06:12:03
Jim Ross
Jim
Ross joined us Thursday afternoon on 1380am, the following
interview will air on The Stranglehold this Tuesday night
(6/17)...
After
some conversation about the down-home family recipes in
his new cookbook, JR was asked about the story regarding
Dustin Runnels, aka Goldust, coming to him with the idea
for a boob job...
JR:
"Yeah...we seemed to have hit a creative roadblock
on where to go with that character next. Many of us felt
like we had made it as bizarre as the audience could handle
and maybe we'll go a different direction. And still make
it a compelling character, but maybe not quite as much as
a sexual bent to it.
So,
I think that he was thinking of going another direction,
and he wanted to know if we would endorse and fund a breast
enhancement. I
thought he was kidding, you know. He was very serious. He
said he'd 'get noticed and I'll go on all these talkshows',
you know, the Howard Sterns-of the world and that nature.
The wild and wacky stuff.
So
I put him in front of Vince McMahon and myself and went
over it again. And Vince thought I was pulling a joke on
him. So we turned that creative idea down. It shows you
how hard he (Goldust) wanted to stay "over" and
be noticed. And draw attention to himself. We just didn't
feel that it was the right way--it's an interesting story
to say the least, of the tall man from Texas saying, 'JR,
I wanna get a boob job'.
BS:
And in some ways, it's probably just as shocking that Vince
McMahon--who certainly likes to walk up to that line and
even occaissionally put a tiptoe over it, turned it down.
JR:
Yeah, Vince is certainly an entrepenuerial spirit in different
things. He uses his gut instincts on creative decisions,
but that was one that we felt like would be not only putting
our toe over the line, but maybe like falling off the edge
and out of sight. I think in the hind sight, it was the
right decision not to do it. But I also feel like, and it's
like I told somebody the other day, it shows you how badly
these guys want to connect with the audience. They want
their characters to be over. The more they're over, they
increase their chances for earning more money and that's
what they're here to do. So I admired Dustin's forward thinking,
quite frankly. It's just it was an idea that was so far,
and so bizarre that, man, once you go there--what do you
do next?
BS:
Yeah, that's a scary thought. Well, hopefully "JR's
Cookbook" will be a best-seller and speaking of best-sellers,
when we talked a couple of weeks ago, you mentioned you
would like to have Mick Foley around. And low and behold,
he will be the special guest referee in the Hell in a Cell
matchup this Sunday at Bad Blood.
JR:
Yeah, it was great to see Mick on RAW in Miami. Ol' Mick
will be back in the unfriendly confines of that big steel
structure that weighs a couple of tons. Mick has made his
mark in that type of environment. It will be good to see
Mick back on tv, I think he's really going to add something
significant to the ppv.
It
seems to me, and of course I'm supposed to be selling ppv
for the company, but I think this ppv, in all honesty, has
gotten more momentum in the last couple of weeks for sure.
And I think we did a good solid job on Monday of building
the anticpation for the event. So, I'm looking forward to
Houston and Bad Blood. I'm
really looking forward to Flair and Shawn Michaels--probably
as much as anything on the card.
BS:
That one could certainly steal it. You know that both of
those guys, since this is their first official one-on-one
matchup, I think that in some ways that "torch"
might be passed not in that private room that Ric Flair
has talked about on RAW so many times, but right there in
the center of the ring.
JR:
Well, you know I look at it like a great golfer--a Nicklaus
or a Palmer playing a round with Tiger Woods. Since Michaels
is not starting his career, he's at the end of it. Flair
is certainly towards the end of his, too. Flair is probably
healthier than Shawn, because of Shawn's back issues belive
it or not, but I'll tell you what. I think that the competitive
fire still burns brightly within both of these guys.
And
I think this is a match that they've always wanted to have.
