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

Just in time for Holiday Gift giving, J.R. releases his Economic Stimulus Package guaranteed to make the Holidays Happy. Effective immediately, ALL J.R. Holiday Packages will include “FREE SHIPPING.”

That’s right, enough to make even Santa himself jealous, J.R. is now offering “FREE SHIPPING” on all orders shipped to U.S.A. addresses. Plus, to sweeten the pot a little more, J.R. will personally autograph your gift to a person or family. One name or family name only please. Order early, the holidays are just around the corner.

Holiday Specials:

Beef Jerky Holiday Tin

Autographed Cookbook with J.R.'s Rub

J.R.'s Cookbook (Autographed)

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J.R. has been busy answering your questions. Be sure and check out his latest responses in our Q&A section.

Thanks for checking in with us. Nice, quick trip to Laredo, Texas on Tuesday for the Friday Night Smackdown taping with the HHH vs. Undertaker match being the highlight of the night in what was well over a 20 minute battle. The match was physical and intense and was the best old school main event I have seen in a good while on free TV.    more »

I have answered numerous Q&A's this morning and hope you enjoy them. Please consider making the questions shorter and with less conjecture so I can get to more of them in a more timely manner. 4 parters, for example,  with long, long dialog don't have a good chance of getting addressed. Thanks. JR

Tuesday's announcement that William Regal has been suspended for 60 days from the WWE is regrettable on many fronts. When I was in charge of the WWE talent roster a few years ago we sent Regal to drug rehab as he struggled to overcome his issues. Regal eventually became a success story as he cleaned himself up and got on with his life and career. In recent years, Regal has been a hard working, reliable and viable member of the talent roster. As a talent perhaps even to the point of being under utilized in the eyes of some. I do not know the details of his recent 60 day suspension but I do not think that Regal has "fallen off the wagon" and retreated to his misdirected ways of years gone by. Nonetheless, something went awry and the WWE Wellness Program, which is more thorough and organized than ever before, dropped the hammer on the talented Brit. With no pay for 60 days, two strikes against him and a family to care for, Regal finds himself in a challenging position. Some weak minded individuals could "poor me" it and say to hell with it and revert back to those aforementioned issues, but, I do not think Regal fits into that category.

This should be a great lesson for every one on the roster....be careful of every thing one ingests, including over the counter supplements that might contain even traces of banned substances. Education again becomes a key term in this issue as it is incumbent on each individual with which this program applies to know what is banned and what is not.

Inevitably some wrestlers will always continue to try and "beat the system" and eventually they will be caught and punished. My gut wants to say that William Regal was not intentionally trying to beat the system, but nonetheless the blood work doesn't lie.

I know that Regal has many peers who are pulling for him to return better than ever in 60 days and I count myself among them.

Great to see that this Monday's Raw in Denver has been sold out now for quite some time. It seems like it has been forever since were in the Rocky Mountain area and I am looking forward to it. The last time I was in Colorado it was a long day at the office as the CU Buffaloes beat Oklahoma on a last second field goal to upset the Sooners. That was my first trip to Boulder and I can see why so many folks enjoy that beautiful part of America. I wonder if Dr. Death Steve Williams or Leon "Vader" White will drop by and say hello to their friends in the WWE while Monday Night Raw is in their home area.

Mick Foley, by his own admission, is finding his new role as the color analyst on Smackdown to be a challenging one, but the intelligent Foley will no doubt be his diligent self and become a mainstay at the announce desk over time. Over my many years at the announce desk I have seen some of the greatest promo guys ever join the announcers for commentary for a match and get completely exposed and not in a good way. Bottom line, broadcasting wrestling, especially in today's ever changing marketplace, is not an easy job. Speaking in sound bytes, telling stories, being a narrator, asking questions without providing the answers and changing one's vocal inflictions without always yelling are skills that takes time and effort to master. Mick Foley has never not given great effort and his knowledge of the business and natural sense of humor will serve him well as time goes on in addition to him continuing to develop chemistry with Michael Cole....if that is his real name. Mick may find that "finding his rhythm" as a broadcaster is just as challenging as getting hired by the WWE back in the day, even though that seemed to have worked out well for all involved.

