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JR's Blog: Saturday Blog...JR vs.Michael Cole..Pacquiao vs. Mayweather..Austin RV'ing...No Sun Bowl for J.R.?

Posted: Dec 27th 2009 By: CMBurnham

Christmas has come and gone and I hope every one has had a great holiday season as we continue to count down to 2010.

Oklahoma was under a state of emergency with the Oklahoma National Guard being called out on Christmas Eve when 50 MPH winds accompanied 14 inches of snow to many parts of my home state including our neighborhood.

With the Oklahoma turnpikes and interstates closed, many Okie families had a more quiet holiday than perhaps they envisioned but enjoyable nonetheless.

Our family wants to thank you all for making December the biggest month ever for our on line sales. We hope that we can keep some of that momentum going throughout the new year. Any ideas/suggestions for different packages,etc will be appreciated.

Here's some random thoughts.....

We've updated more Q&A's on a variety of subjects including the WWE 24/7 On Demand, 83 minute presentation of "Southern Wrestling," Matt Morgan, three team tag TLC bouts, and more.

I received a wonderful text message from Tommy Dreamer on Christmas Day that confirmed that he was leaving WWE. Tommy did not mention what he was going to be doing but I would assume that Dreamer will be doing more wrestling. Tommy has been a great solider for the business and is a credit to his profession. He thanked me for my efforts on is behalf but he's the one who deserves the thanks.

Several Sooner football coaches and their wives dropped by our home on Wednesday night to sing Christmas Carols which was a pleasant surprise.

The Oklahoma traveling party left OKC Saturday morning for the Sun Bowl in El Paso and plan on having a practice in "Guerrero-Land" Saturday afternoon. This "may be" the OU first bowl game that I have missed in a decade as getting back to Norman before midnight on New Year's Eve is essential as the Mrs is taking a pass on this football trip. If I can't arrange private air travel, then I will watch the game at home, DVR it, and watch it again. Then when my coaching friends get back home later in the evening on December 31, we will hook up to bring in the New Year. Last year after our loss to Florida in the National Title Game, we went to our respective hotel rooms around 7 a.m.

Interesting "mind games" being played by Alabama coach Nicky "I'm a surly guy & don't touch my hair" Saban and Texas coach Mack "Andy Griffith" Brown as they both prepare their respective undefeated teams for the National Championship game in a couple of weeks. Both 'Bama and the Steers are superb teams and I will have some bowl predictions before various game times. My friends do not want me to pick Texas as they say no self respecting Sooner fan would ever cheer for UT under any circumstance. I'll take that info under advisement.

BTW...I have NO Twitter account so anyone who thinks that I have been Twittering or whatever it's called is being "played."

Please keep Steve "Dr. Death" Williams in your prayers as his latest battle with cancer is proving to be a tough one...again.

The promoters of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight are playing all their leverage cards and mind games with the media saying the fight is definitely off. I would bet a case of BBQ Sauce that the fight happens simply because there is too much cash riding on the pugilistic masterpiece for all involved for the fight not to happen. It may not go off in March, which would be a good thing for WM26 but this fight will happen. Just wait and see.

Got a call from Steve Austin last week who took one day to gather himself in LA after finishing filming his latest action adventure movie in Vancouver and then began a California to South Texas drive in a RV. Steve is going to enjoy his ranch in January as much as possible and then get right back on the horse, so to speak, in February with more projects in the film genre. When Steve called me he was driving the RV somewhere in Arizona heading east. We could have produced one helluva reality show on that trip I guarantee.

Saw where WWE reportedly signed Mystico, a talented Hispanic grappler, and here's hoping that he speaks fluent or at leat understandable English because if he can't communicate with the English speaking fan base there is only so far any wrestler can elevate. Any wrestler, especially those where English isn't their first language, who is not working on their verbal skills on their own time is cheating themselves out of cash. Sometimes I wonder how much work some wrestlers actually do when they are "off" to enhance their careers other than their trips to the gym and the tanning salon. Perhaps a visit to a financial planner or a tax expert would be a good way to invest some time rather than shopping for more "bling."

