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

 Our big sale has started and we are looking for your business. Check out the site and our on line store for all the great deals that include some FREE stuff and FREE SHIPPING where possible especially in the USA and Canada. Shipping for most orders to the UK is only $15. We hope this sale lasts a week but it may be a photo finish on that one. Nonetheless, the deals are here NOW and we hope that you take advantage of them. When we are paying for shipping and handling plus throwing in some freebies, I think we have made some super packages for all. Thanks for your biz and now to some random thoughts.

Man, there  were some people on the internet who went into business for themselves when it comes to my WWE contract status. "There must be problems with Ross's contract issues,"  some paraphrased. For the record, my contract status is not and will not be an issue. Nor will I give systematic updates on it on this site to "keep every one in the loop." I have negotiated more contracts than any one in WWE with the exception of the Chairman. With that said,  my own negotiations won't be the never ending tale. We will strike a mutually beneficial arrangement or we won't. It really will be that simple in my mind's eye. Nonetheless it will be done in a timely, professional manner where the goal will be to structure a win/win for both sides of the negotiations. My life is great and I have many, many options in a variety of areas that I have bona fide interests in being involved. Taking a few months off might not be a bad start or so says my best friend...my wife Jan. 

Things will all work out for the right reasons and I am sure that both WWE and our side will do all we can do make something good happen. Of course,  just as in any negotiation, time will tell. 

The internet world can spin what I have written here any way they choose but Jim Ross' contract issues are not a story but simply a business matter that will work itself out in the best manner for all involved. 

I'm alot more concerned about Oklahoma's season opener in a couple of weeks down in Dallas against a 10 win BYU Cougar team than I am this issue, I promise you. 

It would seem to me that Summerslam "might" have more than it's share of surprises this Sunday on PPV. Many young talents who have been doing well lately (Morison, Harts, Kofi, etc) are not officially on the card. Could that mean that some will make surprise cameos or even larger roles?  

It just feels like this show might throw a surprise or two at us which has always been a positive, fundamental element of wrestling booking 101.

For whatever reason the past few weeks I am getting a plethora of questions regarding my "disgruntled attitude" when it comes to not being on Raw and "having" to work on Smackdown. Wow. This is getting to be "Randy Savage in the Hall of Fame-like" in our Q&A section which is a fun place to spend a few minutes. I enjoy being on Smackdown. I like traveling with Todd Grisham. I feel I can teach Todd some of the wrestling nuances of announcing within this genre. I also consider Todd a friend. His Dad was tragically killed a year or so ago and his Dad and I were about the same age. If I can leave something positive behind with other announcers then I have done the business a service. I like the trend of more wrestling on Smackdown than Raw seems to feature. Do I miss the prestige of not being on the "A" show in WWE? Sure. I'm a competitor and a prideful man. I still believe that I can carry more than my share of the water and still am confident that my work will hold up against anyone's. However, with that same competitiveness I want to make Smackdown a fun show to watch as it relates to my facet of the presentation. So, no, I'm not disgruntled and being on SmackDown or not will not have any thing to do with my tenure in WWE over the long haul. I have a jersey, a blue one, and I am happy to still be playing the game that I love. Is that so hard to understand or will this subject be dissected and over analyzed, too? 

Two Q&A quetions...could Dusty Rhodes have been successful if he was just coming onto the scene now instead of over 30 years ago? Hell yes. Charisma, crowd psychology, aggression, toughness, love of the game, and his unique verbal skills would have made "The Dream" rich. This business cannot allow itself to become only about "bodies" and not about "people." 

Don't forget Dr. Death Steve Williams in your prayers and please think of helping Doc at www.wrestlersrescue.org with any donation that you can spare.

Another Q&A, would Doc and DiBiase have been a great team if they were in their prime today? You kidding? Absolutely. I shudder to think of the cash that those two would be earning if they were teaming in today's world. Two more products of the territory system that would flourish in today's wrestling world. 

Ricky Steamboat has the right idea for his son in that he's encouraging "Ricky, Jr," to get as much DIFFERENT experiences as possible before he "hangs out his shingle." The son of the Dragon is going to be special.

Another question....will WWE ever have the same level of competition that they had when WCW was hot? No. WCW had scary money behind them from the TELEVISION NETWORK that owned them. What a marriage made in heaven although it eventually went to hell. This is not a knock on any other organization but when a wrestling brand is actually owned by a huge cable network, it doesn't get much better than that.

I can't discuss my Food Network gig early Sunday morning but it is WWE sanctioned and will be kept a secret for now as it doesn't air until November as I understand it.

It will be great to see HBK back in the wrestling ring this weekend for the first time since WM25. Who's better than Shawn Michaels bell to bell? I consider watching Shawn wrestle a privilege as he won't be able to maintain the quality that he demands of himself forever. The DX presentation on the PPV will likely be spectacular.

I still would love to see the TLC match close the show Sunday on PPV. Who knows, perhaps it will?

Hit our sale and don't delay as it can't last forever. Thanks!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.