Yours truly is still on track to attend the Cauliflower Alley Club convention, at least two days of it, on June 10-11 and I may have "recruited" Stone Cold Steve Austin to attend as well. Steve loves the heritage of our business and if his schedule allows he may well venture to Vegas and enjoy the festivities which most likely means my bar tab just took a hit. This is not a done deal but there could be a "Texas Rattlesnake" sighting in Las Vegas in a few weeks. I had better stock up on plenty of J.R.'s Beef Jerky for this trip as there may be a couple of "all-nighters" in my future in Vegas where a little snack is needed.

As I mentioned here a week ago, I really enjoyed my trip to Tampa, hanging out with the American Dream, seeing the WWE's new state-of-the-art training facility and observing the young men and women train in hopes of some day becoming WWE Superstars. I did not go into any detail regarding the names of the prospects who I thought might have a better chance of making it than others and I likely won't for the time being. First of all, it's hard to assess talent in 24 hours or so plus I certainly do not want what I might write here to adversely affect or discourage any one in the program. However, I can say that the WWE cupboards are not bare but at the same time I did not see any one I would call up "tomorrow". "Don't pick 'em too green" as has been said in this space before.

That reminds me....I promised the "Dream" some more Chipotle ketchup....I've got him hooked. :)

I see where the WWE's next event in Monterrey, Mexico is already sold out and it looks as if the upcoming 4 day tour of Mexico is going to do big business. The potential money that wrestlers will be making in the future in cities outside the USA is scary.

Wrestling fans in the Bay area of San Francisco and Oakland will get to see two Monday Night Raws produced on Monday June 9. One will be live, followed by a taped version, that will air the following Monday. The entire presentation should still be completed by 10 p.m. or so Bay Area Bomber time. Speaking of the Bay area, San Fran, the Cow Palace, long time wrestling promoter Roy Shire, etc do you think that any of the young tag teams of today ever think to watch tapes/DVDs of the combo of Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens who ruled that area for years? Patterson and Stevens were arguably one of the top 5 tag teams of all time and that statement may be somewhat conservative.

No, I did not forget that it was almost 9 years ago at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, the same arena Monday Night Ray emanated from this week, where Owen Hart fell to his death. We did not speak of it on air nor did I think that we would, but it was definitely a point of discussion for many of us during the day especially for the King and me on our drive down from Omaha on Monday. Jerry and I sat in the same exact spot this past Monday night that we sat 9 years ago on the saddest night of our careers. After Monday's show went off the air, some fans in attendance started an "Owen" chant which was emotional for many of us that were Owen's friends and especially for those of us that were actually in attendance that night.

We may not have spoken of the moment 9 years ago on the air but it was in many of our hearts throughout the day and evening. It's impossible for me to walk into Kemper Arena without thinking of Owen Hart.

Thanks for checking out our on line store. I am told that this site will be back fully operational soon so we can begin our popular Q&A features. Bear with us....it could be this week.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

It was not really a major surprise that lovely Torrie Wilson was released from the WWE this week, as Torrie's chronic back issues were becoming problematic. Torrie has had an outstanding run in the business and came along in a timely fashion and had some really nice years financially with WCW and WWE. Torrie was a tomboy at heart and was much more athletic than many fans realized. I remember booking a live event card once in her home town of Boise, Idaho and thanks to Torrie's efforts doing media, the live event over achieved. She was a great interview and there wasn't a male DJ in the world that didn't love having her as an in-studio guest. Torrie had a great physical presence in the ring while her Playboy experiences were some of the hottest that any WWE Diva ever did. Torrie was always a good sport and worked diligently for the WWE during my days in the corporate tower. She even endured the TV storyline of her father, Al Wilson, and all that entailed. Finally, she was the first to remind me that her Boise State football team spanked my Oklahoma Sooners in the famous Fiesta Bowl that has been replayed seemingly a million times on a variety of media outlets. Was I angry at her remarks? Are you kidding me? Who could stay angry at one of the nicest ladies ever in the WWE? Sure as hell not me and especially not over a football game. Whenever Torrie decides to settle down, some lucky man is definitely going to "out kick his coverage".

