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JR's Blog: Random Thoughts From Rhode Island

Posted: Apr 27th 2009 By: mikeiles

I'm holed up in my hotel room watching the NFL Draft & preparing for Sunday's Backlash PPV. Here are some BBQ'ed Random Thoughts.

Backlash feels like a "sleeper" PPV & will likely bring with it some surprises.The match that may plesantly surprise us is the Steamboat-Jericho bout. I'm approaching this (unofficially) as Ricky's last 1 on 1 bout. I have loved his work for years and admire him as an honorable man & one of the best fan favorites ever. Chris Jericho is the perfect opponent for "The Dragon" which makes this match even more intriging to me as a fan.

With Ric Flair in Jerry Lawler's corner Saturday night in a New York indy show promoted by my friend Michael O'Brien, I'm taking King and giving the points in that one.I kept Jerry updated on the Browns' draft Saturday.

I've been traveling some recently w/ Matt Striker on the road which I enjoy. Matt is a real student of the biz who wants to learn his craft. Plus, he's a good "wheel man." We'll make our way to NYC after Backlash.

Since flipping our Moore BBQ joint to a Louie's Sports Grill our BBQ biz in Norman has been amazing. I hope those of you that can will check us out in Norman if you're ever in our area. We are going to add a bunch of new memorabilia there over the next few weeks.

I was hoping to hook up w/ JBL while in NYC but John is out of town next week. He did give me some BBQ joints to try. John is busy building his businesses which could include doing business w/ JR's Family BBQ down the road.

We get lots of questions about wrestling schools. I suggest that one look at the successful students the schools of interest have produced before making a final decision. I know that men like Harley Race, Danny Davis, and Lance Storm are all credits to the biz and can help anyone w/ the ability & aptitude increase their chances of finding regular work. But always bear in mind that the road to fame & fortune is challenging and many more will fail than will succeed. With that said, never give up on your dreams.

After this coming week, specifically Tuesday nite at MSG when MVP faces Dolph Ziggler for the U.S. Title, it looks as if WWE is going to be really serious about the brand seperation. I hope that assumption is accurate. I like giving more talents the opportunity to become stars.

Another visitor to this site asked me to compare working w/ Todd Grisham and w/ Tony Schiavone. At the 1st Clash (Flair vs Sting) my role w/ Tony is much like my role is now w/ Todd, an analyst or whatever one wants to term it. I enjoy the role as I'm still calling matches w/ the best seat in the house. It obviously is an adjustment re: timing, etc but I'm still having fun which is key.

The challenge to make Smackdown a stronger brand going forward is motivating to me at this stage of my game. For those fans who write from time to time that I am unhappy about not being on Raw, they simply show their ignorance & immaturity w/ their ramblings. I enjoy working w/ Todd and hope that I am able to help him refine his game as our team evolves.

Don't forget that we ship our JR's BBQ caps, shirts, and our autographed "JR's Cookbook's" any where in the world. We will soon be moving from glass bottles to shipping friendly plastic bottles. Plus, our new HOT BBQ sauce is a main event product. I'm anxious to see what our announcer assignments will be for Backlash. Several bouts intrige me on what I perceive to be a largely "wrestling heavy" event.

Backlash is sold out as is Monday's Raw in Bridgeport and Smackdown Tuesday in MSG. I hope you will join us on PPV and keep up w/ what you don't see on WWE.com.

BTW my wife Jan & I saw comedian Ron White's show in Norman Friday night and "Tater Salad" was awesome. If you get the chance to see Ron perform, don't miss it.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, Sting