JR Blogs On WWE Battleground, Undertaker’s Opponent At WM30, Mike Tenay & Taz

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross has posted his latest blog on his website jrsbarbq.com. Below are some of the highlights:

Thoughts on the WWE Battleground PPV: Controversy abounds following the WWE PPV Battle Ground Sunday night in Buffalo. Many fans hitting me on Twitter @JRsBBQ with ample venom regarding the finish of the show. Obviously, it was a way to continue a storyline between Bryan and Orton. Pro wrestling creative is more subjective today that ever in my lifetime. Like most theatrical productions that I watch, I enjoyed some aspects of the PPV and wasn’t as enthralled with some of the other content.

The two things that stood out to me on Battle Ground were the Rhodes-Shield business and Cesaro’s Giant Swing.

The payoff on the personal issue involving the Rhodes clan and the Shield, representing the establishment, was spot on in my view. The spotlight was on Cody Rhodes as it should have been. Now, let’s see where it goes from here and if Cody evolves into the main event level superstar that many feel he is capable of doing.

Loved the post match nuance of the stars, both old and new, congratulating the Rhodes family. Plus, I got the one, Bionic Elbow that I was hoping for from the Dream. There is no doubt that Goldust can still contribute in today’s WWE at least for the short term IE through WM30.

Cesaro’s Giant Swing, among other nuances, had the crowd in Buffalo cheering for the villains vs. the comedy duo of Khali and Santino. Tough match to call for the announcers which one website took as me criticizing the match. I wasn’t for the record but was simply stating fact.

Any match that has no back story poses more challenges for any announce team. For the record, all matches cannot have a back story and some rivalries start anew. When matches don’t have ample back stories the announcers have to rely on what they are seeing and embellish or “get over” the talents who are also aware that they are in a ‘cold match.’

If the average fan knew how hard it was to broadcast today’s product they would have less negative things to say about @MichaelCole, @JCLayfied, and @JerryLawler. I’m proud of the way they navigate the waters and certainly am happy that it’s them and not me having to do the heavy lifting.

Who he thinks will wrestle Undertaker at WM30: I said that I had NO IDEA. That’s, NO IDEA. I added that I’d likely put Ryback and Cena on a short list that could include several names. Now, I’ve got some who feel I’m endorsing Ryback as Taker’s WM30 opponent and they think that I’m insane. What part of “I don’t know” is confusing? I do know that IF WM30 were to be Taker’s last match, I don’t know that it will be or not, that WWE would have their ‘theme’ for their biggest event of the year in New Orleans next April. Now, let the conspiracy theorists get rolling with that.

On going to work for TNA Wrestling: TNA has two great announcers in @MikeTenayTNA and @OfficialTaz. Both are my friends and both do excellent work. So, TNA doesn’t need me to broadcast. Secondly, the last thing I want to engage at this stage of my life is to dive head long into more ‘rasslin politics, pro wrestling madness, performer paranoia, and to even remotely deal with the lack of long term planning, start & stop creative planning, and the lack of a definitive end of the day decision maker, etc that often times just goes with being in the biz.

I actually caught the last 5 or so minutes of TNA last Thursday night between football games and felt that Tenay and Taz did perfectly as a very strange (IMO) show went off the air….say absolutely nothing. As Hogan’s Heroes (No pun intended) Sgt Schultz used to exclaim, “I KNOW NOTHING.”