Gregory "Hurricane" Helms did the smart thing by not over reacting to a negative situation that occurred in, what I understand, a sports bar after 1 a.m. recently. Gregory is a very bright young man who is still on the mend, but he used common sense in not getting involved in any physicality, even though the other guy probably deserved to have his ass kicked. The "nothing good after midnight" rule applies here, but I do applaud Helms for using discretion as the media would have loved to have had another negative wrestling story to headline the TMZ's of the world.

Gasp....Floyd Mayweather did not actually get $20M for his fight at WM24 or so we have been told...the boxing media, always known to never "hype" an event is appalled, pray tell. I don't know exactly what "Money" made for the fight, but I assure you he was pleased and who's to say that the monies he negotiated won't be flowing in for a while longer?

The media and others exaggerate numbers every day....have you been keeping up with the Presidential race and some of the news outlets' outlandish polls?

I recently read where wrestling websites exist solely on the back of the WWE, which I find perplexing. I don't necessarily agree with that assessment, but everyone has a right to their opinion. Without the WWE there is lots of other wrestling to cover globally, not to mention the ever growing mixed martial arts biz.

The stock market baffles me, which is probably why I am not overly invested in that medium. The WWE had a strong, or at least it seemed strong to me, quarterly result but their stocked dropped which doesn't do yours truly any favors.

I did not solely create the idea of the WWE Legends Video Game, but thru the Legend's Program that I did help launch, the video game concept was an idea I floated around the WWE about 10 years ago. It was akin to always wondering what it would be like for, say, Roger Clemens pitching to Mickey Mantle in a baseball video game. Now wrestling fans will be able to book some amazing dream matches with many of the greats that will be featured on the Legends Video Game. Yes, some old timers won't want to be a part of the process, but what can one do? Those veterans who want to help other old timers who did not plan for their future or drank their future away, etc would be well served to be a part of the video game and donate their earnings to those more needy, if that was there mindset. At least the Austin vs. Hogan match could be booked on the Legends Video Game.

Speaking of video games, I hear thru the video game world that the multiple postponements of the TNA video game is highly unusual, which will lead some to believe that there are issues. Hopefully there are none, but multiple false starts does raise an eyebrow or two.

I can't be sure why certain things jump into my mind, but this morning I thought about when I used to travel with Don "The Spoiler" Jardine, whose car was always immaculate and smelled so fresh, which was a contrast to the cigar stained, beer spill odors of so many other wrestlers. Don always had classical music on the radio, as well, and gave me a great education of what it took to be a great, wrestling villain. More people who have had long, productive careers in the wrestling business had one common denominator and that was that they worked the territories and were able to exchange ideas and philosophies on long car trips. It's amazing what happens when one doesn't have access to a cell phone, etc. A conversation actually takes place.

I read where Kurt Angle has been having more neck problems, which gives me cause for genuine concern. Getting that "one more match" and then "another match" out of a flawed body is flirting with disaster. I have great respect for Kurt's athletic ability and helped hire him in the WWE and I hope he doesn't stick around as a wrestler for one match too many. Especially when he has so many other skills that have little to do with putting on a singlet and risking his long term health.

As reported here several weeks ago, it was inevitable that the talk would start about a MMA bout between Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley. No matter what either man says, they are in the world of earning a living one fight at a time, as a rule, and this fight, if properly built over time, would be one I definitely would purchase and the sports world would talk about because both men have ample, international name identity thanks to the WWE. I think this one is a year or more away, but if Lesnar can get on a roll, and I think he can, and if Lashley is carefully booked in the early stages of his MMA career this match could be a super attraction.

Upon talking to Gerald Brisco recently, I asked him to tell me what he recalled about the time that Lesnar and Angle had an impromptu match in South Dakota many years ago. I watched it from ringside and didn't think that either man had a decided advantage for any extended length of time but Gerald remembers that it was Angle that got the better of the situation on that occasion. This is one of those stories that will grow and be embellished as the years go by.

