Jim Ross Speaks On Ric Flair, The Draft, Lance Cade, UFC, More

On Ric Flair: I read on the ‘net where someone was wondering why Ric Flair was sweating so profusely Monday night. A..it was 90 degrees in SLC Monday (Naitch wasn’t the only one sweating wearing a suit) and the arena was hotter than hell and B…Flair is a habitual sweater from way back. Remember those old Crockett and TBS days? Nonetheless “Naitch” looked to be in really great physical condition and continues to work out diligently. He indicated to me that he was on the road 19 days last month, which is a busy month of travel, but that he usually gets to be home on the weekends. Ric loves his “Ambassador” role as Ric does exceptionally well at private functions where he can converse with corporate types. There are no plans for Ric to wrestle again but I liked seeing him on Raw even though one can argue that by promoting his appearance that it might have helped increase interest in the broadcast. Hindsight is usually 20/20 and reasonable arguments can be certainly made that the return of the legendary Flair could have been handled with more fanfare and impact.

On the Draft: There are seemingly endless questions regarding the format of this Monday’s tri-branded, WWE Draft. What brand drafts first….will this be a random lottery drawing….what happens if a champion IE Matt Hardy who is the reigning United States Championship which appears to be a Smackdown title is drafted to Raw? Does the wrestler leave the title behind or does the title come to a new brand? I know that these types of things have occurred in the past but is there a hard, fast rule on matters such as this here in 2008? Will there be trades as there has been before? Who will represent Raw which has no General Manager?

On Lance Cade: Regarding the conclusion of Raw Monday night, lots of folks are wondering, why Lance Cade? Why did Cade insert himself in the main event mix near the end of Raw? I suggest, why not? The only way new wrestlers are going to rise to the next level is for them to step in the deep in of the pool and either sink or swim. Any TV presentation can always been over analyzed and sometimes certainly for the better but I like the fact that, philosophically, someone new is getting a chance to perform with the big boys. The key to this matter will be the follow up come Monday night. Hearing from a passionate Cade would be a nice start. Bottom line here is this…no wrestling promotion has any bigger or more important challenge than developing tomorrow’s main event stars. For example, who will headline the next Wrestlemania is always a viable question. Not just in 2009 but the year after than and so forth. Long term planning is crucial to the success of any business including a wrestling business.

On UFC: Is it just me or does any one else think that the UFC pays WAY too much attention to the fledgling MMA groups out there? The UFC is the NFL of MMA but there will always be a place for the small “Arena Football League” groups that will only serve as a feeder system to the UFC from where I sit.