Got a neat email from a fellow who got a 6 Pak Powerslam for Christmas and had the awesome idea to use the Chipotle Ketchup as sauce for shrimp ****tail. Very innovative. I love to hear the unique ways that folks use our products.

Former WWE wrestler Kurrgan has a good role in the Robert Downey, Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie out now. Little known fact is that Kurrgan loves to sing country music and was actually quite good singing Merle Haggard tunes once upon a time as I recall. The big Canadian was one of the nicest guys on the roster when he worked for WWE and was never a problem and always a pleasure with which to work.

Pro Wrestling lost a major supporter on Christmas Eve when sportscaster George Michael passed away at 70. The originator of the "George Michael Sports Machine" had many wrestlers on his nationally syndicated show over the years and never dissed the business as so many in the main stream media feel compelled to do these days. George had a great sense of humor and looked upon wrestling for what it was...an entertaining genre that had many, loyal fans. The rampant insecurities of todays sports, talking heads would never allow them to speak of pro wrestling without tongue in cheek or eyes rolling. Nonetheless, every time I ever spoke with George Michael he was a class act who respected the business and its fans. Rest in peace George.

These days when wrestling is mentioned on a national sports broadcast it is usually the wrestrlers from past generations who get the stretch. That says to me that many baby boomers who have disposable income might return to the genre if it more closelyr resembled what they watched when they were younger.

Seems as if the Bret Hart hosting Monday Night Raw on January 4 is apparently a lock according to the DirecTV programming guide . I got a cool email from "Hitman" during the holidays but we never discussed his projected or potential Raw appearance. Yes, I actually have friends in the wrestling biz that aren't always incessant on talking about the beloved business. For the old timers, I try to avoid discussing the business at all costs because most of them only want to bitch about it and that type of conversation becomes too negative in a hurry for me. I understand their points of view but I choose not to invest much time into things that I can't control. I'll just let a selected few of the class valedictorians in the "wrestling internet world" handle those matters.

Just a suggestion...we do appreciate all your questions and comments send to our Q&A section of this site but I encourage those that write us to use spell check. Even with it, I sometimes misspell a work like Chipotle but I'm working on it. Spell check..deal?

Got a few emails that I deleted that had me booked with Michael Cole in a match to "earn" my job back on Monday Night Raw. Let me assure all of you that also may enjoy rubbernecking at traffic accidents that match is NOT going to occur. My in ring days are history...thank goodness...and they will never make my personal list of "career highlights."

If it is thought that I have to "win a match" to earn my spot back on the Raw announce team then perhaps it simply isn't meant to be and it's time for me to move on from that matter. Like the King always says, "One Can't Grieve Forever." I don't have to be on Monday Night Raw to be 1. Happy or 2. Earn my keep.

With all the future developments within the business I could theoretically see me doing a myriad of different things within the industry as time marches on. I certainly still have the passion for the genre and feel that I have been blessed to have acquired a unique skill set thanks to growing up in the territory system of wrestling plus having a few productive years in the corporate world of 'rasslin as well. My thoughts are that I can be productive, still contribute to selected broadcasts and not have to return to traveling 50-51 weeks a year. Again, that's my take on my future which may not jive with the other side of the business equation as it obviously takes two to Tango. I've talked to many big time, sports broadcasters in the past several weeks and all of them to the man have encouraged me to do all I can to acquire a schedule that I can manage and that gives me time to recharge my batteries and take care, most importantly, of my health. All these guys have jobs with "seasons" of which isn't a part, unfortunately, of the pro wrestling world.

Don't forget to check us out on Facebook as my pal Dennis Brent is the caretaker of that project and, as always, he does a super job with it. Dennis' wrestling memorabilia collection is vast and amazing and someday perhaps you will be able to peruse it on line.

Again, thanks for the on line business and keep it coming. Any ideas or suggestions on our packages are appreciate so send them along.

Be well and continue to count your blessings.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Steve Williams, Jim Ross