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

J.R.'s Superstar of the Week - Tribute-Bound Superstars

Thu, 12/06/2007 - 14:28 — webmaster

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Greetings from under the 200X, black Resistol hat from your resident Oklahoma Sooner fan, who is still in a celebratory mood after OU won the Big 12 Title last Saturday night in San Antonio and who is looking forward to the HUGE Monday Night Raw 15th Anniversary Spectacular this Monday on USA Network starting one hour early at a special time of 8/7CT. This week’s Raw Superstar of the Week are all the WWE Superstars and crew who left North Charleston, S.C., immediately after Raw to fly to Iraq for WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops event. There is no more important date on the WWE calendar than this yearly event that will be broadcast on USA Network on Monday, Dec. 24. My hat is off to all the folks who made this challenging journey and put so many smiles on the faces of our fighting men and women. Boomer Sooner to each of you! J.R.'s Column continues at WWE.com »

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Comments

Sun, 12/16/2007 - 02:54 — Jay-Bird (not verified)

J.R., I am just curious if "anybody" on the WWE Payroll who requests to go to "tribute" gets to go, or if they tend to whittle down the list of those who request to the crew that makes it each year. Have you ever thought about going and bringing a crate of Jerkey to the soldiers? (Or maybe some REAL Sauce to the messhalls?) I KNOW we would go through TONS of jerkey while I was down range... The stuff the PX sold was past the expiration date when it got there and STILL got eaten quickly. PEACE Jay-Bird

Thu, 12/13/2007 - 12:12 — TJ (not verified)

JR, 30 year fan here. I love the column and the work you do. I remember watching the P.W.T.W. with Joe Pedicino as well as the WTBS Saturday Morning shows etc. Anyway first time poster. I just had to say something. Very nice 15 year show and I realize people could complain all day about so and so not being on the show and it's too bad that Bret and the WWE just can't get together but the Rock? I mean even if he was busy he couldn't video a message or something? I really feel like he let his fans down with that one. And on the WWE's fault, no John Cena? I know he's hurt but he just went to Iraq he couldn't make an appearance and once again if he was rehabbing could he not do a video message. Other than that I thought the show was great and with the overrun being just a little longer than the 15 minutes I alloted on my DVR I would love to see the WWE do a replay even if it was very late night so people that missed it due to the storms and such could tape it.

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 22:00 — Lewis Prevost (not verified)

J.R. I am out here in Bartlesville Oklahoma, and have Direct TV. To my Dismay on Monday My wife and I were waiting to watch the 15th anniversary of Raw Special and here the Ice Storm has wrecked havoc on our service and we were unable to watch it. Do you know if WWE or Direct TV were planning on re-airing the show for those affected by this Ice Storm? I know there is a one hour of AM Raw but cramming in three hours into one hour? I can't complain but that is like going to Philadelphia to get a cheesesteak and all you get is an Italian Water Ice. Thanks JR, Enjoy your broadcasts and your website. Lewis

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 20:08 — theBestThereIs (not verified)

Hi Jr, Was just wandering what you thought of Lita's send off (compared to Trish Stratus'). I was really disappointed with it. I belive her character when she said before she left - 'If it wasn't for me - there would be NO Trish Stratus'. I love Trish (specially as a heel) but she came in as a manager - T&A. Quite dull really! On the other hand - Lita's & Essay Rios' debut was off the frigging charts. I nearly wet meself with my first witness of the Litacanrana. Im from where I stood - the crowd was in shock. She gave so much to the WWE I thought. Broken neck and of course the Hardy/Edge thing must have been hard on her. Yes, I know she did wrong but I believe she went with the flow of her fans and turned heel. Trish was a great heel but Lita had the whole 'NASTY' thing down right pat - I miss Miss Amy Dumas

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 13:56 — Dreamboy3000 (not verified)

Heya JR. Congratulations on being voted the number one commentator on WWE.COM. My question is, do you think house show crowds Stateside would be bigger if things were less predictable? For example it seems nearly every match, of every show as the face guy/team win. It needs mixing up more.

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 12:00 — deanuk (not verified)

Hi JR the rock not being at the 15th show is a real is he at one time was at the hart of the programme along with austin guess all good things must come to an end keep up the amazing work Thanks and STay Healthy.

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 11:34 — Dameon (not verified)

Hey JR, I was curious to know how you feel about the obviously rigged poll results for the 15th Anniversay Raw. On the one hand it makes sense not to have the greatest match distinction go to Benoit and a guy who no longer works for the company, but on the other hand taking away the Diva win from Lita and giving it to Trish? After Lita's rather embarassing send off after losing her retirement match, it would have been nice for her to get the recognition her fans felt she deserved, which can be clearly seen when you vote and see the results are completely different than what WWE.com reports them as. How sad.

