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JR's Blog: JR's ROH Global Wars Review, OklaMania, The Brain's Home, Why @WWE Extreme Rules is so Challening, The Coach on The Ross Report

Posted: May 10th 2016 By: Jim Ross

You picked a fine day to stop by our site and for that we thank you. Big night tonight as I'm interviewing both JTG and Hornswoggle/Dylan Postal for separate The Ross Report Podcasts plus I will put the finishing touches on this week's show that features The Coach Jonathan Coachman from ESPN and formerly of WWE fame. A new The Ross Report drops every Tuesday night at 9 pm ET on podcastone.com, the home page of this website and via iTunes. Subscribe for FREE at @iTunes and never miss a show as they will be automatically downloaded into the device of your choice.

Enjoyed the ROH PPV Global Wars Sunday night from Chicago but it was one of the most unique PPV's I've watched on TV as it relates to fan reaction throughout the broadcast. The live audience was enthusiastic, at times, without fail but they also sat in silence occasionally when there was solid action going on in the ring. What am I missing here? Why stretches of silence when there was wrestling going on in the ring? The countless high spots and big bumps received obligatory reactions but basic wrestling, when it occurred, did not seem to resonate with the crowd or was it there and we viewers at home simply did not hear it?

Based on watching the PPV, which I did using our @FITETV App which was splendid by the way, I'd suggest that ROH add one more camera and better mic the crowd if budgets allow such. There were some missed camera shots during the show that may have been the result of the director having a challenging night, of which we've all had, or the fact that there weren't enough cameras to adequately cover the action.

These production issues, if one can even categorize them as issues are all easily solvable which should come as good news. The in ring product was largely solid and some compelling stories were certainly told.

Nice opening match in the 4 Way to determine the #1 contender to the TV Title. The big spots and high impact maneuvers seemed to awaken the live audience as they reacted to those the best. All four men are good hands especially Strong and Castle who I have followed since they started in ROH and I like their work very much. ACH and Adam Page are keepers too.

Chris Daniels and Frankie Kazarian are an outstanding duo and they made Cheeseburger and Jushin Liger look great in this presentation. I liked underdog Cheeseburger catching the proverbial 'quick one' but then the heels beating him up in the post match was illogical to me in this presentation.

War Machine and the Briscoe's had a helluva physical wrestling match that could have gone a big shorter for my tastes but the effort of the four men was stellar. All four are to be commended.

IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito vs Kyle O'Reilly was slow to start but gained great steam leading into the finish and the post match cheap shot by Naito on O'Reilly which helped complete the storytelling and better established Naito as a villain. O'Reilly is drastically underrated to the masses in my opinion. The build/positioning for Naito was that of the defiant superstar ala Stone Cole back in the day. I'm not sure that the Naito persona can approach the Austin level but I get what it being attempted. Naito is a top hand who's best days are still to come.

Tanahashi/Elgin vs Okada/Moose... One of my favorite bouts of the night ..really enjoyed the athleticism of both Elgin and Moose...fans loved Okada vs Tanahashi as expected as they are the NJPW version of Flair and Steamboat for the lack of a better illustration. I'd love to have signed both Elgin and Moose to WWE contracts back in the day. I could easily see both as potential opponents to Brock Lesnar especially Moose who has height going for him. Elgin's guttural/vocal presentation in the ring is an attention grabber which is a good thing.

Bobby Fish vs Tomohiro Ishii for the TV Title was a superb presentation. Great storytelling by the broadcasters Kevin Kelly and "3" on this one in particular plus it was a physical confrontation that allowed me to get lost in the match. Really good stuff here.

The 8 man tag was a spot fest of a match and the bigger spots/stunts earned 'pops' but then the live audience would verbally retreat until the next major bump. "3's" 'Super Kick Counter' was a fun element to this presentation and the broadcasters had fun with this match which I enjoyed as well.

