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

I hope many of you took my advise and recorded Monday Night Raw as Ric Flair's Farewell was a timeless piece of business. Emotional and personal issues are what hooked many of us to the product, as kids, and the closing moments of RAW was as emotionally filled as any thing I can recall in years....perhaps ever.

Ric has a real roller coaster of a weekend emotionally but was much more wound up and nervous for the Hall of Fame ceremony than he was for Sunday's WM24 match. Ric was always wound tight before a big match, going all the way back to the 80s, when he used to come to the Mid SouthWrestling territory. I spent several hours with Ric and his family from Thursdaythru Monday night and "Naitch" seemed to be more nervous over giving his speech than wrestling, what would become his last match.

Floyd Mayweather created many fans within the WWE as a result of his performance at WM24. Fans will never know how hard Floyd worked to prepare for WM24 and how hell-bent he was to make his in-ring business exceedeveryone's expectations, and it did. The Big Show also rose to the occasion and the standing "O" that Show received Monday night was well earned. Show may be more popular now than at any other time since he came to the WWE.Floyd presenting yours truly with one of the gloves he wore in the WM24 fight, autographed. It will be hanging in our new restaurant in Moore, Oklahoma in a few weeks.Floyd now turns his attention to his September fight with Oscar De LaHoya.

The Rock arrived in Orlando late Friday night after working during the day in LA and then came to the Amway Arena late Saturday afternoon after preparing to do two speeches at the HOF Ceremony. I spoke to Rock at length back stage, as did my wife, and he was his usual happy, friendly self and thanked us for all the J.R.'s products he has received and he said he loves our sauces and thanks that our peanuts are a great idea, which was nice to hear. He also is the owner of an "I've Got Big Nuts" T-shirt from our place. The Rock may have gone long on his speech to many, as he had lots of ground to cover and our fans can be the judge of that when they watch the unedited DVD. I enjoyed our visit and his presentation. I can also see sitting in the audience for several hours without a break, being a challenge,nature does call occasionally . The Rock stayed as long as he could after his presentation and then had to fly back to work where he was back on the set Sunday. Word going around the Internet is that Rock was aloof to many, is hard for me to buy into. I did not personally see that.

Lots of TNA/Wrestlemania stories coming out of Orlando, as if itthere was a big "wrestling war" going on, which is absurd.Talents were asked not to fraternize, which I think in hindsight was much to do about not much.TNA apparently showing Robbie McAllister at the TNA TV show on Thursday night was not a classy thing to do, as McAllister was sent home as a result of it and his status isunknown to me at this time. Two wrongs do not make a right, McAllister should never have gone to theshow and TNA should never have put another wrestler's job in jeopardy. Not real smart on either's part, in my view.

For the record, Ric Flair doesn't even knowhow many title reigns he has. We talked at length about it and the number is at least 19 and maybe more for you trivia buffs out there.

Nice fit and anice move for Dusty Rhodes to get off the road andfocus on helping develop young talent down in Tampa at the WWE's developmental facility. At The Dream's stage of the game and after being on the road for most of his life, a change in travel schedule and being in a less pressurized position will be good for Rhodes, who can add a great deal to the process in Tampa. This move has been a while in the making.

The WWE talents were quiet andwell behaved in Orlando, with no issues that I amaware of that have not already been discussed. The Orlando Airport Marriott was WWE only from Friday morning until Monday morning and made it great for all that stayed there.

It was nice seeing J.J. Dillon Monday after all these years. J.J. looked great and is working and living in Delaware. Dillon works for the criminal justice system in Delaware so J.J.'s day job is to his liking, which he certainly deserves. I still need to finish reading his book.

I did not see KevinNash and his 6'1" eleven year old son, Tristen, at'Mania but my wife had a nice visit with our old friend. I think it was great that Kevin brought his son to WM24 to simply enjoy the show, butthe Oliver Stone's of the world will no doubt make more of it than that. Kev is still a part of the WWE family and, in my eyes, always will be.

Ric Flair is going to stay very busy working ina public relations capacity with the WWE and will likely be doing ample travel and pressing the flesh with many entities. Who better to do P.R. and tell stories and promote the business than "Naitch."

Test is going to college to earn his credentials to become a Certified Personal Trainer and his obviously winding down his wrestling career. Test is smart as he is getting in good physical shape and is financially solid, as well, after investing in real estate during his WWE runs. Andrew Martin (Test) was one of my hires way back in the day and he seemed more at ease and in the best frame of mind I can ever recall. It was good visiting with himin Orlando.

We will have more blogs this week as we continue to highlight a wonderful Wrestlemania weekend, whichsaw the live gate officially at $5,854,590. Not bad for a 'rasslin show.

BOOMER SOONER!
J.R.