The Coach Explains ESPN’s SummerSlam Role

In a new blog Jonathan Coachman explained some of the things ESPN will be doing for their SummerSlam coverage:

“We’re doing a lot of sit-downs on Saturday with guys who have cross-over appeal. We’re going to sit down and talk with different wrestlers that either played football in college, like Roman Reigns or John Cena, to the Miz, who was a reality star, so there are a lot of guys the casual sports fan would know. We’ll meet with them on Saturday, and those interviews will be on ESPN.com and our SportsCenter feed on Twitter, and then we’ll be doing live shots on Sunday morning from outside the arena to show people the atmosphere. Then we’ll interview a few people about what Sunday night means to their careers.”

“We’re used to dealing with athletes and asking, ‘What does this game mean to you?’ Well, performing at SummerSlam is just like performing in the NFC Championship game. You’ve got to bring your top game so you can make it to the Super Bowl in WrestleMania. We want to introduce a lot of these guys to the part of the sports world who don’t watch Raw.”

“ESPN is not a place you come to take the next step, it’s a place you come to spend your career. I plan on retiring at ESPN, but I would love to be involved with ESPN and WWE. The biggest network in America for credibility in sports and entertainment is ESPN, so the best way to make your product credible is to be on ESPN. I’m proud of the fact that I am the liaison for the WWE. I appreciate the executives at ESPN opening their hearts and their minds, and I can’t think of anything cooler than what we’re doing this weekend at SummerSlam.”

Jim Ross On Summerslam & Heel Rollins

In his latest JRSBARBQ.com Blog Jim Ross discussed The Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar:

“A brawl is the only way to go for these two. What a great story it would be if both guys try to make their opponent submit. Think of what it would mean for a victory if both men were working for a submission–if the Undertaker continued to go for his gogoplata chokehold, and Lesnar was trying to get the kimura, which is a double wrist lock. Getting your opponent to tap out is the most macho of all the ways to win, and I can see that story woven in there by the announcers.”

He also discussed Seth Rollins’ heel run:

“But I sincerely hope there are no plans, somewhere down the road, to turn Rollins babyface. He’s still learning how to be a great heel, and it’s doing a damn good job with it. He’s a student of the game, works hard, and every week he adds another nuance of being a heel. He’s a major block in the foundation, so Cena beating him at SummerSlam is not the right thing to do. Rollins needs to retain the title, even if it’s with the help of plenty of outside interference.”

Matt Hardy’s Toughest Match

In a new Reddit AMA TNA’s Matt Hardy discussed his toughest match:

“My toughest Ladder Match was the one vs E & C that happened the first night WWE was on TNN. All 4 of us (Me, Jeff, Adam & Jay) were all terribly hurting & physically spent from the Cage Match the night before at Unforgiven. We weren’t supposed to wrestle AT ALL that night, yet ended up in a brutal, long Ladder Match that day. I remember none of us were overly happy with our performance that night–we just weren’t physically able to produce the kind of performance that we wanted to that evening.”

He also discussed suplexing Ric Flair off a ladder:

“I was fully confident on my end. Ric told me I was the only one in the match that he trusted to give him the superplex off the ladder. That was one of the greatest compliments that I’ve ever gotten professionally.”