Black Widow
01-30-2008, 11:27 AM
- Jim Ross is back with his second blog this week over at jrsbarbq.com. As usual, here are some of the wrestling related highlights from this entry:
The biggest news to come out of the weekend was the surprising return of John Cena, who some WWE fans seemingly dislike as much, if not more than they did before John was injured and underwent pec surgery to repair a torn tendon. As I have said before, when fans pay their hard earned cash they can cheer or boo for whomever the hell they choose. This is certainly not to say that John Cena doesn’t have a legion of fans, because I can tell you from his merchandise numbers that John does. I was backstage at MSG pretty much all afternoon Sunday and NEVER saw Cena one time. I am under the impression that John did not arrive to the arena until after the event started, but that’s an assumption. When I talked to John on Monday he said he was feeling great and was healthy, that he had rehabbed extra hard for his return and was bench pressing around 400 pounds, which sounds pretty damn healthy to me. One of Oklahoma’s strength coaches was Cena’s coach in college and said that John was strong as a bull when he arrived on campus as a freshman and spent more time in the weight room than any other player on Springfield College’s football team. That doesn’t surprise me considering Cena’s work ethic.
Broadcasting the Rumble match with 5 other announcers is a challenging piece of business. Unlike the Money in the Bank Ladder match that multiple announcers did at WM23, the Rumble match is so long and diverse with 30 multiple entrants that it is tough to maintain continuity while hearing so many voices and trying to insure that everyone has a chance to “get in the game.” I would have been happy to have sat that one out if that decision had been made even though I thoroughly enjoyed the Rumble match.
From a broadcasters point of view, at least for me, the Elimination Chamber is challenging to broadcast because of the extreme uniqueness of the event and the nature of the structure, especially the sight lines. Thank goodness for the TV monitors. No participant comes out of the Elimination Chamber unscathed I assure you. The structure is far from being wrestler friendly.
Ring announcer, Michael Buffer, who strolled into the Garden Sunday to do one match for what I am sure was a handsome payday, was allegedly not overly approachable on Sunday, according to some. The King said Buffer was somewhat aloof when Jerry attempted to strike up a conversation with the accomplished ring announcer, but I never had the occasion to converse with Buffer so I don’t know if he is simply reserved, somewhat introverted, or was simply jet lagged.
The Stone Cold Steve Austin DVD comes out on February 12, as best I recall, and I received an advance copy of the DVD about a week ago. All the content is material that Steve himself wanted to include in the release and I can assure you that Steve is such a perfectionist that much of what is perceived to be great material by many of us did not make the cut. Stone Cold fans everywhere will truly enjoy this DVD….because Good ‘Ol J.R. said so!
I read where some establishments do not air WWE PPVs any longer. I don’t know the details regarding that one or how accurate that statement may be, but we air all the WWE PPVs at J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant at I-35 and Main Street in Norman. We had a packed house Sunday night from what I am told for the Royal Rumble. For the record, we never charge a cover, but do appreciate folks eating dinner and not just enjoying just a single glass of sweet tea for 2-3 hours.
Speaking of Texas, Monday Night RAW rolls into Austin, Texas this week and I would bet some delicious J.R.’s Bar-B-Q Sauce or our new J.R.’s Peanut Brittle that yours truly will be booed when I walk to my broadcast position with my theme music of “Boomer Sooner” blaring. As I said earlier, when folks pay their hard earned cash to attend an event they should be able to boo or cheer whomever they choose and I am a big boy and can handle it. As a matter of fact I am actually looking forward to the short flight to Austin which, for the record, is a helluva town to visit. From what I gather, two Monday night Raws will be produced in Austin so the fans in that area will truly get a Texas-sized version of Monday Night Raw and tickets are selling well, from what I am told. Yours truly will be in Austin on Sunday to be able to catch the Super Bowl game and still get a good night’s sleep to prepare for the “double-header” come Monday night. For the RAW fans in Austin who are planning on attending the event, be aware of the special starting time.
