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JR's Blog: Florida Daze... Raw and Smackdown Thoughts

Posted: Nov 5th 2008 By: mikeiles

Got word to be in Tampa late last week. Nice surprise. Good to be a part of the celebration.

Lots of announcer speculation re: moving brands, etc but that would be news to me. Wrestling, like many entities, can be over analyzed. In my view the WWE has bigger fish to fry (creating new stars) than playing musical chairs with the announcers..

But at the end of the day only one man knows for sure what he wants for his company.

I?ve learned that predicting those matters can not be in my best interests.

Really surprised that the Undertaker wasn?t more heavily promoted going into the Tampa Raw.

The tag team scene in the WWE needs lots of work unless it is simply positioned to be where it is....mid card fodder.

John Cena returning, but likely not before Survivor Series will really help Raw.

Same goes for Smackdown and the return of Edge. When Edge returns is anyone?s guess. Sooner than later I hope.

Flew with HBK from DFW to Tampa Sunday night. For my $$$ Shawn is still the best ?big match? wrestler in the biz but one can see the fatigue in his eyes. Strictly guessing, if I was forced to say when HBK would hang ?em up I would ?guess? sometime around WM 26. Hope I?m wrong.

Amazing to see so many wanna be stars contribute literally nothing intellectually to their in ring personas. Nothing. Many spend more time in catering or talking to one of seeming two dozen Divas than getting with those that can help them develop their presentation and in ring personas. Amazing.

The Undertaker?s new submission is now officially known as the ?Devil?s Triangle.? You heard it here first.

I wasn?t surprised Miz and Morrison lost Monday night to DX, seems like some pundits were, but the WWE has high hopes for the duo. Go ahead and roll your eyes but that?s my observation.

I love Divas, in a harmless, happily married man sort of way, but a 16 Diva tag that includes the ageless Mae Young pushes the envelope. Mae wrestling worries me.

It might be interesting in Boston to see how the live audience reacts to John Cena and to Chris Jericho. Will Cena have a decided home field advantage? What do you think?

Where does all the week?s calamity leave Batista? PO?ed?

Might just be me but 3 hours feels like an eternity for a wrestling TV show. I did enjoy many of the old clips and think the 1st hour could have easily been those in a quick presentation from episode 1 thru 799.

Gosh, JBL has dropped about 60 lbs or so using his products and of course doing plenty of cardio. JBL looks to be near his Texas high school playing weight.

Perhaps some of you read a recent blog here where I described the little, spoiled brat, akin to some internet feedback providers who ?hate? me, and how he disrespected my wife because we didn?t have Kit Kat bars at Halloween. I mentioned that the kid?s mommy was driving him from house to house in our neighborhood in a ?Benz. From that these defiant young ?net fans, who hate me, deducted from all that info that we live in the hoity toity section of Norman. We live in a nice section of town but certainly not a gated community loaded w/ mansions. Wish we did, but sorry to disappoint the handful of ?fans? that the Ross? live a very normal existence. These are the same idiots who can?t figure out why a BBQ website mentions BBQ so often. Perhaps their acne cream is adversely affecting their still developing judgment.

Jim Neidhart was in Tampa and he looked good. Might have done a photo shoot with talented daughter Natalya. Nattie is one of my favorite Divas. Nattie can wrestle, which still seems like a prerequsite.

Also saw Hart cousin Harry Smith in Florida and he really stood out. Harry?s ?time? has to be drawing near being ?called up? at least in my opinion.

Having hired both Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle, it isn?t hard for me to put Jack Swagger in their class. Swagger likely won?t be as high maintenance as the other two, but he has the chance to be special.

I wish the WWE would do more 2-3 segment bouts. Better stories are told when there is more time allotted to tell them.

Santino is one of the brighter spots on Raw and I am surprised he?s still being booed, at least partially.

Being a ?tweener? is the kiss of death by the way.

Got taken to task by a fan after I compared Miz and Morrison?s attitude to Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect. I actually knew Rude and Perfect, unlike the person that took exception to my remarks. FTW, I also think M&M have some Midnight Express qualities inside the ring...sans Jim Cornette.

I wonder where Cornette is on his photo heavy book? I?m buying one I assure you.

Yours truly is leaving for Manchester Sunday from Chicago but not before I fly down to College Station, Texas with friends for the OU-Texas A/M game on Saturday.

We are taping 2 Friday Night Smackdowns while in the UK so the Manchester fans get a little bonus on Tuesday.

Tazz will be in a particularly narly mood and please UK fans don?t ask for any autographs from the ?Angry Man.? :)

Our store is open. Get to shoppin?! It?s greatly appreciated and we will ship your order within hours of receiving it. Many thanks.

Boomer Sooner!
J. R.