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Whether one thinks Monday’s LONG 3 hour Monday Night Raw was good, bad, or indifferent let me apologize for sounding a little "off" Monday night. If it had not been a 3 hour show and leading down the home stretch to Wrestlemania 24, I never would have left Norman and would have taken the week off. The blurred vision in my right eye notwithstanding, the flu bug stomped on me with both feet and I went to bed in Milwaukee Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. and woke up at 1:30 p.m. Monday afternoon thinking it was much earlier. I don’t remember sleeping that much in years so I guess I was run down enough to merit staying horizontal for well over 12 hours. I thought I had dodged the flu bullet, but the flu bug is seemingly everywhere and now, of course, my wife is sick with the same thing. Hopefully, I will be a little more frisky this Monday night in Lafayette, LA at the Cajundome.

 I remember working with the late Gordon Solie at a TBS Saturday night show taping while he was under the weather and we got him through the broadcast with him steadily sipping fresh orange juice….and vodka throughout the two, two hour shows we taped. It seemed like by the end of the taping "The Dean" felt fine as did his "side-kick" as best I recall.   

 The 60 day suspension, without pay, for a second violation of the WWE Wellness Program of Jeff Hardy is making headlines on several fronts. This is Jeff’s second strike and with one more he is out of the WWE, which would be a terrible waste of talent and opportunity. To say I am disappointed in these recent events would be an understatement and for those of us who have long believed in Jeff and have pulled for him throughout his career, these self inflicted wounds are especially distressing. For any one to accurately predict what the future holds for Jeff is nothing more than speculation. Only Jeff can determine those answers but the one thing a talent can ill afford to lose is the company’s trust they work for. Obviously trust has to be an issue at this point in time between the WWE and Jeff Hardy. I can remembering sharing with Shawn Michaels many years ago during one of his darkest periods that I still believed in Shawn and, luckily for all involved, HBK made it back to the WWE a better man and is a bigger asset today for the WWE than he was in his prime. Jeff is still a young man and can still be a big time player in the WWE if Jeff so chooses. Interesting days lie ahead for Jeff Hardy and I for one hope he is able to address his issues, take responsibility for his actions, and get back on the road to happiness and success. 

 One thing I want to add here is that the wrestling business is challenging, at best, and by the general nature of the beast doesn’t feature too many "easy days at the office". If one is not having fun in the business, the end is inevitable and becomes not a matter of if but when. I would love to know if Jeff was having fun in the business or if it was burn out or simply other issues that caught up to him.  I can relate with the pressures of the business weighing heavily on those who care and sometimes that weight can be perceived as insurmountable.   

 I read an interesting story on Scotland’s Drew McIntyre, a WWE trainee, who said he had to stop partying so much when he got into the WWE Developmental Program. Smart move for Drew. I am of the mindset that it might be time to consider a curfew for all developmental talents just as there is in an NFL training camp, etc. Training to become a potential WWE Superstar is serious business and cannot be achieved without total dedication and focus and that cannot be achieved if wrestlers to be are spending too much time in bars and looking to notch their "social pistols". I am not talking of forcing wrestlers to become Monks, but one’s social life can be achieved before the middle of the night and not alcohol fueled in a public place. Too old school? Perhaps, but it is simply a matter of what’s important in one’s professional life and realizing the short window of opportunity every developmental talent is faced.  

 Many I have spoken with have mentioned the passion in which the "Battle of the Posses" was presented Monday night on Raw. That was not manufactured passion and the entire matter could have easily gotten out of hand and still may before all is said and done. Mayweather’s people tried to impose their physical will on many WWE Superstars which did not set well with some. Even after the TV show ended there were still several wrestlers fuming about the cheap shots "Money’s" Posse took. I would not be surprised if both sides weren’t looking forward to the next time they all "gather at the river". Mayweather and his entourage kept largely to themselves on Monday, in what was a tension filled day leading up to the live, 3 hour TV show.  

 I still have no idea exactly what sort of stipulations the Mayweather-Big Show contest will feature. Upon further review, does it matter? I can only assume Floyd will wear boxing gloves as he customarily does and that Show will not as he customarily does. In the old days when there would be a traditional boxer vs. wrestler match that was usually what occurred. My guess is that we will likely not know the exact nature of the bout until WM24.

 Speaking of WM24 I hear that limited tickets are still available for the event but that the ticket sales have already topped $5.6M. 

Congrats to Mr. McMahon for getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Perhaps there should be little stars attached or in parentheses for all those that have either been made to, including yours truly, kiss his ass on TV or for those who have made a nice living being Mr. McMahon sychopants.  Nonetheless, a great accomplishment for the world’s greatest promoter and the founder of sports entertainment.  

Stone Cold Steve Austin called me Sunday as he was preparing to fly to the UK to promote "The Condemned".  Steve will be in the UK for several days promoting his movie and I assume promoting his new DVD, which I liked and encourage you to check out. Steve is a J.R.’s Original Bar-B-Q Sauce guy and he just received a new shipment of sauces a few days ago. Steve may be investing in our newest "J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant" coming soon to Moore, Oklahoma which is just south of downtown OKC.  With the heavy rains and high winds Oklahoma has experienced recently, it looks as if our newest Bar-B-Q place will now open around June 1.  

 It’s nice to see the ECW brand get some enhanced exposure at WM24 where the announcing skills of the kinder and gentler Joey Styles and the always entertaining Tazz, if that is his real name, two of my pals will be on display. The 24 man Battle Royal, not 23…not 25…but 24 man Battle Royal with the winner immediately facing ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero should be interesting. Plus it gets some hard working and deserving talents a cup of coffee at WM24 much like the Lumberjill business during the "Bunny Mania" match. I have Tazz hooked on J.R.’s Chipotle Ketchup. Try it and you’ll see why.     

One of the most eagerly anticipated matches at WM24 will be the Money in the Bank Ladder Match which, now, will be absent Jeff Hardy. It will be particularly interesting to see who finally qualifies, I assume 8 men, for the match and if each of them take it upon themselves to raise the bar and deliver the goods without one of the WWE’s top stars in the presentation. 

My friend and ABC and ESPN broadcaster Brad Nessler is attending the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony and Wrestlemania with Brad’s wife Nancy. Ness is a great guy, a wonderful friend and fan of RAW and is, like many of us, a huge Ric Flair fan. Ness is a J.R.’s Beef Jerky guy, as is the King who is on a low carb diet, again, and is eating the J.R.’s Beef Jerky, Original Flavor, like he was going to the electric chair.   

Remember to check us out Friday morning’s on the Buckethead Radio Show at www.bucketheadradioshow.com live at 8 eastern and then archived on Buckethead’s website.

I hope you are enjoying our Q&A section of the website. We are being crushed with the number of questions we are receiving. I wish more folks would read before they write as we are to the point that I am going to start deleting many duplicate questions because there is only so much I can say about why Randy Savage, for example, is not in the WWE HOF, etc. Plus you will notice that some of the questions seem dated but between yours truly and our over worked webmaster the two of us are doing all we can to keep as much fresh content on the site as we physically can.  Speaking of the website did I mention to you that the reason we have a site is to sell the occasional J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q product? O.K., just checking. 

Be well every one and thanks for your business and for stopping by. Please come back and visit us soon. 

BOOMER SOONER!

J.R.