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JR's Blog: JR's Sunday Blog, NWA Fan Fest in #Charlotte, Jay Lethal, Ricochet, Moose, WWE Wellness Policy, Cancun Boxing on CBS

Posted: Aug 1st 2016 By: Jim Ross

Good day to all and thanks for stopping by our website. Please consider subscribing to The Ross Report podcast at iTunes for FREE as you will never miss a show plus it helps us a great deal. Thanks for your consideration. PW Torch's Bruce Mitchell and I chop up the WWE Draft, Battleground, Raw and much more including Bruce's thoughts on the Brock Lesnar situation on this week's show. It's a good one and I encourage you to check it out. Thanks!

Random thoughts on a variety of topics that have crossed our radar this week...

Patience...too many fans are figuratively knocking themselves out with self imposed knee jerks over the first airings of RAW and Smackdown Live following the WWE Draft. This function of the brand separation is a process and will take time to refine and sort out. Patience is a virtue and some pro wresting fans seemingly aren't overly virtuous.

Tranquilo.

I assume that we fans wil receive new info regarding the two brands this week on TV as it relates to many unanswered questions that could not and likely should not have been addressed last week. I'm always in favor of new info being distributed conservatively and being made to mean more rather than overloading me with too much new data which can make things seem less important than it should be.

WWE Wellness Policy being applicable to full time talents only. I have no issues with this philosophy as it is daunting to test part timers who are not in the every day rotation of the roster. WWE's drug testing program is by far the best within the genre and it strikes me odd that other company's who either rarely test their talents or don't do it all are seldom questioned on this matter simply because "they can't afford it."

Wouldn't the wellness of one's athletes be a vital part of doing business?

Many critics of this matter have no idea what Lesnar's contact states nor the full understanding of the Wellness Policy in general. Please do not construe this as me eluding to the fact that I enough PED usage even in an entertainment entity. I don;t. Talents don"t need them but the narcissistic nature of many pro wrestlers always will rear its ugly head when it comes to how they look and the short cuts some talents take to achieve an unnatural appearance.

This week's The Ross Report podcast features my conversation with ROH Champion Jay Lethal who joins me for the first time. Jay is a marvelous talent and a great pro and this new show drops as usual on Tuesday night at 9 pm ET on podcatone.com and ITunes. We will talk Jay's career and the eagerly anticipated ROH PPV Death Before Dishonor from Las Vegas on Friday August 19.

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

Great job Saturday night on Showtime by Mauro Ranallo and Al Bernstein who had a marvelous fight to call from the Barclay Center.

Al and I will present Cancun Boxing on the CBS Sports Network Thursday night for a uniquely entertaining card that's a fun event. Check your local listings and join us. My foray into pro boxing broadcasting has been a fun transition and I have multiple TV assignments the balance of the year all on the CBS Sports Network.

Saw where TNA wants to charge promoters $6K for Bobby Lashley to appear at selected events which eliminates the vast majority of promoters from consideration. This is a classic case of negotiating a talent out of extra paydays when they are not booked. I'm in favor of keeping talents busy and earning new money. Asking $6K per appearance, if that is accurate, essentially discourages promoters from booking a great talent like Bobby Lashley therefore prohibiting him from earning extra money at these smaller budgeted events.

Excited to travel to Charlotte this coming Thursday through Sunday for the annual, NWA Legends Fan Fest at the University Hilton Hotel in the Queen City. This is a fantastic event that I love attending every year and strongly encourage wrestling fans to experience. For more info visit www.nwalegends.com

I will do a RINGSIDE with Jim Ross show in Charlotte Thursday night at 7 pm at the Hilton in conjunction with the Fan Fest.

Speaking of our Ringside shows, JIm Cornette and I will team up to do a special show in Baltimore on Friday night September 23 at Jimmy's Famous Seafood in conjunction with MCW Wrestling. Tickets are on sale at www.missiontix.com and get all the info on a spectacular weekend in Baltimore at www.mcwwrestling.com. Only 300 tickets are available so get your tickets soon and join us.

Loved having Roddy Strong in Oklahoma recently for OklaMania and his match with Dalton Castle was stellar. I expect Roddy to join WWE soon and he will be a great addition to their roster when he does.

My The Ross Report conversation with Ricochet will drop on Tuesday August 9 while on August 16 our show with Moose will be available. Two totally different albeit amazing, young talents with amazing careers ahead of them.

Heading to LA early in the week to voiceover 8, NJPW broadcasts over two days with Josh Barnett that will include ample content from Wrestle Kingdom held in January of this year. We are excited to put our spin on these tremendous bouts that will feature such bouts as the Tanahashi vs Okada IWGP Title Bout that fans raved about plus AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura IC Title contest which is also spectacular. NJPW airs on Friday nights on AXSTV at 9/8 CT.

Work continues on our autobiography with the talented Paul O'Brien and we are shooting for a 2017 release of this intense labor orf love.

Preparing to make a couple of major announcements regarding wrestling projects abroad and hopefully we can get that info out this week if all goes as expected.

Enjoy your wek and I look forward to seeing many of you this week in #Charlotte for the NWA Legends Fan Fest. Look for my story on the late Dusty Rhodes on www.foxsports.com that drops this Tuesday online. I spoke with Magnum TA, Michelle Runnels, Cody Rhodes and Tony Schiavone about 'The Dream' for this story I think that many will embrace. It;s hard to believe that such men as Dusty and Roddy Piper are actually no longer with us.

Remember, our tomorrow's are not guaranteed.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