Black Widow
10-27-2007, 01:03 PM
JIM ROSS TALKS ABOUT CANDICE, D.H. SMITH, JIM HERD, ROBOCOP IN WCW, UNDERTAKER RETIRING AND MORE
Jim Ross posted his latest blog entry, looking at a variety of topics including football, ZZTop, Randy Couture and more. You can read the full blog entry by clicking here. (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/10/26/random-thoughts-from-a-bar-b-qing-traveling-man-about-robocop-jim-herd-zz-top-randy-couture-candice-michelle-and-jr%e2%80%99s-bar-b-q-revolution/) Here are some wrestling-related items from this entry:
- When asked here on the site if I would ever be interested in promoting wrestling live events or fan conventions I have always said no without hesitation. After the nightmare that occurred recently in San Francisco, my lack of interest to ever promote the product as an independent promoter is more prominent than ever. From what I read and from what I hear the weekend had to be a real “train wreck” for virtually everyone involved. Why wrestlers don’t finalize their “deals” before they leave home is beyond me, as is for wrestlers who agree to terms and then perform the old, proverbial “hold up” on the promoters before the event. When one steps back and looks at this entire chain of events, it is quite honestly a sad state of affairs for all involved and certainly doesn’t do the business any favors.
- The voting for Cyber Sunday is rocking along I am told and I expect a ton of votes to be cast as the week progresses. I hope that there are some big time surprises thanks to your votes for Sunday’s PPV event. Jeff Hardy fans have a great opportunity to put young Jeffrey in the main event against WWE Champ Randy Orton if enough votes are cast in Hardy’s favor. And what about the Kennedy fans out there? Will Mr. Kennedy receive enough support to get the nod over HBK and Hardy vs. Orton?
- Nice to see Harry Smith, officially to be called D.H. Smith, finally debut in the WWE. The son of the late British Bulldog is a big, 6’5”-260, young man who has a great aptitude for the business. Just as all young wrestlers, D.H. will have to work on connecting with the fans, which is never automatic or easy for a rookie. Hell, some veterans still have issues creating an emotional investment with the ticket buying public. One thing is for sure in the wrestling business, if a wrestler cannot get the fans to “care” about them, the wrestlers career will be short lived and unproductive. I thought D.H. had a nice debut and look forward to seeing him compete as time goes by and to see if Smith can step from his father’s shadow and cast his own “foot print” in the WWE. D.H. definitely has athletic skills, however his biggest challenge may be allowing his personality to evolve and that will simply take time and the patience by all involved. Speaking with him in the locker room area, I can already tell that the young lad is more extroverted than he was when I first met him many, many years ago. I definitely believe D.H. Smith has the potential to be a main eventer for many years to come.
- Candice Michelle dodged a major bullet Monday night when she took a nasty fall off the top turnbuckle and landed essentially on her head and shoulder, resulting in a broken collar bone (clavicle). Collar bones usually heal in 6-8 weeks at which time the hard working Candice will most likely be back in the ring working hard to improve her game. Candice not sustaining a serious neck injury was a minor miracle.
- Where in the hell do the “Undertaker retirement” rumors come from?? We seem to get an inordinate amount of fan comments regarding this matter, that is baseless. I could certainly see ‘Taker not wrestling as often as he once did, just like any one else with The Deadman’s ring time, but the words “retirement” have not been uttered by him in my many conversations with the future Hall of Famer over the past several months.
- Since some have asked, Jim Herd….the former head of WCW….was a controversial individual but I never found him to be a “bad guy” as others have positioned Herd. Was Herd a “wrestling guy”? No. Did Herd make some ill advised business decisions while running WCW? Yes. Was Herd the scourge of the earth as some wrestlers say? Not in my opinion. Go back to what I said earlier about wrestlers two primary sources of problems, money and creative direction, and you can most likely surmise why some athletes did not like Herd. I had some great times with Herd when we were “off the clock” but I certainly did not agree with all his business decisions and I had my share of confrontations with him, but that doesn’t make Jim Herd a bad guy by any means. Many “wrestling people” have made an ample amount of bad decisions throughout the years, but that is simply a functionality of making business decisions in general. I know that I have damn sure made my share of less than stellar booking, creative, and hiring decisions in my day, but I refuse to believe that those decisions brand me as a bad person.
- With the WWE returning to Washington D.C. this Sunday for Cyber Sunday, I am reminded of a WCW PPV I helped broadcast featuring the infamous “Robocop” appearance. Fans often ask me my memories of this event held at the D.C. Armory way back in the day and I can assure you that it was not one of the stellar moments of my broadcasting career. The entire storyline made no sense and the concept was ill conceived at best. That matter was simply a case of WCW attempting to out WWE the WWE with the inclusion of a non wrestling facet to the event’s presentation. To describe the Robocop fiasco in a word would be…forgettable.
