Jim Ross On Where He Thinks Kenny Omega Is Headed, WWE’s RAW Tribute To ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund

On Jim Ross‘ latest Ross Report, JR gives his take on some of wrestling’s biggest topics of the moment and this episode features talk on the AEW Rally in Jacksonville, where he believes Kenny Omega is headed, what today’s creative can learn from “Cowboy” Bill Watts and what he thought about the “Mean Gene” Okerlund tribute on WWE RAW. Quotes from the first part of the episode  are below (transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo at WrestleZone):

Jim Ross on Kenny Omega and what promotions today can learn from the territory days of how to handle creative:

“I think Kenny ends up at AEW with his buddies. Same reason he’s comfortable there, he’s worked with these guys, he’ll have everybody’s ear for creative. He’ll have a voice. A very prominent voice, especially as it relates to his storylines and his angles which if you go back to the old days in the booker and the territory, the bookers always allowed (and encouraged, by the way) their top guys to be involved in the booking of their angles, their storylines.

And you ask ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts, ‘why you give these guys so much autonomy? ‘Because,’ he says, ‘I want them to have skin the game. I want them to feel apart of the process because they’ll give us a better effort to make sure that it is played out in that way.’ So Watts knew the wrestler ego, and so you feed the ego by letting them be involved in creative because now they’re more committed to make sure that their creative is successful. I got no problem with that.

So, I think Kenny Omega ends up with AEW. I really do and it just seems like a fit right now. I might be wrong, so we’ll keep an eye on that deal. Hey, WWE could come in with an amazing offer, and they can and they might, that might be overwhelming and you say I can’t turn that down. So we’ll see.”

On the RAW tribute to “Mean” Gene Okerlund:

“My only thought when I watched it and I watched it again Tuesday night on SmackDown (I’m glad they replayed it) was I wish Gene had been here to see it. Isn’t it funny how we do these things sometimes after the fact? That we’re stimulated and motivated by death to do something along those lines? I know he’d have love it and I loved it for him I can tell you that. I thought Hogan did a great job. Nice to see him in that role and I just thought it was great.”

To hear all of the above and more, including a discussion with Pro Wrestling Sheet‘s Ryan Satin, you can subscribe to The Ross Report by going here.

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