We all should keep RVD's wife Sonja in our prayers during her battle with colon cancer. This is one fight that I can relate to and Sonja is a strong minded, Oklahoma girl who I have a strong feeling will overcome this obstacle in her life. Sonja is also one of the truly nice people I have had the privilege of meeting and is a great "wrestler's wife".

For the record, I am not a fan of stripping any one of a title and feel that titles should be won and lost inside the ring. I know I am old school, I get reminded of that on a fairly regular basis, but that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Don't count out a Jeremy Shockey trade just yet as the Giants can perhaps now leverage a better deal than they could going into the 2008 draft. Shockey, one of the most talented tight ends in the NFL, seemingly wants to have a fresh start and New Orleans is still in the hunt or so I hear. But what do I know....Hell, I'm just a 'rasslin announcer. :)

Thanks for checking out our online store and for your continued support of J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant and our family of products.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

After reading what some people have said regarding the three primary United States Presidential Candidates appearing on last Monday's Raw and the fact that now these eligible voters now are NOT voting is incredulous to me.

The price that our forefathers paid to insure that all Americans had the right to vote was a steep one and to declare that one isn't voting because the candidates briefly appeared on Monday Night Raw is "box of rocks" stupid. That's akin to the outrageous Howard Stern saying he would never vote for an individual for President of the United States who watches wrestling. I have heard other "reasons" as to why some candidates won't get some folk's votes including, "I would never vote for a woman"...."I would never vote for a person of color (or variations thereof of that ignorant statement)...or "I would never vote for a person who is 72 years of age".

When I hear this logic employed, the old cliche of "Pet Coon Goofy" becomes applicable. Please vote if you are eligible and don't be adumbass.

I have seen on various wrestling websites that polls and columns have been written about who is Ric Flair's greatest opponent or "Naitch's" greatest match. I have read some really entertaining and informative material on this subject, many of which brought back some great memories. After looking at many of the bouts up for nomination as Flair's greatest opponent or Ric's greatest matches it's humbling to realize that I have had the honor of broadcasting more than my fair share of these classics.

In my opinion, Ric's greatest opponent, as far as match quality and continuing to raise the bar each and every time they competed, has to be Ricky Steamboat. I know Ric feels this way too. There is no doubt that the greats of the game like Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes,Wahoo McDaniel, Terry Funk, etc, among many others, deserve "props," but Steamboat truly brought out the best in Ric and visa versa.

Flair and Steamboat had many classics over the years and some of their stuff in the late 70s was awe inspiring, but their rivalry in and round 1989 was the stuff that most fans will remember and be best familiar with, as it was during the days of PPV and live, cable TV specials. I do not recall in my 30+ years in the business a better and more compelling, dramatically athletic story being told in the ring than between these two artisans in '89 while we were all atWCW working for Ted Turner. These two were silky smooth, but don't think for one second that these two men were not overtly physical with each other, because they were...trust me on that one.

For any young wrestler or wrestling wanna be, I strongly suggest you familiarize yourself with Flair vs. Steamboat in any form you can access it and truly study the chemistry these two had and the philosophy as to why their matches created magic.

Steamboat, for my money, is a WWE Hall of Famer to be, and it would be great to see Ric Flair induct arguably "Naitch's" greatest opponent.

Great effort by Bernard Hopkins against the talented and tough Joe Calzaghe a few days ago in what was an entertaining "prize fight" as my late dad would say. I loved the between rounds banter between Calzaghe's trainer/father and his son, the fighter, which had me wanting to put on the trunks....well, sort of.

The documentary film "Beyond the Mat" is making its rounds again I see. This documentary which was originally scheduled for limited released as an "art film" or so I was told, has to have done well in a financial sense for the producers. Especially considering that I don't think the producers had much money invested in paying those of us who took our time and appeared on the film and contributed to the production of it. I know I was never paid a dime for my contributions on it, which used to bother me more then than it does now. Nonetheless, for those that haven't seen it, "Beyond the Mat" provides a unique and somewhat one dimensional look at the dark side of the business in what some would describe as an exploitative manner. I also can't deny that it is at times a compelling production. I just wish I had not been mislead and could have earned a fair payday from it.

