CM Punk WWE Health Accusations Raise Doubts From Jim Ross

CM Punk was a hot topic for wrestling legend Jim Ross when he sat down with USA Today to discuss his take on the wrestling business — among other things — on December 19.

And most of what the voice of pro wrestling/BBQ connoisseur had to say probably won’t be embraced by the Straight-Edge Superstar.

Particularly “hard to believe” for Jim Ross were the comments that CM Punk (aka Phil Brooks) made regarding Vince McMahon and the expectations that he work hurt.

This statement did not seem right to the man who managed talent for McMahon for a number of years.

“I was very surprised to hear that because I know from experience that WWE has invested untold sums of money on their medical staff,” Ross said. “Full-time doctors, full-time certified trainers, CTE testing and things that are actually being followed by some of the other leagues.”

Ross said that he knew the “health of their performers is a high priority, and that anytime I ever had an issue that was job-related or in-the-ring, I always got excellent care and I communicated with the medical staff on a regular basis. They’d call me when I was home.”

Ross did his best not to call CM Punk a liar, but he did say he was “surprised” to hear that from the former WWE Champ.

“I’m not disputing his claim because I wasn’t there and haven’t seen the medical records, but the issue is that it seems like it comes back down to communication,” said Ross.

“If I was in Punk’s place – and maybe he did this, I don’t know – and I was displeased by the doctor’s feedback, I would have gone to Vince after that, and said I believed the diagnosis to be incorrect. I don’t know if that ever happened.”

Ross called Vince McMahon a “very bright” man and found it hard to believe that he would ever “jeopardize” his company “by figuratively holding the gun to a head of a talent.”

“I have a hard time understanding that. I really do. I booked guys and was in charge of talent rosters for many years. We’d have a guy who was rehabbing, and we’d fly him in for a promo, but not a physical role. That’s a different ballgame.”

Ross admitted that it would truly “shock” him if McMahon required a talent to return when he wasn’t ready or cleared by a doctor “on the record or off.”

“I just think there was a big breakdown in communication,” Ross added.

Something else CM Punk may not like about Ross’ comments, Cageside Seats notes, is that JR sounded “skeptical” when it came to Punk’s chances of making it in the UFC.

Of course, if he were to be upset with JR over that, he’d have to pretty much be at odds with the whole internet.

Recap of the Austin-McMahon Podcast

“Stone Cold” Podcast featuring Vince McMahon
Monday, December 1, 2014
Report by Sean Hopkins of WrestlingNewsWorld.com

Steve Austin is shown recording asking fans to give a ‘hell yeah’ if they’re ready for a live interview with Vince McMahon. This transitions into a video package showing some of the highlights of the Austin/McMahon rivalry before heading into the studio where Austin welcomes the fans and Vince McMahon to the show.

Austin asks how the Network is doing right off the bat. Vince says it’s doing great. Subscriptions are good, 90% satisfaction level. Austin asks specifically about the UK. Vince says he hopes to have it settled by the 1st of the year, but he doesn’t want to say too much too soon.

Austin talks about being asked to debut the Network, and he asks if it’ll ultimately meet McMahon’s high expectations. McMahon says it’ll take a bit of time to build some content and give them exactly what they want, which they’re doing right now.

Austin asks how in tune McMahon is with the crowd. McMahon says Pro Wrestling is where his dad came from, and Sports entertainment is about telling a story. Some of the matches don’t hit, and Steve knows that. McMahon thought Wyatt and Ambrose looked good tonight, and the six man match was also good.

Austin brings up the three hour length of Raw. McMahon says no one does that, and they’ve been doing it for many years. They’re all over the world, and when you’re traveling every week, they do magic with a lot of help and a lot of people behind the scenes. Performers have to be right, whether they’re hurt, or haven’t had sleep, they have to be at their best.

Austin talks about enjoying his run, but when he watches the show, he wants more wrestling. He understands there’s not to many guys and girls, but he thinks the first segment takes too long to build up to the hook. McMahon says you can’t have two guys wrestling for wrestling’s sake, you have to have guys who are adversaries and that’ll make you want to see the outcome.

