Exclusive Ring Rust Radio interview with former WWE Superstar Brad Maddox on his time in WWE, his depature from the company, and more

The hosts of Ring Rust Radio – Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin – recently had the chance to speak with former WWE Superstar Brad Maddox. Maddox made his debut on the main roster working with CM Punk and Paul Heyman and in addition to speaking about his recent departure from WWE, Maddox talks about his roles in the company, working with legends like The Under taker, his future after WWE and more.

To hear this entire interview, head over to www.Patreon.com/RingRustRadio and for a donation of just $10 a month, you can hear every RRR interview before they air on the show! And not only that – you get every previous tier, including a guaranteed email read on the show per month and the chance to vote for your favorite card in the upcoming fantasy draft! For only $10 a month! So head over to www.Patreon.com/RingRustRadio to see all the reward tiers Ring Rust Radio has to offer.

Otherwise, continue on and you can read the entire interview here!

Ring Rust Radio: The biggest topic of conversation for you recently has been your release from WWE. Will you explain why you were let go by the company and if there are any hard feelings regarding your departure?

Brad Maddox: Well at least I’m making news now. You guys know what it was all about at this point. I called the Indianapolis crowd pricks in the dark match of a SmackDown taping, which I didn’t consider inappropriate or a bad word knowing that it was a dark match. My job is to go out there and work up the crowd get them warmed up. You don’t have the rules you have while on TV. There I can talk to the crowd directly, make fun of their football or basketball team, tell them that they smell bad, and whatever you want to use to get them worked up. I just kind of threw that in there and was going to call them losers, but thought that was a little lame. So instead I called them pricks, and Vince did not take it as lightly as I did.

Ring Rust Radio: If WWE came back to you and said enough time has passed, would you be open to going back to them?

Brad Maddox: Depends on what I am doing. I am certainly not going to close any doors. I have enough experience in my 31 years to know you can never say never. We will see what happens, I have some other plans and things I am working on, but I am not opposed to it.

Ring Rust Radio: You debuted on the WWE main roster in a pretty high-profile spot getting involved with CM Punk as a referee in his world title match and then doing stuff with Paul Heyman and The Shield, but as a fan it didn’t seem like the payoff was everything it could have been. What was your expectation for how that angle was going to play out, and looking back, what do you think could have potentially been done better or differently?

Brad Maddox: I agree with you as far it could have led some where better than it did, but that is where I messed up early on. I wasn’t proactive enough. I didn’t go to Vince in those days or knock on his door; I didn’t go ask questions to the right people or ask where this is going or say, “Hey did you guys know that I can wrestle and came up through your developmental program?” I did all the things there that they said I had to do to get moved up and show that I am qualified. It was a lack of communication on my part with Vince and Hunter and the right people. It probably would have had a totally different impact instead of just sitting around and waiting on the writers to come hand me my script and assuming they had some grand plan for little old me. I can definitely say I could have been more proactive in those early days. I did love working with Paul and working with Vince in his office and working on promos in his office. It was a really cool experience.

Ring Rust Radio: WWE's creative team has been under fire not just from fans recently, but also former WWE legends. What was your experience like with the creative team and what are your thoughts of the creative process as a whole in WWE?

Brad Maddox: I mean, I got along with all those guys really well. It’s a matter that they have a lot of content to get through every week and have a lot story and a roster full of guys to write for. Obviously, I was in a pretty good spot, but I wasn’t one of the most important guys. They are focused on the main angles that are going to make money for the show and then of course everything has to be run through Vince, so there is a limited amount of time there. You can’t rely on someone else to handle your career for you. You have to go knock on Vince’s door and say “this is what I want to do” or “what do you think about this.” That’s where I should have taken care of business for myself. I am no John Cena and not making a ton of money for the company, so I am not going to be a priority upfront.

Ring Rust Radio: While everyone watched The Undertaker on The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon last month, it was your role as the turkey that really stole the show. How did you get the honor of working with Undertaker on national TV?

Brad Maddox: I knew the Undertaker was there, but I was a turkey on Thanksgiving, I felt that there is no higher honor. It was like, “Let’s book this turkey and see if we can get anyone to work with him.”  It was fun, and I might have been the only guy left in the states at that time since everyone was working the European tour. I don’t know why I was picked for it, but I had fun with it. I assumed at the time that it was going to be a full turkey mask. When I got there they showed me the outfit and I thought, “Where is the rest of it?” I guess everyone is going to know I am a turkey and that’s awesome. I did get to meet Jimmy Fallon and he let me know I had made it in show business. We were talking to their writers and to see what they were thinking about us. There wasn’t much for Taker and I to talk about. We pretty much walked around and just tried not to laugh about it. Then during rehearsal he said this is the part where he was going to tombstone me. I thought that yeah, this is the Undertaker, I’m sure he has done enough tombstones to where he doesn’t have to practice it and I was pretty sure I could trust him. I will say that I didn’t envision my first tombstone from the Undertaker being in that environment. If someone had told me nine years ago when I started wrestling that I was going to be tombstone by the Undertaker but it’s going to be on 30 Rock on late night television I wouldn’t have believed it.

Ring Rust Radio: You weren't given many opportunities to showcase your skills in the ring as a wrestler, but you were certainly able to generate a reaction from the crowd with your speaking skills and natural charisma. Do you think you would have excelled as a manager and why do you think WWE never tried to put you in that position?

Brad Maddox: I would never have stuck around to be a manger. I just wouldn’t have. I love wrestling and that’s why I started. I watched guys like Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho be entertaining in the ring and that’s what I wanted to do. If I had gotten pinned into that role, I wouldn’t have made it very long because I wouldn’t have been happy.

Ring Rust Radio: Now that the WWE chapter in your career is closed, at least for now, what are you hoping to accomplish in the wrestling business. Where do you see yourself going over the next year or more?

