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

Coming up on June 7 in Atlanta will be a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony as recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). I am not overly familiar with this specific event nor am I totally aware of who is still a member of the once powerful NWA. Nonetheless, congrats go out to the inductees that include: Nikita Koloff, a charismatic, intense individual who had the good fortune to be surrounded by people who could embellish Nikita's marketable skills back in his prime....Tommy Rich, who was a classic hero with "fire" in the old school wrestling world and got plenty of mileage out of defeating Harley Race for the NWA Title of which Tommy held for about a week....The Midnight Express, no matter if it was Dennis Condrey/Bobby Eaton or Eaton/Stan Lane this team was one of the most amazing duos I ever saw and if they were in their prime today they would be printing money even though tag team wrestling seems to be a lost art and a low priority in many places....plus this team had manager extraordinaire Jim Cornette which would have made the "Ding Dongs" a viable entity....and the Iron Sheik who will likely rival M.C. Jim Cornette for the best sound bytes of the evening....I first met Sheik when he visited my small, department store in Westville, Oklahoma back in the 70's along with Danny Hodge after appearing on a wrestling event in the area. Sheik weighed about 185-190 pounds then and was just getting his pro career started and to say that the infamous Iron Sheik has changed over the years would be the understatement of the year. Again, congratulations to all the inductees and in case you are wondering there is no doubt in my mind that, in their prime, each and every one of the aforementioned people would be big stars today if provided the all important opportunity.

It is funny how times have changed over the years as a couple of recent "fan incidents" have made Internet headlines this week as if it were big news. Perhaps it was big news and I just missed something. I guess the fact that it is rare that these incidents even occur any longer is what makes them newsworthy. Fans who are "over served" by beer vendors in a given arena are usually the culprits and more often than not are essentially harmless drunks who just want to garner attention from their equally drunk buddies. Many years ago when I worked for Cowboy Bill Watts in the Mid South/UWF territory I wore many "hats" (no cowboy hat though) and one of my jobs was "Director of Marketing and TV Syndication". I organized a promotion with a radio station in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which had been somewhat of a sluggish market, that featured "25 Cent Beer Night" at the wrestling event. I was lauded by the Cowboy the days prior to the event because the advance ticket sales for the matches were up big time. Even on the day of the event when the "walk up" business kicked in I found myself as one of Cowboy's "most valued proteges". I went home that night knowing that I had completed a job well done and was looking forward to going to work the next day in hopes that the "celebration of me" would continue. The frivolity was short lived. At the live event in Lake Charles numerous fights broke out, the villain wrestlers had to fight for their lives to get back to their locker rooms, and the State Police was called in to escort wrestlers threatened with their lives out of town as safely as the circumstances would allow. Within Cowboy's office I suddenly went from "brilliant" to the "village idiot" with the term "dumbass" being thrown in frequently for good measure. That was the last "Beer Night" we ever had in the Mid South territory. However, fan incidents were somewhat of a normal occurrence in those days, but obviously not to the level of the Lake Charles Beer Night". As a matter of fact, if there were prolonged periods of time when overzealous fans did not attempt to accost the bad guys then the promoters often would either heat up the villains or replace them. Angst or "heat" was the straw that stirred the drink in the old wrestling territories.

It is interesting to read the comments from those who follow the business and find themselves often times writing about the TV ratings. Specifically, the Memorial Day TV ratings for Monday Night Raw were not at the level any one involved with the broadcast most likely are happy with, to say the least. Many of us who lived and worked through the 83 week ass whipping on the Monday night ratings war with Monday Nitro generally don't get too emotionally involved in the good ratings or the bad one because every 7 days, no matter what one did last week, good or bad, it is time to go back to work. This is not a "cover one's ass" subject but when a TV show has no season and is first run approximately 51 weeks a year for me personally, and that's all I can speak for, I don't think the ratings ever get high enough to keep everyone happy and when they drop down consistently to low levels all any one involved can do is to continue to work hard and to try new things featuring new persona's. I was a devotee of HBO's "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood" and never missed any of their episodes. However, one of the aspects of those two hit shows, I still watch them to this very day on DVD or VOD, was the systematic introduction of new characters. For a wrestling show, that seems to me to be a somewhat easy matter to address because if the new character(s) can carry the ball then every one wins. If they can't "get 'er done" then one simply goes to the next athlete "on deck".

