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

Here are some more answers to many of your comments. Be aware that some of these questions may seem dated but we are getting to them as quickly as we can. If I forget and leave the caps lock on don’t think I am yelling at you. If my answers seem tongue in cheek and somewhat lighthearted then they probably are. If you want to rant, please rant elsewhere but we will still accept your business in our never closing store. As a matter of fact we have a helluva Valentines Day Special running at this very moment from J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant. Plus we have some real deals on selected flavors of our top of the line Beef Jerky.

Please remember to help Ol J.R. out and keep your questions and/or comments succinct. But by all means, keep your comments coming. Believe it or not I try and read every one of them as my schedule permits.

J.R., how’s it going? I have a question that I hope you could take the time to think about. What was your favorite match to call in your WWE announcing career? One that just pops into your head that you remembered right off? - Troy

Making this call is like saying “which of my children to I like better?” I have had the opportunity to call some awesome matches over several decades and to pick one is impossible.

Hi JR, sorry about the Sooners, but I’m a Notre Dame fan and I think I have it a little worse than you, but the Sooners did do okay against WVU. It was just that unstoppable WVU offense that stopped OU. I was wondering about your opinion on the choice for NFL coach of the year. Did you agree with the decision? Also, is Undertaker’s nephew still in the Middle East? That was brought up at WM19 I believe and I never heard anything else about it. Matt

Notre Dame is having a great recruiting season so one would think they will be back in the hunt and much improved in 2008. Charlie Weis needs to loosen up and smile occasionally though. He’s got a helluva job at his dream school making big bucks, but I hear from those that have dealt with him that Weis is tough to be around. I have not heard about Taker’s nephew being overseas.

Hey JR. How’s it going?
I’ve been a fan of women’s wrestling for years now and while so many people think they suck in the ring. I disagree. I know that the divas are more capable in the ring then how they are used. Mickie vs. Beth was a great match at Armageddon. Candice vs. Beth at Unforgiven was exceptional and saw moves not seen in the division since the days of Nakano and Blayze. I’ve also seem some of Candice, Beth’s, and Mickie’s house show matches and I must say if the WWE booked them like that with those women and even the others who can wrestle, then the fans would see Women’s wrestling differently for sure. On a side note, I hope Candice is doing better. I cannot wait to see her again and get in action. She’s a real trooper. Talk to ya later! Have a great 08! – Mike H

I would be careful comparing any America female wrestler with Bull Nakano in her prime. I am often too hard on women’s wrestling as there are some performers who are better than I acknowledge sometimes in the ring.

Hey, JR.
I gotta say, I respect your work as a commentator. if you ask me, you sound like the most realistic announcer in the WWE.

I wanted to know if you think when Matt Hardy returns, he might beat MVP for the US Championship? I like MVP and all, but I think he has had a bite of too much to chew. I think 8 months is too much for a newbie. In 2006, we had US title changes from JBL to Bobby Lashley to Finlay to Kennedy then to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and MVP even surpassed You-Know-Who’s reign. On another note, MVP keeps retaining his title by counting himself out? What the hell? - Jonny R

What the hell is right? You obviously have issues with tenured champions. I don’t. How are long term issues built if the title changes hands frequently?

Hi J.R.!

I’d like to say I really like your work and I’m not trying to suck up. I live in Quebec province and I was just thinking that it’s been a long time since WWE came here. I never had the occasion to watch a real show live and it would almost be a dream come true for me.

Second thing, I wanted to ask you how’s the best way to get autographs from superstars? I know you talked about hotels on your blog but do all the superstars stay in the same hotel? How does a fan know which one they’re in. - Pier-Luc

No, the wrestlers do not stay at the same hotel, but catching them at the right moment at the hotel, while they are not dining, or waiting in line at an airport will oftentimes work. It is a game of chance, but some fans seem to know where the wrestlers stay better than many of us in the company. Don’t ask me how, as I haven’t a clue.

Dear JR,
Who was your Raw Superstar of the Year for 2007? Thanks for responding to the fans. I think I actually prefer this format to the Ross Reports of old. – Mike

I’m not going there, my friend. All this does is make one person happy and P.O. the rest. Who was YOUR superstar of the year?