Brad Maddox: I plan onto diving into acting. I don’t want to say that’s a priority because I want to do both. I am excited to get back into working on a regular basis and getting into ring shape. Being in ring shape is so much different than being in regular shape, and you can’t accomplish that working a dark match once every two weeks. I have no idea where I am going wrestling yet, but I know I will do both. I am going to focus a lot more on acting now that I have the freedom to do that.

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 – What went wrong

“And everything seemed to be going so well.”

I use this line from “Sin City” a lot (though I don’t think many get the reference) but I felt it was a pretty apt way to describe what happened at the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble.

The show leading up to the Rumble match itself was pretty good, bolstered by a hot Philadelphia crowd and an amazing triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. But then things…took a turn. After a series of booking decisions that were odd at best and terrible at worst, Roman Reigns emerged victorious from the Rumble match, only to be greeted with thunderous boos from the crowd in the Wells Fargo Center.

How did this happen? But more importantly – how could this happen TWO YEARS in a row?

Follow me now as I take a look at the card in its entirety, but focusing mainly on the Rumble itself.

Team C.A.T. vs. The New Day (Preshow)

Known online as Team Uppercat, Swinging Cats, or the Masters of the (WWE) Universe, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (who tweeted their name was Team C.A.T. – Cesaro, Adam, and Tyson) faced Big E and Kofi Kingston of The New Day on the preshow.

It was an unspectacular match in itself, with the most memorable moments being the obvious cheers that Cesaro and Kidd received (despite being the heels) and the audible pop for Cesaro’s giant swing. But don’t you know – he’s Swiss, so he’s not getting over with the fans.

Other than the obviously positive reaction for Cesaro and Kidd, my favorite part of the preshow match was the Bullet Club-style “Brass Ring Club” shirts that Cesaro, Kidd and Rose were wearing.

The Ascension vs. The New Age Outlaws

The Ascension debuted on the main roster after spending a long time in developmental and many people had high hopes for the team. Despite being saddled with a gimmick that’s obviously biting off 80s-style tag teams, the duo of Konnor and Viktor are a talented team that works well together in the ring.

For weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, JBL had been completely burying the team on commentary for daring to say they were superior to the tag teams they are modeled after (such as the Legion of Doom or Demolition). On the final Raw before the Rumble, The Ascension confronted Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and X-Pac before being outnumbered by the A.P.A. and the New Age Outlaws. JBL leveled Viktor with a Clothesline from Hell and a match between the Ascension and the Outlaws was set for the Rumble.

Thankfully, the Ascension actually got the win at the Rumble and looked pretty good doing it. They worked well as a team and though I wouldn’t call their performance dominant, they were definitely in control for the entire match. I wouldn’t be against the Ascension taking on a “tag team legend killer” angle, but I think having them move onto destroying current tag teams would be a better move for the duo.

The Usos (c) vs. Miz and Mizdow

WWE Tag Team Championships

The Usos have been a visible tag team on the main roster for years but it’s only been since the early months of 2014 that they won their first tag team titles and became the team to beat in the tag division.

Miz and Mizdow, on the other hand, are a much newer team but due to the dynamic of Mizdow being Miz’s stunt double and mimicking everything that Miz does, the team (well, Mizdow) has become hugely popular. But since Mizdow started getting a noticeable reaction from the crowd, it was obvious that their eventual implosion was inevitable. And it’s only been within the past few weeks that it became apparent the meltdown would be coming soon.

At the Royal Rumble, Miz and Mizdown had a shot at the Uso’s tag team titles. Mizdow has been getting huge pops for some time now but it’s only been recently that Miz has realized the cheers are for Mizdow and not himself.

Almost as soon as the match began, the crowd started chanting “We want Mizdow.” But The Miz never tagged Mizdow into the match. He acted like he was going for a tag but taunted the fans and Mizdow when those tags never came. Later on, Miz threw Mizdow into a dive over the top rope by one of the Usos (and then proceeded to not catch the others’ dive).

(But Miz has a history of not being the best at catching people.)

The Royal Rumble match itself would have been an ideal place to further the disintegration of the Miz/Mizdown team…but apparently WWE didn’t think so. More on that later.

The Bellas vs Natalya and Paige

Not much to say about this one – which is unfortunate because the WWE has the ability to write better storylines for the Divas, but just doesn’t. Paige and Natalya are two of the best female wrestlers in the world and even the Bella Twins are showing signs of improvement. But that still doesn’t change the fact that there was no discernable story going into this match other than “these Divas just don’t like each other.”

And what’s worse is that the Divas division seems to be nothing but a means for the WWE to advertise the “Total Divas” reality show. Despite having wrestlers who are actually talented in-ring performers, the WWE is content to use them to shill an awful reality show and not use them in meaningful, interesting storylines.

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Going into this match, I’ll admit I didn’t have very high hopes. I’m a big fan of Seth Rollins, but I felt like his inclusion in this match didn’t make sense since he holds the Money in the Bank briefcase. And, because we’ve seen Lesnar vs Cena many times already, I wasn’t too keen on seeing it again.

But man, this match was amazing. Easily one of the best matches WWE has produced in a long time.

Lesnar was an absolute beast in this match. Everything he did looked like it would maim or kill a normal human being and he was able to dominate both Cena and Rollins. Cena held his own in this match and was involved just enough to make it palatable but Rollins was the real star here.

Even in a losing effort, Rollins’ part in this match was nearly flawless. He threw himself from the top rope with reckless abandon and sold Lesnar and Cena’s offense perfectly. Not only that but he played the role of a top heel perfectly, picking his spots while leaving Lesnar to handle Cena and making liberal use of J & J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury) to help further his cause.

