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

It is hard to believe that the WWE produced its 700th episode of Monday Night Raw this week from the All State Arena in Chicago. It’s even harder to believe that yours truly has been a part of most of those broadcasts with the occasional “interruption of service” that I have experienced along the way.

I have read where some have taken the WWE and yours truly to task about us saying that Monday Night Raw is the longest running, weekly entertainment broadcast in television history. That was a producer’s note I was briefed on a few hours prior to the broadcast and I assume it is totally accurate or I would not have been provided the information to use on the air.

Some internet sites make a living critiquing WWE and other company’s events, both televised and non televised. Simply put, it comes down to one’s “opinion” of what constitutes a good TV show or a bad TV show. It’s an opinion and I have no issue with people who express their opinions. I do it on this website all the time.

However, unlike some internet sites I will not be reporting rumors as news such as former WWE wrestler Corporal Krichner’s death last week when the individual in question is alive and well and is a truck driver. One or two sites had this story last week and others ran with it including www.wwe.com assuming it was legit. I read things on non WWE websites reported as “hard news” from time to time that are totally incorrect. Should these sites in question be called out by name and taken to task over shoddy “reporting” much like many televised events and live events are dissected by the wrestling media on a weekly basis?

Monday Night Raw has changed a great deal over the years much like other wrestling and TV programs in general. Many fans and critics don’t like these changes of adding more entertainment sizzle than actual, in ring wrestling to the presentations. I don’t dislike wrestling talk whatsoever but I don’t like what I personally perceive as talk for talk’s sake or putting wrestlers in positions they cannot succeed.

The major issue today, as I see it, is the overall lack of “stars” one any given brand. With fewer stars to draw from, many broadcasts have taken a different approach and a different look. The overall, main event level talent pool in the business arguably never has been thinner.

Developing tomorrow’s stars should be a high priority for all within the business of sports/entertainment. Perhaps this should be the biz’s highest priority.

Nonetheless, stars don’t grow on trees and for every 100 athletes one looks at you will be lucky to find 1 or 2 talents who can fully grasp the game and can contribute right away. And of that list of 1s and 2s you get even fewer main eventers.

Legitimate wrestling stars are born with intangible assets that those within the business responsible for these areas must be able to identify, embellish and cultivate.

Young wrestlers today by and large take too many short cuts and don’t spend enough time on watching classic wrestling tapes like one can find on WWE 24/7 and spend too much time playing video games, etc. Obtaining a “Holy S**t” moment is more important to some wannabe stars than learning their craft which starts with the inside and works its way out. This learning or passion comes from within and is not about how large one’s biceps might be or their rich, dark tan, etc. Looking great in a an 8X10 is nice but being able to execute in the ring is where the money is and not enough young wrestlers fully understand that concept/philosophy.

When Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, and Dusty Rhodes appeared on Monday Night Raw in Chicago, each man, although diverse as can be in their personal lives, have at least one shinning thing in common and that is that all were students of the game and developed their instincts to amazingly high levels over a long period of time. I mentioned that seeing these legends standing in the ring together after the post match melee on TV was a “Raw Moment” and I meant it. Some ‘net cynics took that to task too but that’s again their opinion. It will be fewer and fewer times we fans get to enjoy a moment here and there with some of the great, living legends of the business and I for one enjoy those moments and cherish each and every one of them. These men conjure up wonderful memories for me of generations’s past and of great, dramatic matches that had me, as a broadcaster, on the edge of my seat more often than not. All the Hall of Fame level veterans we saw on RAW Monday made their mark via wrestling, verbally expressing themselves naturally, by having great opponents with which to wrestle, and by not seeking out the proverbial “Holy S**t” moment via some elaborate stunt or ultra dangerous and ill conceived maneuver.

I have a vision of what my personally produced TV wrestling product would be but I don’t think it can be produced in today’s marketplace. The lack of quality depth within the business necessitates that there be more and more sizzle added to weekly presentations and less steak. “Quality Depth” is a key term all we wrestling fans should remain keenly aware of in the future. It’s no different than in the NFL (no extra QBs running around with nothing to do), MLB (huge lack of quality pitching), and the NBA (no abundance of young, dominating big men.)

Hopefully, some new, young stars will “break thru” much sooner than later within the biz and we might be able to improve the overall in ring product. This would appeal to me personally but I also realize I am not in most TV show’s target demo any longer so my 54 year old opinion may not carry much weight at the end of the day.

I do think that there are youngsters in the business who have the potential to be box office stars in the future if they become student’s of the game and study what made their predecessors so great. And if these young people have passion and respect for the business in general.

I firmly believe that fans of today’s wrestling genre still love physicality, fundamentally sound wrestling, and richly cultivated personal issues.

This is not an issue of “glass ceilings” and “politics” but an issue of which young men or women are going to study the masters and physically go the extra mile to achieve greatness? It’s time for the young talents with potential to step up and demand to not be overlooked via what the fans see in the ring and become the Brisco’s, Funk’s, Race’s, Rhodes’, Steamboat’s, DiBiase’s, Flair’s, Patterson/Stevens’, Gagne’s, Sammartino’s, Superstar Graham’s etc of tomorrow.

Without wrestling territories, the road is more challenging for these young talents but it can be done. It starts in the head and the heart, with knowledge and passion, and, naturally, entails physically fit athletes who are fundamentally sound and want to steal the show every time the bell rings.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

J.R.