And I really believe that we're not gonna see any rust,
any limitations on either guy. I think that it'll be a classic
match. It'll surprise us all. Again, Brian, I think this
one's got a chance to be a show stealer--even with the Hell
in a Cell. This one could be one of those matches we talk
about for years, because we're actually going to see Shawn
Michaels and Ric Flair go one-on-one. And it seems that
Shawn's pretty healthy, his back's not bothering him too
badly. It's never going to be a hundred percent. But he
seems to be as healthy as he can get. And I think in the
last several weeks, since Flair had that match with HHH
on RAW, Flair has just been awesome.
BS:
Definitely rejuvenized. One of the other matches that has
a little bit of intrigue, I know on the Bad Blood website
there's a little bit more detail, talking about Chrs Jericho
and Goldberg. Their share of history in the past, even recent
past--getting "reacquainted" with each other in
the locker room, Chris Jericho vs. Bill Goldberg. Do you
think this is the beginning or solution in their feud?
JR:
Well, that's a good question. I'd like to think it would
be certainly not the ending. I don't know, they've had some
interesting confrontations in the last few weeks on RAW
to build the storyline to where it is now. I don't know
where Goldberg's next point of departure is going to be,
you know, at some point one would think that Goldberg and
HHH are going to become an issue. If that's going to be
sooner or later, I think this is going to be a great opportunity
for Bill to break-out of that, perhaps unfair, categorization
that he's one dimensional. Jericho is a great all-around
performer and Bill can try and dance with someone who can
really do it. It's going to be an interesting match, I'm
anxious to see how it materializes.
BS:
Bad Blood goes down in Houston this Sunday, as you mention.
In the hometown of Booker T, who will be challenging Christian
for the IC title. You said something a week or so ago, that
I think was right on the money--it's hard to remember the
last time a champion went into a ppv with less momentum
than what Christian has this Sunday. Just a foregone conclusion
that Booker gets the win in his hometown after being screwed
out of the belt at the last ppv?
JR:
Well, it seems that way to me. But, you know, just as sure
as we're looking for the high heat, we get the breaking
pitch. And so I don't know. It would seem to me that the
table is set for Booker T to roar into his hometown and
partisan crowd and become the IC champion for the first
time. It seems like a fitting end to that story there. As
sure as I say that, and it seems like all the stars are
in line, boom--there's a fallout. So, I don't know. I'm
thinking he's gonna win it, but I wouldn't want to be one
of my Mickey Mantle baseballs on it.
BS:
Yeah, you mention those in the cookbook as well. I think
"Confidential" maybe should do a segment on the
mementos in JR's sports collection.
JR:
Well, I've got a lot of Mickey Mantle memorablia. I've got
a lot of John Wayne memorablia. I've got a John Wayne cigarette
lighter and three pairs of cufflinks, shirts, and several
autographed pieces of memorabilia. And more from Mantle.
I've got a 1951 Bowman rookie card, in mint condition, that's
probably worth--my mom and dad bought a two hundred acre
farm in Oklahoma before I was born for $10,000. That baseball
card is worth significantly more these days than the farm
I grew up on--for some perverse reason. So, I got a lot
of Mantle stuff. That might be kind of fun. And I've got
Oklahoma Sooner stuff that I'm collecting as time goes on.
On
an auction, I bought a 1974 championship ring, given to
one of the team attendants. That came up on an auction block
the other day, Oklahoma Sooner 1974 championship ring--anxiously
awaiting the arrival of. So, I like to collect that--I'm
still a kid at heart. You know, growing up as an only child
in rural Oklahoma, you know my baseball cards were pretty
good company. Really. And I learned to read, largely, from
reading the back of baseball cards. I'm still a kid at heart
in that regard.
BS:
Yeah, the best prep you can do as a youngster, getting ready
for any type of sports is to actually read the back of the
cards. It's amazing how much information comes back at the
most opportune times.