What was interesting about this match was the amount of praise Lesnar got from the crowd. Maybe it was because the Rumble was in Philadelphia (OK – it was definitely because the Rumble was in Philadelphia) that Lesnar was cheered so much – but it also goes to show how good a heel Rollins is that he wasn’t cheered equally loudly in Philly.

With Lesnar retaining the championship (despite the immense amount of punishment he took from both Cena and Rollins) he has a ton of momentum heading into Wrestlemania. It will be interesting to see if the WWE plays up the cheers he got during this match and tease a face turn – but considering who he will face at Wrestlemania, that doesn’t seem likely.

The Royal Rumble

It’s hard to really put this match into words – mostly because there’s only so many ways you can say “poorly booked.”

The Royal Rumble show as a whole gained a lot of positive momentum as it went on. The preshow match was good; The Ascension got a needed win; The Miz and Mizdow drama is escalating; the Divas put on a good (but ultimately pointless) match; and the World title triple threat match was incredible. All the Rumble match had to do was be good and the 2015 Royal Rumble would be looked back on as one of the better Pay-Per-Views in recent memory.

Unfortunately, the Rumble was anything but good. It started slowly and seemed to pick up steam but booking decisions that ranged from “safe” to “boring” to “questionable” to “downright awful” plagued the majority of it and the outcome left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

I don’t want to analyze every entrance and exit, but there are major points I want to hit:

- The Miz and R-Truth were the first entrants into the Rumble. Now, it would seem like the Rumble would be the perfect place to further the Miz/Mizdow storyline, right? Plenty of opportunities for friction as well as chances for great comedy spots where Miz could be thrown out, or almost thrown out, with Mizdow following suit or debating on whether to follow suit. But would that happen? You guessed it – nope. Heck, Miz and Mizdow weren’t even in the Rumble at the same time.

- Bubba Ray Dudley made his long awaited return to WWE. He was in the match for a few minutes early on and even eliminated Miz and Truth. But what was the point of having such a big ECW pop so early in the Rumble, especially when there weren’t any other ECW pops to be had in the birthplace of Extreme Championship Wrestling?

Not to mention, I found it kinda odd that WWE would have Bubba Ray treat Truth like he’s D-Von. Their shtick wasn’t overtly racist or anything, but it definitely would give you pause if it were a question on Tosh.0’s “Is It Racist?”

If WWE had brought in D-Von Dudley as well, a better use of the Dudleys would have been in a confrontation with The Ascension, but there is still time to hopefully build toward that at Wrestlemania.

-Bray Wyatt competed in his first Rumble and had a really good showing. He eliminated several Superstars (including Luke Harper and Erick Rowan after teasing a reunion with Harper) and even cut a promo during the match. Bray looked like the only person truly dedicated to winning as he tied Rusev and Reigns for most eliminations (6) and spent over 45 minutes in the match.

But, in the end, he was thrown out with little fanfare by Kane and Big Show. Don’t worry, there’ll be more on them later.

-Daniel Bryan. Poor Daniel Bryan. He entered the match at #10 to arguably the biggest pop of the entire show. But unfortunately, Vince McMahon doesn’t love Daniel Bryan as much as the WWE Universe does because he barely had any impact on the Rumble at all. After almost a year on the shelf and a huge deal made about his comeback and entering the Royal Rumble, he was eliminated after only about 10 minutes by Bray Wyatt.

Bryan was barely a footnote in the match despite many pegging him as an odds-on favorite. No tenacious underdog performance. No amazing comeback. No defying-all-odds win from an early spot. No “skinning the cat” or other impressive feats of rallying in the Rumble. Just tossed over the top by Rusev and casually knocked off the apron by Wyatt.

After his elimination, you could just feel the life and enthusiasm sucked out of the crowd as almost every entrant afterward was met by a chorus of boos. The crowd would continue to chant “Daniel Bryan” throughout the rest of the match, almost in disbelief that he had been thrown out so early and so unceremoniously.

Word online is that Vince thinks it’s the Yes chant that’s over, not Bryan himself. Vince also thinks that, despite the fans’ obvious love for Bryan, putting him in the main event of Wrestlemania two years in a row would be “repetitive.” This, from the man who booked Rock vs Cena as “Once in a Lifetime” at Wrestlemania 28…and then booked Rock vs Cena again at Wrestlemania 29. As well as putting Cena in the main event at Wrestlemania 22, 23, 27, 28 and 29, often in a championship match.

But no – putting Bryan into the main event of ‘Mania two years in a row is what would be “repetitive.”

Vince knows what the fans want

 

-Mizdow entered at #21 and got the best reaction since Bryan’s elimination. Miz showed up and demanded his spot…only to be mushed off the apron by Reigns. Mizdow looked, for a moment, as if he might retaliate against Miz but never did. He entered the ring but didn’t even last half a minute before being eliminated by Rusev.

But the goodwill earned by Mizdow’s appearance turned back to boos once he was tossed. Even though they used the Rumble to further the Miz/Mizdow story, I can’t help but think it would’ve been better if they had been in the ring at the same time.

- When Big Show entered at #29, there were 10 men in the Rumble – the most to that point. As the crowd began chanting “We want Ziggler,” knowing the Showoff must be entrant 30, Show and Kane started working together to eliminate fan favorites like Ryback, Ambrose and Wyatt. Once Dolph Ziggler got in the ring, he only lasted a few minutes before Show and Kane threw him out too.

WHY? What was the point of eliminating so many wrestlers the fans actually like in such quick succession and having guys the fans are tired of be the ones to do it? Why have Ziggler be the last to enter, when the crowd knows full well he earned a spot in the Rumble? It was such a waste giving that spot to someone you know was in the Rumble and not have it be a surprise.