Austin talks about the change in atmosphere in the locker room, and that there’s guys and girls walking on eggshells because there’s no other options, Austin even name checks TNA. McMahon says not to piss anyone off. Austin says he pissed a lot of people off. McMahon says they’re millenials, and there are a lot who don’t want to grab the brass ring. He talks about Wyatt, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns as those who might change that. He says there’s not enough laughter and shenanigans as back in Austin’s day.

McMahon continues talking about millenials fear of failing, and being exposed. He says he’s given everyone opportunities, and things from a social media standpoint. It helps talent, and gives them tools that people like Austin didn’t have, and they use it, but not in the way Austin did.

Austin issues a challenge to the WWE Superstars, to go out on a limb. Austin says McMahon needs more depth on the roster, and McMahon agrees. Austin says you have to go on a limb to get over, and Vince agrees.

More?

Jim Ross Comments On His Current Relationship With Vince McMahon

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, its 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.

More?

Jim Ross Comments on NXT, Charlotte, Triple H & the NFL

“I think it would be interesting for some of the NXT talents to have a re-occurring role on RAW as it would help promote the future of the WWE which is the @WWENetwork. If fans can see what they are missing by not watching NXT on the Network they may be more inclined to invest the $9.99 month subscription fee.”

“NXT was the best WWE produced TV of the week last week in my opinion.”

“Charlotte in NXT is special and is the best new, female in ring talent the WWE has trained in years. She’s the type of talent that a serious, women’s division, if that was desired, can be built around.”

“Nice to read where HHH is endorsing WWE finding star level NFL players to integrate into the WWE. I’ve been suggesting that for years and I hope that HHH can make it happen but it won’t be easy based on entry level, WWE pay. Same goes for major college football players who are younger and more affordable than NFL vets and whose backgrounds can be vetted thoroughly as well. Obviously, one wants to find athletes from this world who are fans and have the aptitude for the business.”

“With all these various abuse issues occurring in the NFL I’d assume WWE will further tighten up their background checks, etc on new hires. All companies should but some companies can’t afford to do so or won’t see it as a priority because it’s just “wrestling.” Big mistake.”

Jim Ross Talks TNA Needing To Make Changes

Jim Ross stopped for an in-depth interview with Submission Radio over the weekend and spoke about TNA:

"Well they have to find a North American cable television partner. They gotta find it by the 1st of the year because that's when there extension with Spike ends. So they have to find that partner that pays them enough rights fees to help pay their bills. They can't make, it I don't think - that's my assumptions - I am assuming that TNA Impact wrestling cannot survive long term, simply on the money they earn outside the United States or outside North America. It's just not there to pay their bills, and other than that, they're gonna have to do some retooling on their business model and they're gonna have to work on their budget. So if they don't have that money, I think it's imperative that they get an North American cable outlet that pays them enough money to help them keep their doors open. And I hope that they succeed. They have a potential to be a good brand. I think they have a very variable talent roaster, but I would put it in terms this way, some of them are cast wrong if you wanna use a showbiz term. They're in the wrong rolls, and using an American Football term I think they're running the wrong system. Their talents aren't being used to fit the talent's strengths. But I have a lot of friends that work there and I hope they get a second chance and that they succeed in the future.

"TNA's gotta change the way they present their product if they do get in a new environment, and if they do, they have to become the alternative to the WWE and not be compared as a 'WWE lite' comparison."



You can check out the full interview by clicking here (starting at the 55:14 mark).

No WWE Guests On JR's Podcast

WWE has allowed several of their talents to appear on podcasts for Steve Austin and Chris Jericho but not Jim Ross. A fan on Twitter asked Ross about Ric Flair possibly appearing on The Ross Report and JR replied with the following:

"No. Flair's a wwe guy. WWE hasn't approved any podcast guests for me."

Jim Ross Blogs on His WWE Departure

"All my legal commitments to WWE ended Wednesday night at midnight which concluded a 21 year tenure with the company. Coming to WWE in 1993 was the best business decision I ever made even though I really loved living in Atlanta. Great city...great food...many friends...fun, sports town.

