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

Editor's Note: Here's the first of Jim's weekly pre-game blogs. Jim Ross of course is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, owner of J.R.’s Family BBQ, but a life long Sooner fan who has written three best selling books and has appeared weekly on national TV for over 25 years.

In the spirit of the alleged “No Huddle” offense the Oklahoma Sooners will or will not run more often than not this season here is a quick series of questions, some answers, and some BBQ’ed (obligatory plug) opinion on the 2008 Sooners. more »

Yours truly will be heading to Indianapolis Saturday afternoon to prepare for Sunday's Summerslam pay per view. I want to do ample home work to get ready for this event which is has the chance to be special.  Great PPV's are the one's when matches one expects to be bad are actually watchable and when good matches become great or at least exceed expectations. Plus every great PPV needs that one match that provides the "Wow" factor.  more »

As a MMA fan and a customer of UFC PPVs, I recently shared a few thoughts of the Minneapolis event. These were simply my personal thoughts as a fan. Nothing more and nothing less. However, it seems that my long term association with sports entertainment with the WWE is a problem for a handful of vocal MMA devotees. I prefaced my comments that I was not an expert, but simply a fan. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for some. I loved the presentation and look forward to the upcoming Atlanta event. How I referenced B.J. Penn inaccurately can be attributed to attention to detail and writing in the middle of the night. My bad entirely. I still think 2009 is the right time for the Penn vs. St-Pierre fight. Die hards would buy the fight tomorrow, but new fans would benefit from a solid build so that they too could emotionally invest in the matchup. Any one with an ounce of common sense knows that the show biz presentation of pro wrestling knows the distinct difference between MMA and ‘rasslin. Nonetheless, after being a MMA fan since its inception and being around TV production including pro wrestling and football for many decades, a slick television production of any PPV event is an important element of any event with which big money is charged.

Most MMA fans are level headed fans of MMA and other sports but the handful of those that rip a guy because of one’s professional background are near sighted and need to get over themselves. I made a few personal observations/suggestions that I felt had merit largely as it relates to TV production. I also made it clear that I really enjoyed the show not that it seemed to matter to some. To the best of my knowledge, no MMA fan was forced to read my blog which was more intended to invite my core audience to sample MMA if they already had not. Upgraded TV production has zero to do w/ pro wrestling but everything to do with broadcasting. Sorry if I offended anyone but I am still under the impression that the 1st Amendment is still in place and one man’s opinion is just that. I like to write about things that I like including football, pop culture, and, of course Bar-B-Q, and will continue to do so. That includes MMA, which I truly enjoy as a fan...not an expert.

Boomer Sooner!
JR

The all star tandem of John Cena and Batista imploded Monday nite and lost the World Tag Titles back to Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase after a 7 day reign. Then Cena and the Animal had a predictable brawl... predictable in the sense that the 2 popular superstars obviously were not on the same page. The brawl certainly increased my interest in Cena and Batista’s Summerslam bout. It will be interesting to see what role the live crowd in Indy plays, if any, when these two have their alpha male battle. This one could go either way and if Batista’s wheel is good to go I’m leaning toward the Animal. That probably guarantees a Cena win.

C.M. Punk is fighting for respect and to retain the World’s Title against the dangerous JBL. I see Punk winning but it won’t be easy. Interesting clash of wrestling styles also. The question here is where does a loss put Punk? Fluke? Overachiever? Back to the drawing board? Punk has never been in a match in his life this important all things considered. more »

I am not an expert on the world of MMA. Let's get that straight from the top of this piece of business. I am, however, a fan of MMA and I paid retail just like any other fan to watch the UFC presentation Saturday night that emanated from Minneapolis.

These are observations from, first of all, a MMA fan but also from a guy who has been in the sports entertainment biz for a few years who has been a part of many pay per view presentations since the basic inception of the pay TV. Some of my comments are as a MMA fan and some of my comments regarding the television presentation might be from my background from my "day job".

So be it. more »

Saturday night is a big night in Minneapolis for the UFC and for former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar as Brock meets dangerous Heath Herring in an important fight for Lesnar to win. Lesnar weighed in Friday at 265 pounds which seems like a great weight for the former NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Lesnar is still bigger than his veteran adversary (Herring weighed in at 250) but at 265 Lesnar will likely be cat quick which will make his single leg take downs virtually unstoppable. Lesnar needs to fight in "controlled rage" mode against Herring who is far from a "push over" or a "Palooka", as my dad used to say. The 12,000 plus that are slated to attend the fight in Lesnar's present hometown will definitely be pro-Brock which can't hurt a thing as it relates to Lesnar's chances of not going 0-2 in the UFC. Lesnar can easily morph into a beast and a rah-rah, college-like atmosphere may facilitate that transformation which some might consider to be costly for Brock if he takes any unnecessary chances or tries to accomplish too much too fast. Being a Lesnar fan, I have plenty of concerns regarding this fight but I do think he will win and demonstrate how much his technique has improved since his debut.