-By the final four (Big Show, Kane, Ambrose and Reigns), the crowd was booing the match steadily. Perhaps because they could see the writing on the wall, that Reigns, the hand-picked successor to Cena, was most definitely going to Wrestlemania this year and not the crowd favorite Daniel Bryan. (The final four was actually Show, Kane, Reigns and Rusev, but Rusev hid outside the ring until Reigns was the only one left.)

Once Kane and Show tossed Ambrose, you could sense that WWE had hoped the crowd would be behind Reigns fighting against The Authority’s two monsters. But like last year, WWE failed to read the crowd at large – especially the crowd in Philly – and neglected to push the man they wanted most. As Show and Kane worked over Reigns, the crowd even began to chant “Bullsh*t” and “We want D-Bry.” Because even as Kane and Show started fighting each other, the booing continued, hinting that their dislike was aimed at something larger than just what was happening in the ring.

When Reigns eliminated both Kane and Show, the booing abated, but only momentarily. When the two monsters came back in the ring to attack Reigns, out of nowhere, The Rock appeared in the Wells Fargo Center. As he raced to the ring, “The Great One” got a big pop but that didn’t change the overall temperament of the crowd.

Once Reigns tossed the reemerging Rusev after just a few seconds, the booing came back in full force.

It was an unfortunate night that WWE so handily misjudged their audience and subjected both Reigns and The Rock to the ire of the WWE Universe, who had pledged their support to another Superstar long ago. As The Rock raised Reigns’ hand, the look on his face betrayed his emotions – that he was wholly unprepared for the reception that Reigns got as the winner of the 2015 Royal Rumble. By the same token, one can only assume that Vince and whoever else booked the Rumble had no idea this was coming either.

The Rock is clearly unsure about what is happening

It’s hard to say what WWE, Vince, Triple H and Stephanie thought would happen. By announcing Daniel Bryan returning in time for the Rumble, it was almost as if they were teasing he would win it. He seemed sure he would win and the fans believed it. After he was eliminated, the entire mood of the audience changed and not even The Rock could change their minds.

I can’t help but think that if they hadn’t announced Daniel Bryan for the Rumble at all, the reaction that Reigns’ victory got would’ve been quite different.

Vince making it Reigns

And I feel bad for Roman Reigns. I really do. He didn’t deserve the reaction he got. But WWE should have realized what was going to happen by treating Daniel Bryan the way they did.

The WWE knew how much the fans wanted to see him win, so they dangled it in front of our faces, then threw it away. And for what? So Daniel Bryan can go back to a meandering, directionless feud with Kane? Or maybe feud with Bray Wyatt (again) since he was the one who eliminated him?

These are not answers. These are not legitimate possibilities for a man that is more popular with the crowd than the company’s hand-picked golden boys, John Cena and Roman Reigns.

It’s amazing to me how badly WWE botched two Royal Rumbles in a row. The 2014 and 2015 Rumbles are indicative of how little the WWE cares about what their audience wants or, by the same token, how little they know what their audience wants.

One thing is for sure though – Pennsylvania will never get another Royal Rumble again.

(I should also point out a lot of these gifs came from www.wrestlingwithtext.com)

Exclusive Ring Rust Radio interview with WWE Hall of Fame commentator Jim Ross

The team at Ring Rust Radio – Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin – have interviewed some of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling and this week they were able to speak to WWE Hall of Famer and prolific commentator, Jim Ross.

Ross has worked for several different wrestling companies over his long career and in many various aspects of the sport and the Ring Rust Radio team got to speak with him about working in WWE’s talent relations department, working with Vince McMahon, utilizing part-time stars like The Rock and Brock Lesnar, working as a commentator for MMA and much, much more.

Below, you can find links to the interview on YouTube as well as this week’s episode of Ring Rust Radio, featuring the interview with Jim Ross, or read the interview below.

YouTube interview

Ring Rust Radio Episode for October 28

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ringrustradio/2014/10/28/ring-rust-radio--oct-28-w-wwe-hall-of-famer-jim-ross-hell-in-a-cell-review

Donald Wood: While most fans know you as a legendary wrestling announcer, you have been quite busy since your WWE career came to an end. Between ‘The Ross Report’ on PodcastOne and your success with JR’s BarBQ, you are still very much a part of the wrestling lexicon. How has your perspective of the business changed now that you’re more on the outside looking in and do you miss being on the front lines of the industry?

Jim Ross: Well, I don’t watch as much or religiously as I used to. I’m more dependent now on my DVR rather than watching live. I try to watch as much as I feel I need to so I can maintain my accuracy and have a valid opinion for my podcast. I feel obligated to watch as much product as I can so that the Ross Report is accurate and I can give valid opinions on things I have seen. If I told you I watch just as much as I always did and was just as excited as I was when I was working in it, I would be less than truthful. I miss game day and a lot of my friends, the adrenaline rush with a live crowd. I certainly do not miss the travel in a non-seasonal business. It’s a mixed bag. I’m still a fan. I’m not bitter or angry; just busy. I just don’t have the time to make sure I’m watching a show live like I probably would when I was working in WWE.

Mike Chiari: In addition to your announcing you played a key role on the talent relations side with WWE and were responsible for bringing in several legendary Superstars. Of all the signings you made in WWE, which sticks out to you as the biggest coup and the one you’re most proud of today?

Jim Ross: Well, it’s a difficult question. You’re essentially asking someone to select their favorite child. I think the biggest steal that we got was signing Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince didn’t really have any familiarity with him, but I did when we worked together at WCW. When he was available and healthy after a short run in ECW, I thought that was a big get and a steal.

The biggest overachiever I hired was Mick Foley. He was another guy WWE did not want. I finally through dog named salesmanship, convinced Vince to give him a try. We were running out of heels for Undertaker to work with at the time. It’s very challenging when you have a seven foot babyface to selectively match him up with heels to work with. Mick and Undertaker knew each other from previous promotions. Undertaker thought it was a good idea to bring Mick in.

