WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross touched on a number of subjects over the weekend in his latest blog post, including the Wyatt Family, Curtis Axel, fans not letting storylines develop organically before rushing to judgment, and more:
JR on Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family:
“Perhaps the Wyatt Family introductory vignette put the freshness tag over the top for me and I consider “new’ as being better more often than not. The Wyatt vignettes were expertly produced and edited which isn’t surprising coming from WWE TV personnel.
Speaking recently on Bray Wyatt’s “2nd gear” that some did not understand it is essentially the same thing as a great, defensive lineman in the NFL being able to explode off the ball and then change gears again when needed to make a play. It’s not something that every athlete, no matter their size, possesses. Wyatt’s grandfather, WWE HOFer Blackjack Mulligan was a massive beast who was once recruited to play college football by the legendary Bear Bryant along with football coaching legend Bum Phillips so athleticism runs in the family. Wyatt’s father, Mike Rotunda was an outstanding, two sport star at Syracuse in football and in wrestling. So the bottom line is that Bray Wyatt has good athletic DNA.
Nonetheless the level of success that the Wyatt Family achieves is going to be largely up to them and not the family scrapbook. I like the trio and feel that they will contribute quickly once they arrive in WWE on RAW or Smackdown. I’d also assume that we will see another Wyatt Family vignette on RAW this week.”
JR on young talent getting called up to WWE TV and Curtis Axel’s relationship with Paul Heyman:
“The key for any young talent getting the ‘call up’ is to never rest on their laurels as if they have ‘made it.’ They haven’t ‘made it.’ They’ve only been provided the opportunity to ‘make it’ as becoming great and becoming a perennial main eventer is an on going, evolutionary process. It includes conducting one’s self like a professional, continuing to study the game and maintaining an aggressive regime with their strength and conditioning program.
I’d also assume that we will see more of the on going breakout build continue for Curtis Axel who’s now being mentored by Paul Heyman. @RealKingRegal and I have both said for months that, after seeing various Curtis Axel matches on NXT, that the 3rd generation athlete was ready for something significant. However, even though a talent is ‘ready’ there has be be a place for him or her to make an impactful entry or re-entrance to RAW or Smackdown.
Pairing Axel with @HeymanHustle is highly strategic and having the young Minnesota native face HHH and John Cena his first two weeks on RAW has people talking. That’s more than they were doing when the kid was named McGillicutty.”
JR on WWE fans being impatient with storylines:
“Bottom line based on the feedback that I receive either on Twitter @JRsBBQ or here at our Q&A section of the site, is that many fans have little to no patience to allow a talent to organically evolve or a storyline to develop in a deliberate, logical manner. Many fans, again I assume the younger ones, want instant gratification as in ’30 minutes or it’s free’ sort of a deal.”
JR on WWE’s relationship with the NFLPA to create a pipeline for recruiting new talent:
“Anyone who actually thinks that WWE attempting to develop a relationship with the NFLPA is wrong or ill timed has a very unique view on the recruiting of world class athletes for WWE especially with the fact that there are no full time territories developing large numbers of talents for WWE to potentially utilize. Approximately 400, excellent athletes will look for work outside the NFL each year and if they are young enough and have the required aptitude for the genre then why wouldn’t WWE want to give some of them a look?”
JR on the perfect Father’s Day gift:
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