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JR's Blog: Thursday...Setting the Record Straight...FREE SHIPPING AVAILABLE TODAY...GOT SAUCE?!

Posted: Apr 1st 2010 By: CMBurnham

We need to clear a few things up that have been brought to my attention via our Q&A section of the site via a large volume of questions and comments from around the Globe.

J. R. is NOT retiring. It's tempting and financially doable but I want to work a few more years in a role that is fun and not as laden with stress as some of my previous assignments have been. No I am not 'vanishing.' LIfe is so good here in Norman and I have a tremendous amount of things to look forward to although I know that I have not broadcast my last event. One doesn't do something for over 35 years and stop cold turkey or at least I don't.

There are no issues or problems with my negotiations with WWE. The ball is in WWE's court to put together a new role for me within the company. Essentially they have decided to reassign me from weekly broadcasting and that includes the monthly PPV's to focus on other areas of the company. I am guessing, and I stress guessing, that may be some form of scouting and/or talent development. I might be wrong on that assumption but I'll know before the end of April as that is when my current extension expires.

Common sense would dictate that if I like the new position, its travel schedule and how much money that I will earn that it would be a no brainer to sign a multi year deal and move on with the company that I have been with since 1993.

Will I be involved in the WWE TV network that is allegedly going to launch sometime in the summer or fall of 2011? I don't know but one would simply assume that might be a possibility.

Will I ever write a book? Yes, without question. I have maintained copious notes for decades and my career covers a variety of jobs and roles working for some very unique individuals within American pop culture. I am told by people helping me with a potential book deal that we have several publishers interested and that we will likely be speaking with all of them next week. I want any book that I write to be honest, fair, entertaining and hard hitting. Actually, I feel that I have enough material for two books depending on how the first one is structured.

Is it true that I am looking into the possibility of becoming affiliated with a major public speaking booking company as a talent? Yes, but we are in the infancy of our talks. I've long desired to speak to groups when my schedule would allow such.

Who would I bring back to WWE in a fantasy booking scenario if I could book one man to come in and wrestle one major match say against the Undertaker next year in Atlanta at WM27? The emailer said it had to be someone that had not been back since leaving WWE. I would suggest that Brock Lesnar vs. the Undertaker at WM27 would be massive....and also impossible to book.

Yes...as I have written here before Chris Jericho would obviously make a great TV commentator if he ever decided to go that way. Doing commentary in WWE is not an easy way to earn a living and is a demanding job so one has to have the right mindset and/or financial need to endure it at times. Remember, that there is no season and every one needs a break from time to time.

The UK Sun, I was told and if I am wrong I apologize, reported that my health was bad and that was why I was left off the Wrestlemania 26 announce team. That is wrong. My health is better than is has been in at least a decade. I simply was passed over for the gig just like several wrestlers who did not have much more than a cup of coffee, if that, at WM26. It isn't everyone's 'right' to perform at Wrestlemania including mine. Those opportunities are earned or at least that's how it should be and should be for the betterment of the overall show. Do I think that I could have added a little something to the presentation this past Sunday? Oh, hell yeah. Again, if I inadvertently called out the UK Sun, I apologize. (It's late.)

We have yet to figure out how to efficiently ship our goods to the UK or Canada affordably and reliably but if any one has any bona fide info on this specific area of biz please let me know. It isn't that we don't want to ship abroad it's just that it is expensive and encounters a great deal of red tape.

The 'secret ingredient' in our amazing chili at JR's in Norman is our Chipotle Ketchup which you can add to your favorite recipe or even your favorite canned chili. Season to taste. I would also suggest that you add sweet onions to the canned chili or your personal fav recipe if onions are not usually included. I even grill hot dogs and then cut them up into bite size pieces and dumb them into the simmering chili. It becomes bread-less hot dogs.

Yes, I am a huge fan of MMA and have taken a heightened interest in the genre the past few months. Many present day MMA fans are displaced pro wrestling fans who are familiar with my work and some have followed my broadcasting career for decades. Where that may or may not take me is anyone's guess.

We grilled Wednesday night and mixed 85/15 burger meat with a hint of JR's Original BBQ Sauce and our Chipotle ketchup with seasoned pepper, hickory, liquid smoke to taste, a hint of garlic, and finely chopped, sweet onions and then made my burger patties. I took took two patties and slipped a piece of American cheese snuggly between them and formed one pattie and pinched the edges trapping the cheese inside and then threw it on the grill. Unbelievable! These were some 'badass burgers' which might be a great name for them. (Add jalape?os finely chopped to really take them to the main event level.)

No...I have no interest in becoming Jack Swagger's traveling, ringside manager. The young Oklahoman is doing just fine without me. I helped him get his foot in the door w/ WWE and he's done the rest quite well and with out me although we do have the occasional chat under the old learning tree. (Thanks, Ernie Ladd.)

Yes....I do think that Randy Orton will evolve into a magnificent fan favorite especially if he is not force fed on commentary abut how RKO has had a 'change of heart' or 'turned over a new leaf' type verbiage. The audience should be the ones that declare what Randy Orton is or isn't. Orton is money nonetheless.

Yes...I do think that Sam Bradford, who has enjoyed plenty of JR's BBQ in Norman, will be the #1 pick of the NFL Draft by the ST. Louis Rams and will immediately become a very wealthy young man. I would be willing to sell Sam our BBQ joint as "Sam's BBQ" has a nice ring to it don't you think? Sam Bradford is the second coming of Peyton Manning from where I sit.

Yes....without question my goal to someday broadcast OU Football and Basketball are still as strong today as they were 50 years ago when I listened to the Sooners on radio every opportunity that I got as a young lad.

All these responses were generated by questions from fans and were either answered or deleted from our popular Q&A section. Check them out today.

We had a really nice day with orders yesterday and fans are taking advantage of the package pricing that includes FREE SHIPPING IN THE USA. I encourage you to do the math on the case prices of our best selling, JR's Original BBQ Sauce.

Don't forget to shop for JR's products at the four, Norman, Oklahoma Homeland Grocery stores and that I will be at the Alameda location this Saturday from 11 am-2 pm and with every rack of slow smoked, ribs that you buy you'll get a FREE bottle of JR's Original BBQ Sauce.

Thanks for the visit and please tell a friend about our site. We need and want to grow and I need your help. If everyone who reads this would simply send a friend our link it would be greatly appreciated and a big assist.

Be well and Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

PS I'm very proud of the OU Women Basketball team who made the Final Four and play Stanford this Sunday in San Antonio. I would love to attend and take HBK with me.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Jack Swagger, Ernie Ladd