The guy that’s gone on to obviously become the biggest star of the group as it relates to his movie work and notoriety around the world is Dwayne Johnson. We had a good run there with him. Several classes were good. I saw Heyman talk about the class of 2002 on Raw Monday and that was one of our better groups with Batista, Cena, Orton and Brock. I pride myself in the fact that we were diligent in finding people, recruiting and coaching up people. We had a great staff with great instructors and great scouts. It was a total team effort. I felt very honored that I got to facilitate and open the door for some of those guys to live their dreams. It was a lot of fun.

Brandon Galvin: You've always been credited with having a fantastic eye for talent and your track record in that role speaks for itself. I'm sure you can understand how confusing it is for fans to hear people in a company talking about wrestlers like Steve Austin, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and other fan-favorites not being seen as top-tier talents. Is it possible for you to give us some insight into the decision-making of a company and why a wrestler fans deem as a top-tier talent may not be viewed in the same light?

Jim Ross: Well, it’s real difficult for me to relate to management now since I’m long gone from the WWE. I don’t know how they manage their day-to-day or how their meetings are. I had a very unique relationship with Vince back when I was hiring talent. I was talking to J.J. Dillon, who is coming up on my podcast, he would get tapes and recommendations from talent, but he always had to go through Vince. When I took over for J.J., Vince wanted me to retool and redesign the talent relations department. One of the things I had to have to make it better, in my opinion, was his trust. That my judgment and seeing talents was viable. I hired talents that Vince had never seen and he trusted me. They were my responsibility and they were on my watch. I can’t really tell you what’s going on there now. You gotta believe that WWE listens. They don’t do my ideas so they don’t listen. Well, we don’t know what they are planning next month, week, Monday, Sunday, well I don’t anyways. 

At the end of the day, the cream will rise to the top. The fans will steer the course and support their favorites. The business in general, is in a near crisis situation when it comes to have an adequate amount of skilled main event talent depth. There is skilled main event talent no question, but the depth issue is startling. I think fans right now are ready for something new. Some of the guys you mentioned, I believe, have significant potential to be main event stars. They have to be given the ball and they gotta be built. There is a process you have to go through, commitments gotta be made by the company, long-term planning in effect and they have to have confidence in the talent. There are other issues you and I are not aware of. There could be issues internally that within the company that for whatever reason they don’t have confidence in the talent. Maybe those reasons are kept private for confidentiality reasons or legal reasons or whatever. The issue is that I’d rather look at the glass half full. Life is too challenging to go through wondering and bitching and moaning about this that and the other. 

If the guy steers the course, and they prove themselves as good locker room leaders and good members of the team, improve their skill set, and add things to their game, then they have a chance to move up the ladder to the main event level and make more money. For some guys it comes late, some guys it comes easy, it will come if it’s meant to be. There’s no magic formula or secret clandestine meetings. For God’s sake, the WWE is not so aloof that they are going to say, “Well we’re going to do this because we like it and we don’t care what our customer’s like.” That thought is just so immature and so stupid for anyone to think that. There are some fans that reach out to me on Twitter that do think that. They think that the WWE is so omnipotent that they can do whatever they want whether you like it or not. Where would be the advantage to doing that? There is none. So I can’t answer your question but at least I can give you a little background on it.

Donald Wood: As one of the top play-by-play announcers in wrestling history, you have worked next to several of the most entertaining color commentators the business has ever seen. If you could commentate one final wrestling match with any color commentator of your choice, who would it be and why?

Jim Ross: Oh gosh, you know I don’t know. That’s another tough one. No matter what I say, that’s the thing about these interviews; whatever I say is gonna be dissected. I wrote a blog today about these rumors about me and New Japan. But no matter what I say, some people are going to read into it what they choose. My longest tenured run was with Jerry Lawler. We could go back to work tomorrow, probably call any sport or entity, and be entertaining. The partner that agitated me and knew the buttons to push and was a combustible delivery and presentation was Paul Heyman. The partner that goes off the radar and was absolutely outstanding was Jim Cornette. Much like JBL and myself working together, we would be considered by the mainstream TV world as being too southern, so that will never happen. Cornette would be awesome. JBL would be very good. Taz would get such a contrast in sound. I love working with Terry Funk is the most underrated guy I worked with. Bob Caudle by far the most underrated announcer in the history of the business. I love working with Bobby Heenan. Gorilla Monsoon was like an uncle.

What I’m saying about all these guys is I have a relationship with these people, friendships with all these people. So it’s harder for me to say. The question “you got one more match and you can work with anyone you want, who would it be?” Well then the next question is “what would that match be?” Well hell, I don’t know, beats me. “Where would that match be?” Well WrestleMania of course. “What arena would it be?” So that’s where you are, there is no right answer. I love all those guys, they all made me better, and I was blessed to work with some very, very talented people. I loved working with, though it was limited and at the end of his run while he was dealing with issues, I really enjoyed my experience working with Gordon Solie. I never did get to work with Lance Russell, which I would have loved to have done. Quite frankly, the one I had the most chemistry with and fun with from day one is Chael Sonnen. We only worked once and it was a natural fit.

So I don’t know if I can answer that question for you because of those reasons. These guys are like family members to me. You boys are young and you’re going to learn this maybe the hard way some day. When you get older, you’ll be able to count all your great friends on one hand. Trust me. There’s a lot of guys I named on that commentator list and I hope at the end of the day I can still call them my friends till the day they put us all away. They all made me better and I hope I contributed to making them better too.

Mike Chiari: You and your voice are synonymous with a lot of the greatest and most memorable moments in wrestling history. But what is the one match or moment that you didn’t call from the announce table that you’d like to if you could go back in time and make it happen?

