JR Comments On SmackDown, UFC Star, MMA, Lots More
The 2nd J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q opened Wednesday July 16th in Moore, Oklahoma with a steady steam of guests joining us for our opening day. All went well as yours truly arrived there about 11:30 a.m. after flying to OKC from Charlotte EARLY Wednesday morning. I stayed until around 3 before going home to recharge my batteries and then went back around 7 and stayed until closing time which was a little after 10. We had fans from many areas make the trek including a great fellow I met who drove up from Houston, about 8 hours, to dine with us on our first day. That sort of support and appreciation is greatly appreciated. We have added 8 ounce Angus burgers to the new menu along with smoked, not fried, chicken wings and both new items are main eventers. We also debuted some new T Shirts and Caps that retail for $9.99 plus we have reduced the cost of our autographed, "J.R.’S Cookbook" as well. This info will soon be featured on our new website which will be up and running at any time now. Be sure and check out our store for specials on Beef Jerky and many more items. The new J.R.’s is bigger than our original store in Norman, it seats approximately 200 while the Norman location seats 120, and both stores are located on I-35 south of OKC, the Moore store is 11 miles from downtown and can be found at exit 116 while the Norman store is located at exit 109. With my new Smackdown schedule I plan on being at both stores a great deal especially on non PPV weekends.
Friday Night Smackdown is a unique broadcast and one that I am anxious to watch after the WWE TV folks finish their edits and production enhancements. The common thread that runs through the show is the "Reception of Edge and Vickie’s Wedding" which certainly seemed to have have its "moments" including the final few moments of the broadcast. We also had some intriguing wrestling bouts including a Hardy vs. Hardy match that completely surprised me as it relates to the direction the bout took. It will be interesting to see if any notices any of the announcer sound bytes that you may hear if they are not left on the cutting room floor. There were a few "beauts" as Mick Foley and I are working hard to make our broadcasts really fan friendly including not disregarding the past or the heritage of the business all the while attempting to add some topic info to the proceedings when it fits and can be delivered somewhat organically.
It was nice socializing with Ric Flair and many of his immediate family after Smackdown at the Westin Hotel bar. "Naitch" is still one of a kind, is happy, and enjoying life and has many unique and perhaps headline making opportunities ahead of him that will play out soon. And no, I am not going the "spoiler" route with this info in this space but, as a huge Flair fan, and without resorting to hyperbole I was extremely interested, as will many of you, in the potential of some of Ric’s future opportunities.
Enjoyed having lunch Tuesday with old pal Bill Rosinski who is the voice of Westwood One’s NFL radio coverage and my old broadcast partner in our Atlanta Falcon days in the early 90’s. Billy formerly was the play by play announcer for the Charlotte Panthers, who really screwed up replacing him, and still lives in "Flair Country". If any one has any real estate needs in the Charlotte area I highly recommend my friend Bill who can be reached at www.billrosinski.com. Bill is arguably the best football play by play talent on radio and works with former NFL Coach Dan Reeves on NFL games which will start with Bill’s broadcast of the Hall of Fame game in Canton in August.
Big week for Florida Championship Wrestling as they tape their first TV show this week at the new facility. I wish them all the best of luck. I was asked to provide the play by play for the first show but schedule’s would not permit it. I have heard that Todd Grisham will be handling the honors. FCW, in my opinion, should be operated like a NFL camp or perhaps and more specifically like a college athletic program where the athletes are tested physically, socially, academically and in character issues on an ongoing and regular basis. Again, I stress that the staff of FCW is under a microscope as much as any WWE employee from where I sit. The future of the company is the development of new stars and the WWE has no bigger assets than their talent.
The Great American Bash is this Sunday and it looks like Michael Francis Foley and yours truly will have 4 bouts to call. I do assume that HHH vs. Edge will close the show which seems to make sense to me but now that I am a Friday Night Smackdown team member I’m not overly unbiased. The Game and the Ultimate Opportunist should really have one helluva match as I like the chemistry between the two and, if given time, will tear down the historic and always fun to work in Nassau Coliseum.
One of the most over analyzed bouts leading into the GAB this Sunday is the C.M. Punk vs. Batista World Title Bout. There are tons of Internet speculation and the analyzing as to what will go down this Sunday on PPV. Punk is the new kid on the main event level of the WWE and won the World’s Title in what some perceive as a less than an auspicious fashion in OKC on June 30 right after my "Farewell Address" was so rudely albeit somewhat predictably interrupted, hey, it was OKC you know, by Edge. I like Punk’s uniqueness and his upward mobility and think he can only get better over time…in other words, Punk’s best days still lie ahead of him. Nonetheless I would not be shocked to see Batista win Sunday. However, that’s not to say I would be shocked with a Punk win either over the more established former champ. The good news in this uninformed, fence straddling review of this match is that I don’t have a clue as to how this bout will transpire which makes it all the better to watch. "The Mick" and I will have a great seat to enjoy the proceedings Sunday evening on PPV. No matter the outcome, passionate Punk fans will be heard from even if their man wins Sunday and the damn is likely to break if the popular Punk suddenly becomes a short term, first time World’s Champion.