Arriving in WWE in 1993 and officially ending my tenure there this week made it 21 years working for Vince McMahon which not too many individuals can say that they did especially on the management level that I was in the majority of the time. We worked through drastic, financial issues, a federal trial, bankruptcy was discussed more than once, but we all pulled together and put our personal lives on hold, got lucky on hiring some amazing talents and then launched the Attitude Era that created the greatest success WWE ever achieved.

It was always a team effort and we had some very talented people working tirelessly to make WWE a more viable brand and to establish their place as firmly the #1 sports entertainment company in the world.

I have no regrets and am thankful for the opportunities that were presented me. I wouldn't have done a thing differently but I'd have preferred to not have had three Bells palsy attacks but that's the hand I was dealt. I've always tried to man up and navigate through those challenging waters. Obviously, my 'look' after the Bells attacks did me no favors as a TV broadcaster and some folks even had fun imitating me but that's something that they have to live with and not me.

I will always take great pride in how our staff in talent relations delivered time and time again when the company was going through it's toughest period ever. We got the work done, were honest and straight forward to the talents, managed some highly motivated and talented athletic performers, and recruited and signed some of WWE's all time biggest stars.

I'd like to think that my work at ringside with Jerry Lawler and with Paul Heyman along with Vince McMahon contributed some to the process. It sure as hell was a lot of fun working with such talented men at the announce desk."

"My departure from WWE over the Summer Slam symposium in 2014 was a fiasco of misinformation and rumors allegedly spread by some perhaps with dubious character, agendas and with an overall lack of information. My side of the story will be told thoroughly some day to the chagrin of some and, yes, there are two sides to every story. But that was then....today is a better day with great things on the horizon."

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross Suffered Stroke-Like Symptoms Before Hospital Stint

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was hospitalized Thursday for mysterious '"stroke-like symptoms" ... but after a few days of extensive testing, doctors were able to pinpoint the source of the legendary announcer's problem.

Ross says he got home from a trip to Vegas Thursday night and wasn't feeling well ... so his wife forced him to go to a nearby hospital in Oklahoma to get checked out.

Doctors ran a battery of tests on the 62-year-old and ultimately determined the symptoms were being caused by meds he had been taking for an unrelated medical issue.

Doctors also informed Ross ... the tests showed he had suffered a minor undiagnosed stroke in the past.

Ross' doctors are confident they fixed the problem -- changed his medication -- and the podcast-host was released from the hospital Saturday evening.

Ross adds, "I'm not ready to tag out just yet."

source: tmz.com

Terry Taylor & Michael "PS" Hayes Receive Awards

The 2014 Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion took place this weekend at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with many wrestling legends in attendance. Gerald Brisco presented Michael "PS" Hayes with the Lou Thesz Award, which is a lifetime achievement award and Jim Ross presented Terry Taylor with the Iron Mike Award, the CAC's top honor.

Ross noted in a blog last week that WWE had 4 tables reserved for the reunion. We've heard in the past that WWE had reserved 1 or 2 tables but never 4. No word yet on who attended on their behalf.

Jim Ross Talks About Triple H and Stephanie Running WWE

Ryan Glasspiegel of TheBigLead.com recently spoke with Jim Ross:

How do you feel about Stephanie and Triple H as prospective leaders when the baton eventually — and who knows when that will be — gets passed?

I think they’re going to be great leaders because they have an inherent love and understanding of the genre. I don’t think anyone can lead WWE without understanding the two key components of talent and television. This is a different field than being the president of the New England Patriots, for example. Bob Kraft is smart enough to leave the football operations to Bill Belichick and company, and he’s also smart enough as a businessman to hire really good people to manage the other aspects of the business.

I think that Triple H and Stephanie will have good instincts on which people to surround themselves with. More importantly, I think they’ll have thorough understanding of the core business as far as to assemble a team of wrestlers, prepare them, manage them, and produce compelling television.