Jim Ross: Well I think probably the one I would have liked to call was the main event of WrestleMania 3. It was such a ground breaking event. If you’re going to be a part of a ground breaking event, you want to be a part of the main event. I would say Hogan and Andre at WrestleMania 3. It was such a simplistic match to call, it would have been very easy to call it from a stand point of what they did, but the drama one could add to the moment and to what the match meant. Some broadcasters show up, do their gig, and leave. They are just there to collect a payday. I always looked at it more than that and the big picture. The big picture for the Hulk and Andre match was that it was really going to create a buzz in the business. It was going to make the business better for everybody and create a great awareness of pro-wrestling. So I would say Hogan and Andre WrestleMania 3 would have been a real fun match to have called.

Brandon Galvin: To piggyback off Mike's question, is there a match or moment that you called that you wish you could re-do?

Jim Ross: Probably a lot of them if I go back and listen to them. I am my own worst critic. One of the advantages I have enjoyed of the WWE Network, that I subscribe to since day one and I certainly am renewing, I can go back and listen to some of my work on those old Pay-Per-Views from WCW and WWE. Right now, I’m working on my auto-biography and we’re getting close to the part where I talk about the death of Owen Hart. I have to go back and watch that segment of Pay-Per-View from 1999, and I have never looked at it ever. I’m kind of dreading that to be honest with you. I purposefully never looked at it, I didn’t want to see it again, I already lived it and that was enough.

I think I could have done a better job calling the Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair retirement match. It just seemed that our timing at the table that night was off for me. I always look back at that match, it was Ric’s last match in WWE, Shawn was in the ring with him, and it was a big deal. I was the third guy in the booth that night with Lawler and Cole. I’m not a big three men in the booth type of guy. Not that it can’t work, it can, but it seems to not work more often than not to me. I would say the Flair-Michaels match from WrestleMania 24 I would have liked to have had another shot at it.

Donald Wood: It’s well documented that you’ve had a tumultuous relationship with Vince McMahon and the WWE over the years. How would you describe the relationship between yourself and Mr. McMahon now?

Jim Ross: It’s actually pretty good. We text from time to time and talk on the phone from time to time now. Not a lot, not regularly, but you know, it’s fine. Vince and I got along and had a tremendous relationship. People have to understand where our relationship started. From day one, what we have built and what we survived at the time when the company was almost bankrupt. We were laying off people left and right, pay cuts, lot of people were bailing. Those of us that stayed loyal were rewarded financially. I signed at one point in the mid 90’s a ten year contract. I don’t know anyone that had a ten year contract with Vince and kept it. I have this thing about keeping my commitments and keeping my word. I kept my word and fulfilled my ten years and he paid me very, very well. 

I made more money with him than I did with anyone else combined. He told me if I stayed with him I would have nothing to worry about financially when I got older. Our issues were mainly philosophic. It was like two football coaches who wanted to run a 3-4 defense and the other wants to run a 4-3. I could plead my case why the 3-4 is better cause I got four great linebackers I can use and he could tell me why the 4-3 is better because he’s got four defense lineman that are outstanding. Our stuff was more philosophical more than anything else. At the end of the day, he won the argument more often than not because he owned the company. My dad taught me a long time ago, if you’re going to work for somebody and you’re going to take their money, you need to do what they tell you to do. So the day when you can’t look yourself in the mirror and do what they want you to do, you need to quit cashing their checks. I just cashed a WWE check the other day so I got no issues with them whatsoever. A lot of that stuff about McMahon and I has been blown out of proportion. 

He knows I take myself too seriously. He knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve, and he likes to be able to get under my skin. He gets a kick out of it and I can understand that, I get it. No one should mistake what I am saying that we talk regularly because we do not. But we still communicate, like have a few laughs in a text message or special occasions come up. We accomplished a great deal together. That talent roster that he gave me the ability to hire, they are still using those guys. John Cena last time I looked, Randy Orton last time I looked, Batista and the Rock in and out. We did accomplish a lot of great things together and I never worked with anyone that worked harder. Now, I’m not kissing his ass or anything like I need a job, cause I don’t need a job, I got plenty to do.

I watched a lot of my peers go through their money with cocaine, marijuana, booze, wives, and more. I decided I was going to save my money. I was going to retire at 55, I’m 62 now, and having more fun than I ever have since the Attitude Era. Yeah, we butted heads, had our pissing contest, but there is still a lot of respect there. He knows that if there is a jam, I am a phone call away and vice versa. Was it tumultuous? Sure. Did we hate each other? Absolutely not. I had the balls at the time to say when I thought he was wrong in a polite way. He had a lot of people that he paid a lot of money that took the path of least resistance. They would bitch about it afterwards when the decision had been made instead of being polite, diplomatic, and conversing when given the opportunity. Some of those guys are still there now which I would assume they are. Some though should be ashamed of themselves. Vince paid them damn good money to be honest. It’s just the fact that some of them just don’t have good presentation skills and don’t know how to present themselves while making a point. That’s just the art of communicating.     

Mike Chiari: One thing that many wrestling fans are critical of is WWE’s usage of and dependence on part-time Superstars such as Brock Lesnar or The Rock when he’s an active competitor. What is your overall opinion on the emergence of the part-time Superstar in wrestling today, and how well do you feel WWE utilizes them?

Jim Ross: Well, I think until you get some guys close to getting over, you gotta do all you can to get as many eyeballs watching your vehicle as you can. Whether it’s Monday Night Raw, Pay-Per-View, or subscribing to the Network, whatever it may be. I think using some of these established stars in reoccurring roles has absolutely nothing wrong with it. I think if you plan long term, you can use them more effectively with the thought in mind that they are there to help someone get better whether as an ally or an enemy. Does that mean let your returning baby come back and lose? Not necessarily. If you think that is the only way then you’re not really a student of the game. You are pretending you understand the business. I called a lot of matches where the guy losing was a lot better off leaving the ring as a loser then entering the ring on their introduction. I think it’s the smart thing to do to draw eyeballs to your television set. They can be more strategic in how they use these individuals and help enhance the young guys around them in a multitude of ways.