I see on the media dirt Internet sites that TV personality Star Jones, the former panelist on ABC's "The View," who lost a ton of weight, is, reportedly and unfortunately, getting a divorce. Years ago at a WWE function in New York City at WWE New York, as I recall, a then single and somewhat heavier Star Jones was introduced to the then single Jonathan Coachman and many on lookers thought that Ms. Jones, by the gleam in her eye, had just found the man of her dreams. She was apparently enamored by "The Coach" but the Smackdown talker used his basketball skills to "avoid contact" and Ms. Jones' "full court press". Just think, what if....

Let me be the first to suggest that the broadcasting tag team of Mike Adamle and The Tazz broadcast the 12 Diva Tag Team bout this Sunday in The Baltimore at Backlash, which is sold out, for the record. I'm not sure theMamajuna-fueled Jerry Lawler could handle it...so to speak. I am looking to see how Natalia "Nattie" Neidhart represents herself and her famous Hart family on her first WWE PPV. I expect it will be well indeed. I have high expectations for young, Ms.Neidhart.

I read a story recently that reminded me of the first telephone conversation I ever had with Vince McMahon. It was the late 80s and I was inBixby, Oklahoma working for Bill Watts' UWF . McMahon wanted to hire Missy Hyatt to come to work for the WWE to host a TV segment called "Missy's Manor". Bill Watts had Missy under contract and did not want to even speak with McMahon OR want to release Hyatt from his employee even though the large Cowboy did not particularly care for Missy or really for any other lady in the biz for that matter. Bottom line, the talent was not being utilized to their fullest potential for Watts, McMahon was wiling to provide the talent with an career opportunity, so why in the hell should the talent not be allowed to move on? I was assigned to handle the matter and did with no compensation from McMahon (what was I supposed to get a future "draft choice"?) which did not enamor me for a few days with Bombastic Bill.

Reportedly the WWE European Tour grossed approximately $14.5M in ticket sales alone and the total revenue number will be even more staggering when the merchandise dollar figure is added to the mix. In my opinion, the most significant future growth within the WWE is going to be on an International basis and as I have said before I can see Monday Night Raw being produced several times a year outside the USA as time goes on.

Don't forget that you can buy our Bar-B-Q products, including our delicious Sauces, Beef Jerky, Peanuts, Chipotle Ketchup, Jalapeno Honey Mustard from our on line store and we ship world wide. We also have autographed copies of "J.R.'s Cookbook" available there as well. Plus, WWE Shop at www.wwe.com sells two of our sauces and two flavors of our Beef Jerky which is 97% fat free.

Yes, this Bar-B-Q site was established to help us sell our products from our on line store and to promote our restaurant business. This obvious information is for those of you that can't get enough 'rasslin dirt and get P.O.'ed when I mentioned food in these blogs. Get over it or don't visit the site...that's your call.

For those of you that do stop by on a regular basis, your patronage is sincerely appreciated. We are growing by leaps and bounds here on this site and are anxious to open our second eatery in mid June. Indeed we have much to be thankful for.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

It was a long travel day Tuesday, but American Airlines got yours truly home safe and sound and on time. It is always fun to travel to the UK and I keep telling myself that on some of these international tours I am missing a great opportunity by not traveling a day or two earlier and enjoying the sights more. I am sure one of these days I am going to look back at all the trips I will have made abroad over the years where I essentially flew in, worked and left. As usual, the UK fans were awesome and they are so knowledgeable. For the record, I watched "No Country for Old Men" twice on the plane and still don't "get" the ending. Helluva movie though.

The WWE's international growth is pretty amazing, especially when one has the occasion to meet many of the ever evolving "business partners" the WWE is establishing around the world. I could see broadcasting many more Monday NightRaws outside the USA as times goes on, which will be important to global brand building.

