TNA IMPACT! & WWE Superstars Ratings + Jim Ross Blogs
In its first show back on Thursdays, last night's iMPACT! scored a 0.93 cable rating with 1,275,000 viewers.
Last night's episode of WWE Superstars did a 0.61 cable rating with 665,000 viwers, while the replay did a 0.17 rating with 148,000 viewers.
Jim Ross has a new blog entry up, here are the highlights?
On Brian Pillman: Interesting email from a fan about Brian Pillman. I really enjoyed the Pillman DVD and we get comments from folks on a regular basis who are just now obtaining that DVD and watching it for the first time. Brian and I were very close and managing him and keeping our friendship separate was challenging and I don't know that I did it well or at all to be honest with you. Brian was so obsessed with the business that he would stay up at all hours and talk on the phone with whomever he could find that was a night owl or lived in a different time zone to simply talk philosophy and the long term direction of the genre. I don't think that I ever met any one who wanted to be a major wrestling star more than Brian Pillman. He had been an overachiever all his athletic life, enhanced his size in an unhealthy manner to be able to play in the defensive line at Miami of Ohio and truly enjoyed and embraced 'living on the edge' just as his TV persona resonated. When Brian's ankle was destroyed in a car accident that was the beginning of the end, or so it seemed, as the 'Loose Cannon's' personal sense of urgency seemed to heighten. When I would talk to Brian about being the next Heenan, Piper, Savage, Ventura, etc as the next great color analyst on TV he cringed. He wanted to wrestle and nothing else would fill the void that not being the wrestling star that Brian was obsessed in being. There is rarely a day that goes by that I am not reminded of Brian in some form. I sure miss him.
On The Sheik Documentary: I read where a new documentary is coming out or is out regarding the Original Sheik, Ed Farhat. The thing that made the Sheik the great villain, some historians will argue that he was the greatest antagonist in pro wrestling ever, was that Farhat was an intelligent man who seemingly had no fear of fans who truly hated him. Most men who are antagonists in today's pro wrestling world are not cut of that cloth and will never be ready to immerse themselves in the controversy that surrounded the Sheik and being despised by emotional fans. When I first got in the business in the mid 70's, the villains were the most fun to hang with because they generally had the most 'attitude' and charisma and were, as a rule, engaging to be around behind the scenes. However, some villains did not want to socialize with their peers and maintained their TV persona's virtually 24/7. Sheik struck me as that kind of performer.
On Eddie Gilbert: Yes...as I answered an emailer...if Eddie Gilbert had lived there is no doubt in my mind that he would have been very successful over the long haul in the wrestling biz. Eddie had a great mind for the product and was one of the unique talents who had the ability to see viable, marketable things in other wrestlers. Perhaps it was merely Eddie's ability to visualize but without question 'Hot Stuff' had natural instincts which cannot be taught. I don't know if Eddie would have realized his dreams inside the ring as time went on but I do think that either at the broadcaster's table or behind the scenes that the Tennessee native would have made even more of a lasting mark on pro wrestling. I do know that Jerry Lawler had a HUGE influence on Eddie even down to the way Eddie walked and punched.
On I Quit Matches: What's your favorite I Quit Match? Of course, mine is the 1989 New York Knockout Clash of the Champions main event that featured Terry Funk, with Gary Hart at ringside, vs. Ric Flair on the live TBS broadcast that I was honored to work with Gordon Solie. (Two words...five letters..I Quit!) I also thought the I Quit battle between Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard in the Mid Atlantic NWA was a slobber-knocker. The Rock defeated Mankind to win an I Quit Match for the WWE Title once upon a time that was memorable, also. John Cena beat both JBL and Randy Orton in main event, I Quit Bouts in WWE. Cena will face Batista in the main event of the upcoming Over the Limit PPV in Detroit.