Like recently when Rusev was in the ring with the Rock. I love the rub, but I didn’t like the bumps. An old school booker would have never allowed a part-time guy to come in and bump his budding heel around the ring. It was unnecessary. You got them together, looking at each other ready to go, and you had Lana. All you had to do was have her step in the middle of them and order the Russian to leave, or Bulgarian whatever the hell he is this week. He would have had heat because he took orders from a woman, he would have backed out of the ring with a glare in his eyes looking at the Rock in the ring who stood his ground and was ready to go. Rock would not have laid a hand on the female, maybe given her a verbal lashing, but never a physical one. Then the heel would have left backing out of the ring, backing up the ramp, and he would have retained some heat. Then the announcer could say, “He is picking his spots. Discretion on this day is a better part of valor. If you think Rusev is afraid of the Rock then you are mighty wrong. Rusev is only doing what he is told by this woman who obviously has a bigger hold over Rusev then we ever would have dreamed. That someday somewhere the situation can manifest itself and that’s when the talking will be over.”

So easy to tell those stories and that’s from a booking philosophy. I could go to Vince and tell him I think were screwing up by having Rock punch this kid and then he takes the big bump over the top rope and then stand eight feet away on the outside fuming with the Rock looking down at him. Why wouldn’t he fight him now? What is there an invisible force field to keep them apart? It’s bad booking in my view and philosophically the wrong thing to do. But if the boss says that is what he wants to do, then I’m the first guy at the head of the line saying I am going to go commentate it and try to make it the best I possibly can. 

The issue is at the end of the day is the announcers making sure they know who the guy getting taken care of is the heel. He’s the one that’s getting over. The other guy is already over if you haven’t noticed. Those are the ways to get the rub and how you do it and it’s very subjective. It’s like saying what your favorite color of blue is. Navy? Carolina? Pale? I don’t have an issue with them using established guys that way. You think people are gonna bitch and raise hell if Austin comes back at WrestleMania in a year or two? “Oh that’s a travesty it’s just horrible oh God.  He’s taking someone’s spot that should be on the card.  I’ve been a wrestling fan for 15 years, I’m 17 years old, I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was 2 years old and I know this is wrong.” Alright, take it easy there, tiger.

Brandon Galvin: Many fans today have noticed that there appears to be a lack of focus on the wrestlers, the match and even the storylines from the commentators. Is this something you pick up on as well and could you explain why commentators may  stray from what many feel is their ultimate task in putting over the wrestlers or match? 

Jim Ross: Well, I still have my hearing so I can hear what you are saying, I’m not that old. Is it what I prefer to hear? Nope. Is it what I prefer to broadcast? Nope. Why are they doing it then? Well it’s because it’s how it’s produced and that’s what the boss wants them to do. So the announcers are doing what they are instructed to do and that is what they should do. Once people get out and get a full time job and people that have full time jobs will know what I mean. Sometimes your boss tells you to do things that you don’t feel, but he is the boss and he is paying your checks so it’s smart to do what you’re told to do. I thought I told stories pretty well, but now people say, “JR is old school, play by play wrestling announcer, time has passed him by.” These guys today are modern day story tellers. I thought I told stories as well, but some think I didn’t.

My sense of it is the fellas are doing what they are instructed to do as it was done in the production meetings. From what they hear in their headsets, they are following the instructions of the boss and how he wants his product represented. I don’t remember the last time I talked to Lawler, Cole, or JBL. I don’t know if I have talked to them this year. Maybe I have and I forgot. I feel bad people throw them under the bus and verbally beat them up on Twitter and other social media sites.

Ask Foley or Taz how challenging it could be. Michael Cole has the most challenging job any of us have ever had sitting in that middle chair. With all the social media, the Network, the things you have to promote, my style would not fit in today’s product. I’m very happy and lucky that Michael is the one doing the lead story telling now instead of me. I would not enjoy going to work every day. Like a shopping mall, having to promote everything. JBL and Lawler do some of it, but Cole does the majority of it. I admire what Michael does considering the hand that he was dealt. He started out many years ago working with me when styles were different and he knows the styles. He knows what it’s like to run the wishbone, but now they are running the spread offense. He is in a tough situation and a lot of fans don’t like what they hear, but that’s what the announcers are told to do.

Donald Wood: Earlier this month you announced for Battlegrounds MMA alongside UFC legend Chael Sonnen. What were your thoughts on that experience and what were some of the differences between calling a wrestling match and a MMA fight?

Jim Ross: Well, part of it there was a lot of wrestling matches that I did not know the outcome. I didn’t want to know it. I stopped a lot of agents mid-sentence, “Hey, this is what we’re going to do tonight,” and I would ask if there was one small nuance I needed to know that was imperative to the story. If not, I’d rather call it as I see it. People think I knew everything that happened. Are you kidding me? You think I would remember every high spot, every false finish? And every zig zag in a wrestling match with the volume of product we had every week? I’d be in a rubber room somewhere. I’d rather call it like a sporting event. Put it on the monitor and I’ll call it as I see it. Chael and I will be doing more MMA together. We are actually getting inquires on MMA and boxing. We have agents and representatives that are having talks and I have the sense were going to be doing a lot of things together. We like working together and we have great chemistry together. 

They brought me in first because this group was an Oklahoma group and grew up listening to me. So I recommended Chael, they liked it, and they brought him in. I didn’t prepare a lot differently. I told Chael I would talk about the fighters like they are human beings: Who they are, what they are, where they are from, why I should care about them, why I should give a damn. You talk about the fighters as a fighter: What they’re good at, their strengths, weakness, what their game plan should be. Every fight isn’t the greatest ever. We didn’t crap on them, but we did have a little fun. We added some levity to it, I mean come in, its entertainment. It’s not like we were narrating our broadcast like a funeral treatment. It’s MMA, some of its fun, some of its serious and its challenging.

