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JR's Blog: Angry Responses to last Blog...Hodge Appearance a Huge Success...Strikeforce...Dwayne Johnson

Posted: Feb 12th 2009 By: mikeiles

Apparently my last blog struck a chord with some wrestling fans who are not pleased with the wrestling product that they see on TV and are willing to express their displeasure of said product and of my remarks. We received a handful of comments, of which I took the time to read, and I have some thoughts regarding them. Plus here are some other random thoughts from the weekend....

Firstly, I enjoy reading fans' emails and attempting to get a handle on the pulse of what some loyal wrestling fans are thinking and to what they are responding. I assume that I under estimated some folk's passion for the product when I read so many emails that are overtly negative about the content of the wrestling TV shows that they see. I am not advocating that any one bail on the product but some emails I receive indicate some disgruntled fans have encountered sleepless nights, loss of appetite and all sorts of maladies after watching a wrestling TV show because of their displeasure of what they just viewed. To those people, if watching any TV show adversely affects them in a non healthy way my suggestion was that they should re-think why they are watching said program. I am not above saying that I am always right on these blogs either but at least people get honesty here. So I stand corrected. Watch whatever you choose and react however you want. However, venting to me over program content in our Q&A section is fruitless and a waste of time for all of us. I cannot affect any change to the content and I really don't want the Q&A's to turn into a more negative than not aspect of the site. So please continue to send what you choose to the Q&A section and I will scan through them and will delete items that are overly negative, distasteful, or have already been addressed. Plus, I won't tell you want to watch or not going forward. Fair enough?

I think that because some fans think that because I am an announcer on Friday Night Smackdown that I am involved in the creative process and can impact creative changes. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I do not attend creative meetings, none are held in Oklahoma at JR's Family BBQ, and the complete and total extent of my creative involvement is to make an occasional suggestion if I think that I have a good idea which is quite infrequent. Some emails you never see are in attack mode from the get go at me personally because I don't change things some fans don't like. Those emails are read and deleted without problem but there is a general misconception of what my role these days is with the WWE. Hopefully this helps clarify the matter.

The Dan Hodge book signing Saturday afternoon at our BBQ joint in Moore, Oklahoma was a huge success. Dan and author Mike Chapman sold many books, "Oklahoma Shooter:The Dan Hodge Story" which I recommend that you check out. It's a fascinating read of another era of the business and of sports in general. Great photos throughout and it really speaks to some of wrestling and boxing's greatest stars from a man who knew them personally. Lou Thesz once said that the two toughest men he ever faced were Dick Hutton and Dan Hodge, both former NCAA Champions. Thesz was trained in "wrestling hooking" and had significant submission skills. Thesz lost to Hodge in a notable match in 1968 in Japan that, in the big picture, ranks as one of the more significant bouts in pro wrestling history that many folks never saw or heard of. I asked Dan, who dearly loved and had huge respect for Thesz if Dan could have beaten Lou back in the day in a real match and Dan without question respectfully said yes. Dan explained Lou's hooking style and his dangerous overhand wrist lock that was debilitating and dangerous and that Lou had tried Dan on more than one occasion just to see how Hodge would react. This is not a 76 year old man speaking out of turn about one of his idols but a man who simply thinks he could have beaten the great Lou Thesz but said so with reverence, respect and reluctance. In his prime, there is no one in the wrestling business today or in my career that Hodge could not have beaten if the chips were genuinely down. Trust me on that one.

The Strikeforce TV deal should put the group a solid #2 behind the UFC and now it is incumbent on Strikeforce to produce exciting shows and develop new stars. I wonder if there is any chance that Strikeforce could sign Fedor to a multiple fight deal if Fedor was contractually available. CBS TV exposure is big for this group as is Showtime for that matter but now that the wagon has been tied to the horses it is time to load said wagon.

I will be doing more THQ video game voice overs in a couple of weeks here in Norman. As I said the storylines in this game are more involved that I can recall in the past but the over lying issue of the game is the increased physicality of it. I think some mistake a PG TV rating as factoring out physicality and that's not the case in my view but it does eliminate HLA type moments which shouldn't offend any true wrestling fan. I am anxious to see if the THQ trend continues with the next collection of copy.

Some friends have asked me about where Friday Night Smackdown will be produced during the week leading into WM25 and I still don't know. My assumption is that SD will be produced down in Houston which adds another live event for the fans who travel to Houston for WM25 week to attend. Sounds like a cool event for Axxess. Hopefully that matter will be made known to us all sooner than later so every one can plan.

