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JR's Blog: Strikeforce...WWE in China...Akbar Services...900th Raw...Thank Goodness for Football...Need Sauce? We Got It!

Posted: Aug 23rd 2010 By: CMBurnham

Good Sunday to you all. Thanks for dropping by and remember that we're giving a free, $20 JR's T Shirt away with every case of product sold. Plus....Free Shipping in the USA...plus all the other free things that already come with case orders. Great way to save $$ and share with friends and/or family.

The funeral services for Jim Wehba aka General Skandar Akbar will be held this Tuesday morning in at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 4040 York Street in Wichita Falls, Texas at 10 a.m. Ak passed at age 75 Thursday night or Friday morning and his death has hit me particularly hard. He was a man of character and always put the business first unlike so many in the wrestling biz today who prioritize their own self interests a head of their companies and peers. Unfortunately, many of today's fans will never know what an amazing human being that the wrestling business lost this past week. Even more sad is the fact that there are probably people earning a living in the business today who never even knew who Skandar Akbar was. That's so sad on a multitude of fronts.

Watched Showtime's presentation of Strikeforce in segments last night as I had things to do away from the TV but ended up watching the event in its entirety. Showtime did a better job w/ production values regarding the look of the broadcast. They still have issues in producing meaningful fighter vignettes that encourage the viewer to make an emotional investment in the athlete. Too many MMA organizations have to realize that they are not just broadcasting to their hard core fan base but to newbies. If the new viewers don't 'get it' they move on to other programming.

I'm not a big fan of three man broadcast booths in MMA largely because the nature of the product is fast paced and, unlike baseball, has little time for elongated, story telling. MMA has no huddles or half times. With that said, 3 man booths on any broadcast are always going to be about chemistry and when guys work sporadically with each other that much needed chemistry is hard to achieve. I think that most MMA broadcasts could benefit from 'laying out' more and allowing viewers to hear and experience the 'nat sounds' of the event. When I attended the amazing, UFC PPV fight in July featuring Brock Lesnar the 'nat sounds' of the fight sucked me in emotionally. Often times TV viewers miss that experience especially when three guys are all trying to get their air time.

Bobby Lashley lost for the first time Saturday night by technical knockout in an ugly effort that exposed Bobby's lack of MMA technique specifically Lashley's ability to utilize submissions. Bobby did not look good, seemed to fatigue, and was too heavy/thick from this fan's observation. I still think that Lashley has a shot at a successful MMA career but he's got lots of work to do in a high level training center and to mentally commit 100% to his new vocation. He also needs to physically downsize.

Lashley was hospitalized over night in Houston Saturday but has apparently since been released.

If Bobby decides to have one more go at it and loses again, I would be surprised to see him remain in MMA. That's pure, individual speculation.

Gus Johnson is ill informed that pro wrestling blood is fake. That statement made Johnson sound bad and underscored many in MMA's pro wrestling bias. Mauro Ranallo understands pro wrestling better than any of his broadcast partners even though Frank Shamrock knows the upside and downside of the pro wrestling biz. Ranallo and Shamrock are the team that the Showtime people should hang their hat on as Johnson feels as if he's a corporate hire and for the wrong reasons.

Back to Lashley...how any man responds to adversity, such as a loss, is the true measure of that man's character. Any one can bask in success but responding to a proverbial 'bad hand' tells the story of what is truly inside a man's heart and soul. How will Bobby Lashley respond is an answer that many await and that only Bobby can determine.

If Strikeforce now signs Bautista and Dave then would fight Bobby Lashley then the fight would be nothing more than merely an "attraction fight" and will obviously not be a highly skilled MMA contest between two, finely tuned and experienced MMA fighters. Notice that I did not say that the fight wouldn't garner a TV rating or create a buzz within the MMA community and in the TV world if promoted properly. I don't see it as a PPV fight but perhaps not a bad choice for CBS, if they are still in play.

