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JR's Blog: JR in Tulsa..Harley Race..40 Man Rumble..Taz' Dojo..Wrestling All Stars..Austin Tweets..CAC Needs You..Need Mustard?

Posted: Jan 21st 2011 By: CMBurnham

Smattering of snow in Oklahoma today with brisk temps which I know are mild compared to much of the country. Let's start the grill with some random thoughts from emailers and Twitter followers.

I found out about the need for me to be in Tulsa EARLY Tuesday morning as I had not planned on making the 200 mile round trip after just getting home from a 6 day road trip. A Twitter follower inferred that she thought that I likely wanted to be on the show because of what she read in a Vince Russo book where he 'suggested' that I 'yearned' for the spotlight.

That theory is laughable. I've been involved in many TV scenarios because that was what I was instructed to do and, as I have said many times, one is either a team player or one isn't. Those particular plays were called and I ran them. Simple as that.

Did I like personally being involved in the storyline process? Not really but I liked cashing the checks that came along with them so one does one's job and calls it a day.

Some of my in ring experiences were memorable especially in the early going but then they seemed to happen more frequently which made them less special. I probably ended up doing more in ring physicality storylines with more top stars than any full time broadcaster in the history of the business.

Refereeing a bout in Tulsa this past Tuesday brought back some great memories as my first ever officiating experience in a pro wrestling ring was a 10 minute draw contested between Mike George and Treach Phillips at the Tulsa Civic Center in 1974.

Nonetheless I enjoyed seeing many of the WWE folks Tuesday in Tulsa and was happy to have the opportunity to attend the event with something tangible to do. Just hanging around and loitering in catering isn't my idea of a productive day.

Enjoyed the OU Women's 10 point win over the Texas Tech women in a Big 12 Conference game in Norman Wednesday night. As a former college referee I try to refrain from blasting the folks int he striped shirts but the three man crew, actually 1 man and 2 women, that worked the OU-Tech game had a less than stellar evening. I could say more but I'll leave it at that but suffice to say that if all three officials who worked the game went to 'Pro Wrestling Referee School' all would likely be tri-valedictorians. BTW my wife and I have 'Jack Nicholson seats' aka front row court side for OU Women Hoops and it's a blast watching the ladies play.

The legendary Harley Race called into Sports Talk 1400 in Norman on Wednesday as I was on my normal guest spot in the 4 pm hour. It was great hearing from Harley and a pleasant surprise. He mentioned that he would be in Atlanta for WM27 and at the Cauliflower Alley Club function in Vegas in April. I've read where he will also be attending a fan convention/autograph function in LA in about a week. Harley is one of my all time favorite performers and is certainly another man that the younger wrestlers of today can learn from by watching Harley's work. That is unless the hip, neophytes feel that watching an artisan like Harley Race perform is "too old school" for them. If some pup told me that and I had the stroke I would love to wish them well on their future endeavors because I would not want any one with that ignorant attitude in any locker room.

Been asked tons of questions of what I think about the 40 Royal Rumble match...up 10 men from years past. Many 'experts' have already analyzed this 'biggest ever' Rumble match but I'm not that bright. I need to see it play out before I can judge it. Once I see the Rumble on PPV from Boston, which is and has been sold out for weeks, I will better be able to share how I like or don't like the 40 man format.

I do know that it gives 10 more guys a pay day which isn't a bad thing.

Many have asked about the Cauliflower Alley Club and if non wrestlers can join and the answer is a resounding YES! Fans are encouraged to join and support this non profit organization and you can learn more about all they do by checking out their website at www.caulifloweralleyclub.org. Their annual function is in April in Las Vegas and I plan on attending with the Mrs. Several wrestlers always attend the event. Plus the memorabilia tables and exhibits are awesome.

Any fan who wants to have a great time meeting some of the biz's biggest stars from multiple generations should make the trip to Vegas in April and enjoy one of the most memorable, wrestling experiences of a lifetime.

Good luck to my friend Taz on the opening of his new Dojo today in Long Island. It's a finishing school for indy wrestlers who want to get to the next level of their profession. Taz is a natural born coach and I would encourage any wrestler who's hitting the indy trail to check 'Badass U' out. BTW Badass U was an ad lib. :)

Got some hilarious Tweets from Steve Austin Wednesday night. Check them out @JRsBBQ.

Saw the trailer for the new, WWE Wrestling All Stars video game which will be released on March 29. It looked great and I hope that you enjoy the King and my work on it. It was like old times as this new, video game from THQ put our broadcast team back together again. I will be appearing at a THQ function at WM27 in Atlanta at Fan AXXESS on, I think, the Friday night of WM27 week.

