Q-and-A with Jim Ross: Talks Survivor Series card, WWE's commentary team

With his one-man show, "Ringside with Jim Ross," taking place on Nov. 20 at Second City in Toronto, WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross sat down with theScore in an exclusive interview. In part two, Ross discusses the event, the elimination matches scheduled for Survivor Series, and the current state of WWE's commentary team.

Click here for part 1 of the interview.

Christopher Walder: With all of the shows you've already done, is there one fan question deep down you're secretly sick of answering?

No, not really sick of, because all the fans have reasons for asking their questions. I respect that. We may get there, but I think we've kind of worn out the "Montreal Screwjob" questions. I don't know how else to address that topic other than how I've always addressed it. If somebody comes to my show on the (Nov.) 20th and they want to ask about Montreal 1997 at Survivor Series, I can see that happening because we're at a Survivor Series and we're in Canada.

Any topic regarding Chris Benoit has also been addressed pretty much ad nauseum. I don't know what more to add to that tragedy, quite frankly. But the question you get there is, "Don't you think that Chris Benoit should be in the WWE Hall of Fame?" And no, I don't think that, and I'll give them an answer why.

Walder: Are you a fan of how WWE has laid out the Survivor Series card? The entire roster has essentially been slotted into three elimination matches, with very little at stake. There are also no world championship bouts currently scheduled, as well.

Ross: I have no issues with the card. I'm not title centric. I think generally there's a malaise within the genre of pro wrestling that No. 1: There are too many titles, and No. 2: What is the hottest title in pro wrestling? I don't know the answer to that.

I think there are too many titles. I think that they've been often times booked as a prop and not a trophy. That's not a WWE indictment. I've watched a lot of wrestling, and I think that's industry wide. If WWE had a red-hot title that was must see, and they held it out of a major pay-per-view, then I can see people having some consternation over that. I happen to not have any.

I think the card is fine. The traction with (Bill) Goldberg and (Brock) Lesnar is big. The storylines that can potentially come out of these unique teams I think is intriguing. How, at the end of the day, where these primary storylines will then lie within Raw and SmackDown Live are intriguing to me.

I don't really overthink that kind of stuff. I just like to let it flow. I don't need to know inside information. I guess that's part of the charm of wrestling, but it's just not something I devote a lot of time on. I'm going to try and enjoy the card for what it is, and I'm sure I will.

Walder: Is WWE doing their commentary a disservice by having too many cooks in the kitchen? SmackDown Live is set to have a four-man team at the desk with the addition of Tom Phillips, while Raw continues to have three. What advice would you give to the current teams to help make their teams function more efficiently?

Ross: Personally, I think from bell to bell, all wrestling companies can do a better job of documenting the action. Even my work on AXS TV with Josh Barnett for New Japan Pro Wrestling, we try to really stay focused from bell to bell on the matches, and occasionally we'll digress to something that we think is topical, timely, or entertaining or whatever, but not that often. We stay right with the game. That would be like a hockey broadcaster while the puck's in play talking about what they had for dinner last night. It doesn't make sense.

To do a four-man booth on a regular basis weekly, it's unknown territory. That may be part of the charm of why it's being done, because it's so different and so unique that WWE wants to try something that further differentiates SmackDown from Raw. I'm old school, though, and I like two-man booths.

I've always been a big fan of Tom Phillips' work. Since I worked with him in NXT and FCW in Florida, Phillips is going to be a player and a really good broadcaster. He's still learning, and acquiring the nuances it takes to be a successful pro wrestling broadcaster. It's a hell of a lot more challenging to broadcast a wrestling match than it is to do boxing, football, and even MMA. There's athletic components and entertainment components. There's storyline issues and what you're seeing on your screen.

Somebody has to be designated as the lead, to get you out of the breaks and into the breaks. Someone has to be in charge. You've gotta have a point guard, in other words, and that's what the play-by-play man largely is in a multiple-person booth.

Not to steal one of The Rock's cliches, but you need to know your role, which you need to know when you sit down at the table. What am I responsible for providing? When do I talk? The four fellas need to master the art of the soundbite so the show isn't overtalked, because they have to remember they're doing television and not radio.

It wouldn't be something that I'd be enamored to be a part of. Would I do it? Sure, I would do it. I'm a player that runs the plays the coaches send in, and that's how I was raised. My dad always said, "if you're going to take the man's money, do what he wants you to do."

(Tickets for "Ringside with Jim Ross" are still on sale and available here)