This is not like a job for them — it’s not like going to a headhunter and hiring an executive. This is their life, and I’ll take my chances any day with somebody who has that kind of passion in managing a company.

Video: Jim Ross shoots on why he was fired by WWE

Jim Ross Comments on his Relationship with WWE

Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section on jrsbarbq.com and responded to a comment where a fan hoped that JR being invited to the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony meant his issues with the company were being resolved and that he may do some work for the WWE Network. Ross replied:

"There's nothing unresolved. My relationship with WWE is exactly what we want it to be. I'm staying very busy and doing something for WWE Network on an ongoing basis would be challenging. They've moved on and so have I with no regrets."

Jim Ross Comments on Triple H & Stephanie McMahon's Performance on Raw

"HHH and Stephanie had a great night as Raw villains. They make it look easy and believable. Most of the best pro wrestling creative is natural, organic and not overthought. Draw me into a show biz scenario by simply being real and good at what one does."

Jim Ross Opens Up About WWE Departure

Josh Stewart of Newsday has a new piece featuring quotes from Jim Ross to promote his upcoming spoken-word tour that begins with two shows at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on March 1, 2014. In it, JR sheds more light on the event that resulted in his departure from WWE.

The event was a “30 Years of WrestleMania” symposium by 2KSports to promote the new WWE 2K14 video game the night before SummerSlam on August 17, 2013. JR clarified it was 2KSports that hired him to moderate the Legend’s panel, not WWE. Below is an excerpt from the Newsday piece:

“I knew that when it was over, a lot of the top WWE officials were very anxious to get Ric Flair out of the facility,” Ross recalls. “So I knew there was some concern there, but I didn’t know that the concern involved me. A story started out of misinformation that I had been drinking with Flair all day. And the issue was that if they [WWE officials] had checked their schedule, I had been booked all day with WWE activities and SummerSlam that had nothing to do with Ric Flair.”

JR explained there was no script, no teleprompter and no producer. Making matters worse, Ric Flair, who was on the panel, was clearly inebriated.

“My job was to keep the rudder in the water,” Ross said. “I didn’t do that. And so, the decision was made that we part ways. And to be honest with you, and this is not looking back, or trying to cover somebody’s tracks, or cover my own [behind], I was really looking for an opportunity to move on. I wanted to get into the podcast business, I wanted to get into one-man show stuff . . . I wanted to look at other opportunities, like this Fox Sports thing that I’m doing now. And I knew I couldn’t do those things while I was under contract to the WWE. But to be honest, to be totally frank with you, I had such a loyalty to that company, and I still do, that after 20 years I didn’t know how I was going to say goodbye.”

Jim Ross Speaks on Whether or Not the Ric Flair 2k Sports Symposium Caused His WWE Departure

In a new interview conducted for Grantland.com, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke on the infamous 2k Sports panel during SummerSlam weekend last year, during which a seemingly inebriated Ric Flair commandeered the symposium and Jim Ross reportedly took a lot of the blame for allowing the situation to get out of hand.

Ross' WWE departure came shortly after the panel, and JR had the following to say regarding whether or not the panel was the reason why WWE decided part ways with him:

Jim Ross"I don't think you have to be a Mensa member to figure out that it had an influence on decisions that were made. I was working with the developmental kids [in NXT] and enjoying that, and got called in for that job.

It was a very unique night, to say the least. Ric was coming off maybe the most traumatic time of his life. [Flair's son Reid had recently died of a drug overdose.] In hindsight, it might not have been the most timely booking, to get him in that environment. And then you can look at the other side and say maybe it's a good thing to get him out around friends. As it worked out, you'd probably lean more to the former than the latter. But here's the deal: I was conductor of a runaway train. I was supposed to keep it on the tracks and that didn't happen. So I don't have any issues taking responsibility. Did I envision that it would help facilitate my exit? No. But I could see the thinking behind it.