Yours truly exchanged emails with Dwayne Johnson at the Super Bowl and we wanted to hook up but his schedule and mine just would not allow it. He is really excited about his next film "Return to Witch Mountain" and the movie trailer looks great. Dwayne has been wise beyond his years in the movie roles that he has selected all of which will seemingly have long shelf lives and be family friendly for years to come. I hope to hook up with the former Miami Hurricane this fall when Oklahoma travels to Miami to play "The U." I am profoundly proud of Dwayne's film success and I'm happy to say that, as it relates to our relationship and that's all that concerns me personally, success hasn't changed the "Great One" one bit.

Did you know that Andy Kaufman used to sneak into Memphis in the dark of the night back in the day when Andy had his big wrestling feud with Jerry Lawler and that Kaufman based out of referee Jerry Calhoun's home to avoid the media and the hostile fans who wanted to lynch the controversial comedian? Media used to stalk out King's Memphis home to see if they could catch a glimpse of Kaufman sneaking in to meet with Lawler but those meetings at King's home never occurred much to the dismay of the local and national media.

The Legends Roundtables really seem to h ave struck a chord with many fans. I am getting a ton of feedback regarding these DVD's that have just become available a few weeks ago. So far I have not received one negative email about these unique productions which really take the fans behind the curtain and touch on some here-to-for off limit topics.

I know that my writing isn't Hemingway-esque but apparently I have not made myself clear enough to some who want to work for the WWE in a variety of areas. For creative writing or other corporate roles, you must go through WWE Human Resources unless you have a personal contact already with the company that might be able to set you up with an interview. Then you will still have to go through Human Resources. Secondly if you are looking for work as a wrestler, referee or manager (good luck on that one) you need to send a tape of your work and a resume to Florida Championship Wrestling or visit their school in Tampa. Getting work in the WWE is a daunting task that requires a great deal of determination but the channels by which to facilitate these jobs are what they are. I read with interest many of your emails about desperately wanting to work with the WWE and I truly wish I could help you but they have their employment policies in tact just like any other large, publically traded company.

We are often asked about any Wrestlemania surprises on tap for Houston. First of all and to be totally honest with you I don't know of any at this time and I really don't want to know. I, too, love surprises which are becoming rare in today's pro wrestling world. Many folks who know insider info feel compelled to leak the info to outside sources for reasons beyond me. Can you provide an answer as to why someone would reveal the "end of the movie" to those planning on seeing the "movie" but as of yet have not? Nonetheless if I knew of any surprises why would I reveal them and ruin them for the fans? I think it goes without saying that the WWE will pull out all the stops to make WM25 a success including a surprise or two here and there.

I watched most of the UFC Saturday night on Spike. For some reason I was a little underwhelmed with the broadcast. Not a big knock here but it just did not seem to have the sizzle of other UFC events on TV. This opinion certainly doesn't mean I'm about to bail on the product or the brand. The heavyweight fight I was anxious to see as it relates to a potential Brock Lesnar opponent some day ended strangely and without fanfare. I don't disagree with the ending but it felt very abrupt.

The highlight of Friday Night Smackdown was the two segment main event featuring HHH/Undertaker vs. Edge/Big Show that closed the broadcast. Hopefully other talents of the brand will rise up and make sure that they are noticed no matter their role on the show. I read an interview with Ric Flair recently where he said that the best advice he was given as a young wrestler was to take is 3-4-5 minutes of TV time and show every one why he was special. Trust me, it can be done and every second a talent is provided on TV is important no matter the talent's role. It just seems to me, and this is a personal opinion, that some talents sense of urgency need to increase.

I am not exempt from this critique either. Competitively I want Friday Night Smackdown to get better and rival the #1 WWE TV program, Monday Night Raw, and I am going to do all I can in my role to provide better story telling and help the Smackdown team be more successful.

Thanks for your support of our website and for shopping with us. The shopping for our product's helps keep this site a float. There are only two of us who provide any creative content here and one is the webmaster who is overloaded with simply keeping things running. We all do the best we can and I try to get to many of your emails as best as I can. Please keep them succinct and refrain from best you can from duplicating the same questions that you have read before on the site. Bottom line, thanks a million for stopping by. I hope to see some of you in Fresno Tuesday night.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Danny Hodge, Lou Thesz, Dick Hutton, Jerry Lawler, Ric Flair