Latest Blogs from Matt Hardy & Jim Ross

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JR loves to blog. Seriously. Here’s some excerpts from his February 23 entry:

The Art of the Promo- This issue is not rocket science. The audience must believe the speaker not only because of the speaker’s delivery, passion, and body English, but also the content of the interview must be believable. Most viewers these days seem to have short attention spans. You probably watch TV with the remote in your hand or near by, so the speakers should be quick to make their point and then build on it. Less is usually more and better when it comes to wrestler verbiage. This is not to say that some, very few actually, wrestlers today have the ability to do a longer promo if need be. I don’t think wrestlers need to yell all the time either, nor should they attempt to memorize “their lines” if they ever really want to perfect this aspect of their craft. Verbal skills are perhaps more important in today’s marketplace than at any other time in the wrestling business. Being able to talk well has always been important, but when TV shows went from being one hour, regional telecasts to multiple hour national/global broadcasts, every aspect of the presentation accelerated, including the verbal aspect of the game. The more “natural” a talker can be perceived, the better because if the viewer/fan feels he or she is simply receiving lip service, the fan usually “tunes out” what is being said. There is a difference in “hearing” and “listening” to any verbal presentation, whether it be in a class room, business meeting, or doing a wrestling promo.

Mixed Martial Arts is an interesting genre that I enjoy from time to time. It has gotten so fragmented that it is hard to keep up with all the players, who are the stars, etc, but all in all I enjoy it when I have the opportunity to watch it. Is MMA competition to the WWE on PPV? Certainly. Any PPV offering is competition to the WWE as most families only have so much disposable income for PPVs, etc. That would also include the NFL package on DirecTV, etc. MMA seems to be more of a threat to boxing than to sports entertainment, but if the attractions are all in place, then there is plenty of room for everyone to earn a nice buck or two. But to answer a direct question, yes, in my opinion, Mixed Martial Arts is a PPV competitor to the WWE or any entity who presents their products on PPV.

Finally, I feel that some day the WWE Hall of Fame will be housed in a facility that will be much akin to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass, the MLB in Cooperstown, N.Y., etc. This has been talked about on more than one occasion and I do believe that it will become a reality in my lifetime. I am no longer in the corporate loop, so I don’t know what the disposition of this matter is today, but I do feel it is on the horizon. I think that a WWE Hall of Fame building would be great for all fans and the Hall of Famers themselves.

Want more JR? He wrote a follow-up blog entry on February 25, including these bits:

Will Sting ever go into the WWE Hall of Fame? It would not surprise me one bit somewhere down the road. Steve Borden is a wonderful human being.

Mark Henry is back in the ring and trying to get over his last injury, patella surgery. Mark is a wonderful young man, but he must be able to stay healthy or he must move to the next phase of his life. Having surgery every year or two is not the way to live.

I felt Lita’s departure from the WWE was a little underwhelming to say the least. Lita deserved more, in my opinion, and I miss seeing her every Monday. She has a wonderful soul and has great passion and I wish her nothing but great health and success. She was one of my hires and I am still a huge fan of her, as a woman and as a wrestler. Who knows, maybe someday she will be back.

Sick of JR but want more BLOGS? Well, on his MySpace, Matt Hardy blogged about Smackdown, including how much he appreciates the fan cheers. In another post, he wrote about his family, including that he’s currently single, plus what his personal goals are in life, and his thoughts on his dad, his dog, and of course his brother Jeff and his calling in life:

Jeffrey Nero Hardy is my brother and my best friend. At this point in our lives, we are closer than we’ve ever been. We’ve had our differences, we’ve went through our different stages, but right now we are so on the same page in life. I understand him, and he understands me. Jeff knows I would do anything for him, and I know he would do anything for me. I am so blessed to not only have Jeff as a brother, but to just have him in my life. I am also happy that he has his girlfriend Beth. Jeff and Beth have an amazing relationship that I must admit I’m envious of. I hope to one day have a relationship as good as theirs.

As you all know, it was really important to me to achieve my goals and dreams of being a professional wrestler. And I’m always busting my ass to professionally achieve more. But since I’ve achieved more than I set out to, there’s something within me that actually transcends being just a sports entertainer. I want my legacy to go down as more than just a mere sports entertainer, a mere professional wrestler. I want to use the popularity and notoriety I’ve built for myself to make a difference in the world. People who are usually considered “celebrities” often only focus on their actually job and career, but not their amazing power of influence. An old quote from the comic book “Spider-Man” goes as such–“With great power comes great responsibility.” I’ve always held that quote in high regards and believed in it. I think with my power to inspire and influence that I have a responsibility. I have a responsibility to help others succeed where I have failed (teach from my mistakes). I have a responsibility to be a role model and a positive influence to those who look up to me. I have a responsibility to give back after all I’ve been given. And I take these responsibilities very seriously. It’s extremely important to me to take advantage of this amazing position myself, God, and the people who have supported me have put me in. I want to not only entertain people with my performances inside a wrestling ring, but I want to inspire and teach people with my message. It’s important to me to use my standing as a well-known WWE wrestler to help lead people in the right direction, inspire them to dream, and set examples that can help make the world a better place. I don’t feel like it’s my moral responsibility–I feel like it’s my calling. I think that’s one of the reason’s I was put on this planet–to do my part to make the world a better place. I feel like I’ve been given the gift to help people realize their true potential. I feel like I did that in high school, in my OMEGA wrestling promotion, and several times over to people I’ve became close with in my life. It’s a gift that I proudly and happily share. Gaining notoriety from being a sport entertainer only strengthens the amount of people I can reach. I love wrestling–it’s my passion. But I also love the ability wrestling gives me to make a difference. I want to be remembered and respected for always giving everything I have–inside and outside of the ring. Whether I win, lose, or draw, I think people believe in me because they can sense and feel my passion. And my passion transcends the wrestling ring into my everyday life. I take pride in doing my part every day to make the world we live in a better place.

You can read the rest of Matt’s latest blog entry here.

Matthew Michaels is editor emeritus of Pulse Wrestling, and has been since the site launched.