On the most recent episode of the ‘Ross Report’ podcast, Jim Ross opened up the show to discuss a few topics. His guest for this episode is former WWE Superstar Ryback, which you can listen to its entirety at this link. Partial transcript of the Ryback interview was transcribed by Wrestlezone.com’s Mike Killam which can be viewed at this link. Below are a few highlights:
On DDP Being Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
Congratulations to Diamond Dallas Page for going into the Hall of Fame. We are certainly proud of that accomplishment for DDP. I mean this in the nicest of ways; he is the biggest over-achiever that I have ever worked in with my 40+ years of professional wrestling. Diamond started late and didn’t have a lot of formal training in wrestling. he made it on his own. He overachieved. He made himself physically pleasable for promoters to look at—just hard work, and that’s the bottom line. Dallas Page through hard work and passion willed himself to become a major star in professional wrestling, and he is a great communicator, negotiator, and just did a heck of a job. I’m very happy Dallas is getting recognized—he has done so many great things for his peers like Jake the Snake Roberts and Scott Hall. Mick Foley just recently lost 100lbs, largely part due to DDP-Yoga which has been a major sponsor of the show. Dallas certainly deserves the distinction and I am very proud of him.
On Beth Phoenix Possibly Being Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
I heard that Beth Phoenix is going to be inducted this year. I don’t think there’s a quota of whether they vote in one female, one African-American or whatever, but I think Beth Phoenix is on that short list, and my black-hat goes to the selection; great pick, and I think both Dallas and Beth, if she gets in, are going to be people that are going to be very strong keepers of the ring. They will not embarrass you over anything. They are not going to embarrass the company, embarrass the brand. I for one am one who always thought that the Heisman Trophy brand and how it is marketed with the Heisman organization, that I think that the WWE Hall of Fame can be marketed the same way with merchandise and business opportunities for the Hall of Fame guys—things of that nature. I think that will be something that could evolve in some time. If Beth Phoenix is inducted you have a good class: Kurt Angle, Rock N Roll Express, Teddy Long, all good stuff.
On Kevin Owens Promo on Monday Night Raw:
On Raw on Monday Night, I believe that Kevin Owens stole the show in the first moment. It was a really good promo. I loved the way it was shot, and how his face filled the camera, filled the screen, I guess I should say. Kevin Owens delivered the goods on Monday Night with that promo and that’s not an easy thing to do. He went out there and he remembered his directions, and more importantly delivered the verbiage to where I remember most of it, which is really good. I tip my hat to Kevin Owens to that. I tip my hat to Big Show for being unselfish, and for making Bruan Strowman look bigger than life, so my hats off to Big Show. I understand getting Roman Reigns and Strowman back together because they are going to work together at the next pay per view, I just don’t understand the run-in thing. Does it make Reigns look like a hero for running into attack Strowman, or does it not? I don’t know, I’m conflicted obviously. I didn’t get a good feel for it and I like Roman Reigns, but I didn’t like the playcalling of it—I may have just missed the message, I don’t know. Hats off to Kevin Owens for the promo, Big Show for taking care of Strowman, which by the way, the WWE has done a great job in building him up. I can only hope that when Strowman and Reigns wrestle at the pay per view, Strowman wins. Good job WWE with Strowman, just keep it going.
