ROH

Jim Ross Reacts to Lana’s Title Shot

Jim Ross published a new blog entry on JrsBarBq.com. Here are a couple of highlights:

WWE’s booking of Jinder Mahal: “I’m a fan of the decision to make Jinder Mahal the WWE Champ, but I feel that his random utilization of his Singh sidekicks might be overdone. Nonetheless, the former Bollywood Boys take a helluva, ass whipping. Enjoying the villains getting success, which generally adds to the build of most storylines within the genre. If I were to err in booking, and I have plenty of times, I’d suggest erring on the side of antagonist angst more often than not. ‘Heat’ is good.”

Lana’s SmackDown Women’s Title shot: “Lana ‘earning’ a Women’s Tile match? Hmm….the pressure is on for her to deliver in front of a somewhat unforgiving and discerning fan base.”

Upcoming female MITB Ladder Match: “Arguably, today I’m more excited to see the women’s [MITB] bout than the men’s in a few weeks, essentially because of the unique nature of this match being the first ever Women’s MITB match ever. I see these athletic women perceiving this booking as very personal and one can only hope that they are discerning about whey they want to do in this match and remember that their safety should never be compromised, which is largely up to the talents in the match. The Gents in the their TLC bout better lace them up tight or they could be outperformed by the women here.”

You check out the full entry at this link here.

The Taz Show Recap – Bringing Back War Games, Special Guest Jim Ross, Where’s Rusev? More!

Block 1:

A listener calls into the show and points out that the promo graphic for Great Balls of Fire somewhat resembles a penis and two testicles. Taz says that this has been brought up online already and it’s hard to deny the resemblance. He says that WWE has a graphic design team that does all the work for PPV graphics, but Vince McMahon has to approve everything.

Taz says that he just chooses to look at that logo and see a literal ball of fire, but some people might choose to see other things. Either way, it’s an interesting piece of graphic design work without a doubt.

Another listener calls into the show and says that WWE should change the Cruiserweight division to a Light Heavyweight division. Taz says that if they did that they’d still have all the same issues that the Cruiserweight division has, because more than the name needs to change. Taz says that the specific Cruiserweight branding with purple ropes and aprons simply isn’t working.

In addition, filming 205 Live after Smackdown Live isn’t working either. Taz says that WWE needs to change their approach to the Cruiserweights and start filming 205 Live at Full Sail University. He also doesn’t mind the idea of WWE merging the Cruiserweights into the main roster, where they can also challenge for WWE Titles such as the United States Title and Intercontinental Title.

Bischoff on Wrestling Recap – Bischoff’s Time in WWE, Kissing Linda McMahon, Hogan Returning to WWE? More!

Bischoff opens today’s show speaking about Bruce Prichard’s recent episode of ‘Something to Wrestle With’, which focused on Bischoff’s time in WWE.

Bischoff says that he thinks about his initial WWE interview quite often, when Vince McMahon asked him to interview a broom. He didn’t know that Bruce Prichard was there that day; in fact he couldn’t even see McMahon, he only heard his voice. Looking back now, he thinks this was a genius move by McMahon because by putting people in uncomfortable positions, you’re able to test their confidence and see their ability to improvise.

When Hogan arrived in WCW, Bischoff says that he and Hogan spoke often about his departure from WWE. From Bischoff’s perspective it was easy to see that there was a strong personal relationship between Hogan and McMahon. Although they had their differences, Hogan seemed to regret the way everything played out, and Bischoff didn’t sense any distain or hatred from Hogan when he was talking about McMahon. It was easy to see that there was still some affection there.

During his show, Prichard said that he believes McMahon would have done a lot of the same things Bischoff did during the Monday Night Wars if the roles were reversed, such as giving away the finishes of taped matches.

Why WWE Should Give Mojo Rawley More Screen Time

This may seem an odd petition to many, but hear me out. WWE, please give Mojo Rawley more screen time. There, I’ve said it.

You may be wondering just why I would request such a thing. After all, who cares about him? Well, I do, apparently. I also believe that with the right circumstances and time, Mojo could turn into a big deal. He has most of the tools needed, and with some improvement, he could be very, very good. But these things will not happen until he gets more screentime.

He Needs to Improve

Right now, Mojo isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, particularly with his move set. Power-based repertoires are hardly the most exciting, but if they are done right, then they look spectacular. Mojo is quite far away from being spectacular.

Was he called up too early? Probably, but he was brought in to bolster the tag team division. He was going to be the hot tag, cleaning up while Zack Ryder wowed the audience with his 450 splashes. However, Ryder got injured. They didn’t want to leave Mojo hanging around like a bum, so they pushed him as a singles star, where his flaws and limitations were exposed.

