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JR's Blog: Cronkite/Solie..Hitman..Mayor of Memphis..ZZ Top..JR's Heart to Heart w/ Lesnar..Order Your Sauces Today

Posted: Jul 19th 2009 By: mikeiles

Here's hoping that everyone is having a great weekend. We hope to have a busy one at our restaurant in Norman as the some what cooler weather has encouraged more folks to get out and about. Our place has great food featuring generous portions and family friendly prices with only three items on the menu over $10. I was at the restaurant for a few hours Friday night and plan on dropping by both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. We are also doing a great deal of work on the shipping side of our products from our on line store especially as it relates to international shipping via the USPS. I expect to get more info on that matter this weekend too. Remember to check out our case prices on all our sauces which include your ability to mix and match them and still get FREE SHIPPING to many locations. Here's a few random thoughts:

It looks as if as many as one dozen candidates may run for Mayor of Memphis including several professional politicos. The African American vote in Memphis will be critical for Jerry Lawler and his opponents. From what I read in the Memphis media, some of the black candidates may divide a large segment of Memphis voters which might enhance the King's chances of winning the election. Nonetheless it will be a daunting challenge for any candidate to win the October special election without an established, clear cut favorite and, unfortunately, it may be the candidate who spends the most money on TV and radio ads that "buys" their way into running the city of Memphis. The current Mayor is leaving office but will enjoy, from what I understand, an approximate $90K annual pension of which the Mayor of Memphis earns after one term in office or so it was told to me. The King has tremendous name identity in his home town but his path to City Hall won't be easy and is going to require using a great deal of "shoe leather" and pressing the flesh and spending virtually every waking minute working on his campaign. I haven't talked to Jerry in a couple of weeks but likely will soon, in Philly at the Night of Champions, and will be interested in seeing how his campaign is going.

I got a nice email from "Hitman" Bret Hart a day or so ago and he is moving around very well with his new knee that replaced the original equipment several weeks ago. Bret is spending time in Calgary this summer and we were hoping to get together when WWE is in Alberta in a few weeks but that looks iffy due to our respective schedules. Bret and I stay in somewhat regular contact and I know he's been keeping an eye on the Hart Dynasty which are now appearing regularly on Friday Night Smackdown.

Speaking of Bret Hart, if you are a regular internet user, I strongly suggest that you check out WWEClassics.com which is the 'net equivalent of TV's WWE 24/7 On Demand. Those that enjoy writing the word's, "J.R.'s shilling" can have at it but I love watching the classic footage made available on these platforms and if you are an old school fan of wrestling then you owe it to yourself to at least sample WWEClassics.com. Shilling or not, it is really good stuff. Check it out and I promise that you won't be sorry.

I have recorded an United Way commercial with such luminaries as OU Head Football Coach Bob Stoops, OU Head Women's Hoops Coach Sherri Coale, Heisman Trophy winners Steve Owens, Billy Sims, and Jason White. I'm not sure how I made the cut on this one but I am proud to be associated with all these folks and even prouder to help the United Way. When the commercial is done we hope to get a copy to air here on our site. It is important for all of us to give back to our communities especially in today's challenging times. When I think about kids who don't have enough food to eat it makes me want to do more.

Got somewhat of a break this week as I found out late Friday afternoon that the Smackdown announce team wasn't needed in Raleigh Monday to tape a Superstars' match. We will record ours on Tuesday prior to taping Friday Night Smackdown in Richmond, Virginia. I do plan on getting to Richmond, which was a vital part of the old Jim Crockett Promotions NWA territory back in the day, so I can watch my friends Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top fame "host" Monday Night Raw.

I'm beginning to like the guest host business for Raw more and feel like there are many WWE HOF'ers, for example, who can talk and who would be great "one off" hosts of WWE's top television priority, the home of the "A Listers," Monday Night Raw. Certainly celeb's who have projects to promote are viable candidates and especially those that are fans of the genre such as Seth Green last week in Orlando and ZZ Top coming up this Monday from North Carolina State University.

Yours truly had the pleasure of introducing ZZ Top at a sold out OKC concert at the Zoo Amphitheater a couple of years back which was a really cool experience. Their catering folks keep all our sauces in stock while they are touring.

Just a reminder for those that visit our restaurant, we have all our sauces now displayed in the restaurant itself and I have personally signed all the bottles of sauce which are still priced at $3.99. We are also selling the new, black, JR's Family BBQ T shirts at a surprisingly rapid clip.

The way that Cowboy Bill Watts turned a young Magnum T. A. loose in Mid South Wrestling is really the methodology that promoters need to consider utilizing to create a winning and marketable aura for a new wrestler. Magnum had a great look, aptitude, and work ethic not to mention a solid amateur background when Watts got him and decided to put T.A. in the starting backfield and to give Terry Allen plenty of "carries." This is somewhat where guys like John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler are right now on SmackDown. It really isn't so much of keeping track of their win-loss records as it is how much of an impact they are able to make in their matches and how their bell to bell performances impress the viewers/fans while being involved in clearly defined personal issues. Regularly verbalizing and the overall positioning on the broadcasts are as important as winning and losing but I'm not naive enough to imply that a talent who rarely wins will ever elevate to the main event level. Bottom line is that it's much to do with the overall execution of the persona, positioning within the framework of the broadcast and steering the course over an ample amount of time. If there is any thing more important in the wrestling biz than developing new main event stars, I haven't discovered it.

When talking about guest hosts on Raw, why wouldn't Magnum T.A. be an interesting candidate for that role some Monday night? Bret Hart, too.

