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

It's a great day smack dab in the middle of grilling season! BTW we've got new 8X10's to use for the next round of orders that include a free, autographed photo with the order. These are all new photos that have never been available on the site. Plus, we are continuing our FREE SHIPPING on many packages which you can see in the store section of the site. Let's fire up the grill.... 

Remember, if you send something for me to sign, be sure that you include a self addressed stamped envelope or it won't get done. I'm happy to sign but need your cooperation that includes the item to be signed and a S.A.S.E.

To address some emails, some that made the cut and some that did not.... 

When asked about working before big crowds or otherwise, once the show gets rolling and one invests in what one sees on the monitor it really becomes business as usual. When a TV announcer works off  a monitor, the size of the crowd usually becomes a non factor even though crowd noise of any denomination always helps. Point being, if one is a pro the crowd size should not matter as far as effort and performance. I feel that over the years that I did some of my better work doing voice overs in a small sound studio with no one present but my partner, an audio guy, and a producer. 

Speaking of being a pro, I am assuming that's the issue regarding UFC and Anderson Silva who stopped, seemingly, from giving any extra effort in the last half of his fight from Abu Dhabi Saturday. Who got cheated? That would be the fans who paid good, hard earned money to see both fighters give 100%. Anderson Silva is too good not to crank it up and to not fight just good enough to stay out of trouble or to coast. 

Lance Russell or the fans of Memphis never were angry with me or showed any displeasure when I did the play by play, Lance's original role, on 'Man on the Moon' as we were both cast to simply work on the film in any capacity that was given us. Director Milos Foreman wanted me on PXP and there never was any issues. Lance Russell is too classy a gentleman to create an issue and if he had been cast to do the PXP I would have done the ring announcing which, I think, that Lance also did back in the day. For the record and from the old school of wrestling announcers, Lance is one of my all time favorite broadcasters along with Gordon Solie, of course, and Bob Caudle.

Yes, Miz has some Rowdy Roddy Piper qualities about him and is an ever developing antagonist inside the wrestling ring. Miz has natural qualities that make him easy to dislike which any wrestling villain is well served to have as long as it's in a natural, organic way. I'm not saying that Miz will be the next Piper but I hope that Miz becomes a success by utilizing his own, individual style.

Last week I said that I felt like David Otunga had some of Rock's characteristics and then I read on line where I said that JR says that Otunga is the next Rock. Not so fast my friend. Having characteristics and actually getting to the level of the 'Great One' are two different things. Only time will tell if David Otunga ever approaches the Rock's accomplishments. I hope that he does but rivaling the Rock is a daunting task.  

Is any one else bored talking about the alleged Monday night 'wrestling wars?" I have tapped on this subject as I don't know what more there is to say about it in this particular forum. We've firmly established that competition is good for any business and that Raw is starting this 'race' with a huge head start. My take is let's see how it all plays out over time. The fans will eventually judge what they want to see, what they like, and what they feel is absurd or eye rolling content. 

On this tattered subject, I remain steadfast that getting young in a strategic manner and utilizing long term planning is essential.   

Good Lord no!!  I will NOT give diet and exercise advice. Are you kidding me?! Why? Because I'm a novice at it, can't you tell by looking? No one should embark on such a journey without the consultation of their family physician. I do feel that dieting without exercise doesn't work as well as practicing both in tandem and doing so with an organized plan. Just remember, common sense prevails. 

I do not privately act as a WWE job placement service. If one isn't smart enough to know how to apply for a job in WWE, TNA or elsewhere then I surely can't help you. So, please, no more questions about how to get a job in a wrestling company. I've covered this numerous times in previous Q&A's. I wish each and everyone the best of luck but give a brother a break here. Thanks.

Yes...when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the UWF and IF they had kept the brands separate and with some degree of Parity then both brands could have done well. Not to mention the potential of a great, annual PPV pitting brand vs. brand. Nonetheless we will never know as UWF was essentially neutered not long after it was bought via mismanagement and near sighted, creative planning. 

In this unnecessary failure, the two of the strongest weapons in pro wrestling reared their ugly heads, ego and the eraser.

The failure to build new stars on both NWA and UWF brands, to put the company before all else, and to eliminate egocentric decision making basically destroyed what could have potentially been a great concept.  

No, Vince McMahon was not the sole reason that wrestling territories went out of business in my opinion. Old school promoters who refused to use all the marketing resources available to them which would have moved many into the modern era of promotion and who refused to develop new stars put themselves in a vulnerable position whereby any viable competition was potentially devastating. Case in point, many old school wrestling promoters rarely, if ever, used radio advertising to promote their live events. Duh. In addition, others did not want to make tickets easier to purchase by using computerized ticketing such as Ticketmaster because of the obvious reasons. If they continued to sell hard tickets, without computer information/audits, then the promoters got first count of the money and that determined what the gross ticket sales were simply by the promoter's spoken word which, in turn, affected the payoffs of the wrestlers. Plus, can you imagine how many wrestling promoters who utilized hard tickets over the years would have potentially been convicted of tax evasion if they had been found out way back in the day? It wasn't unusual for some promoters to put the first X number of dollars worth of tickets sold straight South into their pockets.  'Cash money' was king.         

Another point of contention regarding the demise of territories was talents abruptly leaving. This could have been prevented to a some degree by the talent having contracts, novel idea, that guaranteed them acceptable monies and some degree of job security. Old school promoters would not do contracts and even though a man's word should be his bond it often times wasn't on either side of the equation.

Nothing guarantees a wrestler will become a main event star.  However rarely speaking on TV IE, promos, interviews, etc will essentially GUARANTEE failure. No talking = no main eventer. I understand that there are exceptions to this rule but that's where great managers used to come into play. In today's TV world, if a talent wants to be a star then the talent needs to lobby for talking time to go along with strong, consistent bell to bell work. These verbal inclusions don't have to be marathons or a mini series either.   

Why am I a devotee of recruiting world class athletes to the wrestling business? First of all, and to clarify one point point, one doesn't have to be an 'All American' to make it in pro wrestling. However, if a prospect comes from a legit athletic background then they generally have been a part of structure, education and systematic training. They will most likely have comfortably fit inside a locker room.....notice that I didn't say dressing room because athletes utilize locker rooms not dressing rooms.  Getting goal oriented, intelligent, extroverted, world class athletes to dot one's locker room simply seems like a solid way to approach building a talent roster.  

Make no mistake about it....no area of any athletic team or pro wrestling environment is more important than is their talent development, scouting and recruiting process. That's why every major sport's franchise spends millions on scouting and talent development. If I'm going to spend big bucks, I want all the bang for my buck that I can garner and going the route of the naturally gifted athlete is one of the primary routes that I'm traveling.

In regards to this concept/theory, how much money and time do you think is invested in America's institutions of higher education recruiting high school players to come to their schools? How many millions of dollars are invested on a variety of levels in the upcoming NFL Draft which is now a prime time TV event that lasts three days?

We had a productive conference call today regarding the writing of my first book. It's going to be hard to know where to start, what to include, etc. I have been fortunate to have been in a variety of 'insider' roles in multiple companies that has provided me a unique insight to the inner workings of the wacky pro wrestling business for over four decades. 

We're getting excited about the Cauliflower Alley Club's 45th Annual Banquet which is next Wednesday April 21 in Las Vegas. You can get all the details at www.caulifloweralleyclub.org. Hopefully, I can respectfully get through my allotted time without having to write a speech and go old school and speak from the heart and not from a script.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your business. Tonight....we GRILL!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.