You can read the full entry by clicking here. (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/10/26/random-thoughts-from-a-bar-b-qing-traveling-man-about-robocop-jim-herd-zz-top-randy-couture-candice-michelle-and-jr%e2%80%99s-bar-b-q-revolution/)
Jim Ross posted his latest blog entry, looking at a variety of topics including football, ZZTop, Randy Couture and more. You can read the full blog entry by clicking here. (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/10/26/random-thoughts-from-a-bar-b-qing-traveling-man-about-robocop-jim-herd-zz-top-randy-couture-candice-michelle-and-jr%e2%80%99s-bar-b-q-revolution/) Here are some wrestling-related items from this entry:
- When asked here on the site if I would ever be interested in promoting wrestling live events or fan conventions I have always said no without hesitation. After the nightmare that occurred recently in San Francisco, my lack of interest to ever promote the product as an independent promoter is more prominent than ever. From what I read and from what I hear the weekend had to be a real “train wreck” for virtually everyone involved. Why wrestlers don’t finalize their “deals” before they leave home is beyond me, as is for wrestlers who agree to terms and then perform the old, proverbial “hold up” on the promoters before the event. When one steps back and looks at this entire chain of events, it is quite honestly a sad state of affairs for all involved and certainly doesn’t do the business any favors.
- The voting for Cyber Sunday is rocking along I am told and I expect a ton of votes to be cast as the week progresses. I hope that there are some big time surprises thanks to your votes for Sunday’s PPV event. Jeff Hardy fans have a great opportunity to put young Jeffrey in the main event against WWE Champ Randy Orton if enough votes are cast in Hardy’s favor. And what about the Kennedy fans out there? Will Mr. Kennedy receive enough support to get the nod over HBK and Hardy vs. Orton?
- Nice to see Harry Smith, officially to be called D.H. Smith, finally debut in the WWE. The son of the late British Bulldog is a big, 6’5”-260, young man who has a great aptitude for the business. Just as all young wrestlers, D.H. will have to work on connecting with the fans, which is never automatic or easy for a rookie. Hell, some veterans still have issues creating an emotional investment with the ticket buying public. One thing is for sure in the wrestling business, if a wrestler cannot get the fans to “care” about them, the wrestlers career will be short lived and unproductive. I thought D.H. had a nice debut and look forward to seeing him compete as time goes by and to see if Smith can step from his father’s shadow and cast his own “foot print” in the WWE. D.H. definitely has athletic skills, however his biggest challenge may be allowing his personality to evolve and that will simply take time and the patience by all involved. Speaking with him in the locker room area, I can already tell that the young lad is more extroverted than he was when I first met him many, many years ago. I definitely believe D.H. Smith has the potential to be a main eventer for many years to come.
- Candice Michelle dodged a major bullet Monday night when she took a nasty fall off the top turnbuckle and landed essentially on her head and shoulder, resulting in a broken collar bone (clavicle). Collar bones usually heal in 6-8 weeks at which time the hard working Candice will most likely be back in the ring working hard to improve her game. Candice not sustaining a serious neck injury was a minor miracle.
- Where in the hell do the “Undertaker retirement” rumors come from?? We seem to get an inordinate amount of fan comments regarding this matter, that is baseless. I could certainly see ‘Taker not wrestling as often as he once did, just like any one else with The Deadman’s ring time, but the words “retirement” have not been uttered by him in my many conversations with the future Hall of Famer over the past several months.
- Since some have asked, Jim Herd….the former head of WCW….was a controversial individual but I never found him to be a “bad guy” as others have positioned Herd. Was Herd a “wrestling guy”? No. Did Herd make some ill advised business decisions while running WCW? Yes. Was Herd the scourge of the earth as some wrestlers say? Not in my opinion. Go back to what I said earlier about wrestlers two primary sources of problems, money and creative direction, and you can most likely surmise why some athletes did not like Herd. I had some great times with Herd when we were “off the clock” but I certainly did not agree with all his business decisions and I had my share of confrontations with him, but that doesn’t make Jim Herd a bad guy by any means. Many “wrestling people” have made an ample amount of bad decisions throughout the years, but that is simply a functionality of making business decisions in general. I know that I have damn sure made my share of less than stellar booking, creative, and hiring decisions in my day, but I refuse to believe that those decisions brand me as a bad person.
- With the WWE returning to Washington D.C. this Sunday for Cyber Sunday, I am reminded of a WCW PPV I helped broadcast featuring the infamous “Robocop” appearance. Fans often ask me my memories of this event held at the D.C. Armory way back in the day and I can assure you that it was not one of the stellar moments of my broadcasting career. The entire storyline made no sense and the concept was ill conceived at best. That matter was simply a case of WCW attempting to out WWE the WWE with the inclusion of a non wrestling facet to the event’s presentation. To describe the Robocop fiasco in a word would be…forgettable.
You can read the full entry by clicking here. (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/2007/10/26/random-thoughts-from-a-bar-b-qing-traveling-man-about-robocop-jim-herd-zz-top-randy-couture-candice-michelle-and-jr%e2%80%99s-bar-b-q-revolution/)