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

I hope this blog finds every one well and relatively sane.

Travel sucks. "Poor me," as the larger than life Tony Soprano used to say and we will just leave it at that, but 51 weeks a year flying commercial airlines, etc isn't as exciting as one might assume. Especially when one sits by blue blazer wearing executives who proclaim that they "never watch wrestling" but end up asking the most intricate of questions as it relates to current story-lines on Monday Night Raw. Go figure.

Great, enthusiastic crowd Monday night at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the home of the 2008 Summer Slam event. We stayed at the downtown Hyatt, which had one of the friendliest staffs many of us have experienced in a few trips, but the real bonus was that the hotel was a block's walk to one of my favorite "road" comfort foods, "Steak and Shake." It doesn't take too much to keep me happy, contrary to what you might have read. :)

Bobby Heenan, who has had a helluva tough go of it in recent weeks with two surgeries to rebuild his jaw, is in a rehab facility in Florida and is reportedly getting stronger by the day, but still isn't able to talk or to eat solid foods. From what I am told "The Brain" is making the nurses laugh with his physical antics and by what he writes on his blackboard with which he uses to communicate. The Hall of Famer is arguably the greatest manager of all time and was much underrated as a wrestler. Back in '93 and not long after I had arrived in the WWE, the Brain, the late Lord Alfred Hayes, and yours truly traveled to the UK to do a TV broadcast from Sheffield. The airline upgraded all three of us to first class from business class and we were the only 3 sitting in first, which was staffed with 3 flight attendants. I don't remember how many liquids we consumed on the long flight, but I do recall that the airline ran out of several "flavors" of spirits. I laughed so hard at Bobby's stories that I had to move to another seat to distance myself from him just so I could get some sleep. Please keep "The Brain" in your thoughts and prayers as he continues to rehab his way back to better health.

What does Pamela Anderson, Chyna, and Kim Kardashian all have in common and it has nothing to do with "home videos"? With Kardashian now coming to Wrestlemania, all three ladies will have the "Granddaddy of them All" (there's that term) under their belt.....so to speak. Kim's stepfather is former Olympian Bruce Jenner, who apparently has the same cosmetic surgeon as singer Kenny Rogers, but I digress. Kim's late father was the gentleman who was standing next to O.J. when the innocent verdict was read and whose expression essentially indicated that he had just heard a miracle.

What can we fans expect to see Monday night in Milwaukee on the 3 hour Monday Night Raw special that starts an hour earlier than normal? I hope we see some fireworks from Mayweather and the Big Show to add some spark to their upcoming Wrestlemania 24 attraction. Perhaps Show could attempt to loosen some of "Money" Mayweather's fillings for a start. I assume all three brands will be represented in some form on the broadcast that will feature matches that have been held at previous Wrestlemania's, however the infamous blindfold match between Jake Roberts and Rick Martel is likely to not take place but one never knows for sure, does one?

I can say somewhat conclusively that I have yet to be in an arena where Floyd Mayweather, Jr. hasn't been booed and for the life of me I don't see that changing. Nor do I see that as a bad thing. The hotter Floyd gets as an antagonist the more, one would assume, fans will want to pay to see Floyd humbled.

I assume many of you don't realize that I happen to be a big fan of Snoop Dogg, even though I most likely don't fit in his target demo. Snoop is coming to Wrestlemania, which might need to be subtitled Posse Mania, to M.C. Bunny Mania and I am suggesting that Snoop join the broadcast team that calls the match to make it Announcer Mania. Snoop does great things in his community, especially in his youth football league for which I have great admiration. Maybe Snoop will refer to 'Ol J.R. as his "Dawg."

These presidential debates are driving me crazy. I guess that's why, as I am sure many of you do as well, sit in my easy chair with my remote in my hand. Professional politicians annoy me and partisan politics is the kiss of death. The American people should be put first and before party politics and the lobbyists who work for major, big money corporations but that isn't the way it seems to be. I know that Stone Cold is a John McCain man, but I have not made my mind up and may wait until the Vice Presidential Candidates are selected before deciding on who to vote for in November. Current President George W. Bush has named SMU, a school who once got the death penalty in division one football, as the home of W's Presidential Library. There is a joke in that statement somewhere but for "W" to actually have a library is the source of plenty of jokes for the Lenos and Lettermans of the world.

Bill O'Reilly would make a great wrestling manager who stirs up trouble and then acts as if he is inculpable, classic wrestling manager traits. O'Reilly vs. Keith Olbermann at WM24 would garner plenty of pub, but neither would ever consider "lowering" themselves to a worldwide attraction that will most likely be seen by north of one million folks on pay per view. I would love to do a broadcast with Olbermann, who I think is one of the brightest, funniest men on TV.

