“This One’s Gonna Be a Slobberknocker”: A Q&A with WWE’s “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross

Jim Ross, the longtime voice of World Wrestling Entertainment, joins CMS graduate student Sam Ford to discuss the unique blend of reality and fiction in the world of American professional wrestling. Ross will talk about how WWE’s distribution across multiple media platforms creates an interesting storytelling atmosphere, and he will share experiences from his many years in the television industry as wrestling has moved from broadcast to cable and pay-per-view and now to DVD distribution, on-demand, and the Web. See Ross’s Web site at www.jrsbarbq.com.

NOTE: This is the first of two colloquia about American professional wrestling being organized this term by Sam Ford ’07. Ford is teaching a spring class on the pro wrestling industry and is a researcher for the Convergence Culture Consortium. He is a weekly columnist for the Ohio County Times-News in Hartford, Ky., and performs in pro wrestling events on occasion. A third colloquium on April 26 with Sharon Mazer will also examine aspects of wrestling.