Hi JR,

I was wondering If WWE is considering Indianapolis as location for WrestleMania in the Future. Reason I’m asking is We are almost done with construction of Lucas Oil Stadium which will be the new home for the colts. It is set to be open August of this year.

I also was wondering about what hotel you & most of the talent usually stay at when doing show in Indy. I’ve heard so many different places thrown out & was hoping you could clear that up for me.

Thanks for entertaining em week after week on Raw & PPVS - Sincerley, Dustin

The WWE has a group of people that consider various sites for WrestleMania and they try and work a year or two in advance. I was in that loop at one time, but no longer am. I have a good idea where Mania will be in 2009, but that isn’t for public consumption -- as of yet.

Hi J.R.,

I enjoy reading your blogs. I was wondering… what do you feel it takes to make a good color commentator, and what do you recommend to someone who would like to try to pursue that role in wrestling. I figured your perspective as someone who has worked with some really great color commentators would be very useful to have! Renn O.

A quick wit, a thorough knowledge of the product, the ability to speak in sound bytes, passion, a sense of humor, having the ability to be produced and being told what to say, having the fundamental knowledge of how to verbally create stars. Getting experience in the independent circuit would be advantageous, as would working in any field of broadcasting, no matter the level or pay. Appearance is also a big issue, especially as we move into the future.

Hi JR, I like to consider myself a good armchair booker and would like to run a fantasy scenario by you. HBK wins the WWE championship on Raw - Ric Flair wins Royal Rumble and challenges HBK for the WWE title - Michaels makes a heel turn sometime before Wrestlemania by superkicking Flair and becomes friends with Mr. McMahon , As Mania nears an announcement is made saying a secret guest referee will be used for this match - Stephanie is given the task of recruiting the guest ref. Wrestlemania’s main event is set to begin, the two competitors are in the ring and it is time for the referee to be revealed. Mr. McMahon’s music plays and he enters the ring laughing at Flair ready to force Ric’s retirement but before he can ring the bell to start the match Steph announces there has been a last minute change and Vince will not be calling the match - old familiar music begins to play and Bret Hart comes down the ramp in a ref’s shirt, the match begins with the action going back and forth with the Hitman calling a very fair down the middle match, as the match gets longer HBK gets frustrated as he cannot keep Naitch down for the count and starts complaining and gets aggressive towards Bret, Michaels knocks Ric out of the ring and as Bret tries to move Shawn back from the ropes so he count Ric out Shawn attempts to superkick him but Bret is able to counter and places Shawn in the sharpshooter ( with no real harm being done to Bret due to his health conditions), Michaels taps out to no avail, when Ric starts to reenter the ring Bret releases the hold without Ric seeing what was happening in the ring, with HBK already down in pain Ric applies the figure four and HBK taps out to end the match, now Hart has screwed Michaels. The next night on Raw the Hitman is in the ring to congratulate the now 17 time champ - HBK comes to the ring looking pissed but then does a surprise face turn and holds his hand out to both Flair and Hart telling Bret they are now even and it is time to bury the hatchet Bret agrees and shakes the offered hand. Now Ric announces he is retiring and going out on his terms not Vince’s as the unbeaten 17 time world champion. The championship is now vacant and a tournament to fill it can be started.

I know this is all just fantasy but I would greatly appreciate your thoughts of this scenario. Thank you for taking the time to read this. - Alan

Interesting and intriguing scenario, but impossible to execute, which makes it purely fantasy, but nice thinking nonetheless - especially if this were 10 years or so ago.

Hey J.R, I was watching an old PPV on tape, and you were interviewing Jerry Lynn who was at times square, he cut a promo and said was that good enough for you JR. Was this a character thing or was that a “shoot”. Also your thought on Paul London and an Australian TV and PPV show. Thanks – Matthew

I don’t recall the Jerry Lynn interview, but I have never had anything but respect for Jerry’s ability so I suspect he was just in “character”. Paul London is somewhat underutilized, as is Brian Kendrick and I am a fan of their in ring work. We have worn the Australian question flat out. I really don’t know, but common sense would indicate that someday the WWE will have a PPV from the land down under.

