WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently a guest on the Busted Open radio show with Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca.
Ross talked in-depth about a number of topics, including ‘missing’ on AJ Styles, how he structures his podcast interviews, his Summerslam fantasy booking predictions, and more. You can read some excerpts below:
Jim Ross on AJ Styles:
“I missed on him. He just started getting rolling and he was just starting on the WCW roster when the WWE bought out WCW. Our team missed on him. We could have hired him, but he did not have the skill set he has now. In hindsight, the right thing occurred. He got more experience and ended up in TNA. I would suggest that his long run in TNA is what kept him from getting hired. From talking to him, he would be a huge asset to anyones roster.”
Jim Ross on his Sting interview and getting ‘dirt’:
“We go all the way back to the mid 80s so we really started way back. I don’t go for the dirt immediately. I let it come out naturally. I can tell you, the funny thing is people don’t understand business. Just because he showed up at Comic Con doesn’t mean he has a contract with WWE. He’s got a contract with Mattel from what I understand. He has a contract with 2K. He has some sort of agreement with WWE to basically sell T-shirts, like a licensing/marketing deal. It’s not a traditional legends deal. Him being in San Diego means zero about him wrestling there. People are getting pissed at me because I’m telling the truth. Wrestling people are not supposed to always be honest, so I say to the best of my knowledge he doesn’t have a wrestler contract, so the lock on Sting being in the ring in some point in time with WWE is there is no lock. If you’re going to have Sting wrestle, book it right. If I was there I can book it in 30 minutes easy. He wrestles once. And if he wrestles once and he says “win lose or draw I’m done”. That match is at Wrestlemania because it takes everything full circle. He’s said he wants to wrestle one Wrestlemania before calling it quits. He doesn’t need to win the Royal Runble. He doesn’t need to come on Raw every Monday. That’s stupid. He could make them a lot of money. I believe that the guy has paid his dues and deserves his Wrestlemania moment.”
Jim Ross on who is winning at Summerslam:
“I do fantasy booking on my podcast. Brock Lesnar is going to win the title at Summerslam. He’s going to be put into beast mode until April. At the Royal Rumble Roman Reigns will win the Rumble and Lesnar will pass the torch to Reigns at Wrestlemania. Reigns isn’t ready now. He needs to be protected now and the producers on the road have to work with him and coach him up. He has to be ready in April. He’s good enough now to win the Royal Rumble. I think that Lesnar is in beast mode and is not touched until April. He has to be booked like a heel but when he is working with Cena, there is going to be a tremendous amount of people cheering for Brock Lesnar. You can’t have that trend continue. He has to be a heel. You don’t want him going into Wrestlemania 31 as a face. That’s what I would do and I don’t care if wrestling fans are like ‘that’s predictable. I won’t watch!’ Yes you will.”
Busted Open airs on Sirius XM 92 and on the Sirius App. You can see more of the interview with Jim Ross, including Ross talking about the streak ending, Sting wrestling in WWE and more by clicking here.
