Jim Ross Blog
Jim Ross posted a new blog at JRsBarBQ.com and here are some highlights:
- Yours truly spent Tuesday night in the home of Steve Austin in Southern California and had a great time catching up with one of my best, old friends. If you follow either Steve, steveaustinBSR, or me, JRsBBQ, on Twitter you already knew that info. We had a great dinner, likely drank a little too much and stayed up later than either of us should have but we both enjoyed the much overdue visit. We destroyed ample amounts of grilled salmon. Steve is working OT in promoting his film "Damage" which is out on DVD on March 23. I know that I plan on supporting Steve's efforts and hope that you do as well.
- Steve continues to train about 5 days a week and is in great shape. Before anyone goes nuts and starts emailing me, "NO" I don't see Stone Cold ever wrestling again as he is devoting the majority of his waking hours to building his film career and is well on his way to amassing an impressive body of work. "Damage" is a damn good, action adventure, kick your ass film.
- Nice to see WWE focus on eliminating chair shots to the heat of their athletes. I blogged about this several weeks ago which I am sure means nothing in regard to this decision being made. Some asked if I thought this mandate was "politically motivated" to which I emphatically say hell, no. It simply makes common sense and the overall health of the competitors has to be any companies utmost priority.
- One emailer told me that TNA was going to "beat" WWE because TNA had "stronger tag teams." What?! TNA will never "beat" WWE but that doesn't mean that TNA can't be a viable brand that is profitable if they provide an alternative product to what WWE produces. Now watch the emails flow about how I am biased, which is true, and that I hope that TNA fails, which is very wrong.
- It seems that many within the wrestling media know more about my Wrestlemania assignment that do I. I still don't know what I'm specifically and officially doing in Phoenix but as I mentioned I am just happy to be attending the event. So for those of you that may read what my role is going to be in conjunction with WM26, and insiders might be correct at the end of the day, just for the record and as of today I don't know. However, if you get any more inside info please share it. I need to know what to pack.
- I've also I read where I signed a new contract with WWE, I hope to BTW, however that is also wrong as what I signed was a contract extensition to take us through the end of April. Re-signing with WWE is my top priority and I hope that we can get another, long term deal done sooner than later.
Shawn Michaels to Actually Retire After Wrestlemania?
Shawn Michaels has been telling friends as of late he plans on retiring at WrestleMania. His contract is set to expire soon and he has talked about wanting to spend more time with his children as they grow up.
Michaels himself has made noise about retiring in recent years, to the point that WWE actually scripted jokes about it on Raw. After taking time off in 2008, he made noise about deciding not to come back. Like previous times he'd taken time off, WWE would call him back to return and he would. He also said in a radio interview last year that he had told the company his retirement date (which at the time was this year's WrestleMania). On the other hand, he's brought up the idea of wrestling well into his fifties, though only a match or two per year.
Michaels is not advertised for any shows past the night after WrestleMania when Raw emanates from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
WWE Wrestlers Warned About Wrestlemania Weekend
- Right now the WWE talents from both RAW and Smackdown are being told to be prepared to work both RAW and Smackdown after Wrestlemania in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
- According to Dave Meltzer, the WWE talents have been told to keep busy with WWE affairs during Wrestlemania weekend and not to attend any Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate shows. They have also been told to expect TMZ cameras and not to do anything that would get them in trouble or on TMZ.
WWE Drug Tests
WWE drug tested talents this past week, including people on the Wrestlemania 26 card.
Planned Announcers for Wrestlemania
According to Bryan Alvarez, the plan (at least what WWE wants) right now is for Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler to announce Wrestlemania with Todd Grisham, Matt Striker and Josh Matthews doing backstage interviews and such. JR's role on the show is still not confirmed at this point.
WWE Still Undecided About Wrestlemania Match Order
As of this week, the decision still hadn't been made whether John Cena vs. Batista, Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels or Edge vs. Chris Jericho would be the last match at Wrestlemania. The Unified Tag Team Title match is currently scheduled to open the show with Money in the Bank going on second. Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart would likely go somewhere in the middle of the card. Of course, all of this is subject to change.
Stone Cold Comments on Hosting Raw
Steve Austin posted the following message on his Twitter account (steveaustinbsr):
"with 2 weeks to go to mania, had to work within story lines. couldnt give stunners to everyone, they have a huge ppv . promoted DAMAGE."
"great to see the guys. lot of fun talking to hhh, hbk, show, cena, bret, and more. and visiting with my camera and sound buddies."
"the pg thing is a real deal. great direction for the wwe. a wise decision. although that took 92% of my vocabulary away."
"caught a ride back to LA with cena. good ride. good conversation. class act. he is representing very well."
Jim Ross Posts Contract Update
Jim Ross posted the following on JRsBarBQ.com:
"I will be signing another contract extension this week with WWE to allow us to get past Wrestlemania and to give us more time to finalize our newest agreement which will hopefully see me remaining with WWE for the long term future. At least, that's the goal for all involved. I'm going into this negotiation with a positive frame of mind and hopeful that all will work out to everyone's mutual happiness at the end of the day."
April WWE Magazine With 26 Different Covers
To go along with Wrestlemania 26, the April issue of WWE Magazine will feature twenty-six different covers featuring Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Triple H, Undertaker, The Miz, Ted DiBiase, Evan Bourne, Edge, Batista, Big Show, Christian, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, John Cena, Kane, MVP, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, Shawn Michaels, Sheamus and Santino Marella.
Bret Hart Says He Will Be “Very Careful” At Wrestlemania 26
Bret Hart spoke to Canada AM regarding WWE Wrestlemania 26 recently, assuring fans that he is "very careful" about what he does and that no one need fear any physical ramifications of his match with Vince McMahon. The video, available here via CTV, also features "The Hitman" discussing the decision to make amends with WWE, relying on the same talking points he has delivered in virtually all of his recent media interviews
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