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JR's Blog: Tuesday Update...UFC...Muchnick...Bobby Flay..Dwayne Johnson..Louisiana Memories..New Offers on their way

Posted: Feb 10th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Busy week...lots to do...let's get right to it...

Enjoyed the Jim Thorpe Award Banquet Monday night at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Tennessee's Eric Berry is a really classy kid who will be very rich in a few weeks as he is projected to easily be a top five draft pick in the NFL. I really enjoy football related activities and would likely opt to earn a living in the world of football if provided a viable opportunity. That should not come as a shock to any one who knows me or follows our blogs.

Many of my friends are working in Louisiana this week and one would suggest that is simply good timing as it relates to the enthusiasm level of the fine folks of Louisiana. There's wrestling in Baton Rouge tonight and it will be interesting to see how the fans turn out.

Years ago the Governor of Louisiana appointed a wrestling promoter for each town that Mid South promoted weekly. No other wrestling organization could legally promote in Louisiana for years which was an anti trade violation but the state politicos didn't care. It was all about the corruption within the state government at that time as the promoters were usually friends of the governor, relatives, etc and did essentially no promoting but were aggressive when seeking their percentage of the live gate. I once heard the promoter in Baton Rouge say that the reason that the "house" looked bigger than normal was because several "more fat, overweight fans were in attendance than usual." These were the days of hard tickets IE no Ticketmaster or computerized ticketing and the temptation of cheating on the "first count" was alive and well using those old, roll tickets. Not all the promoters were bad apples but there were a few.

I would suggest that hundreds of thousands of dollars were skimmed, bilked, misappropriated, etc during an extended period of time way back in the day in Louisiana. I think that the then Governor Edwin Edwards is or was in federal prison for his reported misdeeds. I have have some experience as a "bag man" if this wrestling thing ends up not working out for me.

It has been reported on line that I am making some sort of unadvertised appearance at the March 1 OKC event as we have been getting emails regarding such. This is all news to me and I know of absolutely nothing that is planned. We are spending considerable time and some in kind donations to help promote the WWE event but that's the extend of it. I do hope to drop by and say hello to friends prior to the event starting but will likely watch the show from home or possibly "in the back."

I will be at JR's BBQ in Norman a good portion of that day, Monday March 1, and hope to see some of the fans there for lunch.

Someone emailed us and asked the whereabouts of the former Ahmed Johnson. I have no idea but I do remember that Bill Watts was working in Connecticut at the time Ahmed came in and Cowboy wanted to call him "Big Buck Johnson." Whew. If any one wants to update us on the whereabouts of the the artist formerly known as Ahmed Johnson, please feel free to do so. He was a unique cat to say the least.

Have you joined us at Facebook? http://facebook.dj/jrbbq/.

Dwayne Johnson reiterated what we have said here for the longest time and that is that he isn't interested in stepping back in the ring as a wrestler but doing a speaking role and having fun on a wrestling show would be more to his liking. Bottom line, one takes Dwayne any way one can get him as he is a huge star who will pop a TV rating which is the holy grail for wrestling promoters.

Will die hards ever admit to themselves that guys like Steve Austin and Dwayne Johnson have wrestled their last match. As Larry the Cable Guy would say...."let it go!"

Great, wrestling promos of an organic and spontaneous nature still stand out when delivered with conviction and motivation. Can't say the same for campy humor but I'm also the guy who likes old, campy comedies like Stripes, Blazing Saddles, National Lampoon's Vacation, Porky's, and Hollywood Nights, etc so take that assessment for what it's worth.

The HBO 24/7 series on Jimmy Johnson and promoting this Sunday's Daytona 500 is an awesome piece of business. The wrestling business can learn from this 30 minute program.

No...I would not do well in a "Throw Down" with Food Network's Bobby Flay as he is a true pro while I am a self trained, amateur cook who likes to some cooking, BBQ'ing, and grilling for the fun of it. Thanks for asking though.

Recipe idea...add seasoned pepper (to taste but the more the better), a hint of seasoned or sea salt, a few splashes of one's favorite liquid smoke, garlic powder to taste, and JR's Chipotle Ketchup to your hamburger meat and mix well. Then cover and put in the fridge overnight for grilling the next day. If you can't do overnight, allow it to marinate for as long as you can as it will greatly enhance the flavor. Then make your patties and grill as usual. If you really want to make these burgers special, fine chop some purple or vidalia onions and include that in the bulk burger meat.

Emailers asked if I knew Sam Muchnick well. Not overly well but I met Mr. Muchnick on a handful of occasions with Jim Herd, former WCW V.P., and in St. Louis a couple of times without Herd. Sam got along with the wrestlers that worked for him because Sam respected them and it was reciprocal. Sam was a businessman and not "one of the boys." He made decisions largely based on the bottom line and what was good for business. Plus, from what I can ascertain Muchnick paid the wrestlers fairly and his St. Louis venue did excellent business more often than not. It was largely considered to be an honor to be a regular or a main eventer in St. Louis for Sam Muchnick back in the day. Muchnick wielded a great deal of power and some old timers even referred to Sam as the "Meyer Lansky of wrestling" which I always found interesting and provocative.

Are you following us on Twitter? Please sign up and go along for the ride. http://twitter.com/JRsBBQ.

We are working to add several new packages to the site next week. I'll keep you posted but we are excited about them and feel that they will offer great value for you and your family.

Tito Ortiz knows how to incite folks verbally which is exactly the skills necessary for an old school, wrestling manager. Know what to say and when to say it. PO people into buying tickets to see the bad guys get their ass whipped. Simple "formula" that still works. It even has a trendy name..."Talking Trash." There are perceived good guys in this world and perceived bad guys in existence and anyone that thinks otherwise is detached from reality. Some folks like cheering for the "bad guys" which is cool but it still doesn't change the fact that our basic human nature is what it is and we draw opinions as to what we like or don't like as a natural course of just being human.

Tito vs. Chuck Liddell after the Ultimate Fighter series ends will have fans making a huge emotional investment to see Ortiz get his ass whipped. Other than Tito saying something really stupid or litigious, UFC officials should quietly encourage the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" to keep spouting off.

Chael Sonnet is a not a good match up for UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva as Sonnet is a wrestler and therefore a take down artist while Silva's stand up and boxing skills are stellar. I hope this fight happens down the road as Sonnet made himself relevant against Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 and the more Sonnet can provide memorable sound bytes, videos and interviews of any kind the better UFC can market what might be Silva's next victim...that is is Silva wins against Belfort which is far from a guarantee. Point is, if UFC wants to sell PPV's then guys like the Chael Sonnet's of the world have to be made into stars when they are not in the Octagon.

The Q&A Section of the site has been updated.

Thanks for stopping by and for spending some time with us here on our site. Keep those orders rolling and keep an eye out for the new specials we will be launching in the next few days.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, MSW, WWE, Bill Watts, WCW