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

Here's hoping that everyone who celebrated the 4th of July and America's birthday had a safe and fun weekend. I took a break from the action on Saturday but had other WWE projects to finish on Sunday but all is good. I did spend considerable time at J.R.'S Family BBQ in Norman, Oklahoma and had the privilege  of meeting several fans. That's always a good thing.  Here's some BBQ'ed Random Thoughts.....

The WWE is doing HUGE biz in Australia as we speak as the Raw brand is on tour "Down Under."  Brisbane had a near capacity crowd in attendance and grossed over $650K at the box office. Sydney had 18,543 in the arena which is a new WWE record for the facility. The event Monday in Adelaide was also close to capacity and sold over $550K in tickets. This international tour is going to be highly successful for WWE which should come as no surprise as Australia is one of WWE's hottest territories. Even though the trips are all early morning flights and some of the flights are not short ones,  the large crowds always motivate any performer and the live events have been really solid from what I have read and from the emails we have received here on our site. 

The Smackdown/ECW group had a minute to gather their thoughts on the beaches of Honolulu over the 4th of July holiday. My sources tell me that ECW Champ Tommy Dreamer was quite a "hit" on the sandy, Hawaiian beaches but I won't share the rest of the story as that would be like the "pot calling the kettle black." Anyway, it's called wrestling and not body building the last time I looked. Be sure and check out Tommy as a guest on the "Abraham Washington Show" this week on ECW which I think airs on Thursday this week. Check your local listings. Tommy made an excellent, verbal accounting of himself and it will be interesting to see how much of it makes air. I am a Dreamer fan who wishes that more of the young wrestlers looking to get their feet wet would tap into Tommy Dreamer's passion and love of the biz.   

For the record, Arn Anderson told me long ago that "our fat looks better brown than white" which is why I enjoy my backyard pool in the summer time. I adhere to Double A's philosophy. It is what it is, folks.

BTW Honolulu was packed over the weekend at the WWE event. I have often wondered what a stadium event in Honolulu would have done back in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's heyday. My guess is that it would have done big biz considering "The Great One's" heritage.

The Raw crew is in Tokyo for two days and it will be interesting to see how those two shows do as the overall wrestling biz in Japan is soft from what I can tell.

Have you checked out "The Film Room w/ Gordon Solie" on WWE 24/7 Classics on Demand? This is one of my most favorite projects on which to work. The old, one camera film, not video tape, shoots from back in the day were awesome. It's also interesting to see how the story telling back then was more deliberate and easier to follow and seemed to allow the fans to make more of an emotional investment into what they were seeing. I think the bottom line is that fans were given more of an opportunity to get to know the stars that they saw on their TV sets which is akin to the era of pro sports prior to Free Agency which then saw long time, established stars begin moving from team to team. Main stream sports fans then became, seemingly, much more of a fan of their team than the individuals that comprised their favorite squads. 

I have been closely following the World Series of Poker on line which sort of spoils portions of the future telecasts for me. I should practice what I preach and avoid the "spoilers" like the plague but my curiosity gets the better of me.  I have become a big fan of the WSOP much like I have with MMA. I watched WSOP until the wee hours last night on ESPN2.

Sheamus, the Celtic Warrior, is earning good reviews while touring with WWE. Sheamus is a big, tough, Irish kid who has a discernible up side and could be a future star if he stays healthy and sane along with getting a little good luck. Sheamus formerly played rugby which isn't for the faint of heart and speaks for the young man's toughness.  

Our orders in our store here on the site are doing o.k. but really need to pick up. We would appreciate any business you can throw our way and if you have an ideas that you think would increase sales, please let us know. 

Our J.R.'s Original BBQ Sauce is getting great reviews and if you haven't tried it I hope that you will. Plus, we have the FREE SHIPPING offer on cases of sauce which is priced at under $50. Single bottles of sauce is only $3.99 for an 18 ounce, plastic bottle.  

After looking more throughly at the recent 15 person trade announced on Raw last week, I think that two WWE Superstars will contribute in a big way to Raw, Gail Kim and Jack Swagger. I am a big Gail Kim fan and feel she can become, arguably,  the hottest Diva on Raw which could well mean another championship for the young lady who grew up in Toronto and who now lives in Tampa. Swagger is a future PPV main eventer and even though that might be a year or so away from happening I think that it will happen. Swagger has the youth, size, and athletic ability to evolve into a great asset for WWE if he keeps working hard, learning his craft, stays out of trouble and off the injured list.  

Horrible tragedy that ended the life of former NFL QB Steve McNair over the weekend. I clearly remember "Air McNair" attending more than one WWE event in Nashville while he was starring with the Titans. Steve got the NFL, VIP treatment with front row seats and he always seemed to enjoy himself and be up on what was going on in the ring. It seems that the QB who was shot dead in a Nashville condo a couple of days ago came to Monday Night Raw with his sons if my memory serves me correctly. I do know that McNair was a nice guy who seemed happy to be attending the events and wasn't such a big star that attending Raw was "beneath" him.

Yours truly will be heading to Connecticut Wednesday for a one day trip to do some TV production. I like trips that sees one out only one night a week which is the type of schedule I grew accustomed to on Raw.  With the addition of WWE Superstars, the Tuesday tapings of Smackdown, and the post produced, voice over work, the TV production schedule has changed for many.

I have updated the Q&A Section of the site and invite you to check it out.

Again, thanks to those of you who have placed orders, no matter how big or small, in our on line store and to those of you that have visited our BBQ Joint in Norman. We sincerely appreciate your business.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.