Who would Jim Ross bring back, if he could?
Sam Roberts asked him this question when Ross appeared on his podcast recently. Being a former VP of talent relations for WWE, he knows who to go for. But one of the first he'd consider bringing back is someone WWE audiences would know: Chris Jericho. He'd also be into signing Kazuchika Okada, who calls him a good looking young man and points out his other positive attributes:
Well, I'm certainly going to try to find another way to bring Chris Jericho back at some point, maybe at a WrestleMania, not (2018), but (2019). Looking ahead. I'm probably going to try to get Kenny Omega signed. I'm going to find out the interest from Kazuchika Okada because I think he's one of the best in the whole world. He's a good looking young man. He's 29, I think. He's 6'3" or [6'4"], I think. He's really, really good. I had his three matches with Omega this year on AXS TV on the Friday night show I do for [Mark] Cuban's network, so he'd be a guy.
Other people he would target are The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes. He likes their attitude, and also their entrepreneurial skills:
I would certainly welcome Cody Rhodes back with open arms, and The Young Bucks, I would try to get under contract because I like those kids. I like their entrepreneurial ability. I like the fact that they have a little bit of an attitude. Hell, I don't care. I don't know if they like me or if they don't like me. I don't have any idea, that's their prerogative. I like them and I love their work. But I think as many shirts as they think they're selling now at that Topic place, what's that place? Hot Topic. Get under that WWE umbrella and see how shirts you sell. Oh, brother. It's just the footprint is so much bigger. Hot Topic's not going to stop buying shirts because they're WWE shirts
Another interesting name is CM Punk. His goal would be a program that would bring him back at a WrestleMania.
I would try to figure out a way if there's one more run in CM Punk. And 'one more run' to me means this: a WrestleMania, not 10, not two, not three, a WrestleMania. Start with let's build to the right build and the crescendo is WrestleMania. And the only other way I'd do him is have him return at WrestleMania and not be on television. Sign, train, vignettes, vignettes, little angle, boom. His first match is WrestleMania. Yeah, that way there's no pressure on anybody
Ross was Executive Vice President of Talent Relations from the late 90s through 2005, when John Laurinaitis took over.