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 03:43 — Kyle C. Haight (not verified)

Hello, J.R., Before I ask my question, I would like to express my admiration for the work you do every Monday night on "RAW"; when one thinks back to the longevity and quality of wrestling commentating teams, you and The King are truly in a class of your own. Speaking of commentating, my question is as follows; I've been recently watching some older WWE shows from around late 1996 through 1997 when you joined the "Monday Night RAW" commentating team and I'm curious as to what your thoughts are/were on working with Vince McMahon as a fellow commentator? Hope to visit the restaurant one day. Continuing to look forward to Monday nights as well. -Kyle C. Haight

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 02:47 — Jared Aviet (not verified)

hey,JR! I can't wait to watch the raw 15th anniversary. I was wondering if you think that psycho sid vicious, "The Man That Rules The World" will make an appearence. He's been speaking about returning to wwe for a long time. so, what do you think?

Mon, 12/10/2007 - 01:31 — sylaxRKO (not verified)

J.R. just saw the fans picked you as the greatest anoucer in the history of RAW on WWE.com, some of the new fans might not realize how big an honor that is you beat out the likes of Bobby heenan, and gorilla monson

Sun, 12/09/2007 - 18:57 — Dan Bertholomey (not verified)

JR , it is a pleasure to view your web site for the first time. I am 42 years young and I have literally been a huge wrestling fan since I can remember. I was born and raised in Chicago so my most special memories are from Vern Gagne's A.W.A.!! (How I miss it) I know you get thousands of questions a day and it is remarkable how you still remember where you came from. Your passion and personality is refreshingly genuine, something we need more of. If I get lucky enough to get a response, I would love to read anything you have to write about my hero "Dick the Bruiser" I still think of him today and all the thrills he provided me in the International Amplatheatre back in the 70's. Also any comments or stories on the AWA would be appreciated. btw...on your WWE 24/7 bad Asses, Dick the Bruiser was not mentioned, was he tough in real life? I would imagine so since he and crusher always bragged about how they cleared out bars on a daily basis. I could go on forever..What I would give for 30 minutes with you to talk wrestling. If you ever have a date planned that you would be at your restaurant, I would love to fly out to have lunch one afternoon so my son and I could shake your hand. You are his hero and you are my close second behind the Bruiser... Thanks JR. Dan Bertholomey Portland, OR. packwolf7@yahoo.com

Sun, 12/09/2007 - 14:15 — Hersheywiseassfan (not verified)

Have you ever been approached by any of the big networks to be a full time football announcer? What has become of referee Jack Wherle? If they ever decide to put a referee in the HOF, he certainly should receive serious consideration. Who are some of the refs you looked up to when starting out? Between Kahli and El Gigante, who do you think was the better wrestler? I thought El Gigante was just starting to get over when he left WCW. I remember him beating Sid Vicious in a stretcher match near the end of his run there.

Sun, 12/09/2007 - 13:24 — Barry (not verified)

Do you think the King of the Ring will ever be brought back and taken seriously? Also what are some of your favorite matches from the tournament?

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 20:01 — Mike (not verified)

JR this is the 5th year in a row WWE has gone to Iraq for the Tribute to the Troops show, and I love the shows they are great because they are entertaining the troops and it also gives fans to see WWE in a different enviroment, wrestling outside in another country and in front of the troops, awesome show to watch with a holiday feel to it as well. My question to you is how come you havent gone with WWE to visit the troops?

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 17:31 — mike (not verified)

What is Dr. Ferdinand Rios's background?

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 16:50 — Brad (not verified)

hey j.r. i was just wondering if you had any good personal tales of a saturday night in muskogee? lol we are headed there now and i thought about that.

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 11:36 — Jerod (not verified)

Hey JR I was wondering if they(WWE) were ever going to come out with a box set anthology for summerslam and survivor series. i have the wrestlemania and royal rumble box sets and really enjoy them. i was hoping to complete my collection of the "big 4". Thanks!

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 09:40 — jplev10 (not verified)

Hey JR! I am excited to here that Carlito and the WWE have settled their differences. I like Carlito and think that he is highly under used (just my opinion). I look forward to seeing Jeff Hardy and Carlito in their match on Monday. I am a little upset with Batista, I am not a huge Batista fan, but I understand that he is good for WWE's business. my issue with him is, in sense, I feel Taker past a torch to him, so to speak with their few prior matches. I watched Smackdown Friday and was kind of upset over the fact that he did not try and help put over Elijah Burke. He kind of Squashed him. It would have been good for him to put him over as the WWE seems to need more STAR power like the attitude era had. I realize you have nothing to do with the booking, Im really just venting is all. To the poster wanting a Flair vs Sting match in the WWE at Mania Although that would be great to see, I highly doubt Sting and Vince could work anything out to make that happen. If Sting would come to the wwe I would rather see him go against Taker. As they are both the reason I watch wrestling in the first place.

