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

It was a nice, easy trip from Norman down to Austin for the double header Monday Night Raw, with the first show airing at its regular slot, while the second show was taped and will air next Monday night. The Frank Erwin Center on the campus of the University of Texas was officially sold out, which deserves an attaboy to all the WWE fans in the Austin area. Monday night was a marathon in the arena as we rolled tape around 6:20 or so and I think we finished the second broadcast somewhere around 10:30 p.m. That's 4 plus hours and I am honest when I say that I don’t know if I personally could have endured watching from seats for that length of time.

Next week’s Raw is highlighted by a really solid HBK vs Jeff Hardy one on one match. I think most fans of pure wrestling will like this particular main event. I know that after the show, while the King and I were sitting in the drive thru at Whataburger, the Hardy-Michaels match was one of the things we talked about, as it related to work.

Let me tell you that with the increased demands on wrestling commentary/story telling, doing two, 2 hour broadcasts in one sitting isn’t the easiest thing I’ve done lately. Poor me, but my Oklahoma ass was dragging when I got back to the hotel Monday night.

I have read where the WWE and Bobby Lashley have come to terms of a contractual release. I did not take the time to discuss this matter with any WWE officials the past few weeks, but things like this don’t surprise me now days as they perhaps once would have. Lashley is a genuine physical specimen who is supremely gifted athletically, but much like Brock Lesnar, Bobby apparently did not like the travel demands of being a pro wrestler in today’s marketplace, nor do I think that Bobby ever fully understood the business of sports entertainment, which added to Lashley’s consternation at times. Financially, Bobby had a superb, hell fantastic, 2007, one of the best I can ever recall for any one at his stage of the game. In my personal opinion, if a pundit speculates that Bobby did not do well or wasn’t treated fairly financially, I would dispute that uninformed statement wholeheartedly. Bobby is apparently in a relationship with Krystal Marshall, another former WWE performer, and I wish them well. The business of sports entertainment isn’t for everyone and sometimes people don’t realize that until they have put in some time on the road and spending in the locker room community. My personal philosophy is that “wrestling relationships” rarely, not never, but rarely make it long term and if it is true that Lashley and Marshall want to have a life together, perhaps being in another line of work will work better for them. Lashley vs. Lesnar some day in the UFC is intriguing, as Bobby definitely has the background to have a fighting chance to make it as a MMA star, if Lashley chooses to go that route, with the proper training. But that’s just me doing some fantasy booking.

My pick of the Giants -12 versus the Pats was on the money in the Super Bowl. NYG got hot at the exact right time, Eli Manning did not self implode as the Pats had a ton of self imposed pressure on themselves to go 19-0. A helluva game that I watched from the Hyatt Hotel in Austin with many of the WWE crew, including Austin’s own WWE HOFer, Dusty Rhodes.

Former Texas Tech Coach, Bobby Knight, recently announced his retirement from coaching and the game of basketball will miss the colorful Knight. As a former college basketball official, I would have loved to have worked a game for Knight just one time for the experience of being on the floor with “The General,” who reminds me of a few men I have worked for in the wrestling business. I am not a fan of motivation by fear and intimidation, but it seems to have worked more often than not for Knight as his 3 national championships attest. I sat right behind Knight when Tech visited Norman to play OU recently and it was a great experience for a sports fan like me.

My broadcast partner Jerry Lawler, who despises wearing outer wear, IE The King hates coats, broke down and wore a “hoodie” to Winnipeg over the weekend, where it was a bunch of degrees below zero, allegedly the coldest temperature, according to Jerry, recorded that day in Canada, to then travel to Austin on Monday where the temperatures were in the low 80s. I did not do myself any professional favors moving from Connecticut back home to Oklahoma, but the weather is yet another reason that I know the Mrs. and I made the right call. Lawler wrestled in Winnipeg at an independent show over the weekend where, yet another, monied, super fan is trying to make a living promoting independent wrestling. I’ll stick to selling the world’s best Bar-B-Q and wish the indy promoter good luck.