What’s done is done. However, this can be corrected by giving Rawley more matches, which means he’d be on our televisions more often. It worked for Strowman. He couldn’t wrestle to save his life back before the brand split. Fast forward to not even a whole calendar year, and he’s one of the best parts of Raw. Some people just need to be put in a sink-or-swim scenario. Corbin wasn’t exactly good when he was called up in April. At the end of the year, he had one of the best Chairs matches against Kalisto, had an entertaining match with Jack Swagger, and was in one of the best matches of the year against AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler.

If WWE wants Mojo Jojo to improve, then they’ve got to have him fight more people, even if its jobbers from the city.

Mojo Rawley Is Surprisingly Eloquent

When Mojo first appeared on Talking Smack as a singles guy, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him speak. He was quite well-spoken, a far cry from the man in the ring screaming for hype or whatever. I knew he was the youngest graduate from the University of Maryland or something like that (that’s what the graphics in his entrance told me). Well, I thought to myself, Talking Smack really can make anyone sound good. There’s less scripting, more creativity, etc. Then I heard his backstage promos.

We still came off as an eloquent speaker. He showed he could hang with the likes of Dolph Ziggler, who is no slouch on the mic either. Even with that weird, pointless segment where he gave some kids a tour and told them how hard Andre could kegstand, he sounded very natural. Yeah, the segment kinda sucked, but Mojo did his best.

When I saw/heard his promo on Smackdown with Shane, I genuinely felt for the guy. I’m probably just weak, but he seemed so sincere. He had been a ghost, he had been doing a whole lot of nothing. He just wanted one opportunity.

Then he lost to Jinder. I get it. You can’t have lower card guys beating the champ, and Jinder’s gotta get that Heel Heat™. But still, I felt bad, and I think that’s the most important part.

He Could Become Genuinely Likable

Right now, a lot of people don’t like Mojo Rawley. He’s got a limited move-set, and his hype shtick can rub people the wrong way. I get that. With some time, though, he could really turn some people around. Give him more promo time to show how genuine he is. Give him more matches to improve his move-set. This can be easily fixed.

In a show that runs for a whole year, you can’t tell me there’s no time for Rawley. This is the same company that made Jinder Mahal champion, has shown the Fashion Files for a month now, and had R-Truth challenge for the WWE Championship. These things aren’t bad; they’re just some of the more “out there” things WWE has done.

Lots of people say Mojo is a nice guy, whether it’s because they saw him on Breaking Ground, or because they follow him on Twitter. Give him a chance to show that he could be a big deal. If it fails, then that’s alright. These things happen. However, if it does take off, then you can make damn sure that I will be the conductor of this Hype Train.

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Jinder Taking Bumps, Lack of Babyface Champions, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

The first thing that stuck out to Taz on last night’s show was that Jinder Mahal came off like a complete star. He’s very glad that Mahal is Champion because this guy has extreme heat, and his poise, stature and ‘It factor’ all make him look like a legitimate Champion.

However, Taz couldn’t believe the way WWE booked Mahal’s match against Mojo Rawley last night. After Mahal’s amazing entrance, the bell rang and Mahal took a plethora of bumps right away. This killed Mahal’s heat in Taz’s opinion, and he says he would have booked the match completely different.

He says that Mahal should have gotten some heat on Rawley right away, and then later in the match Rawley could have had his comeback where Mahal could bump a little bit. Taz isn’t saying that Mahal should never bump, but he certainly shouldn’t be bumping out of the ring multiple times right at the start of the match.

Taz believes that Mahal should not be a ‘chicken’ heel. He needs to be more of a bad ass, killer heel because he’s a very intimidating man. From his height to his physique, from his entrance music to his ring gear, Mahal has everything going for him right now, and he should not be bumping all around the ring for Mojo Rawley.

Lana Reacts to Receiving Title Shot at Money in the Bank

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Noami accepted Lana’s challenge for the Women’s Championship at the Money in the Bank event. Lana posted the following remarks on Twitter regarding her opportunity at the title:

Gail Kim Reveals If She Is Returning to Impact Wrestling

Gail Kim recently did an interview with Kevin Eck of Pressbox Online. Here are a couple of highlights from the interview:

Tell me about the nature of your back injury and how you’re feeling now.

“My back was injured just basically from wear and tear over the years. Luckily, Impact has been so good to me in terms of letting me take time off to make sure I’m healthy and never making me feel bad about it. I’ve been ready to come back for a little while but [Impact Wrestling] has had some time off because we film a bunch of shows once a month or once every other month, so that’s the only reason why I haven’t been back in the ring, but I’m going to be back shortly.”