I was really looking forward to the Colt Cabana vs Jay Lethal bout for the ROH Title and enjoyed their match a great deal while it lasted and before the massive run in by the Bullet Club and their new member Adam Cole. I'm not an advocate of interrupting the main event of a PPV to shoot an angle and then not having an outcome to the advertised main event/Title Bout. The massive run in by the Bullet Club felt a great deal like a nWo angle but that's not a bad thing but it won't stand out as an original concept if that happens to be important to you. It felt like the angle worked but time will tell if that is the case. This finish wa sa bold move to close the PPV while supplanting the main event by and large.

I do feel that Adam Cole is a perfect fit to be in the Bullet Club and I'm a big fan of Adam's work. The promos from the revised Bullet Club will go miles in determining if this faction will 'get over' in ROH as villains. This new Bullet Club should facilitate some interesting, ROH TV.

The pro wrestling business needs winners and losers, IMO, especially in the main events, and we did not get one here. Perhaps it was thought that the fans would simply 'forget' about the outcome of the ROH Title match in the midst of te Bullet Club business.

At the end of the day, I was very pleased that I bought the ROH PPV Global Wars and look forward to buying their next PPV this summer. If you missed the show, I highly recommend that you check it out via the FITE TV App.

Speaking of New Japan Pro Wrestling, AXSTV will air ten NJPW broadcasts in six weeks while covering the 2015 G1 Tournament starting on Friday May 27 at 9/8CT.

WWE had a series of talent releases last week with more rumored to be on the way. This is not unusual and should, arguably, happen more often than it does. I do know this, when one door closes in our lives, whether it be in the wrestling biz or not, that other doors do open if one has their head up looking for the next 'opportunity.' However, if one goes the "poor me" route with eyes to the floor then the rebound likely won't be as positive.

Wrestling fans love 'new' stars and fresh talents who want to be stars and always have and likely always will. Smart promotions should have a systematic, roll out structure to introduce new talents in the best way conceivable to give all a better chance of resonating on their first appearances.

Get well wishes to my dear friend Bobby Heenan who took a nasty fall last week and was hospitalized but is back home in the Tampa area now and is recovering. The Brain is the best all around talent that I ever worked with in my 40+ year career.

Camp WWE returns after Monday Night RAW with a new episode. I enjoyed the debut broadcast and love the animated concept and the TV-MA rating.

Tickets for our two day celebration of pro wrestling in Oklahoma this July 16-17 are on sale now and you can get all the info that you need at www.imperialwrestlingrevolution.com. OklaMania tickets are on sale at www.ticketmaster.com. for the Sunday July 17 OklaCon and the huge, live wrestling event that evening.

WWE Extreme Rules PPV is rapidly approaching and I'm under the mindset that this is one of the more creatively challenging major events that WWE reproduces annually. Why? It's hard to maintain a PG product in an extreme rules format where there is rarely no blood utilized as a dramatic effect while using so many props as 'weapons' in many of the bouts. Plus, one would assume that after enduring an extreme rules match that many talents would then be absent from the ensuring RAW to 'recover' but it doesn't seem that occurs often enough.

The Q&A's here on our site have been updated.

www.wwehop.com runs new sales almost daily and that's a great way to save on JR's products that are delivered quickly to the address of your choice.

www.americansoda.co.uk in Manchester, England ships JR's daily throughout the UK and Ireland. Let's grill!!

Our friends at all the Ingles Markets throughout the Southeast stock JR's BBQ Sauces, Chipotle Ketchup, and Main Event Jalapeno Honey Mustard. We thank all of you that shop at the Ingles near you.

We will hopefully finalize the venue for our RINGSIDE Shows in Orlando next year during Wrestlemania 33. We have found a great venue and look forward to producing even bigger and better shows next April. This year we sold out three shows at over 1,000 fas each and hope to replicate that feat in Orlando.

The FITE TV App worked amazingly well for me Sunday night and allowed me to easily enjoy the ROH PPV.

Check out all our blogs here as I posted three last week that are available on the homepage.

Thanks for stopping by and come back and visit soon.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