Speaking of Canada, Monday Night RAW finally returns to Toronto on Monday, May 5 and I hear tickets will go on sale sometime in mid March. Here’s hoping that the ACC sells out well in advance, because there is no doubt that the fans in attendance will be loud and enthusiastic, which makes average shows become really good shows. Perhaps it should be Carl DeMarco Bobble-head night. Carl is the hardworking President of WWE Canada.

Paul London’s foot injury apparently is not 100% healed, from what I hear, but I would love to see London ready to rock and team with Brian Kendrick, with the hopes that they might get on a “roll”. With the duos of Holly/Rhodes, Cade/Murdoch, and Carlito/Marella all getting some TV time, the possibility of seeing some competitive tag team wrestling on Monday Night Raw seems to be improving.

National Signing Day for College football players is Wednesday and I will most likely spend a few minutes “peaking” at ESPNU as their coverage of the big day for college football fans begins at 11 a.m. eastern. Later in the day, I am attending a private function with OU head coach Bob Stoops who will break down the Sooner signees and visit with supporters of the OU football program.

We are answering your questions and addressing your comments as best we can. Our staff here at our site is small, to say the least, so I hope every one bears with us. Make your comments and/or questions succinct and it will help us a great deal. Patience is the key but we really appreciate your feedback.

I had a wise ass with the fake name of “Mark B. Smart” (now that’s creative) ask me recently in an email if John Cena was my moderator because I was not allowing all the negative posts about Cena to be listed on the site, especially his. There has been plenty of Cena bashing printed on our site via your comments. I don’t agree with all that is said but that’s not the point here. Some people just don’t get it. I encourage differing opinions but how many “ribs can a redneck eat” when it comes to printing the essential same thing over and over again? Folks, I get it. Some wrestling fans are not Cena fans. So be it. We will print comments pertaining to such but I am not going to have the majority of feedback about one, specific subject nor am I going to go out of my way to make our site like some wrestling sites and encourage all the negativity and bad news we can muster. The fans who write to bitch and moan most likely don’t spend a dime in our online store buying Bar-B-Q Sauce, Beef Jerky, autographed cookbooks, Peanut Brittle, etc…you get the point but they are the first in line to threaten a TV boycott if specific things don’t change. My suggestion to them or anyone is to not allow any TV show to ruin one’s day and by all means change channels if it is. Find other programs to watch, but don’t let an entertainment TV program get you P.O.ed, upset or angry. How smart is that when one stops and really thinks about it?

Many of the Raw superstars took ample supplies of J.R.’s Beef Jerky with them on this upcoming, long road trip that will see many of them travel to Alaska, South Korea, Japan, Hawaii, California, Nevada and back to California, before they get to make it home. There is not a damn thing glamorous about international travel these days, but it actually should be a fun trip if one chooses to make it such. I think the WWE Superstars get two days in Hawaii, which can’t be all bad. Perhaps some of the WWE superstars will cross paths with Bret “The Hitman” Hart who is spending some quality time at his place in Hawaii. Bret recently sent me a copy of his book and it was postmarked from “the islands." I can name many WWE Superstars who would benefit from sitting under the Hitman’s learning tree for a few hours.

Not much fallout from the Brock Lesnar loss to Frank Mir, or so it seems. Lesnar has said the right things since losing by tapout and Brock’s UFC future is still bright, but a nice win in 2008 would not hurt his cause. I talked to Stone Cold Monday morning and he said he enjoyed his Vegas weekend including staying there to watch the Super Bowl. Steve said that it was obvious that Lesnar was in awesome shape, had prepared diligently, but he simply made a simple mistake that any “rookie” would and could make in MMA competition. All my friends that attended the UFC 81 event said without question that Lesnar was the “star attraction” of the night and that most fans were there to see him, especially many of the celebs in attendance.

That’s it for this time and I hope you will take just a moment to visit our store and to take advantage of some of our great offers on Beef Jerky and our special Valentine’s Day offers. We have some closeout deals on Beef Jerky that are too good to pass on.

Please keep your feedback coming and keep an eye out for another blog in a day or two.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.