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JR's Blog: Sunday Update...Managers...Announcing...Austin...Flair...Yoko...Twitter

Posted: Nov 30th 2009 By: CMBurnham

We hope that everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a great one. Ours was low key and restful. Virtually a stress free day which was our goal. Food, football, nap, and repeat pretty well sums it up.

Here's some very random, BBQ'ed thoughts....

Watched the Legends Roundtable featuring our discussion on managers again and the 83 minute program is really entertaining on WWE 24/7 On Demand. I think that most fans will truly enjoy this episode of the Roundtable.

Managing in wrestling has become a lost art and perhaps we will see the return of managers some day because what was old in one era becomes new in another era. I see so many promising young wrestlers today who would be so much better if they had a great, credible manager to represent the young talents' TV personas.

Read something about "why PPV buys are down in wrestling." That's an easy one. If the product/attraction is what the fans want to see they will find a way to buy it. PPV's are attraction driven. Give me what I want and I will pay you for it. Obviously, some folks can't afford the volume of PPV's that come their way plus seemingly having a PPV every three weeks or so is not advantageous. One's disposable income is an issue with buying any non essential products but wrestling fans will usually pony up the cash if the attractions are in place. Plus, it makes sense that more folks are chipping in and watching the PPV's together.

Our on line business is starting to gather steam. We sure appreciate your orders. Again, I encourage you to order early if you're ordering for the holidays.

Challenging weekend for the WWE Superstars who took to the road right after the Thanksgiving holiday and just after a few days removed from a 17 day international tour and then Survivor Series and two days of TV production. Promoting small arenas after such a tough schedule is arguable but is a testament to the work ethic of the men and women who are out on the road. My hat's off to them.

Reading some fan feedback to various wrestling issues and it seems so overly simplistic that wrestling companies listen to one's audience or one's consumer base and do all that is possible to make that particular group of people happy or at least happier. Smart wrestling promoters have been listening to their fans for generations and the number of tickets sold at the live events were always a great barometer. Still is.

Remember that our personalized, autographed JR's Cookbook promotion will end for the holidays on December 12. Same goes for our $15.60 The Game Blitz package. All that info is located in our on line store here on this site.

Lots of rumors about OU coach Bob Stoops going to Notre Dame to replace the not yet fired Charlie Weis. "Sources say" that ND has a 8 year, $24M deal ready to offer my friend and current Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops which is #3M annually but for the record Bob made $4M this year at OU. You can do the math plus Bob and his family love living here in Norman for a variety of reasons. Why would any one think that in today's college football world that Notre Dame is a better head coaching job than is Oklahoma? Yeah, I know that I'm a Sooner loyalist but let's be realistic about this matter. Notre Dame is a great university and has tradition but so does OU and after winning three straight Big 12 Championships enduring a challenging 2009 isn't remotely a reason for Bob Stoops to want to leave OU. Notre Dame's issues run much deeper than their head coaching job specifically the entrance requirements to get athletes into ND. I don't see Bob Stoops leaving OU for Notre Dame whatsoever.

I attended the annual Bedlam Game in Norman Saturday between OU and Oklahoma State. Shocking score with the Sooners shutting out the Pokes 27-0. JR's BBQ had a great weekend with so many fans in town for the game. I was at our BBQ joint until closing time Saturday night (10 p.m.) and I always enjoy visiting with our guests.

My Mark Cuban remark hit a nerve with some folks. I don't "hate" Cuban and never said that I did. Also, I don't condone how OKC ownership dealt with the city of Seattle but that was not my issue. Once the deal was done, Cuban bad mouthed my home state and OKC in general which I felt was unnecessary. To think that Cuban was "standing up for Seattle" is naive as Cuban simply wanted less competition for ticket sales, merchandise, etc by another NBA team in his region. It really matters not at the end of the day because I won't be on Raw in Dallas to the best of my knowledge. Cuban has a lightening rod type personality which should fit well in his guest host role on Raw. Bottom line, if I were a Seattle fan I would be pissed too. This was not a "Seattle issue" but more about the remarks said by the controversial Cuban well after the fact.

To address a few of the many questions we are getting here in our Q&A Section:

Some think that it is automatic that when/if I return to WWE that I am automatically going back on the Smackdown announce team. I wouldn't say it's automatic at all. Let's allow all the issues to play out and then see where I land. It might be Smackdown and then again it might not. I don't have a crystal ball to gaze into but within the next few months things will shake out.

