Jim Ross Blogs: Last Night's RAW, Batista-MMA, Tag-Teams
Jim Ross has posted a new blog up at https://www.JRSBARBQ.com/ Here are the highlights?
On Last Night's Raw: It seemed to me that Monday Night Raw was represented with a somewhat stronger in ring presentation in Seattle. I can see where many fans are seemingly becoming numb to the volume of rapid fire PPV events with so many coming over a short length of time. Thought Punk vs. Bourne might have been the best in ring presentation of the show. That or the Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan bout. Both matches stood out to me and all four participants are guys that I could see being much more viable. The Nexus storyline has been one of the better ones in the WWE in a long while. Now as it maturates and moves forward guys like Justin Gabriel, who had a nice bout with Orton Monday Night, needs to become known for more than his dynamic 450 Splash. Same for Otunga and Slater. What are their lasting claims to fame going to be? Now is a pivotal time for these members of NXT to begin to erase the prominent 'side kick' logo that's figuratively stamped on their foreheads and either take a more impactful role with NXT leader Wade Barrett or begin to subtly move away from Barrett's reign.
On Bragging Rights: Why is it exactly that MNR and SDown have such a fierce rivalry? What's at stake other than 'Bragging Rights?' Has SD been bragging about their tag team victory since last year's PPV? Would it be more viable if something tangible was at stake to the winning team in the Raw vs. Smackdown Tag Bout on the October 24 PPV that emanates from Minneapolis?
On Tag Team Wrestling: Big star bound talents have to be single stars which should start the usual tag team b—hing and moaning from long time fans. Hey, I miss great tag team wrestling too but it isn't happening right now any place. No promotion of any viability is allowing a tag team storyline to headline cards, TV shows, or PPV's. Perhaps that will change but don't hold your breath. Bottom line is that the big money in wrestling is and always has been as single stars who are embroiled in a long standing, well told, patient story that is personal in nature.
On Batista And Strikeforce: As I have written before, Dave Bautista is serious about his MMA career and is realistic in that Dave knows that by getting such a late start int he game that he will have to accelerate his training and then maximize the time that he has to be physically productive in a MMA environment. UFC would not be a good place to seek employment for Dave but his negotiations with Strikeforce do make sense. If the two sides can strike a win/win financial deal and Showtime finally figures out how to promote a fight and make it be perceived as special while at the same time build a star on all the platforms that are available to them, then a Bautista-Strikeforce arrangement could help all involved. Bautista isn't professionally one dimensional and I get the feeling that he's not going to give his services away cheaply as he knows that, at least for the first fight, that Bautista is a special attraction that could bring new sets of eyes to Showtime's presentation of Strikeforce. Do you think that Showtime thinks that way? Strikeforce is still struggling with perception/image issues so it's important for Strikeforce honcho Scott Coker's group to sign a Bautista type guy and for Showtime to do a better job in presenting and promoting their handful of fights per year. Coker is a good man who is totally dedicated to his brand but he doesn't control the TV presentation of his brand. In essence, Showtime controls Strikeforce's TV image which is totally unlike UFC, the NFL of MMA, who controls their own image and how they are presented in all TV formats. That's much like WWE and is smart, business positioning.
Be sure to check out the full blog now at https://www.JRSBARBQ.com/