Watched some of NXT on Tuesday in Tulsa. All the rookies have a shot at the next level. Brodus Clay is a big monster who has the potential to be a unique in ring performer if he can continue to improve and focus on what 'monsters' do in a squared circle. Physically, Clay is the most unique of this group of NXT rookies.

Last week while in FCW in Tampa and attending the Thursday evening TV taping, Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman dropped by and paid a visit. Good to see Sean who has an extremely bright mind for the wrestling biz. I can still remember calling a 1-2-3 Kid vs. Bret Hart match on a Raw in about 1994 or so that was arguably one of the best bouts on WWE TV that entire year. Sean evolved into a superb wrestling villain over the years.

An emailer asked about Bob Backlund's status re: the WWE HOF and obviously Bob is deserving of the accolade and I would suspect that he will be inducted some day. He was approached about the matter a few years ago and wanted to wait.

I have no idea what the long term status of ROH is or isn't. I hope for the sake of the talents and the company in general that they survive but it won't be easy w/o weekly TV or so one would think. There again I'm not sure how many folks were watching their weekly show on HDNet but having any weekly TV is better than none at all. ROH has a loyal fan base and ROH staying in business and on the air is good for the genre, in general, in my opinion.

Speaking of ROH, former alum Tyler Black now known as Seth Rollins in FCW had an off the page match at the last FCW TV taping with masked, Mexican star Hunico. It was as good or better than the majority of TV matches that I've watched over the past several weeks on any TV show.

Enjoyed aspects of Monday Night Raw from Little Rock this week but would have liked to have seen more ring time between Daniel Bryan-John Morrison as fan favorite matches with no established personal issue generally need more time to evolve. Also, I would have enjoyed more of the Dolph Ziggler, who's doing really well, vs. Randy Orton bout. I am a big Ziggler supporter notwithstanding that Orton is arguably WWE's #2 star behind John Cena at this time. CM Punk is seems to be preparing for a stellar '11 and has the in ring style and verbal skills whereby his won-loss record likely will never become an issue. That's not to say that Punk can afford massive losing streaks but he's a 'Teflon Villain' in that if he gets to rebut what happened 'last week' he'll generally always remain relevant.

The impromptu battle royal or Rumble match preview on Raw was of the 'bowling shoe' variety. It did however establish that 400+ pound Mark Henry should be a factor in the Rumble bout.

An emailer wanted to know if I thought that TNA was the 'new WCW' and my answer is no. Comparing the Turner Network that aired WCW back in the day ala TBS and TNT isn't a fair comparison to the Spike Network. TNT was, as best as I recall, one of the top 1-3 cable networks in existence back in those days while Spike isn't even in the top 15 cable networks in today's marketplace. Some of the on air and in ring talents are the same but I'm not so sure that's such a good thing either. I have many old friends who work for TNA and for their sake and for the sake of the biz in general I hope that TNA does well.

For those fans who theorize that TNA will eventually 'kick WWE's ass' those folks need to lay off the 'magic mushrooms.' It's not about 'kicking WWE's ass' for TNA.

Several have asked who was inducting HBK into the WWE Hall of Fame, and by the way ticket sales for the HOF Ceremony are brisk, and I don't know but I do know that it's Shawn's call. Personally, I would like to see HHH do it because I know that the former DX guys are legit friends and have great respect for each other's work. That's just my two cents.

Please keep emailing or Tweeting us on how you use our products. For example, Joey Styles dips our Beef Jerky into the Main Event Mustard and Michael Cole's wife uses our mustard as a steak sauce.

If you haven't tried our Main Event Mustard, which is a tremendously healthy condiment, I encourage you to do so. It's getting rave reviews as is our Chipotle Ketchup which is a flavorful, smoky ketchup and there isn't any thing like it out there. It does a 'Buzz Sawyer-like' power slam to regular ketchup.

We're rolling out a new offer within hours in our store and it will certainly hit on Twitter as well as following that up here on the site. Nonetheless I hope that you will follow us on Twitter @JRsBBQ. This offer will be special and it won't last long so stay tuned.

Not sure I'm traveling up to Boston for the Royal Rumble as that's a long way to travel for one, short meeting. If not, I'll watch it live on PPV for sure.

Another kid to keep an eye on is 20 year old Bo Rotundo who's currently down in FCW. Bo has lots of potential and success could await if the 3rd generation athlete continues to fully invest in his game.

An emailer asked who I thought would win the Royal Rumble match. I have no idea but if I had to go with a handful of picks John Cena would head the list of potential winners. I'm also interested on who either lasts a longer time than most expected and who might get on a roll and eliminate double digit competitors.

Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to your next visit. It would be nice if you stopped by our store on your way out. Remember that we do not ship outside the USA but http://www.wweshop.com does.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.