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Backlash Thoughts....JR in NYC
Mon, 04/27/2009 - 12:14pm — J.R.
Posted in:
Backlash is in the books and I thought WWE produced a solid, wrestling oriented event,
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Edge-Cena was a strong show closer. Both men worked hard, showed great intensity & the closing moments was surprising, crowned a new champion, and created a Cena-Show issue. Last Man Standing matches are challenging for all involved but I thought everyone "carried their share of the water." (Thanks Al Swearingen.")
Orton winning the WWE Title sets in motion a new chain of events especially if HHH is on the shelf for any significant length of time. DiBiase/Rhodes stepped up & continue to get better. Their tag team potential is obvious. Orton has really come into his own.
Loved the interaction w/ Edge & Christian as it felt both fresh & nostalgic.
I wish the live crowd had emotionally invested more in the Jericho-Steamboat bout. Ricky, at 56 years of age, is truly remarkable...still. Jericho is going to add significantly to Smackdown.
Jack Swagger is "it" and, yes, I'm not totally unbiased when speaking of my fellow Oklahoman. Christian as ECW Champion means that there can potentially be some competitive ECW Title bout w/ a variety of opponents going forward. Christian's skill set allows him to compete in a positive way w/ a variety of opponents.
Punk vs Kane did not have a long build but their bout was solid especially considering their contrast in styles. Both these men will be heavily counted upon to help elevate Smackdown in the coming weeks.
The Providence live audience was unique at times w/ their reactions but my philosophy has always been if folks spend their hard earned cash and as long as they aren't profane in front of children or ladies that they should cheer or boo who they choose. Being quiet, however, is the kiss of death at any event.
I enjoyed working with Cole & King at the announce table. We did not get this confirmed until Sunday afternoon but I hope we were able to do a good job for those of you that watched WWE's 2nd PPV in the month of April. I'm still working to define my new broadcast role which is a major adjustment in timing not to mention working a 3 man booth can be challenging. All three announce teams will be in action going forward @ WWE PPV's in accordance w/ the brand seperation. That gets deserving, young announcers like Matt Striker, Todd Grisham, and Josh Mathews in the game.
Nice seeing Justin Credible in Providence Sunday afternoon. He's in the restaurant biz as a chef so we had plenty to talk about. Justin's a good hearted kid who seems to really have his life on track of which I'm thankful.
Also saw former WWE ref Tim White @ the arena. Tim is one of the really fine men I've met in the business. That covers lots of ground.
It's an off day for me here in NYC and I'm preparing to go on a BBQ journey. The Big Apple is an amazing city and MSG is truly special and sold out Tuesday nite to the tune of north of half a million bucks.
I enjoyed my ride from Providence to NYC w/ Striker and Mathews as we discussed announcing philosophy and the art of making wrestlers bigger stars. It's much more challenging today than at any time in my career for a variety of reasons.
Our BBQ biz in Norman is great & we're looking forward to continuing to grow our brand.
Thanks for checking out our site and for doing some shopping in our store.
WWE wise this should be an interesting week as new issues should come to light as we prepare for another PPV in only 3 weeks.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
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I feel I must disagree with someone else's comments on here....HHH stale??!?!?!?!, you got to be kidding me! He is one of the leaders of the WWE and will continue to be even when he is no longer in the ring. The Game, in that sense, is far from over.
Batista, "lucky", only if you call hard work lucky. Especially when you consider he did take some time off and put his career on hold while his wife had cancer. That speaks volumes about the man, even more than his in ring work.
Glad I was finally able to get "business is picking up" Jerky special. Although, having high blood pressure, I am sure my doctor would not be too happy with me for eating it with the high sodium content....but it is so good...also got some more chipotle ketchup, great stuff!!!
Just have to echo a few comments made by other people.
First, WWE does need to and could very easily give that tag team division more TV time. Unfortunately, one of the best teams (Miz/Morrison) are broke up, but there are still more to use. Rhodes and Dibiase have already been champs and should be again, eventually.
Also, I'm so sick of Triple H. He is slow, boring and predictable. He would be better suited to a backstage position helping plan matches because he is very good at story telling, but his "game" is stale.
I just heard that Jeff Hardy will most likely leave WWE this summer due to burnout. I doubt he would be doing this if he would have had more of an opportunity to run with the WWE title. In fact, the way he was given the title in December only to lose it in January and eventually end up at WM 25 in a match that nobody cared to see was B.S. It's no coincidence that the WWE title ended up with Triple H. His backstage politics are ridiculous. That Orton/Triple H feud did not need the WWE title thrust into the picture at the last minute, the feud already had tons of attention. If Triple H wanted the ttitle he should have beat Jeff Hardy for it cleanly not use his family to get it in the roundabout backwards way that he did. If and when Jeff Hardy leaves, WWE will see a decline it in their ratings.