Ah, the Hogan divorce. That's not cool and it will be costly because, if nothing else, it will be costly in the respect that monied lawyers will hit the mother load in this one. The mistress, the kids, the cars, the mansion, the MONEY, etc all reads like one helluva reality show to me. Perhaps too real. After being in divorce court myself (no wise ass remarks please) I do sincerely feel for Hulk and his family, if nothing else, because this has gotten so much publicity and the alleged sordid details of this partnership continue to be "leaked." Of course, I was not a main stream celebrity, nor did I have any where near the cash that the Hulkster has earned over the years, when I ventured into divorce court.

In 1992, the year the Georgia Dome opened in Atlanta, I was on the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL radio broadcasting crew with Bill Rosinski and Jeff Van Note. The Falcons drafted a young QB that year in the second round by the name of Brett Favre. I got to know Bret somewhat during his rookie season and found out he was a wrestling fan, who attended a few matches in Biloxi back in the Mid South Wrestling days and he spoke of JYD and the Fabulous Freebirds. Brett announced his retirement this week after 17 years in the NFL and will no doubt be inducted on the first ballot of the NFL Hall of Fame. The day Brett announced his retirement, a couple in Florida had twin boys and they named them, you guessed it, Brett and Favre. I once saw Brett on both knees in the end zone at a Falcon practice throw a football like a rocket 50 yards and hit a receiver, I think it was Andre Rison, running in stride. Brett had the most amazing arm of any thrower I ever saw and over the years, as we have all seen, Brett became an amazing passer, not just a thrower. I am fortunate that this Monday in Milwaukee I will be receiving a signed Brett Favre Green Bay Packers jersey that we will hang proudly in our next "J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q". Brett belongs on our walls with John Wayne, Mickey Mantle and Stone Cold Steve Austin, among the other greats that will don the walls of our new establishment, not to mention a game worn jersey from every XFL team.

My heartfelt congratulations to Brett for his amazing career and for growing from a wild kid from rural Mississippi, coming to the big city of Hotlanta and maturing into the great husband and father that he is today. At the end of the day, those qualities are much more important than the gridiron exploits of #4.

I get to hear a fair amount of feedback during my weekly travels and without question the match at WM24 that wrestling fans are talking about most is the Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels contest. It is hard to disagree, if one is a long time fan of the business.

Apparently the Money in the Bank Ladder Match will have 8 participants this year, as it did last year, but that is unofficial. Perhaps we can confirm on Raw Monday night.

Intriguing dynamic between Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho in the Hi-lite Reel in Indy Monday night. I liked it.

The Oklahoma Sooners spring football practice starts Wednesday. One of my favorite times of the year.

The King and I both enjoyed having William Regal and John Cena provide guest commentary with us on RAW Monday night. I personally feel it adds to the "live feel" of the show and is a little unpredictable too. More guest broadcasters would not hurt my feelings.

I worked several hours Tuesday on future DVD releases on Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig. Both these guys are extraordinarily "story worthy." Curt and I did a fair amount of commentary together, which was discussed in the interview. Flair's career is, well, amazing and the stories I could tell about Ric would make a great book and most likely piss off a bunch of people. Having two grown daughters and two granddaughters, I do not need to re-enforce to them my perceived "outlaw days" in the wrestling territories where I first met "Naitch" as was asked by Cowboy Bill Watts, the Vince McMahon of the territory, to "show Ric a good time". No problem. Did I mention that I had visited divorce court......

I loved a post I read the other day from some fans on another site ripping my ample back side because I was "shilling" our Bar-B-Qproducts, etc on this site. What in the hell would one think we created this site for in the first place. We don't sell ads.....I don't have loads of ample, free time....I do like to write, but the reason this site was created was to try and sell items from our store. Sorry if that comes as a shock to some of you. We have a business that we need to sell products from to keep our site alive. Simple deal. Some of you are customers and help us in every way you can and your business is damn sure appreciated. Some come here, read, and leave and obviously occasionally bitch about something I said or that I did not say on other sites. Such is life, but this site is a vehicle to sell J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q products, of which we are tremendously proud of, and want you and your family to try. I will wholeheartedly agree that the cost of shipping these days is ridiculous and we are open for any suggestions one might have regarding that matter. Nonetheless, our products are excellent and I would never put my name or my family's reputation on them if they weren't . Whew, I feel better now.

Don't forget to check out our new Q&A section of the site which is becoming really popular. Please monitor what questions have been asked because I would rather not answer the same questions over and over as we have had in the past, IE why isn't Randy Savage in the WWE Hall of Fame, etc.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you do some shopping and come back soon.

BOOMER SOONER!!
J.R.