J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q

Here’s some more of your comments that I will try and address: Jason- I am a life-long Cruiserweight fan. Danny Hodge was one of my heroes, but I don’t know if I am in the majority. Some wrestling philosophies have it that the smaller talents will not draw the money the bigger guys do. Cowboy Bill Watts had that mindset back in the 70’s, so it is not a new theory. Rey Mysterio certainly dispels that theory to a large degree, but Rey is extraordinary regardless of his size and has the innate ability to connect with the fans. That’s next to impossible to teach. Rey is the exception and not the rule. Some have asked about Dr. Death’s mindset when he played “Oklahoma”, Ed Ferrera’s bodyguard on TNT’s Monday Nitro. I assure you that Doc was simply doing his job. I feel he was reluctant to be put into such a challenging position, but he is a team player and did as he was instructed to do. We never had a cross word over it. Things like “Oklahoma” never draw a dime and rarely earn consistent ratings. The “let’s get them talking on the internet” doesn’t usually translate into money or ratings, which is what producing TV shows is all about. By the way, Doc has relocated to his boyhood home of Colorado. Matt- Will I ever broadcast a match or event with JBL? That is up to the powers that be. I would enjoy it I am sure, but I am not looking to leave King. JBL has done really well and stands out as he is the only color analyst in the WWE who is an antagonist. With both of us being “Southern” or “Red Necks”, it is doubtful the WWE would ever put us together as it might be a little culturally overwhelming! However the broadcast would not be dull – that’s for sure. Samer- If I had a son who really wanted to get into wrestling as a wrestler, and after he had finished his college degree, I would probably want Tom Prichard, Pat Patterson, and Jerry Brisco to train him. I have several friends who wrestle and I am sure I would be calling on them too as “guest coaches”. With Tom, Pat and Jerry, I would know my son would understand the fundamentals, would have a profound respect for the business, and would understand the psychology of the business. Good Sport- It was “James” Arness who starred as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke and no, he is not related to The Undertaker. Arness is the brother, however of actor Peter Graves from “Airplane”, the old MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TV series and now appears in the Geico Insurance commercial. Alyssa- Memorable Boston moment… Austin vs. HBK with Mike Tyson at Wrestlemania… “The Austin Era Has Begun!” We also had some awesome lobster rolls that day and Killer Kowalski was there and sat in catering most of the day visiting with his old friends. Plus, I worked a PPV in the old Boston Garden and remember helping Gorilla Monsoon get into his tux. The place had no air conditioning and was a steam bath. That might have been the night that the King had three vertically challenged athletes as his tag team partners. Dave- Who’s going # 1 in the NFL draft? Just a guess, but if the Raiders keep the #1 pick, we know they need a QB and JaMarus Russell has the big arm they like, so my guess would be LSU’s Russell. I love to watch every minute of the NFL draft on TV, which baffles my wife. Chris- Jim Carrey was in character 100% of the time during the filming of “Man on the Moon” and at times was a jackass. He was being what Carrey perceived Andy Kaufman was like, back in the day. Carrey is uber-talented, but sometimes took things a little far with The King, who got frustrated several times at Carrey. King seemed to really enjoying slapping Carrey as hard as possible during the recreation of the David Letterman Show scene. Making this film was a blast and a memorable experience. I still don’t know why I played Lance Russell, when Lance Russell was there. I would have had zero issues being the ring announcer to tell you the truth. Director Milos Forman is a genius, nonetheless. Skinner- Why did I introduce the faux Razor and Diesel way back in the day? Because that was my job and I make a practice of not allowing my ego to get in the way of doing what I am instructed to do. It is a job and I accept the pay for this job. It is a real simple concept. For those fans who say that they would not do such and such and would quit before they would do certain things, are usually folks who never earned a penny in this business. I think they would quickly compromise their lofty ideals when it came down to fishing or cutting bait. If you take a man’s money for a job, do the job as best you can and if you can’t bring yourself to perform that job – simply resign and move on. We all have aspects of our job that we would not do if given the choice, but there is more to consider when doing a job than one’s individual ego. I have yet to do anything yet that “killed” my career or created a need for theory. Kevin- I have not talked to Chris Jericho recently, even though we occasionally exchange comments. I know his book will be out this fall. If Chris were to come back to wrestling it seems as if this fall might pose a viable possibility, but that will be totally up to Chris. Jericho would be a valuable addition to any roster if he ever chooses to come back. The longer one stays away the easier it is to simply say “no” when the magic question is asked. I don’t think Chris has wrestled his last match by a long shot. Fedor- Bobby got the “rub” from Tony Soprano on the first episode of “The Sopranos”, but Tony will get his hand raised long before the blow-off episode. Bobby made a fatal error – plus Bobby’s DNA is on his only murder victim. Tim- No I am not a personal fan of six-sided wrestling rings. Nothing personal, I’m just old school. It was designed simply for the sake of being different and not with functionality or tradition of the business in mind. Kev- My favorite Canadian beer? COLD Canadian beer! I never had a bad COLD Canadian beer. D- Unfair to slam those attention-seeking loudmouths at the 2007 HOF Induction Ceremony? Not in my opinion. I sincerely appreciate the ovation I received, but there were other times when it went from expressing one’s emotions to simply being disruptive and disrespectful to some of the speakers. Point is, the HOF was not the time or the place to exercise one’s freedom of speech in such a negative or aggressive manner. Personally, I could not have been treated better, but there were some fans during the night who were simply making noise to be noticed. Rick- An old wrestler’s trick is to wash one’s trunks in their hotel room every night and then roll them up in a dry towel and squeeze them dry. I used to do that to my referee gear back in the 70’s. Brett- Mr. McMahon destroyed the territories? Listen Brett, I am not President of the Mr. McMahon fan club as you may or may not know. Nonetheless, as I have said from being there and experiencing this miscommunicated matter, the ineptness of the local promoters killed their own businesses. They largely refused to sign wrestlers to contracts, could and would fire wrestlers with no severance for any or no reason, refused to change with the times from a marketing standpoint and sure as hell refused to develop any new stars. Sorry Brett, but McMahon gets the blame for many things but this one I personally experienced and the only people the old promoters can blame for going belly-up is the individual they see in the mirror. Chris- Was Andre undefeated going into Wrestlemania 3? No – far from it. Got Jerky? We do… check it out and place your order today! We appreciate your business and support. More blogs coming up soon! Boomer Sooner! J.R.