JR:
Right, yes. And it's always been. I wish that when I left
for college--I had an awesome collection of baseball and
football cards, and I guess my dad figured I didn't want
them anymore. They were taken to the dump. At this point
in my life, thousands upon thousands of dollars because
there were several Mickey Mantle baseball cards. Among others
Mays baseball cards, a lot of real valuable things. I even
had Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, LA Rams football
card. And I have no idea how much they'd be worth today.
But they went by the way of the fallen soldier.
BS:
Wanted to go over a couple of the other matches for Sunday.
Scott Steiner battles Test for Stacy Keibler's managerial
services, Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski-- what a
pairing they are, they will battle the Dudley Boys. But
the tag titles, RVD and Kane a little bit of dissention
there as I think Kane is trying to rediscover himself. Being
challenged by Stone Cold Steve Austin. They put the tags
on the line against the new team of La Resistance.
JR:
Well, I think that if Kane and RVD are on the same page,
for the majority of this match, that they'll prevail. But
I think the wildcard in this is Kane. Kane's attitude is
going to, I think, dictate the outcome. So it's kind of,
and straddling the fence here, but I'm trying not to. I
think RVD and Kane are the better team--certainly more experienced.
But I don't know how together they are as far as this whole
thing is playing out. That's going to be one of the more
interesting stories within a match at Bad Blood.
BS:
Do you get the feeling that a lot of people would like to
see RVD and Kane split up and have a singles feud against
each other?
JR:
I think so. And I think a lot of people would be interested
in seeing Kane as a full-fledged heel. And I also think,
and I'm one of them, that RVD has significant legs as a
single. He has a unique style. A lot of our guys, even though
he's been around awhile, a lot of guys have acclimated to
his style better than others. He's an untapped resource,
let me put it that way, as a single competitor. And I'd
like to see him be given that opportunity, both guys quite
frankly--if they're given the opportunity to work against
each other or with other people.
They
have more value to the company, at least in my eyes, as
singles than they do as a team. Because we have depth issues
and I think putting two big stars in a tag team is cool,
but the big money is drawn in singles matches not tags,
it seems nowdays.
BS:
These matches aren't announced, but is seems with everything
that has gone down the last few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised
to see Sunday Night HEAT offering the Hurricane and Randy
Orton one-one one, maybe Ivory--who's got two straight pins
over Jazz, do something with the Women's title. And wouldn't
that be a great scenario for Gail Kim to make a debut?
JR:
Yeah, I haven't heard when Gail's going to debut, but she's
quite an in-ring performer. She's had some good wrestling
training--she's been trained by the same people, Ron Hutchinson
there in Toronto, that trained Christian, Edge, and Trish
Stratus. Gail's had some good schooling and she's down in
OVW now and continuing her education, shall we say. I like
the fact that we're doing some vignettes on her. I look
forward to her debut.
I've
got her booked on some Smackdown house shows, just because
it made a little bit of sense on some things we were doing.
But, I think she's going to obviously be a RAW girl at the
end of the day. And of course, on Smackdown, I look forward
to the debut of Ultimo Dragon. He's a phenomenon in my view.
Maybe one of, arguably one or two of the best Cruiserweights
in the world.
BS:
I know we've got just a few moments left, but a question
I get asked quite a bit, and since you're Senior VP of Talent
Relations, could explain just a little bit of how the WWE
salary structure works? Can you talk about the bonus structure,
how ppvs figure into that?
JR:
All the talents get a guaranteed amount that they're going
to make as a downside guarantee. So, their downside gurantee
basically equates to equalling their worst case scenario.
So if somebody has a downside guarantee of $100,000 they're
going to make $100,00--worst case scenario.
We
try to make those downside guarantees not in a talent's
comfort zone, so the talent is perfectly happy earning simply
his or her downside guarantee. Because then it takes away,
largely, the incentive. So, the more house shows are--the
more money they make. The more productive the ppvs are--they
get a payoff based on the number of buys and position on
the card, their peformance--there's a lot of subjective
things factored in. But a lot of it's based on productivity
and positioning on the card.
