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JR's Blog: Happy Birthday "Naitch"...Ricky Steamboat Memories...Legends of Wrestlemania Video Game Secret

Posted: Feb 26th 2009 By: mikeiles

Thanks for checking out our site. We appreciate you stopping by and for taking the time to hopefully spend a moment or two browsing in our store. Let's kick off "random thoughts."

Happy Birthday to my long time friend Ric Flair who turns 60 years young today. Ric will eternally be young at heart and seeing him and sitting down for a visit with him will be one of my personal highlights at WM25. Ric will induct Ricky Steamboat into the WWE Hall of Fame and if you go back and take a look at the year 1989 no one in the business had better matches together than these two. Every time they wrestled they seem to put on a clinic. I wonder how many young wrestlers who truly desire to be a wrestling star some day have throughly studied these bouts? Between tanning and being on their computers, unfortunately not enough would be my assumption. Sorry to come off as a grumpy, old schooler but these matches were grappling art.

Good to hear that Jamie Noble is going to be o.k. after a near miss against big Mike Knox on Monday night in Nashville. Noble got timely medical care and having a doctor at all WWE events not to mention licensed trainers is a much needed asset for the wrestlers. Noble should be back in the ring in a few weeks and is one of the more underrated men on the WWE roster and is often an after thought to some because he's not 6'2" tall.

This Friday Night Smackdown is episode #497 which means we are drawing nearer to Smackdown 500 in three weeks. I will be happy to take that night off if WWE wants to bring Michael Cole back for the special occasion. However, if you are keeping score at home, I did do the play by play on Smackdown #1 way back in the day.

Wrestlemania comes to the desert in 2010 as WM26 will emanate from the University of Phoenix Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl. This stadium is one of the nicest that I have ever personally seen as I attended the Oklahoma vs. West Virgina Fiesta Bowl game there in January 2008 in a game that did not have a happy ending for this Okie. I have heard the theme of this 26th Wrestlemania will be "Destruction in the Desert." What's the over/under that title will stick until March 28. 2010? I think WWE made a great choice for the site of WM26 as hanging out in Arizona in March feels like a good deal to me and will motivate many to arrive early and to stay late.

From what I have heard, Matt Striker and Maria did the on cameras for the June release of the Macho Man Randy Savage DVD release which features 3 disc's of Savage's best bouts. Simply by looking at the match compilation, this seems as if it will be an excellent DVD for Macho Man fans who have been clamoring for a Savage DVD from WWE for years. Striker particularly knows the impressive history of Randy Savage and I am sure we will get some unique "nuggets of wisdom" from Mr. "I Hate Pronouns" who rivals the King as one the WWE's most skilled "ladies men."

Just a FYI, but the King and I reunite on the Legends of Wrestlemania video game in an old school style that features the King as more of a wise ass, antagonist which I think will be entertaining to those playing this THQ game that becomes available on March 24.

Imagine this travel, Santiago, Chile to Nashville, Tennessee which is exactly what some WWE folks did this week to get from the sold out event in Chile to Monday Night Raw in Nashville. That's one brutal trip and cannot be appreciated for those who only fly occasionally.

From what I have seen, WWE Axxess at Wrestlemania this year is going to be a really impressive event. I have heard that the "Broadcast a Match" exhibit will return where fans can call a match with a WWE announcer. I assume I will be a part of that which should be a lot of fun. This is where the fans broadcast a match and get to keep the DVD, etc. I would surmise that WWE.com will have the details on Axxess in the coming weeks.

Watching the Jack Swagger title defense of the ECW Championship Tuesday night against Christian reminded me of food. Please, no jokes as I am becoming increasing more sensitive in my AARP years. Watching some wrestling matches on TV that last 3 minutes or so is like having fast food. It's o.k. when you need a quick bite but there is noting like sitting down and having the time to enjoy a nice meal like one would find at J.R.'s Family BBQ, for example. The Swagger-Christian bout was long enough to sit down and emotionally invest in the process much akin to enjoying a Slobber-Knocker, 3 meat combo at J.R.'s. For the record, slow smoked ribs are meant to be savored not inhaled. Nonetheless this aforementioned ECW main event was a solid piece of business.

As of a few hours ago we have updated our Q&A section of this site.

Yours truly thinks WWE made a terrific selection in naming Ricky Steamboat to the 2009 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. I had the pleasure of calling many Steamboat matches when he returned to WCW in the late 80's which was a personal thrill for me. Prior to that I was never in a territory where Steamboat was competing but saw many, many of his matches on tape and was amazed at how silky smooth the Verne Gagne trained athlete was. Many fans of today's product often mention that they miss great tag team wrestling. If you want to see some classic tag bouts, check out Steamboat and Jay Youngblood vs. the Brisco Brothers from the early 80's. This series of tag bouts is honestly as good as it gets when dissecting the art of tag team wrestling.

Steamboat, who was actually born in West Point, New York, had the innate ability to create an environment whereby the fans emotionally invested in his matches especially when Ricky was battling a hot antagonist ala Ric Flair. The 1989 Chi-Town Rumble PPV match between Steamboat and Flair for the NWA Title was one of the finest one on one matches I have ever called in my career. If you haven't seen it, I strongly encourage you to check it out and if you haven't seen it in years you owe it to yourself to relive one of the most exciting NWA title bouts many of us have ever witnessed.

This match was poetic physicality, perfectly performed.

Steamboat, who could execute an arm drag better than anyone I have personally ever seen, and Randy Savage arguably stole the show at WM3 in their amazing IC Title Bout. Even though WM3 will always be known for the epic Hulk-Andre bout, without question Steamboat vs. Savage was the best pure wrestling match on that show and many think it was the best wrestling match any where that entire year.

Steve Austin has told me many times that Ricky Steamboat was his all time favorite opponent which covers some serious ground. For Steve to headline this 2009 HOF Class that includes Ricky Steamboat seems only befitting as does Nature Boy Ric Flair inducting "The Dragon" who one of Ric's greatest rivals.

If you get a moment, check out the September 2, 1992 Clash of Champions where Austin faced Steamboat for the WCW TV Title. This match was stout to say the least.

The one thing that always impressed me about Steamboat was that he maintained his composure and class in all situations. He was truly the consummate professional and WWE has done a great thing in not only putting Steamboat in the WWE HOF but also having him "coach" many of WWE's young stars of tomorrow. These kids can not find a better role model than Ricky Steamboat to model themselves after.

Thanks for stopping by and ease by our store if you have a moment. Be well everyone.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, Jack Swagger, ECW, Verne Gagne, Brisco Brothers, NWA, WCW