Joey Styles, who, in my opinion, has been an excellent television announcer for years, has left ECW, as many of you know, and will be taking his skills to www.wwe.com and will be involved in providing content to the site or at least that's how I understand it. I think it is imperative that for theWWE's website to continue to grow, that more people with product knowledge and "wrestling in their blood" be involved and Joey certainly fits that criteria. If Joey's job description is close to as mentioned here, Styles will remain attached to the product by attending the Monday and Tuesday television events, not to mention the pay per views. Joey joining the www.wwe.com team is really big for that group, as Joe will being great passion and a through understanding of the product to the table.

I spoke with Mike Adamle, who replaced Joey, at length Monday night after Raw about his new assignment. Mike is a former world class athlete who played in the NFL so Mike's natural, competitive nature will help the former running back in his new venture. Wrestling fans can be tough to please at times and there is no doubt that Mike will have to earn the audience's confidence, which will be a work in progress. Hopefully, wrestling fans will giveAdamle the opportunity to settle in and develop his wrestling broadcasting skills. Broadcasting wrestling has never been more challenging, especially considering there are so many masters to serve in today's marketplace, including promoting magazines, the Internet, sellingPPVs , calling shorter bouts, DVD sales, etc on virtually every broadcast. This business is not about what one has done in the past and any broadcaster is only as good as his last outing. I still get nervous before every show and feel it is my responsibility to get better every week at what I do for a living. "Next week" is guaranteed to no one.

The King of the Ring Tournament was one of my favorite events in years past as I like one night tournaments. I like to see an event start and finish the same night as that is fundamental, episodic television. This will be, as I understand it, a single elimination tournament, which is easy to follow, the winners advance and the losers hit the showers. My firstKOR was in 1993 in Dayton, Ohio and Bret Hart won the honors that night. The KOR has been defining moments for several WWE superstars, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Owen Hart, HHH , Kurt Angle to name a few. I don't know what Superstars are entered from the 3 brands that will be represented in Monday's competition, but I could theoretically see someone coming from out of nowhere and winning the tournament to be held inGreenville, South Carolina. What about a Lance Cade from Raw ,for example?

Would you like to know where Ric Flair weighs in on the HBK/Batista conflict? Me too, and perhaps that would be a great exclusive for WWE.com considering that Ric is the center of thecontroversy. Ric being mentioned by the former Mayor of Charlotte, Representative Sue Myrick , on the floor of the United States Congress, was damned cool this week. Usually when Congress mentions wrestling it isn't so positive. Just from talking to folks in airports and on planes, more are talking to me aboutMichaels vs. Batista at Backlash than any other bout.

While on the subject of politicians, even though few sane people actually think that Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will ever step into a Monday Night Raw ring, both the Democratic candidates could do much worse, and they have, by recording a short address or speaking via a live, satellite hookup to the wrestling fans of America. That certainly would make both candidates be perceived as less elite and more down to earth. As a voter, that's how I see it.

WWE kingpin, Randy Orton, dodged a big time bullet Monday night after landing mostly on his head and neck at the hands of a nasty suplex, executed by William Regal.

Our online store has been experiencing excellent growth, thanks everyone who has been shopping with us, and the latest on the new J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q coming to Moore, Oklahoma is that it should be ready to go just prior to Monday Night Raw rocking the OKC Ford Center on Monday June 30. Raw tickets go on sale Saturday morning, May 17.

We will be back with another blog soon and will have more Q&As up soon as well. Hopefully, the improvements to the site will be finished in a few days so thanks for your patience.

Boomer Sooner
J.R.

I'm taking powerful eye drops (a form of a steroid...gasp) every hour that I am awake that should have me good to go by Monday night's big 3 hour RAW, that will most certainly have Wrestlemania 24 implications. I'm just thankful I'm not driving from Oklahoma to Milwaukee this week or that would be an adventure.

I'm looking forward to seeing our old pal Gordon "Red" Batty and his son in Milwaukee. Red is the equipment manager for the Green Bay Packers and is honoring me with a signed Brett Favre Packers jersey that we will hang in our newest J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q, which we hope opens in mid April even though my money is on May 1.