Calling MMA is like calling old school pro wrestling in Mid-South or NWA era, but it’s a lot more challenging than boxing. Boxing is easier than MMA. Boxing you get hit with a right hand, or a left hand, maybe a head butt. With pro wrestling and MMA the attack can come from anywhere. It was definitely bucket list item and I’d love to do more.

Mike Chiari: Even though WWE and professional wrestling as a whole may not be in an ideal state currently, I think most would agree that there’s a ton of talent involved in the business today. With that said, if you were tasked with building a wrestling company from the ground up, who would you choose as your cornerstone guy and why?

Jim Ross: The cornerstone guy would be someone with a lot of money because I’m not gonna spend my money on doing it. I don’t think it’s very feasible. It would have to be an investment group with a lot of money. You just can’t go pluck a guy out of mid-air and say that’s gonna be my guy. People say, “I can’t believe you didn’t say CM Punk automatically. JR is disconnected, he’s not with it anymore.” I’m not saying I wouldn’t want CM Punk or Steve Austin involved, that wouldn’t be very bright.

There is two elements to making a wrestling territory successful and its talent and television. There is enough talent out there to get a roster jump started especially if you change the procedure. I want to have time limits, more finishes, and rules. I’m not going to go back to the 1920’s, but how are you supposed to have an athletic contest with no rules? It’s ludacris. How are heels gonna be heels if there are no rules to break? It’s illogical.

So the first guy you want to have is a conglomerate with a lot of money and patience to allow you to build your television audience. You want to use any name identity to get you over the hump while you are getting young stars over. The guys that would be getting the most time would be guys in their 20’s. They would be young, athletic, would have a little bit of that All Japan style back in the day so when someone deliver a body tackle or clothesline there was impact. We would be using great finishers for high spots.

Now I’m not saying slow everything down to where you lay in a headlock for 30 minutes. Just get back to the fundamentals instead of a spot fest and encourage guys to learn the art form of how to sell and take their time. One of my big pet peeves is when a wrestler mounts a second turnbuckle and hits his opponent ten times in the face. That’s just one of the great exposés of wrestling. Number one, the guy doesn’t fall until he is hit the tenth time, number two, there is no marks on his face where he got hit, number three, the guy throwing the punches isn’t even selling his untapped hand after ten punches. That all tells me a lot of those guys doing that haven’t ever been in a fight. You can’t hit a guy ten times in the face and not hurt your own hand, it’s essentially impossible. 

We would be more modernized and basic fundamentals, but build young, athletic, and physical wrestlers; that would be my mantra. The most important element of building a company is your backers with deep, deep pockets and preferably with a television network. So you’re not preempted and you got a great television time. You certainly wouldn’t do a show over two hours. When you start, one hour should be your calling card. Maybe once a quarter do a two hour special or something. An hour doesn’t kill me and I can get everything in in one hour.

Brandon Galvin: You were the voice of the Attitude Era, which was spear-headed by Stone Cold Steve Austin playing a beloved anti-hero. The topic of a John Cena heel turn has been discussed for more than five years with fans yearning for more of an edge from Cena. Do you think the hatred towards Cena is fair with him trying to work as a babyface in the confines of a PG Era?

Jim Ross: Well if John Cena turns heel, would the people booing him now cheer him? I don’t know the logic or the answer. “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks.” He still sells more merchandise than anyone on the roster. For whatever he is, I think part of that stuff is just trendy. I need a really good reason to turn Cena heel and it wouldn’t be because of crowd chants. Ticket sales, live event business, kids merchandise, things like that are a very good indicator. I’m not a major fan of turning him heel, but I’m not opposed to it. All those things have to be done for the right reasons.

Right now we have a wrestling public that has very little patience. I heard someone the other day say they couldn’t believe that Sheamus and the Usos have been in three six-man tag matches and how much longer do they have to watch this. That’s like saying, “Why would you want to watch Rock and Austin at WrestleMania three times?” Once is enough don’t you think?

I read a story that out of 52 Wednesdays, Dory Funk Sr. wrestled Iron Mike DiBiase 37 times. They changed the match up, they are performers, and they changed up the presentation every time. I find it somewhat head scratching that people call themselves wrestling fans and students of the game automatically get turned off if someone wrestlers more than once. I have seen a lot of Orton and Cena, I signed both of those guys, and have no regrets. I am so excited and they have made a lot of money and secured their futures through the jobs that we secured for them. I’m very proud of both of those guys, but I’m also very tired of them wrestling each other. I’d like to see them wrestle other people and it would help invigorate them.

Now that’s not saying anything bad about those guys. I’m not riding the fence, but if you’re tired of something after three matches, you could easily say it wasn’t very good, you didn’t like it and three times is enough for me. Quite frankly that’s not a good gauge of something in that regard but that’s where we are. That’s why we have to have more people on the roster trying to get over and get their shots. 

That’s why when they bring in guys from NXT, they gotta bring them in as main event level guys so if they go down a notch or two they are still in the hunt. They bring them in as just another guy it’s a long journey to go from just another guy to a main eventer. They gotta come in with a game plan. I’m concerned about the lack of main event depth, but until you get more of that you’re gonna see a lot of those rematches, tag matches, and things of that nature. I’d like to see less handicap matches. They are getting a little old but used to be special. When you saw a handicap match, it used to put the baby face in jeopardy and a lot of trouble. Now a days it’s just another match, and nothing should ever be just another match. It should always have a story or a reason. Things are always short term or quickly and there isn’t a reason behind it. It comes back to long term planning which is non-existent or incredibly sporadic.