And
then, of course, they get paid royalties for merchandise
that they sell. And they get paid for personal appearances
that they do, that we solicit for them through third-party
promotions. You know, a guy writes a book--he'll make a
royalty off his book. Austin's made a fortune selling t-shirts,
for example. There's several facets that contribute to your
end-of-year total. And I believe this to be the right system--based
on productivity.
The
more you produce, the more you should earn. And if you put
people on a downside guarantee that hits them right in the
middle of their comfort zone, as we saw in the old WCW,
it largely takes away people's incentive to go out to work
harder to do better.
BS:
Wrestlers have the incentive for Sunday at the ppv, obviously
putting on the best show they can besides the financial
reasons, but this will be the first brand-only, RAW-only
ppv. What's the mood around Connecticut? Are the WWE offices
a little bit more tense than normal? Any sort of expectations
or ramifications come out of this ppv?
JR:
No, I think it's business as normal. I think everybody's
looking forward to it. The guys have a--there's a friendly,
natural rivilary between the RAW and Smackdown rosters.
We don't have that ECW 'Us Against the World' mentality.
Which I think is counterproductive, as far as, the RAW guys
hating the Smackdown guys. Or Michael Cole and Tazz knocking
JR and King and vice versa. I don't think that, to me, is
a positive. At least that's my view, I could be wrong on
that. I think there is a very friendly, competitive nature
with the rosters.
You
see that manifest itself when we have our co-jointly produced
ppvs when all the guys are in the locker room at the same
time. I think the guys on RAW are probably gonna be, will
rise to the occassion, because they know their peers are
going to be watching. I think it's a pretty healthy environment
right now. Really, Brian, I think everybody is pumped up
and it's gameday. Sunday, you go out and you get it done.
And I think that's what we're intending to do.
BS:
Final prediction, Hell in a Cell, HHH against Kevin Nash
with Mick Foley as special referee. Big Daddy Cool hasn't
been quite the same since returning from the quad injury,
but is he going to be able to turn it up a notch and give
HHH a serious challenge?
JR:
Oh yeah. I think that HHH brings out the best in Kevin.
Kevin is still getting back to the form to try and regain
the peak performance after that serious injury. He's had
23 major surgeries in his career--he knows what it's like
to rehab and come back.
If
this match goes past 15 or 20 minutes, HHH is gonna win--with
or without Mick Foley's involvement. Shorter, Nash has got
a great chance to upset HHH. Some people think it's time
for a world title change. That's certainly arguable and
subjective.
BS:
And you've got Summer Slam around the corner.
JR:
Yeah. And I don't know that HHH is going to be ready to
pass that torch in this environment. And Kevin's gonna have
his hands full. So, I'm looking at HHH retaining the title,
but there again, I've been--in my role, as a play-by-play
guy, the less I know, the more spontaneous I can be. So
I'm thinking going in, as a fan, HHH is going to retain
it in a bloodbath. But, I've been wrong a lot of times with
my predictions and this could be one of them.
BS:
Now let me have you clarify just one point, because you
know how the internet works. HHH may not be ready to pass
the torch...
JR:
I'm not saying he would go in and say "I'm not gonna
lose tonight". From a wrestler's perspective, I don't
know that--I'm trying to give you a better analogy. I don't
know that the Oklahoma Sooners are ready to pass the Big
12 torch next year because they're loaded and they like
that position of going to a major bowl and winning the championship
of the conference.
BS:
I knew what you meant, just wanted to clarify because HHH
has the big bullseye on his back.
JR:
Oh yeah, because he's gonna marry the boss' daughter issue.
I'm talking not on the personal side of passing the torch,
but on the character side. I think this will be a very physical
match. It will be a ground attack--not many drop kicks and
hurricanranas, but a lot of blood and guts. I don't know
how you get in that environment and don't break the skin.
