Jim Ross On Ron Simmons & Butch Reed Teaming As Doom In WCW
In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed Ron Simmons and Butch Reed teaming as Doom in WCW, Doom’s legacy, and much more. You can read his comments below.
Jim Ross on Doom unmasking to reveal Ron Simmons and Butch Reed: “If it worked really, really well, it was barely working really, really well. I think we were so far down the road that unmasking wrestlers got to be kind of old hat. Predictable. Predictability can be a blessing and a curse in pro wrestling, without question. The unmasking – if it had been Mr. Wrestling II that had a mask on forever and ever and ever or something like that – that’s a different effect. The farther you travel down that road, the less special it has become. But it was time to step forward with those guys. Reed and Ron – they looked awesome and were really, really good workers, especially Reed at that time. He was ahead of Ron in the maturation process because he had more experience and travel. Both were really good athletes, and I don’t know any team I worked with that looked better on an 8×10 than Doom…..I would’ve preferred them to stay with the mask a little longer to make the unmasking have more significance.”
On Doom defeating The Steiner Brothers at Capital Combat 1990 to win the WCW Tag Team titles: “I liked the match with the Steiners because I thought it added a great deal of credibility to Doom. Our job as broadcasters and promoters is to get talent over. Put them in the best position you believe you can that would lead to success. I think the match with the Steiners gave them some great validity. I think that was during that tournament we had and a lot of people were wondering, ‘How are you gonna convince the Steiners to lose?’ The Steiners are businessmen. They know at the end of the day, the babyface is gonna come out whole. Secondly, it’s hard to tell Simmons and Reed ‘No, we’re not putting you over’ when they’re sitting in the room looking at them eye to eye. Not that the Steiners are gonna be intimidated, it’s just that they had great respect for Butch and Ron. These are badasses. So, why not do business when it’s leading to bigger and better things? I thought it helped both teams.”
On Doom’s legacy as a team: “They needed more time. I loved that team. To me, they represented what was real and good about a heel tag team in pro wrestling. They could bump. The one thing if you’re gonna be a heel in wrestling – you’ve gotta be able to feed a comeback. That means when it’s the other guy’s time to shine and he’s bringing the offense, you’ve gotta be able to take enough bumps to facilitate a great comeback. Feed the comeback. When you get a heel that’s 350 pounds or whatever it is, they can feed, but they don’t feed much. These two cats, man – we didn’t book anybody against Doom that was more athletic than Doom. I think their run was a little short. I think more objectivity in the booking room would’ve been better, but again, you’ve got some old prejudices that are distasteful and they’re not cool. I may not be wrong about that, but I think that had an effect on Doom’s long-term tenure. I think if you honestly ask a lot of the guys who were involved with the company at that time, many would say JR is right on this one. He’s not right all the time, but he’s right on this one.”