Brock Lesnar is celebrating his 32nd birthday this weekend and we wish him many more. It has been well publicized where UFC head honcho Dana White had a "heart to heart" talk with Brock immediately after UFC 100 specifically addressing Brock's mention of Coors Light who did not pay big money to sponsor UFC 100 as did Bud Light. First of all, in a crazy way Bud Light got even more media stretch from Lesnar's mistake because of all the post match drama and media coverage of Brock's fiery snafu. Secondly, I can assure you that White's "heart to heart" with the man who loves to hunt and harvest (kill) wild animals isn't the first conversation of that type Brock has experienced on the job. I can remember Lesnar and I having a conversation many years ago after Brock went into business for himself and got the huge tattoo on his back. I had no issue with it personally but some folks in creative and in other departments such as photography, creative services, etc weren't enamored that one of "JR's guys" on the talent roster "changed their look" without giving any one a head's up. I took a figurative trip to the wood shed on that one but I can assure you that in the one on one that I had with Brock Lesnar that I learned Brock is coachable and respectful when treated the same. Meanwhile, MMA purists will continue to love to hate their Heavyweight Champion and will celebrate the day that Lesnar is physically whipped in the Octagon. Two thoughts on these matters....don't hold your breath on Lesnar getting manhandled any time soon although all the brash, young MMA heavyweights have to start talking up a potential fight with Brock so they too can be noticed.....and remember that it is a promoter's dream to have a viable, marketable villain that the consumers will pay hard earned cash to see get annihilated. This formula has worked for years in wrestling and boxing and also works many Sunday's a year in the NFL IE Minnesota vs. Green Bay using just one of many, possible examples. I personally like the OU-Texas example as the 'Horns are always the "bad guys" in my Sooner vision.

Did You Know.....that in 1937 that the late, newsman/journalist Walter Cronkite was the radio voice of the Oklahoma Football Sooners on WKY radio in OKC? Mr. Cronkite passed away Friday at the age of 92. He was known for being a straight shooter and being honest with his audience which one might be challenged to say about many of today's news media personalities. I wonder if the media will mention Mr. Cronkite's early radio career broadcasting OU Football in the coming days? I grew up with Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News in the days long before cable TV and the internet and actually saw his announcement of JFK's death and Cronkite's almost gleeful description of man walking on the moon. Cronkite, like wrestling HOF Announcer Gordon Solie, who was often referred to as the "Walter Cronkite of Wrestling," could say more important things with fewer words than any one I can think of which is something that all broadcasters, including myself, must continue to focus.

I've been updating our Q&A section of the site this week as often as my schedule will allow. Interesting how much feedback we received on Dan Spivey's portrayal of "Waylon Mercy" from back in the day which is one of my all time favorites and is one of the more underrated personas ever in WWE. The "Waylon Mercy" vignettes were tremendous. Think DeNiro in "Cape Fear" and you've got it.

Someone also compared Jack Swagger to Psycho Sid which I missed. Tall, blond, Caucasian and......

I had a meeting last week with sports talk radio station KREF, AM1400 in Norman, to discuss me doing something on a weekly basis on the station. We're still in the talking stages but it would help promote J.R.'s Family BBQ which is located in the same city as well as other projects of which I am involved. The cool thing is that the station has a website that provides streaming video of their hosts doing their work in the studio plus they have a national watts line and take email questions. I hope that if I get involved with KREF that you will consider checking it out. I would likely be on late week in the afternoon and for a hour or so not to mention the possibility of doing something surrounding the pre or post game OU Football broadcasts. KREF doesn't carry the actual OU Football games but who knows what could happen there some day in the future?

Some folks took issue with what i said recently about a veteran who wasn't looking froward with anxious anticipation a challenging and lengthy upcoming road trip. I mentioned, partially tongue in cheek and with a line from "The Sopranos" that "this is the life that you chose." The wrestling business has always been challenging for a variety of reasons notwithstanding the physical toll the genre provides but also the travel. Travel is simply no fun as a rule. I am personally not a fan of weekly travel especially after so many years of doing it and with all the delays and hassles at virtually every airport I frequent. I often times think back to the days of refereeing in Mid South Wrestling, traveling 1500-2000 miles per week by my personal vehicle and earning, at best, around $300 per week of which I paid all my expenses. With that said, the talents all need time to re-charge their batteries and to allow their bodies and their minds to recover. No, the business isn't going to become seasonal but it isn't that difficult to systematically carve out specific periods of time when all talents are given time to, hopefully, stay at home and have quality, family time. I always felt that when talents were happy at home that they came back to work as happy people. Talents who had negative home lives, for whatever reasons, normally were a pain in the ass the deal with at work. This is all about advance planning and working with an eye on the future but it can be accomplished and should be considered for all talents and not just veteran, main eventers who are secure enough in their roles to ask for the time away from the airports and hotels. It also has a tremendous amount to do with talent depth of which there is no over abundance of at this point in time.

We are in the process of putting together some special offers in our store and your suggestions and feedback are always welcomed. Several readers own businesses and have really be helpful with ideas especially in the shipping end and with new packages.

For those sites that cover our blogs, please do not print the entire blog as that sort of defeats the purpose of people visiting our site. This site is here to create traffic with the hopes of selling more of our products, plain and simple. If we can't generate enough sales from our site then there is no reason to continue to put the work in maintaining this venture. Don't get me wrong, I love communicating with wrestling fans and all those that visit us here but the cost of doing business isn't cheap which is why I am not afraid to "ask for the order." Thanks for your time and consideration.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Jerry Lawler, NWA, Bill Watts, Magnum T. A., Jack Swagger, MSW