You’re not under contract with at Impact at the moment, correct?

“Technically, no, but I have a contract in hand. I won’t ever go anywhere else. That’s my family.”

Have you given thought to how much longer you’d like to wrestle?

“Those questions have popped in my head. We kind of incorporated it into the storyline, and I guess we teased [retirement]. People really thought I retired because we never really continued it or explained it; I just really got injured and never came back, so people assumed I was retired. I said, “No, you will know when I’m retired. I wouldn’t go away that quietly.”

Click here for the full interview.

Seth Rollins Comments On Being In The Ring With The Undertaker

Seth Rollins recently spoke with Bandwaggon.asia. here are some highlights from the interview:

What was the experience like being in the ring with The Undertaker?

“Yeah, I got into step into the ring with the Undertaker one time before he retired – it was a six-man tag match on Monday Night RAW in London. It was one of those nights I didn’t really get to fully grasp what we were doing. We had a show earlier in the day in Cardiff, Wales – and we took a helicopter to London! I had to basically get right into the ring and have a second match within a few hours.

“It was against Undertaker, Daniel Bryan and Kane though – so it was a tremendous experience. I remember looking across the ring at one point, locking eyes with a dead man – someone who’s an absolute legend, first ballot Hall-Of-Famer, one of the most incredible performers in the history of our industry. To share a ring with him is very surreal, especially considering our age difference.

“At some point, you’d consider that he’d be retired before you’d get the chance to be in the ring with him, but that’s just a testament to how he took care of himself and how physically forward-thinking he was in keeping himself healthy that late in his career.”

I think that brings me to your current song, which is called ‘The Second Coming’. You’ve been using it for about two to three years now. How is it fitting with you?

“Yeah I love it. It’s one of those where soon as the riff kicks in, everyone knows who’s coming through the curtains. That’s all that really matters when you’re picking an entrance theme. It fits my character. Though it was really weird adjusting to it at first because the pace of it is different from The Shield music, so y’know, trying to get the timing down on the entrance and making it feel like my own song took a little while.

“But now I’ve had so many moments with that music playing behind me or in front me – it’s become mine. People ask me “oh you’re gonna change your song, you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do that” – I think that one’s sticking for a long time. I like guys who had the same entrance theme forever and ever – like Stone Cold, Chris Jericho, the Big Show – I think that’s always a really cool thing when guys have the same song for a really long time.”

You can check out the full interview here.

Rusev Posts Cryptic Tweet

Rusev took to his Twitter account to post this crytpic tweet that has a lot of people talking on social media:

As previously noted, Rusev was set to make his SmackDown debut a while back but those plans got nixed once the company decided to go all out with Jinder Mahal’s championship run. There is no new information on exactly when the company plans to bring him back, but we will keep you updated.

Dinner with the King Recap – Creating ‘The King’ Gimmick, Opinions of McMahon/Ross/The Rock, Great Balls of Fire! More!

Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host Glenn Moore.

Lawler informs that he injured his knee recently and it might require some attention in the near future. He recently visited a doctor with his son and the doctor told him that his son’s knees are three times worse than his, and his son is looking at a double knee replacement surgery. Lawler considers himself lucky to have been wrestling for 46 years and he has never required a knee surgery.

Lawler worked a cage match recently and had ‘The Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart in his corner for the match. He says that the cage was actually a very stable structure which surprised him, because he has worked in some pretty sad looking cages during his career. He informs that Hart threw his megaphone into cage at one point during the match and that reminded him of a cage match he worked against ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage many years ago.

Savage had Miss Elizabeth accompany him to the ring, and at one point she jumped into the cage. When she tried to climb back out of the cage, Lawler grabbed her skirt and the whole skirt came right off. The Memphis crowd got quite a show that evening. Lawler says that Elizabeth was a tremendous talent both as a valet and as an in-ring worker.

WWE 205 Live Results – 6 June 2017

Welcome to the fastest hour on television, 205 Live!

Two nights ago at WWE Extreme Rules Neville battled Austin Aries in a submission match and retained his Cruiserweight Championship. That marked the third time Neville bested Aries and the end of their series. Last night on Raw, TJP asked Neville to hold his end of the bargain and give him a title shot. Neville spoke to Kurt Angle about it, then attacked TJP before telling him he had his shot.

So, on tonight’s show, TJP gets a shot at Neville’s Cruiserweight Championship in what is sure to be a great match and take up the majority of the program. We may also hear from Austin Aries, who is in need of a new direction after losing again.

Also on tonight’s show, will Akira Tozawa join The Titus Brand? And is the drama between Rich Swann and Noam Dar really finished.