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

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.    Another tough week for some WWE talents who got news that they were being released. I know that there are some really good human beings who will be soon looking for work and I sincerely hope that none of them stop chasing their dreams. Perhaps the cuts of the past two weeks indicate that several of the young talents from Florida Championship Wrestling are on the verge of being called up.   I read an interesting article about Tito Santana's transition from wrestling back to civilian life. Tito, a WWE Hall of Famer, got his college degree from then West Texas State where he played tight end on the college football team. Getting a degree in education allowed Tito to get into teaching once his wrestling days ended. Young wrestlers should strategize how Tito made the transition and copy it if possible. It all starts for me with a college education so that when one gets "future endeavored" that there are other viable options.    I have no idea what HBK is going to tell us Sunday at Summerslam but I hope it is that he is staying active at least on a part time basis. The WWE and the wrestling business needs Shawn Michaels more than HBK needs to wrestle. Shawn makes everyone around him better and is still the best in the business for my money especially when it comes to performing in a major match.   Edge has been as good as any one in the WWE or elsewhere in recent weeks and quite frankly I don't recall Edge ever being as compelling as he is as we speak. Edge has transformed himself into a demented, sick and evil man who seems to be looking forward to a jaw dropping outing Sunday inside the Hell in a Cell vs. The Undertaker. This match should close the show at Summerslam and will likely be a train wreck that includes casualties.    With Edge's recent dalliance with wedding planner Alicia Fox, does that make Edge the "John Edwards" of the WWE?   Candice Michelle had surgery on her twice broken collar bone and has been working out in Tampa at Florida Championship Wrestling. Raw is lucky to have the gorgeous Candice who is a Wisconsin tom boy at heart. I hope Randy Orton follows suit and has his twice broken clavicle surgically repaired so that Randy doesn't have reoccurring issues with it in the future. From what I hear, Orton is lucky to be around to tell the tale of his recent motor cycle accident. Thank goodness for helmets.    After putting in a dominating performance at UFC 87, it was obvious that Brock Lesnar took massive steps from his Frank Mir loss to his Heath Herring destruction. The Lesnar that I know will not stop until he is the best in his field that of being the heavyweight in MMA. As I understand it Lesnar has one more fight contracted with UFC and then he can either negotiate a fatter deal with the UFC or listen to other MMA organizations as to what they would be willing to pay the monster in the making. Lesnar made more money faster, north of 7 figures kind of money, in the WWE than any one I know including Steve Austin and The Rock who both did quite well 'rasslin. Lesnar walked away from the money to try his hand at the NFL which did not work as Brock had planned. The UFC was next. Point is that Lesnar is a nasty, perfectionist who is a big game player and has only scratched the surface as to how good he can be or will become in the future. I know that there are some MMA purists who like to rip my opinions of MMA but no one asked those individuals to read our blogs in the first place. Those handful of jerks who slam pro wrestling are no better than the politicos of the world who don't understand MMA and think that it should be banned. You know, like Senator John McCain once spoke of. Pro Wrestling is entertainment featuring great athletes and showmen. The MMA is an exciting, new sport that features great athletes and the athletes that can also become great showmen, as well as win fights, will end up making the most cash.    Yeah, I got it...the man's name is B.J. Penn. He's a stud without question. I called him B.J. Noons in a recent blog.  I fumbled on that one by writing in the middle of the night and not paying enough attention. At least I am willing to man up and admit my mistake. It's all on me but go a head and pile on 'cause I can handle it. I swear this was not a wellness issue.      How great would it be if Jeff Hardy vs. MVP kicked off Summerslam? Opportunity knocks for every performer Sunday and its always fun to see who comes to play on game day and who doesn't. Those that don't take the day seriously need to be "future endeavored".   Former ECW broadcaster Mike Adamle is doing a really solid job as the Raw General Manager. I still believe it is easier to be a reoccurring character such as a GM than a play by play announcer or color commentator in today's world of sports entertainment. I'm not too objective but the demands on today's wrestling broadcasters is far and above it has ever been in my career that started in the mid 70's. With publications, live events, seemingly a pay per view every few days, dot com, text voting, and the occasional wrestling match to call, the job has taken on entirely different demands.    Please say a prayer for Killer Kowalski who suffered a heart attack recently. As I write this Killer is trying to kick out and make the proverbial comeback on his adversary. There are some classic Killer Kowalski matches on WWE 24/7 that I checked out recently that were awesome.    Yours truly has been busy working on my travel schedule for this football season so that I am organized and ready to make my WWE commitments. For example, I will go to Waco, Texas and watch OU play Baylor and then hustle back to Dallas to fly to Portland to participate in No Mercy the next day. The weekend the Sooners play at Texas A&M is the same time frame I have to prepare to fly to Manchester, England (great city) for Smackdown. It's all about long term planning and time management plus having a very understanding wife. :)   I hope you are enjoying our new site. Don't forget to check out the Q&A's and our store which has several items including caps and shirts for under $10.    See you Sunday in Indy and Tuesday in Moline. You might see me in Moline Monday afternoon looking for a good BBQ place to try or I might hit the John Deere Steakhouse as I am told that it is really good. Enjoy Summerslam and eat more "Q"!   Boomer Sooner! J.R.