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JR's Blog: Backlash Thoughts....JR in NYC

Posted: Apr 28th 2009 By: mikeiles

Backlash is in the books and I thought WWE produced a solid, wrestling oriented event,

Edge-Cena was a strong show closer. Both men worked hard, showed great intensity & the closing moments was surprising, crowned a new champion, and created a Cena-Show issue. Last Man Standing matches are challenging for all involved but I thought everyone "carried their share of the water." (Thanks Al Swearingen.")

Orton winning the WWE Title sets in motion a new chain of events especially if HHH is on the shelf for any significant length of time.

DiBiase/Rhodes stepped up & continue to get better. Their tag team potential is obvious. Orton has really come into his own.

Loved the interaction w/ Edge & Christian as it felt both fresh & nostalgic.

I wish the live crowd had emotionally invested more in the Jericho-Steamboat bout. Ricky, at 56 years of age, is truly remarkable...still. Jericho is going to add significantly to Smackdown.

Jack Swagger is "it" and, yes, I'm not totally unbiased when speaking of my fellow Oklahoman.

Christian as ECW Champion means that there can potentially be some competitive ECW Title bout w/ a variety of opponents going forward. Christian's skill set allows him to compete in a positive way w/ a variety of opponents.

Punk vs Kane did not have a long build but their bout was solid especially considering their contrast in styles. Both these men will be heavily counted upon to help elevate Smackdown in the coming weeks.

The Providence live audience was unique at times w/ their reactions but my philosophy has always been if folks spend their hard earned cash and as long as they aren't profane in front of children or ladies that they should cheer or boo who they choose. Being quiet, however, is the kiss of death at any event.

I enjoyed working with Cole & King at the announce table. We did not get this confirmed until Sunday afternoon but I hope we were able to do a good job for those of you that watched WWE's 2nd PPV in the month of April. I'm still working to define my new broadcast role which is a major adjustment in timing not to mention working a 3 man booth can be challenging.

All three announce teams will be in action going forward @ WWE PPV's in accordance w/ the brand seperation. That gets deserving, young announcers like Matt Striker, Todd Grisham, and Josh Mathews in the game.

Nice seeing Justin Credible in Providence Sunday afternoon. He's in the restaurant biz as a chef so we had plenty to talk about. Justin's a good hearted kid who seems to really have his life on track of which I'm thankful.

Also saw former WWE ref Tim White @ the arena. Tim is one of the really fine men I've met in the business. That covers lots of ground.

It's an off day for me here in NYC and I'm preparing to go on a BBQ journey. The Big Apple is an amazing city and MSG is truly special and sold out Tuesday nite to the tune of north of half a million bucks.

I enjoyed my ride from Providence to NYC w/ Striker and Mathews as we discussed announcing philosophy and the art of making wrestlers bigger stars. It's much more challenging today than at any time in my career for a variety of reasons.

Our BBQ biz in Norman is great & we're looking forward to continuing to grow our brand. Thanks for checking out our site and for doing some shopping in our store.

WWE wise this should be an interesting week as new issues should come to light as we prepare for another PPV in only 3 weeks.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Jack Swagger, ECW, Jerry Lawler