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

Happy Holidays everyone and thanks for stopping by our site. Recently yours truly has seen some of the most hectic, travel times I can recall in quite some time, as airline travel these days is hellacious, to put it mildly. The airlines are over booked, especially with folks who rarely travel, which causes some unique issues that we veteran travelers must endure. Sometimes one wants to say, “Come on lady, take off your damn shoes so we can all get through the security line today!” If any of you are planning on traveling any time soon via air, please go online and read what one can and cannot do as it relates to security issues, carry-on luggage, liquids, etc. For all of you who will be travelling over Christmas, believe me it will help you to go to your airport or airline’s website and read the latest rules to save yourself some time and aggravation. Last week I spent the night as a guest in the home of Steve Austin while I was in LA doing some media promotion for the 15th Anniversary Monday Night Raw broadcast. Steve and I had a great time, and rest assured that we did not drink and drive – because we did not drive anywhere. Nonetheless it took me 11 hours to fly from LAX back to OKC, which was murder. This week it took me 12 hours to fly from DFW, after having to make a 3 hour drive there from OKC due to the ice storm here on Sunday, so I would be ready to work Monday night in Bridgeport in case of bad weather up there. Then while flying home on Wednesday from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, what a nightmare of an airport, to DFW and then to OKC, a trip that took almost 12 hours due to “air traffic” issues and “rain.” Now I am preparing to fly to snowy Pittsburgh this coming weekend from OKC for the Armageddon PPV and then the King and I will make the 3-plus hour drive on Monday from Pitt to Buffalo, NY for Raw − and they are saying that Buffalo is apparently expecting snow for our visit. There’s never a dull moment traveling in the WWE! Perhaps the King and I should invest in a charter aircraft for this trip… but that isn’t going to happen, sports fans. We will make our usual drive… discuss the NFL, especially the Browns… and make our normal stop at a Cracker Barrel (there’s no J.R.’s in that neck of the woods… yet)… and we’;; be at work on time to do our job. Just another day at the office… ringside at Raw. Being a part of the big, three hour Raw last Monday night was fun and was much akin to attending a family reunion of sorts. I enjoyed visiting with all the former WWE Superstars that were on hand and catching up with their lives and what they are doing these days. Mike Shaw, aka Bastion Booger, has a real big son, 6’5”-305 lbs, who is being recruited by several colleges, including Wisconsin as an offensive lineman. Ted DiBiase is working within his ministry full time and is excited about the opportunities his son is getting in the WWE developmental program. The younger DiBiase is a natural from what others have told me, and has a brilliant future ahead of him. Plus, the kid has a degree in business administration. Smart. Repo Man invited me to come up to Minnesota and go ice fishing with the Goon (Bill Irwin) and him some day which sounds like a blast. I will never forget how great a tag team Bill and his late brother Scott Irwin were as the masked, Super Destroyers back in the day. Plus, who can forget Repo Man’s run as one half of Demolition? Steve Blackman, about to become a father for the first time, was in awesome physical condition and is training MMA fighters in Pennsylvania. Steve is always fun to talk with. WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson says that Steve is even more frugal than Tony Garea, which is a major statement. Blackman looks like he could still kick some ass and was in the best condition of any of the “old timers.” For the record, being frugal isn’t a bad thing and I wish more “old timers” would subscribe to that theory than the often used philosophy of “live for today, buy more bling, don’t pay your taxes, and the constant flow of money will never stop.” Speaking of Pat Patterson, Pat is one of my dearest friends in the WWE and a man for whom I have great respect. Yes, Pat is gay. So what? The reason that I bring this up is that is seems that some of you hang on every word spoken on the Raw show and that my attempts at humor regarding Pat have been taken by a handful of you that I am a homophobic. For goodness sakes, please lighten up Francis! I may miss on my attempts at humor, but I am damn sure NOT homophobic and Pat himself tells more jokes about his lifestyle than anyone else. We are trying to have fun… not make political or social statements. Please… I am “begging” some of you to not to over analyze every aspect of every broadcast of a wrestling show. There are plenty of sites that do that for a living and we are NOT one of them. Pat is like family to the Mrs. and me and he gets as big a kick out of my humor as anyone. Sunny looked wonderful Monday and I met her new boyfriend, who seemed like a nice guy. Sunny was in really great physical condition, as many of you saw, even though she told me she still had “8 pounds to lose” which made me envious. Sunny has endured a great deal over the years with a lifestyle that not even she would necessarily suggest for all members of the family, but I am so happy to say that she has turned her life around and is healthy and happy. I sincerely wish her continued success and sobriety. Bottom line is that Sunny was the Diva that started it all as it relates to the Diva biz in the WWE, and no, Moolah was not a Diva… Moolah was a wrestler… and Sunny should be given credit for her contributions to the WWE. I hope to see her again down the road and with her only being 35, I think; she has plenty of fuel left in her tank if the WWE ever decided to bring her back for a full time or re-occurring role. At least it’s something to think about. RVD looked well rested and healthy, even though his time in the ring was shorter than some of the King’s relationships and my diets. I would not read anything into