quiet some vocal fans who, based on some tweets I've received @JRsBBQ and some emails here, don't know as much about building a story line as they would like to believe that they do.

I still believe that Daniel Bryan will walk away from WM30 as one of the primary stars of the event in the Super Dome. Don't bet against DB stealing the show in the Big Easy.

As Steve Austin said on my podcast, the Ross Report, which drops later today and officially on Wednesday, I'd still not rule out CM Punk's return to WWE in time for a WrestleMania match but my gut feeling is that ship is about to sail. Perhaps it already has.

I'm talking to Mauro Ranallo on this week's podcast about his days as a teenage pro wrestling personality in Vancouver, his time in Calgary with the Hart Family, his days broadcasting Pride Fights, Strikeforce, and now the voice of Showtime Championship Boxing. Great interview especially if one is curious about announcing combat sports. Mauro's story of working daily to overcome his bi polar issues are motivating.

Tickets are selling fast in New Orleans for my two shows on Thursday April 3 at the House of Blues in the French Quarter. Shows are at 6:30 and 0:30 pm and tickets are available at the @HOBNOLA box office and ticketmaster.com. Please join me if you can. This will likely be my only appearance during the much anticipated WrestleMania week in NOLA.

JR's products will be available at our show at the House of Blues and at the WWE Super Store in New Orleans so be sure and get some and save on shipping, etc while you're in NOLA. You can order online as always from http://www.wweshop.com as well.

Talking to WWE HOFer Mick Foley this week for a future Ross Report podcast. I'm really looking forward to it.

Expect several changes to be made here soon on our website including how you can order JR's T Shirts.

I've answered many Q&A's here over the past couple of days and I invite you to check them out.

I still don't know why some wrestling websites can't add a link back to our website when they use material from our blogs and Q&A's. Isn't that considered professional courtesy?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Do something nice for someone that you don't know.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