Hello JR.
Long time fan first time writer-in-er. first off I want to say that you looked good on the sidelines while ur boomer sooners played my mountaineers. ( I hope we can still be friends.)
Anyway to my question, what is going on with the tag team wrestling? I love a good tag match. The WWE has some awesome talented tag teams. My question is, why is tag team wrestling not getting a push like it did back in the mid to late 90s. There are some amazing teams that should be pushed.

Thanks for taking the time out of your very busy week to read these. I am a huge fan of your. I always have been and always will be. Even though my boys from WV beat yall…………. BOOMER SOONERS……………LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS. – aaron

O.K. I got it… YOUR Mountaineers beat MY Sooners. Congratulations as the best team won. I think the reason that there isn’t more exciting tag team wrestling is the lack of overall depth within the business and to make the roster have more depth, fewer stars are put into tag team scenarios. I think however that if the tag teams developed personal issues and were provided more TV time on a regular and ongoing basis that some stars would spin out of the tag scene and become individual superstars.

JR, - First of all, totally agree with you on the Fiesta Bowl. While I could hear cries of anger all throughout my workplace that night, hats off to West Virginia. They played a good ballgame when not a lot of people gave them a chance, and I think they made a good selection with their new head coach… he certainly deserved it. It’s also good to see another OU fan being gracious about our losses.

I recently had an opportunity to watch the World Class DVD, and it was a tremendous piece of work. Growing up in Lawton, we got World Class shows in town fairly often, and even though they were Texans, the Von Erich’s were just as much heroes to us. It also brought back a lot of memories of watching the TV show with my parents, including that horrible day when they announced David had died. Even with that, it was a great release, and everyone involved with it did a great job. I think my only “complaint”, if you can call it that, is that I wanted more. Hopefully, we’ll see more World Class showing up somewhere down the line.

Watching it brought back memories of one of my all time favorites, “Iceman” King Parsons. He was fun to watch in the ring, probably one of the best talkers ever, and, from what I heard from a lot of people who met him, a great guy outside the ring. I was always surprised he never made it bigger. What was your take on him? Keep up the great work! – Steve

The WWE has access to the complete WCCW library, so one would think that material would be a staple on WWE 24/7 for years to come. I see more World Class oriented DVDs being released in the future as well. Iceman was a solid in ring hand, but a better talker than a wrestler in my opinion. “It be’s that way, some time,” as Ice Man used to say.

Hey JR!

Question. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I was watching WWE 24/7, and I saw the debut of the Undertaker at the Survivor Series many years ago. I clearly remember seeing that live at the time, and correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the Undertaker originally announced to the crowd as “Kane the Undertaker”? If so, this has been edited by WWE. I was wondering if you could clarify this for me. Is it possible they quickly dropped the Kane part of the name, and then recycled it later for a new character? - Rowdy Ron

I think upon further review, the officials decided to simply go with “The Undertaker” w/o the name. I don’t think there is anything wrong with your memory.

Hello JR and belated Happy New Year!!

Just like your Sooners, my Buckeyes tasted defeat in their big game against LSU last night. Kinda sucked that this is now 2 years in a row. Depending on what the “Little Animal” does, if he goes pro, I hope Laurinitis stays for his senior year. To see him play in LA in September against USC would be a treat.

It’s amazing how the SEC is such a dominant conference in college football. Hard to stop them on many levels. With Petrino going to Arkansas, that should be interesting. Hope Stoops and your Sooners will be strong in the ‘08 season, as well as my Buckeyes.

During the commercial breaks and halftime, I watched RAW Roulette as much as I could. Great HHH-Regal match, and the finishing move from Jeff Hardy in the cage match was unbelievable. I don’t know how he does it. Have a strange feeling sometime this year he WILL be WWE champion. Look forward to the Royal Rumble from MSG. I remember 8 years ago when Tazz made his debut. Is Lashley due back by then? Also, with the WWE HD coming up, does that mean now that all broadcasts will be in the HD widescreen-like format that you see on some shows now?