RVD’s cameo on the Anniversary Raw as it relates to Rob returning to the WWE full time, but one should never say never. I think it would be great for RVD to be back in the WWE, but time will tell if and when Rob may be ready to return to the road on a full or part time basis. Be that as it may, it was a nice surprise to see RVD back in a WWE ring. How cool would it have been if Paul Heyman had joined RVD at ringside, even though some of the “old timers” might have enjoyed Happy Heyman being in the ring as a participant in the battle royal, but I assume that statement would hold true for many of us. Bart Gunn looked super and was huge and looked to be strong as a bull. Always a nice guy, Bart is one of the toughest men around and who will ever forget his dominance in the ill conceived “Brawl for it All” tournament that included Bart K.O.’ing Dr. Death Steve Williams? Great to see Al Snow and “Head”. I have always enjoyed Al’s work, we even did some commentary together in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and we all know that the King loves “Head.” Al is coaching down in Ohio Valley Wrestling and imparting his wisdom on the young superstars of tomorrow. If Mick Foley were here right now, there would be a joke made without fail. Hulk Hogan seemed to have a good visit with his old traveling buddies and peers. The Hulkster looked a little tired backstage, but he had just flown in from LA on a private aircraft with Eric Bischoff and RVD, who all traveled from the west coast, where Hogan is taping the return of the “American Gladiator,” which premieres on NBC in January. (Back in the day, Rico Constantino was quite a hit on the old American Gladiator program and since leaving the WWE Rico is back as a police officer in Vegas, as I understand it.) The Godfather is managing several Gentlemen’s establishments in Vegas and I hope to play some dominoes with the man also known as Charles Wright when I am in Vegas in February for the Kelly Pavlik-Jermaine Taylor fight. Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart is still “strong like a bull” and the father of impressive WWE rookie, Nattie Neidhart, is still quite the character. Jim wrestled in the Mid South territory for Cowboy Bill Watts back in the day and even taught Watts’ youngest son, Micah, the finer arts of shot putting. Neidhart still holds the 6th best high school shot putt distance in America, as I am told. It would have been great to have see Anvil’s partner Bret “The Hitman” Hart on the Anniversary show, but that simply wasn’t in the cards. Nonetheless, I strongly suggest that any wrestling fan purchase Bret’s autobiography as quickly as possible. It is a helluva read. You read it and then tell me what you think about it. Same goes for The Rock, who also could not be with us Monday due to scheduling issues. I know that there will be some who can’t wait to jump up on their invisible soap boxes, hiding behind phony screen names and who will damn the Rock for not being in Bridgeport Monday night. It is what it is, folks, and the Rock doesn’t pretend to have an agenda nor does he make promises he cannot keep. Wrestling is and always will be in the Rock’s blood, but he has another job now that in which he has immersed himself. Is that a crime? Most sane wrestling fans “get it,” but those that love to rant about what any ex-wrestler owes “the fans” is usually talking about themselves as the one being owed and whose rantings appear at times to be delusional. These are the fans the biased news media loves to exploit and to generalize as the “typical wrestling fan.” Sad stuff. Seeing Bob Backlund, I guess I should call him “Mr. Backlund,” in gym shorts is always a sight for sore eyes. One of the greatest WWE Champions in the company’s history is certainly deserving of the WWE Hall of Fame..… and NO… I have ZERO to do with those selections, so please don’t rail on me about Backlund, Bruno, Savage, Warrior or any other individual your little heart desires. Nonetheless, Bob Backlund is still in AMAZING physical condition too. The King and I usually spend a fair amount of time in the catering area (no jokes please), at WWE TV events, as we don’t generally have a locker room and enjoy the catering area as a meeting place to visit with those that pass through and to prepare for our broadcast. This past Monday, the catering area with its many tables was THE place to be and would make a helluva DVD extra for the event. Hey, there were cameras everywhere, so perhaps some of those classic moments were captured on tape. Trish and Lita both looked super and were still the same two beautiful and intelligent young women I signed to WWE contracts years ago. Both seem happy with their new lives, but their return to full time WWE road work is highly unlikely if you are keeping score at home. Lita is doing projects with her band and Trish is apparently going to open a Yoga studio in the Toronto area from what I understand. Both are still hotter than donut grease. I mentioned this in my weekly Raw column on www.wwe.com that the person who does the closed captioning for the Raw broadcasts must have had a helluva time attempting to figure out what Dusty Rhodes, the King, and yours truly was saying during the World Tag Title Bout Monday night. You still have time to place your orders with us and we will get them to you within a few days in time for the holidays. Our family here in Norman is working overtime to say the least to do all we can to turn your orders around within hours of receiving them. Our store never closes. Our Redneck Gift Buckets… J.R.’s Big Nuts… Sauces… Beef Jerky… Autographed Cookbooks, our new shirts and more are selling big time and we damn sure appreciate your business. Many of the WWE Superstars are shopping with us for the holidays as they realize that one doesn’t have to worry about the wrong color, the wrong size or something that no sane individual would ever want for the holidays when you shop right here. We appreciate you making “J.R.’s Bar-B-Q” a small part of your holidays. We will be back soon with another blog where we will answer your feedback. Keep it coming!! BOOMER SOONER! J.R.