Speaking of Favre, did you see the Sports Illustrated piece comparing #4 to the "Nature Boy" this week. Fun piece and it was obvious the author was a Flair fan at some point in his life. Of course, the expected and obligatory dig from the legit sports guy was present but all in all it was a fun read. Check it out on SI.com.

Wrestling lost one of its classiest and toughest competitors this week with the passing of Don Curtis. Don was a great collegiate wrestler and football player and is one of the very few men I have never heard his peers say one negative word about. In the wrestling business that is virtually an impossibility, with all the jealousy and insecurities that often times exist in the old locker room. Don and Mark Lewin made a superb tag team and Don eventually became Eddie Graham's promoter in Jacksonville for many years. Don was a bona fide credit to the business and if wrestling had more men in it like Don Curtis it would be much better off.

Pet Peeve of the Week.....no time limits for the vast majority of wrestling matches. Time limits make the sports entertainment presentations have a little more "sport" to them and add to the sense of urgency. Point made...soap box stored.

I get asked questions all the time from wannabe wrestlers about how to go about training. There are several good schools that offer legit training, but one suggestion is to investigate www.OVWrestling.com and contact Danny Davis in Louisville. Danny is producing two TV shows a week in addition to all the in ring training and Davis is one of the best, most honest guys around.

One of my favorites, Larry King, will have a Wrestlemania themed show next week on CNN featuring Vince McMahon, John Cena, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Chris Jericho, who could well steal the show. I'm kinda surprised that the King of Talk did not request Maria considering her Playboy cover is every where as we speak and Larry's fondness for lovely ladies. Larry was known to be quite the ladies man in his day and his former makeup artist in Atlanta and former WWE Superstar, Terri Runnels, has shared many a hilarious story on the talk master.

John Legend will sing "America the Beautiful" at Wrestlemania 24 which could have eliminated the ultra talented legend from being on Lilian Garcia's Christmas card list. :)

Wrestlemania will be "Posse Central" with the likes of "Money" Mayweather, 50 Cent, John Legend, Kim Kardashian (Reggie Bush??), and one of our all time favorites, Snoop Dogg. WM24 catering should be an interesting place to hang.

Just thinking out loud here, but if Kim Kardashian, reality TV star, were a wrestler would she use the "Stink Face" as her finishing maneuver? She has the equipment for it, not that it's a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.

Have you caught "The Dirt Sheet" starring John Morrison and The Miz on www.wwe.com lately? It has been entertaining and it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see it make its way to ECW TV. I wish Morrison and Miz would be traded to RAW.

I received a wonderful signed copy of Bret Hart's autobiography and it is definitely a "must read," just as most sane people have said. I don't do book reviews per se, but this is one helluva read and I have much admiration and respect for Bret for his tireless efforts in telling a thorough and honest story. If you are a fan of wrestling to any degree, this is one book I strongly suggest you read. Chris Jericho's is another. I am looking forward to getting some tights, etc from Bret to frame and hang in our new restaurant. It is great seeing "The Hitman" making appearances at fan conventions on occasion, which is an indicator that he is feeling better. I really miss seeing Bret wrestle I can tell you that.

I spoke with the Rock recently about the hiring of the new Athletic Director at Rock's alma mater, the University of Miami, where the Great One has donated a ton of cash to help endow scholarships and improve the athletic facilities. My friend Kirby Hocutt, formerly here at Oklahoma, is the new head honcho at "The U" which should make every alum very happy. Rock is jacked about being a part of the WWE HOF Ceremony on Saturday March 29. I am not a TV programmer, but I can't see how the entire HOF Ceremony shouldn't be televised as it can't be any worse than the never ending story known as the Academy Awards Show. Perhaps next year MyNetworkTV, Sci Fi, or USA will step up to the plate and cover the bulk of the festivities. ESPN does a nice job covering the Pro Football Hall of Fame so why not the WWE HOF becoming a major TV event?

