Jesse Ventura,the WCW run

[Judy Bagwell]

should have been great but for the love of god why did Jim Ross keep no selling him? these two could have been the best combination of all time

but it was doomed anyway given Hogans arrival...fuck

what are your guys thoughts on Ventura at this point?

[NotJayTabb]

Wasn't there some animosity on the part of Ross because Jesse was getting paid more than him, so that's why he kept no-selling him?

 

Jesse's WCW run was still pretty decent, as he had really good chemistry with Schiavone. Tony was more willing to play along and understood his role in the team better than JR did.

[Sidebottom]

Jesse claims Ross was jealous over the pay Jesse got, and later admitted he was in the wrong. Shame we didn't get a chance to see what those two could properly do together.

[ohtani's jacket]

Ventura's run with Tony is as good as anything he did in the WWF. JR's sound bytes are fun to listen to over the top of NBA Jam, but until Tony became a proto-Cole during the Nitro era and JR became good ol' JR, give me Tony or give death. Ross at his worst is a million times worse than Tony. On the Flair/Garvin comp I watched, every match Ross commentated on was the most physical contest he'd ever seen. The bar kept raising when JR was around. He did seem more willing to play off Cornette than Jesse, but then Cornette was an actual in-ring character at the time.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'll say this, Ross and Ventura haven't been quite as bad as I remember on the shows we've been rewatching for WTBBP.

 

It is probably Ventura's worst year as a commentator, but when you are the best colour guy of all time, that's still a pretty good year.

[Coffey]

I've always really liked the Jesse/Ross combination & until this thread had never even noticed Ross "no-selling" him at all before, honestly. Never even crossed my mind.

[Tim Cooke]

I thought Ross and Ventura were excellent for the 2/29/92 Windham/Rhodes vs. Austin/Zybisko at Superbrawl and for the amazing 1992 War Games. Maybe there was unused better potential but I thought in general they worked very well together.

[Matt D]

By the end of the JR/Tony team, they were generally having separate conversations and the few times Tony would try to throw something to Ross, he'd get ignored.

 

I napped it out for a whole show once.

 

Ventura wasn't the issue. The Superbrawl show was good because Ventura took him by surprise and MADE Ross engage with him. I think Ross was more prepared for him later.

[JRH]

Did Ventura ever work with Gordon Solie during this run? Thats a combo i would have liked to see.

[Gregor]

I don't understand why it was Ross's job to adjust to Ventura's style more than it was Ventura's job to adjust to Ross's style.

 

Also I agree with those who say that they didn't really notice the animosity between the two. To me they were better at hiding any conflict than the Ross and Schiavone team, as already noted.

[C.S.]

I thought Ross and Jesse were fantastic together, just because they were each individually fantastic. If that didn't translate to chemistry as a team, I certainly never noticed, because they were both good enough on their own to make it work.

[jushin muta liger]

Watching the stuff on the Network made realize they were a good team. Plus it inspired my avi. Jesse Ventura having the balls to wear a Malcolm X hat in THAT promotion will always stick with me.

[flyonthewall2983]

I thought he was better in WCW, in some respects. Especially when he turned the more heel-ish side of his persona down and talked more as the voice of experience. I've listened to some of his last matches with the company, and it's probably good that he left when he did because I think he probably would have been made to be a watered-down version of who he'd been 10 years before, rather than closer to himself.

 

He was pretty good with Ross, though with knowing that there was tension you can definitely hear it in their announcing sometimes. That's either good or bad depending on one's taste, as opposed to being outright horrible. I listened to a shoot with Ventura from '93 where he calls Ross some pretty awful things, so I guess it was true. I'd love it if Ventura got on Ross' podcast or the other way around, so we can hear them talk about that time. I think Ross has said he wished he'd been more professional during that period, so they both share some blame on it.