How can steaks on the grill be made more tender? I have success when I marinate them over night. Plus, don't grill all the juice out of them meaning that one can get their steaks "well done" if they choose by cooking them a little slower and by using less heat. My suggestion is to marinate any meat you plan on cooking at least 24 hours if you really want to hit a home run.

How was Yokozuna as a performer? Before his weight got completely out of hand, Yoko was really amazing and had tremendous, natural timing and a great aptitude for the business. It's a shame that obesity ended his life.

As I see CM Punk's TV persona, his philosophy is on the mark but his delivery and pious attitude is what most fans are supposed to dislike. I don't think any one should feel that WWE advocates smoking, drinking, etc but they are trying to promote a character who says that if you don't agree with every thing I say that you are wrong and that if you have an occasional beer, let's say, that Punk feels that he's better than you.

I never think that it is too cold to grill but I live in Oklahoma where the weather is usually manageable, unlike South Bend (only kidding) so we grill the year 'round. However if you can't grill outdoors then you can always still use your oven's broiler and still utilize JR's BBQ Sauces.

Will Steve Austin ever go to TNA? That's a question for Steve but my educated guess would be no. I don't think Steve has any intention of ever wrestling again as he focuses on his movie career which is both time consuming and challenging for the "new guy." Steve is ,and always will, be a fan of the wrestling business but he's building a body of work in the movie business and has been involved in, I think, 3 or 4 productions this year alone which is a helluva, challenging schedule.

Will Ric Flair ever go to TNA? Again, that's a "Naitch" question but the chances of Flair doing some work with TNA especially now that Hulk is headed there is much more likely than had Hulk not joined TNA in my opinion.

Bottom line is that the above questions re: Austin and Flair can only be definitively answered by those two men but at least I addressed the questions of which we have been inundated.

OKC hosts Raw on Monday March 1 but I know of no PPV or any other date in 2010 scheduled for OKC with WWE. I do agree that my pal Toby Keith would make a great, Guest Host for Monday Night Raw. I had a good visit with Toby at the OU-OSU game Saturday but we did not talk Raw or wrestling as it was a football day.

No....I do not have a Twitter account. Any one Twittering and saying that they are me is lying.

Many asked what I thought of how Vickie Guerrero was treated recently on SD regarding a parody of weight. If Vickie was o.k. with it then I assume I am as well. She's playing a role on a TV show. That's how she's "cast." Was I uncomfortable for her? Yes. But that was likely the intent for the viewers. I personally have been the object of many of these uncomfortable moments and they did not kill me. But I won't forget them either.

Yes...I did enjoy working with Paul Heyman very much. He has a brilliant, wrestling mind and was stellar playing the role of the antagonist commentator. Paul was one of my all time favorite partners without question. The reason Lawler gets the nod is simply tenure and our comparable culture IE both being Southerners with many common interests. Some of my best work ever was with Heyman who could, without question, get under my skin and help me raise my game to another level.

No...I'm not going to fight the speeding ticket that I got outside Lubbock, Texas in the town of Plainview by the Texas State Police after the OU-Texas Tech game even though I was being passed by numerous vehicles that were going faster than I. I just happened to be the only vehicle in sight on that Texas highway with an Oklahoma tag.

Yes...wrestling announcing has changed immensely over the years and the demands on the announce talent has increased many fold. I still think the primary goal should be to enhance and embellish the performers and explain the conflicts of which said performers are involved as clearly and succinctly as possible. So much more has been added to announcer's plates. Plus, some announcers have been rushed into duty before they are ready. In addition to that what is being done to help those broadcasters that are tenured to improve their games? Developing wrestling announcers isn't any different than developing wrestlers, referees, ring announcers, managers, etc. Systems need to be in place to allow for all these key roles to evolve. Announcers can't be over produced and must be able to find their natural rhythm and to be themselves with their true emotions. If announcers are not unique or can't raise their game to an acceptable level with the proper amount of true emotion then they need to do something else for a living.

We are shipping your orders as quickly as possible and Federal Express is doing a super job for us. We'll do all we can to make you happy and earn your business. For those that have asked us to make all sorts of changes to our packages we simply can't make wholesale changes during our busiest time of the year. But I do think that we have a super selection of packages available and many that offer FREE SHIPPING and FREE GIFTS.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

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