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JR's Blog: Tuesday Update..RAW Thoughts...Place Your Holiday Orders Today

Posted: Nov 18th 2009 By: mikeiles

The brisk weather has moved into Oklahoma and last night was the first night in a long while that we had to turn our heat on in our home. Nonetheless we're expecting another great day here in Norman, home of the Oklahoma Sooners who travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech, who are coached by the "Mad Professor" Mike Leach who calls out his player's "fat girl friends," this Saturday morning at 11:30. I'm hoping to make the trip but as Dad used to say, "You can't get there from here." Where there's a will there's a way.

We sure appreciate everyone's business and for those that visit our site, send in questions, etc but never place an order, we hope that you will join the ever growing list of our customers.

I've been checking into shipping to Canada via Federal Express and the VAT taxes among other additional charges really make sending packages to Canada expensive. There is no way we can offer free shipping to Canada, I wish that we could, but it simply isn't feasible. I am guessing that with shipping charges, VAT, customs fees and all the other things that the government charges us the shipping fees would run around $30 for a small package to approximately $50 for a package that weighs over a pound or two. We still aren't there but I wanted those of you that have asked to know that I haven't forgotten about this matter.

Here's today's random thoughts....

Overall I enjoyed Monday Night Raw, largely, I think, because it emanated from New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Speaking from experience, broadcasting and performing at MSG is a lifetime achievement and still ranks as one of my biggest thrills in WWE. The arena is simply a special place and it's hard to describe that feeling until one has actually participated there. Just take my word for it, working in the Garden is one of the coolest things a wresting guy can do.

WWE's TV people hit home runs with their new music, graphics packages, and the overall "look" of the show on HD.

The MSG video package was awesome in my eyes. Personally It brought back of flood of memories to me. I'm happy and proud that some of my Garden sound bytes were used as it is always night to remain somewhat relevant.

I like the short, smaller set as WWE used the short, live event entrance for the show instead of the long ramp entrance which kills a bunch of seats. Over 20,000 fans were in the Garden Monday night of which we heard on multiple occasions. We may have heard it with such regularity that I thought we might might be the audio daily double at the end of the night. Seriously, that was a huge crowd and an accomplishment for any event. I don't know but I assume that that short entrance way was for MSG or other similar arenas and that the traditional entrance will be used next week but that's an assumption.

The show was long on sizzle as the atmosphere in MSG was buzzing last night. I assume the New York Yankees decided to not attend as I had heard that many of them who are WWE fans wanted to come if their schedules permitted it.

Maybe they didn't want to get booed by Mets' fans.

Watching Raw on a 65" HD TV is quite an experience. Again, the TV look of Raw is as slick as any thing on TV.

I think we are approaching a non productive trend in the business as it relates to the announcing. We are all guilty, me too, of doing too much hyperbole, talking about too many things that are not related to a bout. In other words sell, sell, sell. "The most historic, most anticipated, most watched, most longest running, most amazing main event, most..most ..most." This isn't a knock on my fellow announcers as I have been just as guilty, if not more, but after being home for several weeks and hearing a bunch of wrestling on TV it begins to become noticeable and not in a good way.

Picking one's spots when to get in sales or promotional info/hype is all about timing. When the timing is right then the info sticks and works as intended. It's also possible to get to this info before the bell sounds to begin a match which then allows the announcers to focus on the match we are all watching and to embellish and enhance the talents in the ring.

I liked the live feel of the McMahon/Piper interview because it felt spontaneous and, well, live. It felt unpredictable which I like as a fan.

Kofi Kingston can look back on this night in MSG as perhaps the night he stepped up and touched the next level. I thought Kofi and Randy Orton's physical interaction was the wrestling highlight of the show. That was some big time stuff from two young, talented competitors.

Miz and MVP had a solid bout too while it lasted. I was wanting to see more of it.

Sheamus again distinguished himself by cheap-shotting The King and bullying time keeper Mark Yeaton. Sheamus is going to be a player and that will be validated when he beats a main event name.

As an old schooler with an opinion, although I enjoyed watching Raw from the Garden, I wish, in hindsight, that there had been more bell to bell match time, especially in the main event. This observation may be an eye roller to some but that's their prerogative. And I have mine.

The bottom line is did Monday Night Raw motivate you or close the deal for you to buy the Survivor Series this Sunday on PPV? If it did, then the show was successful.

Oh, yeah I loved the part where King said that "He loved the Black Eyed Peas." That was one of his best lines of the night. BTW the Black Eyed Peas opened for U2 here in Norman a few weeks ago and it was the first time that I had seen them in person and I will admit that they are awesome. But Jerry....

Just a FYI...the reason that I left Dinner Impossible early, to make this clear, again, was that I had to leave to go broadcast Summerslam and some of us announcers enjoy and feel obligated to actually prepare for their broadcasts. For the record, I arrived there at 6 a.m. and I left at 1 p.m. while the PPV started at 5. I stayed as long as I could and still get back to the hotel, freshen up, change clothes and get to the Staples Center to do my "day job."

From what I read, Brock Lesnar may have diverticulitis. That's not good. I had diverticulitis and diverticulosis along with a perforated large intestine and a tumor on my colon so I can identify what the UFC Heavyweight Champion is going through. Hopefully, diverticulitis is all that is going on with Brock because if that's the case I think that he can likely fight again in several months. Issues with the colon however may dictate a different story. This is a hugely painful ordeal and I was stupid enough to work about a month's worth of Raw's before the Mrs. forced me to see a doctor. I thought I just was having bad stomach aches and there was no way in hell that I was gonna miss work with simply a stomach ache. When I was replaced on Raw about the time that WWE went back to USA, I thought that a simple stomach ache was my issue that may have been compounded by the fact that I had been benched. When I was replaced, no one knew of my medical condition including me. Luckily, after I was removed from the announce booth I had and took the time to seek a medical exam. My doctors have all told me that if I had ignored my situation and continued to try and "John Wayne" my way through it that I would have been dead in 30 days. I ended up having 13 inches of my large intestine removed plus a tumor removed from my colon. With all that said, Brock needs expert care and my suggestion would be, in a perfect world, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Unfortunately, Brock doesn't have a Dr. Heiney to ride to the rescue in Lesnar's most challenging times.

Brock Lesnar is a man's man who will battle through this predicament, escape, and get his hand raised. Getting back in the Octagon is obviously what most folks are talking about but if you've ever suffered through diverticulitis and other intestinal issues you know that should be the furtherest thing from Brock's mind.

Former wrestling great and promoter for Jim Crockett Promotions Sandy Scott has taken ill and our thoughts and prayers are with him too. When I went to work for Crockett I was the victim of people who did not want me there because they wanted to protect either their own "spots" or their pal's "spots." BTW that isn't an unusual occurrence and certainly wasn't relegated to only me. Sandy Scott was not one of those insecure people who take up too much space in the wrestling business, back then and today. Sandy and his brother George were a superb tag team in another era where bell to bell wrestling was the order of the day and two out of three fall matches occurred every week. God speed Sandy and keep battling always looking for that "hot tag."

Will Survivor Series product some conspiracy theories for Governor Jesse Ventura to expound upon when he guest hosts Raw next week in an expanded, three hour show? Ventura's new cable TV show will debut on December 2 on TruTV entitled "Conspiracy Theory." I now know that once one is elected Governor that they are always called Governor. He's still The Body" to me which is not to say that I wasn't proud of his accomplishments in Minnesota.

Please remember that we have some shipping deadlines on some of our in store offers to prevent any issues shipping your orders during the busy, holiday season. We need and appreciate your business and thank you for it.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.