Jim Ross describes why he's not a fan of battle royals and discusses why they're difficult to book.
Ross worked for WWE for many years. After an initial brief stint with the company, he returned in 1994. He went on to become one of the most legendary broadcasters in WWE history, as he was on the call for many episodes of WWE Raw and numerous pay-per-views. Over the years, the WWE Hall of Famer called many Royal Rumbles, and it turns out, JR is not a fan of battle royals.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, battle royals came up in the conversation. Ross described how he has never been a fan of the match type, as he noted that there are times when some wrestlers seemingly wait until the end of the match to "get good". He then explained how booking the matches is difficult because there are inevitable dead spots, and the bouts to have peaks and valleys.
"My issue has always been, in this respect, I’ve never been a fan of battle royals. I’ve [seen] so many of them, and it’s almost sometimes to be embarrassed to be in the ring with guys that were just half-assing it. Sometimes a battle royal is a lazy night, for some talents. They only get good at the very end. I’m just not a big fan… it’s like the Royal Rumble. It’s gotta be good all the way through, and you gotta have peaks and valleys, and you gotta load it up and unload it. That’s how you get guys quote-on-quote over, as they come in and they’re devastating and they do great things. But you just can’t maintain that for an hour. You gotta have peaks and valleys. There’s gonna be slow spots. There’s dead spots in these matches because it’s inevitable. So we’ll see. The booking of a Royal Rumble is really challenging, and it was Pat Patterson’s idea to have the Royal Rumble, he created the concept, which is a tribute to Pat. He’ll always be remembered for it, as he should," Ross said.
Ross went on to discuss how there are interesting factors to evaluate when watching a battle royal. He shared his belief that there should be two good "runs" before the end of the bout. Ross brought up the way Pat Patterson created the match and how he was "brilliant" with structuring them. He also praised Michael Hayes for his mind for putting the matches together.
"It’ll be interesting to see how that works out. But there’s a lot of interesting things to evaluate and to watch, if you’re gonna watch the Royal Rumble. How it’s laid out, you should have two good runs before you get to the final four or five guys. Patterson was brilliant at that. Michael Hayes started helping, and Michael is brilliant in that regard. He’s a real creative mind. It’s hard to lay out, it’s hard to book. Like any great booking, you start at the end. Who do you want to win? Then work backwards," Ross said.
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