Former WCW TV broadcaster Mark Madden, who is a good friend of Ric Flair, and who worked diligently on Ric's autobiography and until recently was a colorful albeit "edgy" Pittsburgh radio personality on the ESPN Radio affiliate there, has apparently been canned by the station for what the station perceived as "insensitive remarks" on the air. I don't fully understand this one. Madden's media persona was one that could be compared to an old school wrestling manager inasmuch as his job was to "stir things up" and to create controversey. I do not know Madden well, I have met him on a handful of occasions, but it seems as if the guy was simply doing his job. Eric Bischoff was right when he wrote that "Controversey Creates Cash" and controversey is the key component to sports talk radio unless I have been missing the "Mark", which I am sure the Steel City fans will be doing in Madden's absence. I would be surprised if Madden was unemployed for long if "unemployed" is the accurate term in this particular situation.

The Mrs. and I watched UFC 84 last Saturday night in the comfort of our own home in Bar-B-Q-land of Norman, Oklahoma and enjoyed the presentation. I am a fan of MMA and will be watching as MMA airs on CBS this Saturday night. As a matter of fact, I am flying out a little early to arrive in San Diego, the site of the WWE PPV One Night Stand, so I can see the fights on CBS. The UFC continues to improve their TV production even though most objective viewers would likely agree that the WWE still holds the edge in TV production and the overall "look" of the show. That's not a knock but simply one guy's opinion so don't get your drawers in a wad. Comparing the UFC and the WWE is like comparing seafood to BBQ in that they are both enjoyable depending on their quality and one's mood. The fight was build around two smaller guys who can both kick ass, B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk,. Both men are impressive athletes but B.J. Penn is really special and is so smooth that at times it seemed as if he was phoning it in. He wasn't, I assure you. I will not miss a potential Penn-Georges St. Pierre fight when it occurs. Smaller performers can draw money if they are marketed properly as Penn and Sherk demonstrated. (Yes, I like the "Cruiserweight" sized guys and the pace they set in an Octagon or a wrestling ring.) The Tito Ortiz/Dana White saga is reminiscent of the 1997 Bret Hart/Vince McMahon "never ending story" and one should not automatically bet against Tito not re-signing with the UFC. Tito sells tickets and PPV's and has ample fuel left in his tank especially if he can return to his winning ways in his next outing. Ortiz wold also be a good "get" for a rival organization....IE WCW back in '97 but certainly said rival organization wouldn't drop the ball on Ortiz as WCW did with Bret Hart. But I digress. Wanderlei Silva rediscovered his inner beast and impressed the hell out of me while dominated Keith Jardine who is a tough SOB as well. Silva is one bad dude who seems to be a genuinely nice human being. Silva has plenty of charisma to go along with his obvious fighting skills. All in all, I enjoyed the PPV and felt it delivered and I got my money's worth which is sort of the bottom line. I could attempt to over analyze the show from start to finish as is done on many PPV broadcasts but I will pass on the micro evaluation of an event I felt delivered on what I invested.

I have often said that once I have said Adios to my current role in the WWE that the likelihood of me ever getting involved in pro wrestling are, as the late Gorilla Monsoon would say, is "highly unlikely". Perhaps an occasion convention, a card show here and there, but absolutely in no way would I ever invest a dime in promoting a live event and joining the ranks of the independent promoters around the country. Now don't get me wrong I have no issue with anyone who wants to try and earn an extra buck or two promoting indy shows especially those that do it right, are honest and simply "love the wrestling business". My issues are not with the promoters but the seemingly endless line of former wrestling stars who habitually no show these events. I could not deal with those frustrations and there is literally nothing any one can do about this promoter's night mare. Guys like Michael O'Brien, among others, do a wonderful job promoting indy wrestling events but I am sure that Michael always holds his breath until all his "stars" have arrived in the arena. I am not going from the "frying pan into the fire" while "waiting to exhale" in my post WWE life....which for the record isn't imminent unless you know something that I don't. :)

I'm not ready to tap out yet....Brother!

Thanks for visiting our store and taking advantage of the many specials we are currently featuring. Our restaurant business continues to grow and has far exceeded our expectations thanks to many of you who have visited our place. J.R.'s #2 will be open in about one month!

Be well.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.