WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with The Last Gentlemen Podcast to talk about a number of topics. Below are highlights from the interview.
On whether the wrestling business is dictated by the fans, and why Daniel Bryan is main eventing house shows, but not WrestleMania: “Its a coach’s decision… In their view that’s the best utilization of Daniel Bryan. In the WWE, The Intercontinental Title has been very tepid…. (The Belt) could mean more… Maybe Daniel Bryan wins the ladder match at Wrestlemania, and becomes the Intercontinental Champion and actually has the title long enough to make it mean something… You also got a guy that’s in the eyes of many, a little undersized, and now unfortunately for him…. I don’t know how his health is… Whether he’s still on pins and needles…There’s probably more to the story then you and I know about.”
On the current commentators: “Like any other talent, you follow the producer, if your unwilling to compromise your style you’re more then likely to be replaced…. The announcers today are a reflection on how they are being produced. They are following their orders….”
On CM Punk possibly not hitting a UFC buyrate that he might be expecting: “It would probably be a very productive pay-per-view if Punk and Lesnar were both on the same one….. The irony is that while neither of them are seemingly emotionally invested in the wrestling business any longer, which does alienate that fan base from you… They are both counting on that fan base to set those records.”
On recruiting pro wrestlers, specifically former athletes: “I’d wanna talk to every coach they ever had, I’d wanna talk to their parents, to their teammates, if I’m going to invest money in a player, id wanna know as much as I humanly possibly can, before I offer them a contract. That’s where a lot of mistakes were made.”
Check out the complete interview at TheLastGentlemenPodcast.com.