Sincerely,
Jason

OU has 9 starters coming back on offense and 8 coming back on defense, unless some defect for the NFL and none are ready, but money talks. If “Little Animal” is going to go in the first round, especially the upper half of the first round, then James needs to take the cash and run. As I have mentioned before, I do not know if Lashley will be back by the Rumble even though it would be a nice spot to make an impact.

Hello JR! I just finished watching the World Class DVD and I wanted your thoughts on Gary Hart. I think he is an amazing story teller and I could listen to him talk all day. He still has a great mind and I would love to see him working for the WWE in some capacity. Happy New Year! - Andy M from Illinois

A one time, Gary Hart was one of the very best managers in the biz. Bill Watts once told me that when Hart was on top of his game he was hard to beat and could verbalize with the best of them. Gary Hart created a legitimate aura that encouraged fans to genuinely dislike him and fans would pay to see him and his wrestlers destroyed. That emotion is largely missing today. I am sure that Gary could contribute creatively with any company, but sometimes it is really challenging for “old timers” to survive in the corporate world of which they are unaccustomed.

Hi JR,
I watched some old Tazz matches and I love them every time I see them. Tazz’s career ended in 2002 right? Can you please tell me why? He had a broken neck in ECW, that could be a factor. I think Tazz does a great job as a commentator, but in the ring, he was amazing. I would be happy about an answer and respect to you. After all the years, you are still the best. Greetings from Germany
Thorsten

Injuries shortened Tazz’s wrestling career. I am sure he would have preferred to go out on his terms, but that, unfortunately are the breaks of the game sometime. If Tazz had remained healthy he would have had a great run in the WWE, despite his critics saying he was too short, which I personally never bought into.

Hi, J.R.!
I have got a question regarding football stars like Bill Goldberg, Monty Brown (Marcus Cor Von) and Bob Sapp. Do you think they really have a place in professional wrestling? Also , what about people from other sports (boxing, judo, karate, etc.) And talking about Bob Sapp, I heard, WWE would like to have him for their tour in Japan since he is a huge star there (former IWGP Champion). Do you think there is a chance to see him on WWE TV? -Oscar

I do not personally know if Bob Sapp wants to make the physical commitment to become a wrestling star. I do like wrestlers who come from successful tenures in other sports or with extensive sports backgrounds getting into wrestling, but only if their hearts are in it.

Hey JR, Happy New Year. Great blog as always. I’ve noticed that sometimes you seem largely critical of your heel performances in 1996 and 1999. I must beg to differ. I thought in both showings, you were amazingly passionate, and as Mick Foley advises in his first book, genuinely believed your motives as a bad guy in order to make it convincing.

It just sprung to mind particularly with all the recent Raw XV stuff recently, I wouldn’t be overstating it if I said I thought your 1996 promo where you aired your grievances with Vince and the WWF then you reintroduced Razor Ramon is probably in my top 5 ever. I hope you don’t mind me being a bit intrusive, I just wondered what particularly bothers you about your performances? Many thanks, Mike H, England

There was nowhere to go with that scenario of J.R . being a bad guy. There was no pay off. I wasn’t going to become a wrestler and I felt I was cast in that role by people, more or less out of spite, because they knew I had no desire to become an in-ring performer whether it be a good guy or a bad guy. It was short term, near-sighted booking that had no pay off and was merely a TV ploy to perhaps enhance ratings.

Hey J.R., Is the WWE ever going back to letting the wrestlers do unscripted material on the mic? I saw a Shawn Michaels interview in Montreal the other day from 1997, I think, that was great and refreshing for me as a fan & maybe the best one ever done in the WWE. Also is the WWE going away from the Tag Team division? I miss the days off Demolition, Hart Foundation, Hardy’s, edge & Christen, New age outlaws.

You’re the man, thanks. - Rob

I could see factions and groups coming back, before I could see young wrestlers going out on their own and verbalizing their own promos.

Happy Birthday JR. The Match in which Randy Savage hurt his ankle and took his boot off was against Bret Hitman Hart, not Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. - Johnny

Thanks Johnny for clearing that up.

That’s it for this time but I encourage your succinct comments and questions to keep coming. Plus I think everyone who reads our site should have a “Big Nuts” T shirt….but that’s just me.

BOOMER SOONER!

J.R.