This week marks the deaths of two great in ring performers and long before their time. Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish was murdered in a shower stall in Puerto Rico and Frank’s alleged killer never was punished for his crimes, at least not formally. One would assume that any person who unnecessarily takes another’s life would have, at best, a guilty conscience over the heinous act. Frank was one of the brightest minds I ever encountered in the wrestling business but had a bad reputation for being a major problem to deal with for wrestling promoters over the years. I never saw this side of Frank personally but knowing some of the promoters that Frank worked for as an independent contractor handling his own business deals, travel arrangements and creative direction why should the wild haired brawler have trusted these wrestlers turned promoters based on many of their track records? I am not condoning "holding up" a promoter or not keeping one’s word but the Frank Goodish that I knew was a sharp, college educated athlete who was on his way to becoming a sports writer before breaking into pro wrestling and was never any thing but a friend to me. One learns quickly in this business that one treats others the way they treat you and by how one wants to be treated. I vividly remember when Bill Watts teamed Frank with Stan Hansen and how the two former West Texas alums beat the hell out of many of their "nameless" opponents. This was not done because they were simply school yard bullies but because they were physically intense and were encouraged to be such by Watts. Plus, without his glasses ‘Ol Stan was damned near blind as a bat and his nasty right hand often times found his adversaries closer to Stan than perceived. No one ever said this line of work equated to ballet.
Terry Gordy also died this week a few years back of an apparent heart attack at only 40 years of age if I recall. Gordy, without question, was the best teenage, pro wrestler that I ever saw in my life. The big kid who rarely, if ever, lifted a weight was damn good when he was just 16 years old which may have become a curse for "Bam Bam" instead of a blessing. Having a teenager go on the road with wrestlers in the territory days was akin to a unique form of child abuse as there were plenty of bad habits a young, impressionable kid could pick up trying to fit in and to be "one of the boys". Gordy picked up plenty of these bad habits but no one can ever take away the fact that Terry, who was a wonderful person away from the "demons", became one of the all time best "big men" in the game and that his work with the Fabulous Freebirds wasn’t a major development in talent presentation within in the business. I don’t think that Terry even finished his high school education which is another reason that I personally would not hire even a prodigy like Gordy and put him on the road full time to essentially manage their own free time and to have to sort through all the good things and the bad things that would be thrown at them as a traveler in the wrestling world. I still stand by my statements of the past, if you want to be a wrestler, get your college degree first to have something to fall back on because the VAST majority of wannabes will NOT make it to a level whereby they can earn a good living and prepare for their and their family’s future.
Nice gig for Edge getting on a national TV commercial for "Slim Jim". It airs for the first time as best I know Friday night on SD.
Sad and unfortunate news for one of my favorite MMA fighters "Rampage" Jackson upon his arrest this week in Southern California for a variety of charges. I have never met "Rampage" but I do know that he is a wrestling fan and is a generally good guy from what mutual friends tell me. It’s just sad to see things like this happen no matter the reason. I hope Jackson can rebound from this incident and get back to the business of fighting which will apparently be in early 2008 due to injuries he sustained in a losing effort, no controversial loss in my eyes, recently against Forrest Griffin. Speaking from experience, incidents like this that make national headlines in a negative vein don’t do the genre any favors especially a genre that is fighting a public perception battle with some uninformed media types and lawmakers. Like pro wrestlers, if the MMA fighters become their own worst enemies due to unfortunate situations like "Rampage" has found himself in then their business’s growth will be adversely affected and the public’s perception will feed right into the nay sayer’s hands.
Another MMA thought, does anyone think that the UFC, which is the NFL of MMA, is paying too much attention to the upstart Affliction promotion? Having experienced matters such as this during the WWE/Turner-WCW Monday Night wars, it is without question that competition is good for business and the most important commodity any promotion has, their fans who pay the tab, benefit the most therefore because these fans make a more significant emotional investment to the genre which pushes all MMA promotions to be even more fan friendly and to do a better job in matchmaking and promoting. From where I sit and it’s only one man’s opinion, the UFC should simply tend to UFC business and let the Affliction promotion run it’s course as the UFC has a significant head start in any perceived race and one would think that there is enough Global business to go around for multiple promotions to make money. If there is not, the consumers will make that known early in the race. Competition between brands should also be great for the fighters who will have multiple places to earn a living and maximize their short windows of opportunity.
Smackdown’s Brian Kendrick reminds me of the late Brian Pillman in so many ways especially Kendrick’s "look" and the legit confidence that Kendrick has in his in- ring abilities. Kendrick’s new associate that you will see this Friday night on SD is named "Ezekiel" and is a 300 pounder with significant presence.
I remain in Brett Favre’s corner and feel that the Green Bay Packer front office needs to rehabilitate their relationship with the future HOF QB because if any one that thinks that Brett still can’t play QB at a high level in the NFL that person needs counseling. Arguably, aside from Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who is a better QB in the league than Favre?
We were honored this week to receive the wrestling tights Batista wore when he won the Title at WM21. These rights mean the world to J.R.’S Family Bar-B-Q and to Batista, naturally. Big Dave wrote me a note accompanying the tights that said that if we "ever close the Bar-B-Q Restaurant that he and I can wrestle each other for the tights" which made me have bad dreams. :) Thanks, Dave for the classy and thoughtful contribution.
The King, that’s Jerry Lawler, and yours truly will be signing autographs and posing for photos, I assume, at Franklin Square Video this Saturday from 4-6 p.m. at 984 Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, N.Y. You’re personally invited to attend if you are in the neighborhood. I even hear Mick Foley will be there or at least that’s what I have read. Nonetheless please drop by and say hello.
Congrats to Randy Orton and his wife Sam on the recent birth of their daughter. All family members are healthy and Randy’s untimely collarbone injury has a silver lining after all as being home when his new born daughter is a true blessing. It sure beats showering with large, hairy men. :)
For our fans in OKC area , I am told that Fox 25 News will have their truck down at our new place Friday morning during their locally produced, morning news show. I think that the OKC Fox affiliate will have this footage on their website either steaming live or later in the day on Friday. The show airs live from 6 a.m.-9 a.m. central time. We are slated to be on for several live, cut-in’s over the course of the show.
Thanks for stopping by and visiting our site and for your business and support.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
