WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently took to his podcast, The Ross Report, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “Good Ole’ JR” first commented on the criticism that former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has been under for her promos in WWE.
While Ross notes that the former UFC champ isn’t the best on the microphone, she’s improving time after time:
“I hear experts talk about, ‘well, Ronda’s verbal skills are not as refined as…’ and they’ll give you another example of a talker. Well, hell, of course it’s not.” Ross explained, “this is new to her. Don’t be pissed off at Ronda Rousey because she’s in a new world that she was invited to join and make worth their while. I don’t get why that’s a bad thing. I think she’s doing fine, I really do. Look, she won me over a long time ago as a badass athlete.
“Great skillset all the way around. She’s a different breed of cat. She’s like Kurt Angle was when he first… full of P and V, when he came to WWE. He was on a different athletic level than most of the other guys. As a matter of fact, I would say all of the other guys. He was that good he was able to separate. And that’s what happens when you win gold medals when you’re in international competition.
“You excel there. Ronda did that, 17 year old Olympian, bronze medalist. So I think her verbal skills have improved. I’d give her some bullet points. I’d keep her off TV in that role. It’s just soundbites because people won’t remember it anyway. That’s the kind of society we live in. So her athletic skills are still amazing.”
Ross also touched on the older professional wrestlers that seem to have an issue with Rousey’s WWE run. The Oklahoman declared that they’re likely just jealous:
“When I hear ex [pro] wrestlers or older wrestlers b—h about Ronda Rousey, I believe it’s based on jealousy.” Ross continued, “and the fact that a lot of men are still having a hard time with the females taking up so much of their time on television. Their time?
“It’s our time. So it was the same thing in the territories. When [Fabulous] Moolah’s girls came to a territory, four girls came in and four guys were sent home with no pay. If [the women] were there for two weeks, [the men] wouldn’t be booked for two weeks. No paycheck, no guarantees. You don’t get paid unless you work.”
On the topic of CM Punk, Ross said that he hopes the former WWE Champion’s last outing inside the UFC’s Octagon was his last:
“Hey the guy lost a unanimous decision.” Ross said, “he went three rounds against Mike Jackson. I don’t know how much Jackson celebrated himself there. He didn’t impress Dana White and it looks like, according to what White has said, this was likely CM Punk’s last UFC fight. I hope Dana’s right.
“I hope that’s an accurate prediction. Hey look, I love CM Punk’s willingness to try something new, boldly try something new, compete on an entirely different canvas. But let’s be honest – at his age and skillset, I hope that Phil Brooks will look elsewhere for a new challenge.”
Finally, Ross revealed that he doesn’t see Punk ever working for another professional wrestling organization full-time again:
“I don’t see Punk ever, ever, being full time for any [pro] wrestling company again. See what I did there, a little Chris Jericho thing?” Ross joked. “At this stage in [Punk’s] life and his recent experiences in the pro wrestling biz, plus, he’s not in a cash-strapped situation. He [has] got nothing left to prove. He doesn’t owe the wrestling fans anything. He [has] given it all to you.
“What more do you want? How many more years? So he [has] got a lot of marketable skills, Phil Brooks. I think he’d be a great broadcaster in many areas. He [has] got a lot of interests. But CM Punk is, as Gordon Solie used to describe ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts in Florida Championship Wrestling, when Gordon would say, ‘that ‘Cowboy’ is a strange enigma that many simply do not understand. Uh-uh.'”
You can listen to The Ross Report by clicking this link here.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
