The following are hilights from this week's WWE.com Ross Report.
* "I know I have said this before, and recently, but damn I would like to see some red-hot tag teams start tearing up RAW and SmackDown."
* “Kerwin White” attempting to be someone he is not is ridiculous.
* "I have a gut feeling that Matt Hardy is going to Slobberknock Edge inside the cage Sunday, which means in layman’s terms I feel Matt will win this much-anticipated match at Unforgiven.:
* According to published reports, former wrestler Sam Houston, who was once married to one of the businesses first valets, Baby Doll, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for repeated DUI arrests.
* Heartbreak and Triumph - The Shawn Michaels Story” will be on sale at book stores around November 15.
JR also did his weekly Q&A session:
Devin S. asked: Dusty Rhodes has mentioned on WWE.com that he would like to wrestle Ric Flair one more time at a WWE non-televised live event. What do you think about these two legends locking up one more time? Don’t you think people would pay to see it on TV?
If provided the adequate time to re-establish the rivalry on TV, I absolutely believe this “last dance” would be attractive to many fans. I would pay to see it without a doubt. The promos between the two going into the match could be priceless. After decades in wrestling, these guys have not lost any passion for their life’s work. Devin, I have been fortunate enough to call many of the Flair-Rhodes matches over the years and would love to be around to do this one too, if it were to ever happen.
Steve Wheeler asked: What happened to senior official Earl Hebner? I've noticed that he hasn't been officiating any matches? I remember many of the classic matches that he has officiated, and I was wondering if he decided to retire.
Earl and his twin brother Dave are, unfortunately, neither still with the company. Someone told me recently that they heard Earl was doing some carpentry work in Virginia. I wish them both good health and success.
Jeffrey P. asked: When will WWE bring back Mean Gene?
Jeffery, I’m a big Mean Gene fan and hopefully we will see more of him in the future now that his health has bounced back and that he is feeling much better. I also expect Mean Gene to be an integral part of our WWE 24/7 presentation.
Chuck Minor asked: Where is Sid Vicious and what is he doing? Will he ever come back and compete? Thank you.
The last I heard, big Sid was still living in the West Memphis, Arkansas. After severely injuring his leg in the old WCW a few years back, Sid was unable to compete for quite some time and has only recently, from what I have heard, been able to get back in the ring to wrestle. It’s been years since I have seen him, and his name rarely comes up in conversations I partake in here in WWE. I would never say never, but my best guess is that he probably won’t be coming back our way, which could mean Sid might be back next week, but I wouldn’t bet my black hat on it. Chances are you will see him hitting balls over the fence on a softball field near you before he competes in a WWE ring again.
John M. asked: I am 18 years old, and have been a wrestling fan since I was in diapers. First I want to thank you for giving wrestling a voice, second I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the following matter, who do you think was the better mat wrestler, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat or Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, in my opinion, Valentine had a slight skill advantage but Steamboat had much more heart. Once again thanks.
P.S. I would love to see you knock Jonathan Coachman out again!
That’s a really tough call, John, because both men had different styles. Valentine was probably known for being more physical and depended more on his “ground game” than did Steamboat. Ricky’s strengths were his finesse, quickness, fundamental soundness and his desire to win no matter the cost. Steamboat could also fly which was not “The Hammer’s” specialty. So to answer your question based on what I have outlined here, I would probably go with Greg Valentine. If you want to talk about hard-nosed, mat wrestling take a long look at Greg’s dad Johnny Valentine who was as physical as anyone to ever step through the ropes. If you don’t believe me, just ask some of his opponents. “JV” was a real badass.
Alex asked: I have always enjoyed watching WWE and my Dad’s favorite wrestler was Bruno Sammartino. Do you know what Bruno has been up to? And, do you think Bruno will ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?