One more thing...
Is it just me or is Batista the "luckiest wrestler" ever since Goldberg? Batista is just plain awful and I've never seen anyone get so much undeserved credit and attention for such poor results in the ring and mediocre mic skills.
backlash was a great PPV, but one thing bugs me because i don't understand how you can have a great match at Wrestlemania and then just losing that will to win (John Cena & Edge). Also HHH no longer WWE champ due to the hands of Ortan and his sick mind. Matt Hardy thanks for leaving. Now Jeff can finally become World champ, if he gets the opportunity.
And i just wanted to ask what do you think is gonna happen at Judgement day. Untold stories that still wonders around in wwe.
and the draft that will take place, many fans are just wondering whats going on.
Hi J.R,
As always your work was more than good at PPV. I don't like the three man bench in all honesty, couldn't tell you why maybe i'm just not a creature of change.
NO MORE TRIPLE H!!!
If they choose to sell Hunters "injury" for a month or two it will be too short. I have watched the game since the start of his career and have gone through patches of love and hate. Now I believe he should step aside and pass the torch.
We all know he would not go quietly (put over Orton) unless on terms that made him look strong. So a tag match at a PPV is what we had to witness. Was a solid match, Shane really needs to get beaten by either Dibiase or Rhodes to make them look like men and not boys who can't beat up a grey haired blast from the past.
JOHN CENA is back already? The real question is for how long, his up coming movie will see him "taken out" soon me thinks?
Jack Swagger is more than awesome, for a green horn like him to be able to lock up with the best of them i.e. John Cena and make a show of it is impressive. I look forwards to Swagger vs. Bourne in the future (after the business with christian of course)
Anyways see ya next week
That's good to hear about Justin Credible. I have seen him at a local show about a month ago, BTW wrestling, hey he's their champ too! Also, I though Backlash was actually as good if not better then WM25. Thanks as always JR.
Hi JR, Backlash was a good solid PPV and I loved that it was 'wrestling heavy' as you put it. I wanted to ask you're thoughts on a couple of points.
1. As much as I enjoy the job all you guys do on commentary I do hope the 3 man announce team isn't a permanant fixture on Pay Per Views. For me, Matt Striker has established himself as maybe the best colour man in the business at present and I felt the ECW team deserved a place on last night's show for the opening match. I love that Striker is a knowledgeable guy about the business and I see a little bit of 'Good Ol' JR' in him as relates to being extremely passionate in his profession! I think he could be a real asset for WWE going forward!
2. I thought last night made stars out of Rhodes and DiBiase! The opportunity to be involved in a longer, high profile match with top guys really gave them 'the rub'. I just hope they stay a tag team for the forseeable future, God knows the tag division needs them. By you're understanding does the unification of the tag titles mean we will see tag teams competing on all brands now? With tag teams being really thin on the ground now in WWE I think it seems the obvious solution. I was also wondering if there are any stars you think may benefit their career by entering the tag division? I had thought DH Smith/Tyson Kidd and Mark Henry/Ezekiel Jackson could work as potential teams!
Cheers for the hard work Jim,
Gary
J.R.
I hope you are enjoying your new role as much as I am. You have a wealth of knowledge and information to bring to the table night in and night out and I appreciate your work!
I realize that a quality stable will take time to build; but I'm wondering how "cool" for lack of a better word, it would be for Rhodes & DiBiase to win the tag straps with Orton as WWE Champion? While I am not Orton's biggest fan, I do look forward to what happens next for Orton and Legacy as a whole.
Thanks for your time!
I just ordered some of the BBQ sauce as well as the rub. Really looking forward to trying it out!
Also, I've been going through the old Mid South tv shows and I'm up to where you are starting to commentate regularly. It's right before the whole Magnum-Wrestling II storyline which was always one of my favorites to follow in PWI growing up. It's so much fun to actually get to see it happen, now!
http://www.johnkeating.biz
J.R. - I respect your opinions on football, and wanted to get your opinion on Nic Harris. I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, and Harris was drafted yesterday to apparently fill a LB role with the team. I know you've seen far more Soponer games than I have, so I was curious as to your opinion on Harris as a player and regarding this proposed transition to LB.
Love your work, big fan, thanks for your time sir!
-Ryan