But honestly, people might not believe this, and I don't want to give one of those eye-rollers, but it really came at a good time. My health is good, I just celebrated my 62nd birthday, I got a lot of projects going. I'm going to start a podcast soon with the same company that does Austin and Jericho. I'm excited about that. I got Live Nation working with me on one-man shows and, of course, we start out the way we want to start out, in New York City, Saturday, March 1, at the Gramercy Theater."

Jim Ross On His Experiences Working For Vince McMahon

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke to Total Wrestling Magazine about what it's like working for Vince McMahon:

"I had good days and bad days being produced by Vince. No one likes to be yelled at but after working for Bill Watts there was nothing that could be yelled at me by McMahon that I hadn't heard before."

"Vince is aggressive and a perfectionist and is set in his ways, by and large. Working as a broadcaster isn't easy and being overproduced can detract from a broadcast in my view. I survived aggressive producing better than some because I tried to not take it personally."

"Good producers should motivate and lead... not rant and rave."

Jim Ross Gives Detailed Explanation Behind “Good vs Evil” In Pro Wrestling

How many great movies or TV shows have you seen or how many books have you read to where there wasn't a definitive hero or villain. Villains can take many shapes and forms whether it be war, disease, a bully, a coward, a cheat, etc. Great villains in the sports entertainment genre are people that a fan will pay to see them get their ass beat.

It's a simple formula that is timeless.

Obviously, today's pro wrestling villains come in different presentations, more often than not ill planned, but nonetheless having antagonists who people want to see get their mouth shut and ass whipped still sells.

In real life there is a fine line, in many cases, between good and evil. However, TV wrestling isn't real life. It's show biz and most every show biz presentation that you or I have ever enjoyed had a hero and a villain component.

These two entities, the good guy and the bad guy, both from opposite sides of their own exclusive fences come together to eventually compete for championships while along the way they have a clearly established personal issue with which the average viewer can relate.

Jim Ross Comments on Hunter's Promo

Retired former WWE announcer Jim Ross published a new blog at jrsbarbq.com offering his thoughts on Triple H's heelish potshot toward Chris Jericho, Edge, and Rob Van Dam during the final segment of Raw:

"Hunter plays the role of a villain a la a version of Mr. McMahon and is expected to verbally bash fan favorites. Surely you did not take that as being real."

Rumor Mill - More Backstage News On JR's WWE Retirement, WWE Superstar To Take Over His Duties?

There were some rumors within WWE about Jim Ross being let go days before it actually happened. On September 10th, the day before Ross was let go, someone in WWE's book department called an author to tell him that WWE had chosen him to write JR's autobiography.

According to F4WOnline, one WWE source thought that it was weird for WWE to even publicize his retirement since if you are a casual viewer of the product you never see Ross anyway and would probably presume he'd already retired. It was also noted that WWE cutting JR loose would never have happened even a few years back and that it proves that Vince McMahon doesn't care about TNA at all.

Regarding JR's job working with talents in WWE NXT, there's speculation that William Regal may be the guy who takes those duties over.

Jim Ross Speaks Out on WWE Departure, Reveals Whether or Not He Was "Forced Out of the Company"

Jim Ross was interviewed on "MMA Hour" by Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, and the two talked about a number of topics including JR's recent departure from WWE. The following are some highlight quotes from Ross:

On his WWE departure:

"I've had a very blessed 39-year run in the sports entertainment world, the world of pro wrestling, so it seemed like a time to give with some other opportunities knocking on the door to give them a shot. No regrets. It's all been great and more adventures ahead, hopefully."

On whether or not he was forced out of WWE:

"After a good discussion and expressing myself and things I'd like to do and just the timing of everything I think it was... when you say mutual it means partially to somebody that you've been forced out the door or been treated poorly or what have you, which really wasn't the case. It was something that we had talked about kind of casually and it just seemed like with the lay of the land, it was good timing.

I'm not really a negative guy. You and I have talked a few times and I'm pretty upbeat. I've always looked at the glass as half full as opposed than half empty. I had some health issues and thank God I'm over those. I'm taking good care of myself... I just think it was the right time. With everything presented as it was, it was just the very best decision to make and now we're going to move on to the next thing."