I just think it's impossible. So, I'm looking forward to
that--I think it will surprise us. They had a streetfight
in New Castle, England last weekend that the King and I
broadcast and I'll tell ya, if you get a chance to see the
tape, you're going to be very surprised at how well that
went.
Brian,
Kevin is better every week. It's just taking him some time,
that was a hell of an injury that he had. It's just taking
him some time to get his timing back and he's a gameday
guy. He's got his pride. He realizes that he's not the most
athletic guy in the company. I'm not saying that out of
school. When he played basketball for the University of
Tennessee, he wasn't the most athletic guy on the team.
He played inside--he was a rebounder and defender. He knows
what his role is. He's a deliberate guy, a brawler--and
I think that's what you'll see.
BS:
People who have had the opportunity to meet Kevin Nash know
what sort of guy he is, and I mean that in a complimentary
sort of way. Which I think makes it even a little more frustrating
to see that over these last few weeks he's not back to that
100% speed and you've got to have that question in the back
of your mind, is he ever going to reach that level again?
JR:
Well, that's a question that we all are asking ourselves.
And I know that his heart is in the right place. That his
attitude is good. I know he wants to wrestle or perform
at a high level. Mother Nature is gonna have as much to
say about it as how far she's going to let him advance at
this age, this stage of his game. And that injury was not
like just having your elbow or knee scoped. He had to have
that quadriceps muscle, which is the largest leg muscle
in the body, reattached and it's a big deal.
BS:
Prognosis on Dave Batista, speaking of torn muscles?
JR:
I think, after Dave's last setback and after another surgery,
at this point, I think Dave is looking at least three months.
Sometime early Fall before we see him again. He was starting
to turn a corner a little bit and you could see the light
at the end of the tunnel on him. I think Dave has a lot
of potential. As I said before, and I don't mean this in
a menacing or cryptic way, you can only buy groceries on
potential for so long. It's like the number one draft pick,
whether it's a baseball team or football team or whatever.
You can live on that hype for awhile, but you've got to
stay healthy and produce and we believe that Dave can produce
if he can stay healthy. And of course, that remains to be
seen. We haven't seen that part of it yet, but we're hoping
that it's snakebit jobs and he'll be over that. He's a good
guy. A good athlete. He's got a unique look. We have a lot
of high hopes for him, so hopefully he can avoid the injury
bug and live up to the potential that we all want.
BS:
Sunday, WWE Bad Blood on ppv, Father's Day so get JR's Cookbook:
True Ringside Tales and Downhome Recipes. You can have a
little Slobberknocker Salmon and then join us down at The
Rec Room--the official WWE Blast Area here in St.Louis and
we can see WWE Bad Blood go down.
JR:
St.Louis' own Randy Orton--I think Randy's prescence on
the ppv will be felt. And you know, Randy's a stud in my
view. He'll make St.Louis proud again. He's a throwback
to the old days and Randy's just coming back from an injury.
He's so athletic and his dad was a wonderful in-ring tactician,
and his grandpa--a great crowd pyschologist and brawler,
wrestler. So we're hoping he can live up to that. And Brian,
we're also going to be back to St.Louis on August 12th for
Smackdown. And Kurt Angle will be back in full bloom by
that time, even before then. So we're looking forward to
that too. We'll have to get some of our Smackdown guys to
be on your show to talk about coming in to your city.
BS:
We're excited about that too, and hopefully Kurt Angle will
be champ--a lot of Brock Lesnar fans, too. But one of those
guys should be wearing the belt for that debut show, August
12th for Smackdown in St.Louis.
JR:
Yeah, it should be great.
BS:
Well, Jim Ross, as always we appreciate the time. A busy
schedule, but appreciate you breaking down Bad Blood. Again,
looking forward to trying out some of these recipes--the
Slobberknocker Salmon is looking mighty good.
JR:
It's good stuff and I hope the folks will check it out at
the he local bookstores. And I appreciate you having me
on--thank you a lot.
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