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

It's always nice to be at home in Oklahoma especially after a few hectic days in Los Angeles. I will be able to enjoy the Oklahoma weather and friends until I leave for Birmingham, Alabama on Monday where I assume that we will record one match for WWE Superstars. I plan on riding with the King back to Memphis after the Alabama Raw as Tuesday we are recording Smackdown in the King's hometown.  Let's get to what's on my mind (no jokes, please, kids.)

Three nights in LA is plenty for this country boy especially with Proposition 8 being amended and all the Gay Rights activists protesting throughout the area. I am, for the record, in favor of Gay Marriage as I don't think any one has the right to tell consenting human beings who they can or cannot marry. Enough on that. Plus the LA traffic is insane not to mention the downtown area being largely blocked off on Memorial Day for the LA Marathon.

Raw was a unique broadcast of which to be a part without question. I haven't watched it back as of yet but I don't know that I was much help to Michael Cole. The good news is that he gets"The King" back next week and I can focus on my preferred address of Friday Night Smackdown.

This week's Friday Night SmackDown is without question wrestling heavy. I think that's a good thing. Of course with all the current talent rosters lacking depth many will complain regarding&who loses and why but that is simply the nature of the beast when talent depth is what it is. I also think that too much is made about won-loss records and not enough about match quality and ever improving story telling within the confines of the ring. Individuals who continue to refine their skills, perform aggressively and consistently will eventually get what they earn and deserve.

After talking to Ric Flair Monday, I have no doubts in my mind that he hasn't wrestled his last bout. I don't think that his next in ring wrestling outing will be for WWE but internationally Ric has many lucrative offers that a 60 year old man with somewhat staggering, personal financial obligations likely cannot pass up. The sums of money being purported surrounding these proposed bouts is serious money. These bouts could theoretically run into 2010. I am not generally in favor of Ric stepping back in the ring for multiple dates in other's rings wrestling who knows who at this point but I also can understand the financial obligations that Ric has and "getting whole" so to speak at this stage of his game has credence. Ric shared his potential schedule with me and he's going to rack up tons of frequent flier miles in addition to earning major bucks.

Monday night on Raw the King wore #48 in honor of his friend and mine, Cleveland Indians slugger Travis Hafner. Travis is one of the many pro athletes who regularly follow wrestling on TV which might shock the main stream sports elitists who work on the sports desks at ESPN....no not "The Coach."

I did a interesting voice over at the LA TV's, I can't even remember what day, for WWE 24/7's "Film Room with Gordon Solie" feature. It was on former 8X NWA Champion Harley Race and I can't wait to see the footage especially a "Texas Death Match" versus Terry Funk shot on film in Florida.

Don't expect the team formerly known as the World's Greatest Tag Team to be teaming on any sort of regular basis even though they are on TV in tag team action twice this week. From what I gather, Benjamin and Haas have designs on singles competition. Haas has been much more physical and aggressive since returning to Friday nights while Benjamin is a big star waiting to hit.

Our new Original BBQ Sauce is now in stock in the plastic bottles that we have been touting. Check them out as the sauce tastes awesome and will cost less to ship. We are also going to be working on a case price as the sauce comes 12-18 ounce bottles per case.

The revisiting of the "Hog Pen" match at Extreme Rules in New Orleans will be a sight for sore eyes. I was indirectly a part of such a mess that included live hogs and their manure many years ago in a match between HHH and Henry Godwin. I was to do an interview but kept from being drowned in hog feces. There is a photo of me in bib overalls &rubber boots covered in hog waste and mud floating around somewhere. Not one of the most stellar memories of my broadcast career. I do remember HHH suffering a nasty cut that had to be immediately attended to due to the prominent risk of infection because of the environment of which he was grappling. I think that event might have been an "In Your House" PPV in the old arena in Hershey. Pa.

Nice seeing Candice Michelle in LA. For the record it's always nice to see Candice no matter the city. I told her I saw her sitting front and center in her "Go Daddy" attire on the "World's Head's Up Poker Championship" that aired recently on NBC. Candice says she will be back in a few weeks as she is still recovering from previous injuries. I am becoming a poker fan much to Mrs. J.R.'s chagrin as I often times stay up too late watching poker on TV.

Mickey Roarke was pressing the flesh in the locker room area Tuesday night looking as weird as ever. Strange but talented dude folks. His making of the film "The Wrestler" seemingly gave Roarke a unique perspective of "the business" that has apparently created a level of respect by the Oscar nominated actor and the genre of sports entertainment. He's still "Hollywood strange" to me.

My pal Earl Brown who played Deadwood's Dan Dority enjoyed Tuesday's Smackdown festivities. Do you remember Earl in "Something About Mary" when he played Carmen Diaz' mentally challenged brother? HBO's "Deadwood" was one of my favorite shows and I loved Sunday nights on HBO back in the day with "Deadwood" and "The Sopranos."

Being in Staples Center this week reminded me of the last Wrestlemania in LA and a unique moment backstage where The King and I had our photo taken with Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider who were hanging backstage prior to the event starting.

Michael Clarke Duncan is such a genuinely nice guy and really loves wrestling. Michael is always fun to talk to and he even came to Houston this year for WM25 as many of you remember. Clarke's acting career stays busy and I loved him in one of my favorites, "Talladega Nights; The Legend of Ricky Bobby." Shake and Bake.

Sing/song writer Billy Corrigan and I also had a nice visit in, where else but, catering on Tuesday. Billy is an amazing artist who has been a life long wrestling fan and is getting ready launch his new version of "the Pumpkins."

The Midnight Express with Jim Cornette Scrapbook has me going back for more. It is one of the first wrestling books I have read in a long, long time that I simply can't put down. If you are an old school fan or simply a fan period of wrestling this is a "must have" book that is more authentic, genuine, entertaining, and educational that perhaps any book to come along in years. Plus it features some tremendous photos. It can be ordered at www.jimcornette.com.

I got caught up on our Q&A section before I left for the road and will get back into that ASAP before I leave again on Monday. Some fans have WAY too much free time and their asinine questions aren't even funny even though I think that's their idea. None of them will ever make the site and I simply delete them but apparently some lonely souls feel compelled to ask questions that they must know are stupid. As I said, too much free time of which I can't identify as I would love a little more "free time."

One such question wanted to know the details of a Goldust/Hornswoggle "affair." Bad visual.

Another wanted to know if I could withstand a chair shot to the head by Michael Cole. Highly cerebral question.

Another wanted me to ship them "free samples" so that they could decide if they wanted to order from our store. That ain't gonna happen. Ship me some free samples of your cash and we can talk "bidness."
 

One asked when the new, "J.R. DVD" was coming out. Uh, never. I feel very comfortable by saying "never" when the old adage is to "never say never" in the wrestling biz.

I'm already working on how to get to Montreal on the day of the September 13 PPV which is the day after an OU home football game that I do not intend to miss. Getting from Norman to Montreal might be a little challenging but worth the effort as far as I am concerned.

I'm also looking ahead and making travel arrangements to attend the Oklahoma at Nebraska football game....get to Chicago to make a flight to Manchester, England to then make a car trip to Sheffield in November for Smackdown. Hopefully we won't have to record our one Superstars bout on that Monday. Missing the Sooners vs. the Huskers would be sacrilegious.

Have a great day and please check out our on line store as your support of our site is needed and appreciated. Thanks!

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.