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

It’s great to be back in Oklahoma after being on the road for most of six days. The time away from home was extremely busy, highlighted by 12-16 hour days. I certainly had the opportunity to meet many great fans in Detroit, and to say my wife and I had a blast would be a major understatement. My sincere thanks to all those that sent along best wishes for my induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Your kind words are, and have always been, a source of inspiration for me during the many challenging times I have had during my long and largely positive career. As I said in my HOF speech, which will apparently air in its entirety on the Wrestlemania DVD, I would not change a single day of my journey because being able to survive and persevere during the hard times is the true mark of a winner and when my days in this business are done I sure hope I can look back upon it and say “I was a winner.” Wrestlemania 23, like any other event, can be over-analyzed and picked apart which many fans seem to enjoy doing these days. This is not unique to wrestling, but occurs in every major sport and entertainment vehicle of any merit in existence. Some people actually make a damn good living being critics. Phil Muchnick makes a fair buck I would assume, knocking whatever he chooses and seems to relish in his job of being negative and the conscience of the world. Muchnick is not alone, as even our major news outlets would rather lead with a tragedy than any good news that may have broken on a given day. Can you believe that an endless array of news programs are still hanging their hats on the Anna Nicole Smith story as if were earth-shattering, life-altering news? We live in a “dirt mongering/gossip loving” society. I guess it goes with the territory, but at times it can become too much for me. I like a little gossip as well as the next guy I suppose, but to have to be immersed in it for hours daily is a little too much for me. My voice finally left me on Monday night – but not unexpectedly. When I awoke on Monday morning I had zero voice and what you heard as Raw started was the best I sounded all day! I tried like hell to get through the show and felt like I let the Raw Superstars and the company down by not getting the job done Monday night. I may be just a little too old school when it comes to things like that, but losing my voice after Wrestlemania 23 was not planned or desired. It just happened and after seeing my doctor yesterday, I hope to be rocking and rolling again Monday night in Bridgeport where we are already sold out for Monday Night Raw. I know my voice was distracting Monday and for that I apologize. I was really happy with Wrestlemania 23 and thought the WWE did a great job putting this massive event together. If one looks past just the matches and the overall logistics and planning of the event, the work, time, and money that went into the record setting event at Detroit’s Ford Field it is awe inspiring. Can we nitpick Wrestlemania 23? Of course. Any event, any sporting event, and any movie can be nit picked to death. However, from top to bottom I thought this was a really solid event and one that I was proud of which to be a part. I have a hard time understanding fans who complain about great matches or even good matches “going on too long”. I am just the opposite. If a match goes too short on TV because of TV limitations on time, I don’t like it. Perhaps younger fans want instant gratification and have little or no patience in today’s world, but nothing excites me more than to see a really good match go no less than 20-30 minutes which usually seems to happen at PPVs. On free TV the commercial breaks are not optional and must be observed or the networks and the program provider get in major league trouble. Fans also commented on the order of events for Wrestlemania. Firstly, just because a match doesn’t go on last doesn’t mean it isn’t main event worthy or will be considered main event status. For example, Undertaker vs. Batista was just as big, perhaps bigger to some, as the Cena-HBK match at Wrestlemania 23. Today’s prevailing theory is to create some separation from the featured attractions such as the two aforementioned bouts. Some like this concept and some do not. Most of the wrestlers I talk to do. Without a doubt, the two primary main events at Mania 23 were Taker/Batista and HBK/Cena, no matter where they occurred on the card. They could have reversed roles as to when they each occurred on the card and I would still be saying the same thing. Years ago it was different. The card grew, match by match, and every match was considered to be somewhat more important than the previous match. Times have changed, and that’s simply not the way TV shows or live events are structured these days. Some folks are going to like this philosophy and some obviously don’t. We had a few comments, not many, about Hogan missing or not being a part of Mania. Folks, it takes two to tango in this world so for the WWE to take all the grief because Hogan was not in Detroit is not totally fair. I can assure you that if Hulk had truly wanted to be at Wrestlemania 23 that could have been facilitated. There are two sides to every story, as I have grown to know over the many years I have been in this business. Plus, for people to still be riding that same old broke-down horse of an idea that Hulk was ever going to wrestle Stone Cold at Mania 23, I think it is time we unsaddle the steed and turn that one out to pasture. It was never going to happen and was a figment of a handful of some folk’s imagination to begin with. Would I have enjoyed visiting with Hulk in Detroit? Yes. But he knew when and where the event was and he also knew he would have been welcomed with open arms, even if he wasn’t wrestling on the card. Hey, over 80,000 fans showed up and none of them were on the card. I can assure you I would have gone even if I had been on one of my infamous “sabbaticals”. Finally some uninformed people were disillusioned with Stone Cold not being on the Raw from Dayton. That was not Austin’s call. Steve could have easily been on the show if he had been asked to be. Hammering Austin for not being on Raw is just plain not smart, to be kind. Remember the glass doesn’t have to be always half empty but it is healthier when it’s half full. I truly love the passion I tap into from our fans and it does help motivate me to do my very best work each and every time I saddle up but let’s not establish a trend on this site to where it is simply a place to bitch and moan. Life is good and we are all alive and above ground to talk about it. I will be answering comments later this week. By the way, the Sauce and Jerky biz is cooking thanks to you all. Keep it up and the Jerky especially is rolling out the door as fast as we can ship it! Boomer Sooner! J.R.