Jim Ross Blogs On Umaga, Sheamus, The Lost Art Of Managing, More

– Jim Ross has a new blog entry up; here are the highlights…

On Umaga’s Passing: The sudden passing of Eddie “Umaga” Fatu certainly put a damper on the weekend as Eddie’s death on Friday came as a total shock to me. Eddie had moved his family to Houston a while back as many WWE performers now base out of the Houston area and some of them actually are neighbors. Nonetheless, when I think of Eddie I think of the many, many conversations that we had over the years and how they usually ended up with Eddie talking about his wife and children. I recall discussing with Eddie that one of his sons, who has the potential to be a special football player, was already on Oklahoma’s radar and I think at the time the young man was only in the 9th or 10th grade. OU coaches were recruiting an upper classman at the same school that Eddie’s son attended but coaches told the OU folks, ” just wait until you see this really young kid we have. His Dad’s a wrestler and this kid is special.” Eddie was elated to know that his son had already distinguished himself on the gridiron and we talked of Eddie sending his son to the OU Summer Football Camp. Eddie Fatu was very proud of his children and loved his wife tremendously and Eddie was proud of the home that he was able to create for them in Houston. “Umaga” may have been a “Samoan Savage” or “Samoan Bulldozer” but in reality Eddie Fatu was a gifted athlete with amazing agility and quickness for a 300+ pounder who was one of the most sensitive and likable athletes that I have had the honor of being around in the past 35 years.

On The Lost Art Of Managing On WWE 24/7: We’re still getting lots of positive feedback on the WWE 24/7 On Demand presentation of the “Lost Art of Managing” which will essentially manifest itself on “The Ultimate Fighter” next season when rivals Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will coach their respective teams. This is roughly the equivalent of “managing” and one will be able to see how much a talented mouthpiece who means something can contribute to the development of an athlete’s persona. Got a feeling that there will be a record number of bleeps on the new season’s show. Nonethless a smart, strategic move by UFC.

On Sheamus: Apparently, the #1 contender for the WWE Title Sheamus is getting a strong reaction on the road while the days are being counted down until the TLC PPV where the young Irish lad challenges John Cena for the WWE Title in a Tables Match. Getting to and staying put at the next level is not an overnight process and takes time. How much time? Good question. It depends on the talent and said talent’s presentation and tools with which to work.

On Building Wrestling Companies: Wrestling organizations are not unlike any successful sports franchise or even a movie studio inasmuch as building their companies with talented youth along with the proper positioning of veteran star power around aforementioned youth will always be the best route to take.

– You can read the full blog here.