THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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SPORTS Interview: Jim Ross Good Ol' JR chats to The American's Josh Modaberi
Ross worked his way up through the territories before joining the WWE in 1993 and that is here he really made a name for himself as a commentator using phrases such as 'Slobberknocker' He was also company executive of WWE as well as a talent relation consultant. JR was inducted into the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame and now he's about to embark on a spoken word tour of the UK, which sees him visit Cardiff, London, Manchester and Glasgow. "I think it's going to be the unique experience for wrestling fans because they are going to be hearing from a wrestling fan that got lucky enough 39 years ago to begin a journey in the business and live his dream," Good Ol' JR continued. "This is a first for me, I've done everything else in wrestling but this is a new adventure and a new experience and I'm really excited to have the opportunity to share my life, time and experiences with the fans. Without sounding cliché, without the fans we don't have jobs." Ross may never have grappled professionally in the ring himself, but he is still one of the greatest on-screen personalities and has many stories to tell. "I think the difference with my story and some of the wrestlers is that often times the wrestlers are engaged with talking about their career, and I'm going to talk about my career, no doubt about it," the 61-year-old said. "My career started as a fan, and I'm still a fan today without question, so I will be able to identify with the audience. "I think that my journey also embraces many of the great stars that I've had the privilege of working with in the seventies, eighties, nineties and the 2000's. I think it will be very unique, very different; it's going to be very personable, very one-on-one, very intermit. There will be some poignant stories, some very fun stories, overall I think its going to be a lot of fun. "It's going to be different to any spoken word tour they've ever heard because to my knowledge no one has ever replicated my journey from starting out as a fan to getting in the business indirectly and accidently back in the territory days to eventually becoming the executive vice president of the largest sports entertainment company in the world, WWE." Ross sat behind the commentary table on WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw for 14 years and has witnessed first hand some of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot inside the squared circle. "In the WWE one of the more underrated events that we did was the King of the Ring in 1993, there were some really good matches during that tournament, I think Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect had a match, and there were some really good matches there," the Oklahoma resident reveals. "Almost any match in a big event with Shawn Michaels in it was great, Shawn was hurt when he passed the torch to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania or that match would have been even more historic.
"The three WrestleMania main events that The Rock and Austin had were pretty spectacular. Austin v Bret at WrestleMania 13 was extraordinary and that wasn't even the main event that night, that match but a brand on Austin's name as defiant, tough, Texas Rattlesnake, he became our biggest box office star ever and it was just a phenomenal match which told an amazing story." As well as wrestling Ross is a self confessed foodie and has his own range of BBQ's sauces. "We've associated ourselves with a company based in Manchester, England, American Soda. We're trying to make sure we have plenty of product at the shows so folks can buy stuff without having to pay the shipping costs. Maybe some people will buy them and I'll be more than happy to sign them." For more information on Jim Ross you can follow him on Twitter @JRsBBQ JR's UK spoken word tour dates are: August 24th Cardiff; 25th London, 26th Manchester and 27th Glasgow. For more information and to buy tickets visit psievents.eventbrite.co.uk and follow @PSI_Events |