It's really hard to see this fight going to the judges.

As much as has been said about the Lesnar-Herring fight, it isn't even the main event. The 170 pounders meet in the main event featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch in a UFC Welterweight Title Bout in what will be a physical piece of business. One of the things that I like about MMA is that a talented athlete of a buck seventy can earn his way to big money and being on top of the card. That certainly doesn't happen very often in pro wrestling. Fitch is an overachieving athlete and has been since his days in the Purdue wrestling room and shouldn't be intimidated. St. Pierre is simply awesome and has to be considered one of the best, half dozen fighters in the world. So sit back and enjoy this one and I'll be right there with you watching from Norman, Oklahoma on pay per view. more »

Two of sport's most well known icons changed their surroundings within the past few days. Both men are widely considered by most "experts" to have had careers meritorious of being ranked at or near the very top of their respective fields. Both men seemingly are looking at the brand building aspect of their professional lives by using their new surroundings.

Ric Flair and the WWE mutually agreed to part ways recently. From what I understand it was amicable. There is no doubt that after the many months of TV exposure that Flair received in late 2007 thru WM24 in the spring of 2008 that Ric's amazing body of work was enhanced by the build to his Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, the retirement match at WM24 vs. HBK, and the final farewell on Monday Night Raw the night after the big event in the Citrus Bowl. No athlete in wrestling has ever had the send off that Ric Flair received upon him retiring from active competition after a 30+ year, magical career. Ric's name identity is likely as prolific today thanks to the amazing 2008 send off as it has ever been since "Naitch's" heyday on TBS including Ric's days as a Horseman and battling the likes of Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race and others. more »

The announcement a few days ago that Ric Flair and the WWE had mutually agreed to part ways surprised me. When I last spoke to Ric in person we were in Charlotte for Smackdown and I spent several hours with "Naitch" that lasted well into the middle of the evening/early morning. He had several family members with him and Ric seemed really to be having fun. Ric's schedule with the WWE had been somewhat ambitious in Ric's view as Ric was one the road as much or more than he had been with his wrestling schedule in his later career. Nonetheless Ric said he was having a great time as a "Good Will Ambassador" for the WWE when we spoke. I do know that Ric had apparently received several offers to do numerous outside projects that were beyond the parameters of the WWE and that he seemed keenly interested in doing. Since the memorable Hall of Fame/Wrestlemania retirement weekend that really sent Ric off in style, Flair's popularity is arguably at an all time high. There is no doubt that Ric can stay very busy over the next several months and earn significant money in the process. On a personal level and after knowing Ric for parts of 3 decades, I would submit that Ric needs business structure in his life and hopefully his management team can provide that all important element. It would be like my pals ZZ Top handling all phases of their business including the financial end, tax planning, travel, scheduling etc and still be expected to be "on" and perform as is expected of them. Secondly, I hope that Ric doesn't succumb to a big money offer to actually wrestle. Any one who would pitch that idea doesn't have Ric's best interests at heart. more »

I hope this blog finds all healthy and relatively sane. The weather is hotter than donut grease here in Oklahoma but the "cement pond" comes in handy for a guy whose fat looks much better brown than white. (Thanks, Double A!)

For those that choose to watch or to DVR NBC's Saturday Night's Main Event, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with World Champion C.M. Punk's commentary during the opening 8 man tag that featured Raw Superstars. Punk doesn't get the credit yet that he has earned or deserves as the World's Champion. Punk has some RVD-like qualities about him as it relates to having a loyal and vocal fan base. If Punk can continue to navigate choppy waters, he will hopefully establish residence on the "next level" and stay there for the foreseeable future. more »

The uproar regarding Mike Adamle being named as the new G.M. of Monday Night Raw seems a little like overkill to me. Firstly, I am not sure how prominate a role the Raw G.M. will have going forward. Does any one as of today? The object of any creative endeavor should be to establish wrestling stars and all those that are involved in the process should focus on that particular matter. Secondly, Adamle has yet to have one complete Raw episode under his belt but he has apparently already been deemed a disaster by many fans and some pundits. It would seem reasonable, unless some one has a crystal ball, that one would allow Mike a few weeks to settle into his role and to see what individuality and entertainment content Adamle can bring to the game. Personally, I think it wold be easier for a newcomer like Adamle to successfully pull off the General Manager role easier than doing play by play.

We fans focus on the damnedest things at times. The Raw G.M. role has been at times a major character on the weekly, cable TV show while at other times the role was down scaled. One could assume that the position of Raw G.M. will evolve based on Adamle’s skills in a new role. It seems like the least we can do is give the guy a fair shake at creating is own persona before websites start polls and more editorials are written damning Adamle’s selection. more »