Cody Rhodes actually wore those new, blue boots for the first time Sunday at the Rumble. Prior to Sunday Cody was wearing his dad’s old boots or hand me downs from Cody’s brother Dustin. Cody is only 22 and is going to be a BTP (big time player) if he can stay healthy. He is a really bright kid who was a state wrestling champion twice in Georgia. Cody’s Mama was a helluva athlete.
jrsbarbq.com (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/)
The biggest news to come out of the weekend was the surprising return of John Cena, who some WWE fans seemingly dislike as much, if not more than they did before John was injured and underwent pec surgery to repair a torn tendon. As I have said before, when fans pay their hard earned cash they can cheer or boo for whomever the hell they choose. This is certainly not to say that John Cena doesn’t have a legion of fans, because I can tell you from his merchandise numbers that John does. I was backstage at MSG pretty much all afternoon Sunday and NEVER saw Cena one time. I am under the impression that John did not arrive to the arena until after the event started, but that’s an assumption. When I talked to John on Monday he said he was feeling great and was healthy, that he had rehabbed extra hard for his return and was bench pressing around 400 pounds, which sounds pretty damn healthy to me. One of Oklahoma’s strength coaches was Cena’s coach in college and said that John was strong as a bull when he arrived on campus as a freshman and spent more time in the weight room than any other player on Springfield College’s football team. That doesn’t surprise me considering Cena’s work ethic.
Broadcasting the Rumble match with 5 other announcers is a challenging piece of business. Unlike the Money in the Bank Ladder match that multiple announcers did at WM23, the Rumble match is so long and diverse with 30 multiple entrants that it is tough to maintain continuity while hearing so many voices and trying to insure that everyone has a chance to “get in the game.” I would have been happy to have sat that one out if that decision had been made even though I thoroughly enjoyed the Rumble match.
From a broadcasters point of view, at least for me, the Elimination Chamber is challenging to broadcast because of the extreme uniqueness of the event and the nature of the structure, especially the sight lines. Thank goodness for the TV monitors. No participant comes out of the Elimination Chamber unscathed I assure you. The structure is far from being wrestler friendly.
Ring announcer, Michael Buffer, who strolled into the Garden Sunday to do one match for what I am sure was a handsome payday, was allegedly not overly approachable on Sunday, according to some. The King said Buffer was somewhat aloof when Jerry attempted to strike up a conversation with the accomplished ring announcer, but I never had the occasion to converse with Buffer so I don’t know if he is simply reserved, somewhat introverted, or was simply jet lagged.
The Stone Cold Steve Austin DVD comes out on February 12, as best I recall, and I received an advance copy of the DVD about a week ago. All the content is material that Steve himself wanted to include in the release and I can assure you that Steve is such a perfectionist that much of what is perceived to be great material by many of us did not make the cut. Stone Cold fans everywhere will truly enjoy this DVD….because Good ‘Ol J.R. said so!
I read where some establishments do not air WWE PPVs any longer. I don’t know the details regarding that one or how accurate that statement may be, but we air all the WWE PPVs at J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant at I-35 and Main Street in Norman. We had a packed house Sunday night from what I am told for the Royal Rumble. For the record, we never charge a cover, but do appreciate folks eating dinner and not just enjoying just a single glass of sweet tea for 2-3 hours.
Speaking of Texas, Monday Night RAW rolls into Austin, Texas this week and I would bet some delicious J.R.’s Bar-B-Q Sauce or our new J.R.’s Peanut Brittle that yours truly will be booed when I walk to my broadcast position with my theme music of “Boomer Sooner” blaring. As I said earlier, when folks pay their hard earned cash to attend an event they should be able to boo or cheer whomever they choose and I am a big boy and can handle it. As a matter of fact I am actually looking forward to the short flight to Austin which, for the record, is a helluva town to visit. From what I gather, two Monday night Raws will be produced in Austin so the fans in that area will truly get a Texas-sized version of Monday Night Raw and tickets are selling well, from what I am told. Yours truly will be in Austin on Sunday to be able to catch the Super Bowl game and still get a good night’s sleep to prepare for the “double-header” come Monday night. For the RAW fans in Austin who are planning on attending the event, be aware of the special starting time.
Cody Rhodes actually wore those new, blue boots for the first time Sunday at the Rumble. Prior to Sunday Cody was wearing his dad’s old boots or hand me downs from Cody’s brother Dustin. Cody is only 22 and is going to be a BTP (big time player) if he can stay healthy. He is a really bright kid who was a state wrestling champion twice in Georgia. Cody’s Mama was a helluva athlete.
jrsbarbq.com (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/)