As we mentioned here several weeks ago it should come to no one's surprise that Bobby Lashley is training to compete in the MMA and will be a viable commodity for some MMA organization to bid for and Lashley using TNA as a little leverage for a big money MMA deal is predictable, but smart. Bobby's MMA window is closing as he isn't a kid fresh out of college and he needs to hit for a big lick of cash sooner than later in MMA. Pro wrestling will always be there if and when Lashley decides to go back into the ring. Lashley is an intense and gifted athlete whose skills and comfort level may well be best suited for MMA and I wish him well. I like it that he is taking his time, training, and allowing the offers to be fielded as they come. Lashley should have plenty of suitors.

It would be nice to see some fireworks between Mayweather, Jr. and the Big Show Monday night at their weigh in on RAW. This concept might be risky, because I don't think "Money" has totally gotten just how powerful the 400 plus pound Big Show is and the fact that Floyd is going to scoop into WM24, make a HUGE payday and bolt while Show is going to stay in the WWE for the foreseeable future and continue to earn a living. I have known wrestlers in the past who would "go into business for themselves" in matters such as this to protect their individual persona's. The problem is if Show manhandles "Money" prior to WM24 would Floyd want any more on March 30? Floyd has not endeared himself to the WWE locker room or so it seems. I could be wrong on that assessment, but that's one man's opinion.

Finally, last week the Mrs. and I lost our 18 year old cat Molly that we nicknamed "Molly 3:16' after she "kicked out" of an illness many years ago. We adopted Molly when she was 7, while living in Connecticut. With my corporate work load and travel schedule, Molly was my wife's constant pal and kept her company while I was away. I never liked cats before we gave Molly a home, as growing up with a redneck, hardass father we were not allowed to have any pets in the house. Molly won me over and it was heart breaking to have to put her down after she suffered what is thought to be a series of strokes. I realize that in today's world of controversial feedback from fans that this subject will likely be lampooned which is fine. I felt like I owed it to my wife Jan, Molly and all our friends and the wrestlers that had visited our home over the years that Molly entertained to mention her passing.

Thanks for checking out our site and for doing a little business with us in our never closed on line store. Don't be afraid to bring any J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q signs to TV events as "baby needs new shoes". Yes, this site is an infomercial waiting to happen, but we hope we provide enough infotainment to keep everyone happy. If our gratuitous plugs anger some of you then by all means avoid this site like the plague and continue to send your heavy handed feedback to other wrestling websites. For the other wrestling sites that help us promote our Bar-B-Q business via this site we are very grateful. Also please keep your questions and comments coming as we are doing our best to keep up with the new Q&A section of our site. There's our webmaster and yours truly currently working on the site so it is easy to see that we can get a little behind from time to time and it is physically impossible to answer all the questions we receive, but we will continue to do our best. We have several specials in our store and are selling more Bar-B-Q Sauce, Beef Jerky and our soon to be famous "I've Got Big Nuts" T shirts, ready to ship asap.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

I just wanted to let all of you know that if you have posted a comment and have yet to see it posted, don't panic, we have them, but are understaffed at the moment. J.R. will continue to post his blogs and we encourage you to continue to comment on them and we will post as we can. We are trying to get some new things in place to help manage everything and would like your feedback on how to implement.

In the future, we would like to manage comments in 2 ways:

The first is when J.R. posts a blog and you simply have a comment to make, we would like that to remain the way it is now and you simply comment on that particular post.

The second way is how we will handle questions. We would like a separate place on the site where you can ask J.R. a question and then your question will go into a different location. This way we can keep comments separate from questions and hopefully have a better format to access the information.

Once we get this set up, we would also like to have a user based system to help with our current spam issue. This way, you would create a user and if you wanted to post a comment, you would need to log in first. If we can get this going properly, the inappropriate comments (criticism is OK, but foul language and name calling is not necessary) will still go into moderation, but the users that have posted comments in the past that have followed the guidelines will post immediately. It would almost be a forum type setting and we may have that in the future, but until then, this would help with comment moderation.

We would like to know your thoughts on this and ask that you post any suggestions here. If you have another idea that might work, feel free to let us know. This is your site too and we would really like to know your thoughts.

Thanks for you time.
Webmaster