BTW...Bautista has no deal at this time with Strikeforce and as I understand it Dave is still healing from injuries from his last WWE bout even though he has apparently began some MMA training. The one thing that is obvious when it comes to MMA training is that it makes all the difference in the world what camp one trains in as it relates to how successful most fighters can become. Camps are every where but it seems that only a handful of MMA training camps produce 'money ball players.'

King Mo will regroup as he seemed to be fully aware that he's still 'green' aka inexperienced but the world class wrestler, like most grapplers, has to really up his focus and training on his stand up and overall boxing skills especially learning to avoid taking shots with the enemy wearing 4 ounce gloves. I fully expect King Mo to be back in the hunt especially if he addresses the aforementioned stand up issues.

KJ Noons has movie star good looks and is marketable especially with his deadly striking abilities but him saying that he wants Floyd Mayweather, Jr in a boxing match sounds good and would be a nice pay day but isn't likely to happen. Noons is a potential star for Strikeforce and as hard as he tried to be the hero the Houston crowd wasn't buying it.

Big night for the Brazilian badasses in Houston Saturday night. Jacare vs. Kennedy was a tough fight albeit a touch bowling shoe ugly. The announcers could have done a better and more diverse job in establishing Kennedy's military background instead of using the same terminology time and time again. As an American, I was pulling for Kennedy and look forward to seeing how he responds which I expect to be more skilled and more focused.

The fighters that can't speak well are really standing out more and more. Yeah, I get it, every one can't be a Chael Sonnen. However, being able to sell one's fight is imperative an art form that Muhammad Ali used like a maestro. Fighters that can't speak or won't speak English (IE Anderson Silva) need to invest in Rosetta Stone. Communication is essential in the world of selling fights.

Again, the unpredictable nature of MMA remains one of its biggest selling points. As new stars are created and established stars continue to become more rooted, the sport of MMA will continue to flourish. The question remains can Strikeforce, w/o a weekly TV show to build from, develop stars as effectively as UFC is doing?

Speaking of that sort of issue, I saw a TV interview w/ Strikeforce honcho Scott Coker talking about Paul Heyman, who will be a hotter than usual topic, as being rumored to become affiliated with Strikeforce in some way. Heyman knows how to produce an exciting TV show and how to build stars so I see this as a potentially strategic move if it can be finalized. This story will undoubtedly take on a life of its own over the next several days.

WWE had a successful, 90 minute show (that time was requested by local officials) in China that went well by all accounts. A WWE TV crew was in China to get footage of the trip and the first ever, WWE China event. Obviously this was a long, grueling trip for the travelers but everyone from what I understand really enjoyed the history making experience. One would assume that there will be some footage of this trip in upcoming WWE TV vehicles.

WWE rocked Sumo Hall in Tokyo this past week, too, Both events were well attended including the 2nd night which was essentially sold out. WWE sold well north of $1.1M in tickets for the two nights in the compact Sumo Hall. Internet reports from fans in attendance said that a Rey Mysterio vs. Evan Bourne was off the charts in Tokyo.

Hard to believe that Raw's 900th episode is coming up in a little over a week in Boston which will be just two days after UFC is in town for a PPV. It will be fun to watch the show and to see how the 900th is celebrated.

I responded to many, many Tweets today and you can follow us @JRsBBQ. I hope that you will join us. I can't answer every Tweet but I answer more than most.

Also, the Q&A section of this site has been updated. Thanks to those who are back reading the Ross Report on www.wwe.com on their home page under WWE News.

Thanks, again, for dropping by and I hope that you will do some business with us. We have the best BBQ Sauces in the land and no one has any thing that even competes with our Chipotle Ketchup or Beef Jerky.

Football is upon us...thank goodness. I'm already working on travel for the OU away games and have turned down paid 'gigs' so that I can attend Sooner games. I plan on watching the Sooner laden Vikings tonight on NBC. Vikes center Jon Cooper just received a case of our sauces last week so you know that he will be ready to protect #4. Yes, Coop got a free T shirt just as you can if you order your case today.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.