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 00:53 — Jason (not verified)

Jessica. Generally most superstars are given a general idea on different things they need to say, and are told to run with it. Sometimes the higher ups in mic skills, like a Cena, Jericho, The Rock, get a lot more leeway because of their creativity, etc. They may have some things they need to address but can word things how like, etc. Where as some of the young guys may be told say this, this, and this. Keep it simple. I know when jericho first came to wwe, according to his book, he had wrote pretty much his whole return speech when he cut his promo on the rock. In fact the speech is pictured in his book. Foley often did the same thing with various top notch promos they may have wanted to do. So really it all depends.

Sat, 12/08/2007 - 00:07 — The Von Erichs were boring. (not verified)

Jason? The Sting/Flair idea is stellar! Which means, of course, that WWE will never even attempt it. Too bad Bischoff didn't win The Monday Night Wars, huh?

Fri, 12/07/2007 - 23:42 — buddy walters (not verified)

Hello J.R... I've been watching wrestling since 97 or 98 and I’ve gotten addicted with it. I was just watching the December 7th episode of Smackdown! And I just started thinking "how does the Undertaker get in the ring so fast" now I researched it and everyone says its 4 different things. 1. He runs out from the backstage area 2. Hes in the basement and when he gets he q he goes through a door under the ring and when the lights go out he slips out and in the ring 3. Hes lowered from the shifters via a rope or cable 4. Hes in the crowd around the ring announcer wearing a hoodie and sweats The one that looks the most appealing to me would be the under the ring method. I no you don’t do Smackdown! but u have to no since he’s done it on raw a few times and you cant let it slip out so the writers or whatever tell you.....if you could please email me about this matter or do a blog on it would be GREATLY appreciated...this is the only thing that I am baffled about when it comes to wrestling.. Thank you.. p.s. my email is r.pwalters@yahoo.com

Fri, 12/07/2007 - 15:29 — UK_Coop$ (not verified)

Hey JR! Hope things are going great for you and your restaurant! Was just wondering if you're going to be able to watch the Hatton-Mayweather fight on saturday night? It's going to be one hell of a late night for us brits but i'm sure it will be well worth that sacrifice! If you were a gambling man, which boxer would you tip your hat towards? Thanks JR and be well my friend!

Fri, 12/07/2007 - 13:48 — Paul (not verified)

JR I'd Like To Wish You a Happy Christmas And a Happy New Year

Fri, 12/07/2007 - 10:29 — Mahoney (not verified)

Yo JR, love the blog, I didnt know you were a rapper though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_HJqGzGGfc

Fri, 12/07/2007 - 03:26 — CM Chunk (not verified)

The last time I posted a question about the Vancouver scheduling. A few weeks later I see this posted in your blog: "Toronto vs. Vancouver?? OK stop the madness. I made a simple compliment of how great the Canadian fans were and now we have Vancouver fans woe is me’ing it about a lack of PPV events that I have ZERO to do with scheduling. " I have never read any comments from any Vancouver fan before or since my question, nor have I seen any past comments saying those things. J.R. you should mind some comments like these as a professional, as they do offend some fans of your blog. Since those comments, I have stopped reading your blog, until today posting this comment. I am a fan of your work, and I do respect how you do your job on TV. However, I don't think you truly respect your Vancouver fans by saying what you did, nor give them any respect by addressing the question the way you did. If is simply about the issues with the venue, then just say it's about the venue, period. If you cannot address it, then say I am unable to address it as it is not within my duties. It was not a comment saying "woe is me" as it was just a simple and plain question. And not other comment since or before mine did the same. Now the I am done ranting, I have one other question, probably already asked, but... Going back to Chris Benoit... Chris Nowiski addressed the brain damage that Benoit had, examined after his death. Has the WWE addressed issues of wrestling head trauma, by appointing a doctor, specializing in that field, to their road staff?

Thu, 12/06/2007 - 21:50 — Jason (not verified)

JR. I realize you by no means are head booker, but let me ask you this. With sting recently not signing a extended TNA contract. And Mr Flair headed to a hopeful Mania retirement match... see where I am going with this? The WWE needs to get sting on for a months worth of work or something, have a face v face match in a double retirement match at mania for both of them. Of all the stars the WWE has had, virtually all the big names, sting has never wrestled at Mania. And what better way to go than having the two WCW/NWA icons going to head to head! I would gladly pay to see this on PPV. :)

Thu, 12/06/2007 - 21:31 — Jessica (not verified)

Are WWE shows scripted? Meaning, are promos and segments scripted word for word or do WWE superstars improvise it all? The reason I ask is because ever since Jericho has come back, it seems that what he says is more unique and personalized than what others say in promos and segments. Maybe its just me being weird.