Bruno, who recently shaved his head, is a physical freak of nature who still runs several miles a day most every day. The Italian legend looks as if he could still step in the ring and handle himself quite well for someone who is north of 65 years of age. Bruno, who probably weighs around 225, still lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and makes an occasional appearance at wrestle reunions and civic functions. Bruno did not leave WWE on the best of terms, however, I would love to see him get inducted in the near future. His acceptance speech would be a classic!
JoAnn asked: Hello Mr. Ross! I recently saw on WWE.com that Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder was released. Why? Also, will we see another Tough Enough show?
I am not 100 percent sure why Puder was released but one has to assume that those doing the scouting and talent evaluations probably felt that Puder was not going to become the WWE Superstar that he was projected to be after winning the Tough Enough Challenge. This certainly doesn’t mean Daniel’s dreams have ended and should serve as a motivational tool to help him get to where he wants to go. Perhaps a different training environment or different coaches will help him improve as it has other athletes who have become household names after changing their surroundings.
It’s hard to say what the future of “Tough Enough” will be as a free standing reality show. I know of no plans to bring it back, but it certainly was a much better show than many of the hard to watch reality shows on TV these days. It also made John “Big” Gaburick a household name in the greater Baltimore area where he is considered one of the most-eligible bachelors in the land of crab cakes even if he does bare an uncanny resemblance to Philadelphia Eagles head honcho Andy Reid.
Dave Camratta asked: I read online that RAW will be moving back to the USA Network Oct. 3 and the WWE will have WWE Superstars Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Mick Foley, Triple H and Mr. McMahon on the broadcast. What are your thoughts on moving to USA? And, what was your all-time favorite WWE USA moment?
In my personal opinion, I think the move back to USA will be great for WWE for many reasons. USA is in more homes than Spike TV, to the best of my knowledge, and is much more established. Our long time, previous relationship with the USA Network, now a part of the NBC family, was largely positive for many years and the network has made a commitment to actively and aggressively promote Monday Night RAW, which can only help everyone involved. The first night back on October 3 from Dallas will be a three-hour broadcast that will be loaded with star power and unpredictable, LIVE action.
Dave, I’m not sure I have one all-time favorite moment out of the thousands of things I have seen on RAW on the USA Network, but the evolution of the Austin-McMahon era has to rank right up there for a variety of reasons. That rivalry helped propel WWE to its greatest heights and nothing like it has been able to follow it since.
Steve Walsh asked: After listening to Marty Jannetty on Byte This! a few weeks back, I was just wondering what are the chances of the company re-hiring Jannetty to a contract. I’m aware of his release. It just seems such a shame that a genuine guy like that has fallen on some difficult times .
There is no doubt that Marty can still probably out wrestle a fair portion of our current competitors. However, it seems that Marty may have bigger issues to deal with at this point in time. Going back on the road, even with the reduced schedule the wrestlers now endure, might not be the best thing for Marty personally.
Ed Farmer asked: What’s up? I was reading on the Internet the other day about Steve “Dr. Death” Williams making a surprise visit at one of the live events, Is this true? And, will we be seeing him on TV anytime soon?
The good Doctor made a surprise visit recently to see the “boys” in both Texarkana and in Monroe which are both close to Doc’s Shreveport home. Dr. Death is a walking miracle who, even though he had his voice box removed, has been declared cancer free through the grace of the good Lord and the prayers of a bunch of folks. Doc is back up to 260 pounds or so and looks absolutely amazing for what he has gone through. I was told that Doc even wrestled recently, which no one thought would ever happen again... except Doc. I have met some tough guys in my 30 plus years in the business, but none of them were tougher than Steve Williams. We are great friends and he’s a part of my family. For those keeping score at home and perhaps still wondering about Doc’s involvement with Turner’s WCW and the “Oklahoma” character and how that affected our friendship, let me say this – the concept was ill conceived and weaker than cat urine, but I knew that Doc was simply earning his pay and doing as he was instructed to do. Business is business no matter how hard a pill it is to swallow sometimes. There are no plans at this time for Doc to appear on WWE TV.
Vince McMahon RIPS SpikeTV, UFC and TNA at WWE Shareholders Meeting!
