J.R's Talks About His Future, Cause For Test's Death & More
Jim Ross has a new blog entry up. Highlights are below:
On Andrew Martin's death and drug use in wrestling: Since Andrew "Test" Martin's untimely passing of what is expected to be from a drug overdose although that has not been confirmed as I write this blog pending the results of an autopsy, so much speculation regarding drug use in wrestling and sports has been written. We all likely have friends that we have grown up with and most probably some of them do drugs and, hopefully, most of them don't. I have friends that were big party guys in college who did their fair share of drugs. Some of those guys, even now that they are in their 50's, still seemingly live to get high. Others who ran in our same group decided to live their lives in another way and simply say no to illegal drug use and the abuse of prescription medication.
So why are wrestlers any different than the "average Joe?" They're not. But the bottom line is that illegal drug use and specifically the abuse of prescription medication in wrestling should not and can not be tolerated. Wrestlers in question need to grow up, become men, and just say "NO" to what should be the simplest question that they are ever asked to answer. Please don't go to the soap box that between a wrestler's schedule and the physicality of their jobs that they can't help but be drug users. That even sounds more stupid as I write it.
On his future: I have no plans to retire any time soon. I am in good health, except for the case of pneumonia that I am recovering from, and fully expect to be able to negotiate a new contract with WWE when my current one expires. If I can't accomplish such then I have plenty to keep me busy with our BBQ branding, my family, Oklahoma sports plus a few other potentially interesting, wrestling oriented projects that I can explore. IF I were to "retire" I MIGHT write a book if I were motivated to do so. I don't want to half ass a book and to do one right it takes the proper mindset and an accurate set of dates and recall which I'm not sure that I have.
On Chris Benoit: Chris Benoit. When is Chris Benoit going to be put back on the radar? When is Chris Benoit going to be treated like a regular wrestler who has prematurely left us? When will Benoit's "records be restored?" The answer is.....I have no idea. It could be never. It could be after X number of years after the family tragedy. Nonetheless there is nothing I or you can do to make this matter happen or not so your emails regarding this subject are bound for the delete button.
On Bret Hart: Will Bret Hart ever appear at a WWE function again? I don't know but my best, educated guess is absolutely. Bret will forever be attached to several potential WWE HOF'ers and I would be shocked if he were not asked to induct people like his father Stu, brother Owen, etc. Plus, I would love to sit down and do a lengthy interview with Bret with him commenting on some of his favorite bouts and opponents. Yes, I'm going into business for myself and I would like to include that I would respectfully request that this interview turned DVD be conducted in Bret's 2nd home of Hawaii and that I will likely need a few weeks there to do the proper prep to do this project with the detail that it deserves.