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JR's Blog: Sunday blog, Austin-Punk, NXT, S'Slam, Dez Bryant, Roger Clemens, Bones Jones, OU Sooners, WWEShop.com for JR's

Posted: Aug 27th 2012 By: CMBurnham

Happy Sunday or what ever day you're reading this. Let's cook...

SummerSlam the live event grossed over a $1.1M gate last Sunday in LA. Goes to show you that a well promoted event with attractions that fans want to see will still sell even in today's disposable income challenged society.

If you have the attractions that fans want, they will come. 'Light,' gross ticket sales or PPV buys tell brutally honest stories.

My personal list of tryout athletes to be offered WWE contracts was short...very short from the group we saw last week in LA. The overall effort was good but the general conditioning of many of the prospects was not. That's inexcusable.

Watched Summerslam in the THQ suite and did not miss announcing the show whatsoever. Loved watching the crowd and listening to them as well as the suites had no WWE video or audio. There's no better marketing tool or focus group than the paying customers.

Some media members need to smarten up and stop blaming the business for the poor decisions made by adult men and women who find themselves in financial distress or with other issues at the end of their 'run' in sports entertainment. I've had countless conversations with performers who are almost insulted that the conversation about their irresponsible ways of every day life are even being addressed. Sadly some spouses of these immature adults enable the problem by 'needing' elective, cosmetic surgeries, designer bling and expensive cars. Most, somewhere along the way, even forget to file their tax returns while being too busy at the mall. What does one do when advice is offered, professionals being put at talent's disposal and the 'stars' still disregarding common sense guidance.

Speaking of the mall, is Dallas Cowboy Dez Bryant like 13 years old mentally? First he couldn't pay for unneeded bling, then Dez got banned from a mall for wearing his pants so low that his ass was apparently exposed and now his employer is allegedly banning their star wide receiver from strip clubs. Will numb nuts like Colin Cowherd pick up on this matter or will he revert back to the same tired material he generally uses when speaking of the pro wrestling genre? Bryant has a union that should be helping him notwithstanding his agents, etc. A pathetic sign of the times.

Huge strategic error on the part of UFC star Jon Bones Jones by not taking a replacement fight to save UFC 151. This apparent, selfish and ill thought out decision cost many, many people pay days which is sad. What if Bones had lost the fight? Would it have killed his career? Obviously not. It actually might have enhanced it. If Jones did lose, he certainly would have had an 'out' that the media could have highlighted. Win or lose if Bones had saved UFC 151, he comes out a hero but instead he is now scorned and this follows his recent DUI and his new, Nike deal.

Irony...Ryback gets @Goldberg chants (which I have no issue with) and gets knocked by some of my Twitter followers @JRsBBQ because his singlet is airbrushed ala RVD as if that's a mortal sin. At the same time, the higher skilled Dolph Ziggler is compared to HBK, Billy Gunn and Curt Hennig because of his hair, attire, and in ring moves but that's o.k. Too many fans have zero patience when it comes to the slow build for Ryback. Some fans want immediate results or so it seems. God forbid that they would have lived in the territory era when some main event programs lasted a year or more while some stars were built over a 12 month or more period of time.

NXT was the best night of TV that we've produced in Orlando to date. NXT Champ Seth Rollins got a great 'rub' from WWE Champion @CMPunk. The impromptu tag bout that occurred after the official taping ended between Punk/Rollins vs. Cesaro/Ohno was simply outstanding. We called it just for the Hell of it just in case it ever airs on a DVD, etc. It was really fun.

Big E Langston continued to take giant strides and is a star in the making if he continues to steer the course and gets a break once he debuts on one of the WWE rosters which I feel will happen some day soon. Just a gut feeling.

Michael McGillicutty can be a star and he is beginning to really bring it. The duo of Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel impressed me as does the team of Ascension every time I see them.

Paige is the top young diva in NXT for my money and the young lady from England has a bright future.

I'm really enjoying the new TV persona of the talented South African Leo Kruger.

Some fans attending NXT taping either REALLY love the villains or they REALLY need attention.

To address an on going question...Yes I'm still employed by WWE, Yes, I love working in the talent development program, No, I don't miss not being on Raw every week, Why, because unless you do it, air travel 51 weeks a year is a pain in the backside with security lines, oversold planes, the overall lack of customer service by some airlines, etc. For those that truly believe that I feel I've been 'demoted' because I'm broadcasting NXT and not RAW, you are sadly mistaken and misguided, trust me.

Food ideas from recent experiences: ham steak cooked in a pan with only JR's BBQ sauce and no other seasoning. Outstanding. Simple to do too.

Plus, JR's Main Event Mustard on a turkey pastrami sandwich. Nothing but money.

WWEShop.com does ship JR's products outside the USA contrary to what their website says.

Old wrestlers trying to rekindle their once successful careers is unfortunate but I get it when these talents need the paydays. It's sad but understandable. If they're booked properly and not in serious bouts that are too long it usually works o.k. However, Roger Clemens coming back to pitch professionally at age 50 makes no sense to me especially considering that Clemens has to be financially secure but apparently not so emotionally secure when it comes to his ego. Even though the Houston Astros are the Washington Generals of MLB and signing Clemens will help them "buy a house" and get some media attention for something other than playing bad baseball, this whole matter just tastes like bad BBQ.

Hope to hit El Paso this weekend to watch my Oklahoma Sooners kick off the 2012 season versus UTEP at the ridiculous starting time of 8:30 in El Paso and 9:30 in Oklahoma thanks to the TV folks who own the game and now call the shots in every league.

Follow @WWEgames or @THQ for info on when you can see my sit down interview with Stone Cold and CM Punk. It's worth the watch and it's not so long that it becomes the never ending tale. Plus, I encourage you to catch the panel discussion that I moderated for WWE13 the night before SummerSlam which went really well and was extremely well received. It was light and funny and I think that you will enjoy it. I'm unaware of when each piece of business airs but it should be soon.

Thanks to all that support our family efforts at http://www.wweshop.com. Check out all the great offers there now and save 20%.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.