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JR's Blog: Sunday Update, UFC vs NFL, Luger-Yoko, Diva TV Show, Masked Kane, Angle/WWE DVD, Announce Table Insults, Raw GM, Sauce It!!

Posted: Aug 8th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Busy day...lots of 'Q' on my plate...let's get rolling...

I missed Saturday night's UFC show from Philly to watch the annual, NFL HOF Induction Ceremony. Feedback is that the UFC show was good and that the Evans-Ortiz main event delivered a solid, show closing effort.

Ortiz can likely still help UFC add some star power, name identity to cards down the road but it's obvious that Tito's best days lie behind him. With MMA in need of star power to add to PPV's or for TV ratings, I would not turn the Huntington Beach Bad Boy out to pasture just yet if he still wants to train and fight.

The NFL HOF Induction is a marathon of emotions and there were several great speeches especially the presentation by Shannon Sharpe.

Heard good things, saw some fun photos and videos from the Atlanta NWA Fan Fest. Greg Price does a nice job organizing this massive affair every year. It's a helluva undertaking if one stops and thinks about it. I enjoyed appearing at the one in Charlotte a year ago.

Watched Smackdown on Universal HD Saturday and am impressed with where Mark Henry has evolved. His in ring persona is arguably the most viable that it's ever been except perhaps for this days in the Nation of Domination of which I personally enjoyed. Where Mark is today is seeming a decade in the making. His attitude and demeanor has shed a fair amount of spotlight on him and has him booked at Summer Slam vs. Sheamus, one of my favorite WWE wrestlers. We signed Mark in '95 or '96 and at that time the Olympic power lifter could dunk a basketball while he weighed well over 300 pounds.

If you check out our store now you will find that we've made a new offer for shipping our JR's Cookbook from this site like we used to except that we've enhanced the offer. Just go to STORE from the home page.

Questions from the Q&A section and from Twitter @JRsBBQ......

At Summer Slam many years ago did the count out conclusion help Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna? Not in my opinion. Just from a personal perspective and because the 'rules' in wrestling are so abused and ignored, by and large, disqualifications and count outs have lost much of their value in recent years. In hindsight, Luger should have defeated Yoko at that Summer Slam, one that Gorilla Monsoon and I broadcast on radio as I recall.

Thoughts on Michael McGillicuty....love his upside and when he ever uses his real last name of Hennig and his DNA is publically represented I feel that he will have a good shot at becoming a main eventer. There's plenty of time for that to occur.

Possibility of a Diva's TV show....wow...stranger things have occurred but it seems as if the Diva division is somewhat of an after thought, unfortunately, these days but I'd never say never on that idea. If it combined some in ring content with away from the ring material it might make for an interesting reality type TV show. The more I think about it the more I like the general concept.

Who is the anonymous Raw General Manager? I still don't know and I still don't care. Next.

Will WWE ever produce a Kurt Angle DVD. I'd tentatively say yes especially if WWE thought it would sell. Why not? WWE owns tons of Angle footage that contains his best work as a pro.

Would I like to see Kane return wearing his mask? Personally, yes. I thought that was the best incarnation of Kane and it might serve to freshen up the veteran's TV persona. Looking back on my days in talent relations, what a signing Kane was. WWE got very fortunate to ink him to a contract for a variety of reasons.

Will Jeff Hardy return to WWE? The internet guys can react as they usually do from afar on my 'never say never' retort but on this occasion I really don't see it to be honest with you. Jeff had a wonderful run in WWE and it seems as if he peaked after leaving WWE. Jeff has the intangible 'it' factor but I don't know how committed or motivated that he is to recapture the magic he once had. I'll always be fans of Jeff and Matt Hardy.

Will American Football come to India in a new league? I've heard nothing of this seemingly wacky venture. I personally would not invest a nickel in American football to be played in India. I do know that India is a priority on the WWE international, growth map.

Am I concerned over all the insults thrown my way on Raw? Hell, no. Been insulted by the very best in the world on a professional basis for years. It's part of the presentation. Can it be overdone as in taking away from the building of talent? Yes. Announcer 'banter' should always have the talents in the ring in mind and the issues with which those talents are involved. I've worked with many color commentators over the year whose top priority seemed to be to promote themselves.

What did I think of the releasing of a handful of WWE talents last week? I was surprised to see the list as I didn't know it was coming. Fortunately that's not my area of concern these days. I used to be the one who had to make those unpleasant telephone calls or conduct the meetings to release talent. Not a good facet of the job of being head of talent relations but it has to be done and likely should be done a few times each year. Giving released talents the opportunity to go elsewhere while they are still young and potentially productive is a good thing. No list of releases will ever make any one happy, nor should they, but it's a necessary evil even if one's favorite was included in the cuts. As I have said on Twitter, generally speaking when talents are released it is the best thing for all involved after the initial shock/sting subsides.

Looking forward to heading to San Jose soon. The last Monday Night Raw prior to Summer Slam needs to be an ass kicker. I hope that the fans who attend live at the Shark Tank are emotionally invested IE loud and have a great time. Anxious to get back to the announce table with King and Cole and see what this week brings us. After watching Raw back a couple of times this week, I feel that I need to be more assertive and aggressive in enhancing the talents that we are seeing in the ring and not get caught up in petty, personal arguments.

Maybe I need to consume more of the Sanka. :)

WWEShop is doing a superb job of shipping our products worldwide and you can take a quick, easy look on one page at what they are doing in the building our brand at http://www.wweshop.com/Category/JimRoss.

We went over 200,000 Twitter followers this week and hope that you will join us @JRsBBQ.Boomer Sooner!

J.R.