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JR's Blog: FREE cap offer ends today..Chael Sonnen..NWA Fanfest..ECW..FCW..Mauro Ranallo..Shaq in MMA

Posted: Jul 25th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Hi everyone and thanks for dropping by on this beautiful Sunday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma. After taking 12 hours to get from Tampa to OKC, it felt good to get home Friday night and enjoy a relaxing day Saturday. Our FREE J.R.'s Cap offer has been doing well and you still have time to take advantage of it today (Sunday) and remember that it is applicable with any order placed on this site only and that it also includes FREE SHIPPING in the USA.

Chael Sonnen is the underdog against the great Anderson Silva at UFC 117 but that doesn't seem to intimidate the outspoken and intelligent Sonnen. Chael, an Oregonian, sounds like he's being coached by another Oregon resident, Rowdy Roddy Piper, as Sonnen has some of the most outrageously entertaining sound bytes that I've heard in years in any genre. WWE would be a great residence for the talented talker some day when he's finished his time in the Octagon. Or perhaps UFC might want to explore the option of using Sonnen in a broadcast booth, perhaps on WEC. I would love the opportunity to either work with Sonnen on his broadcasting skills or actually work with him which my WWE arrangement allows.

Nonetheless I would not consider the upcoming Silva-Sonnen fight a layup win for "The Spider" and one could surmise that the longer the fight goes the better Chael's chances are to win it by KO or submission. If it goes to the judge's scorecards, it's usually the case that the challenger has to be totally dominate to get a favorable nod. With all that said, I would not be shocked if Sonnen upsets Anderson Silva at UFC 117 which is another reason that UFC PPV's are 'must see.'

Silva is ranked as the #1 MMA fighter in the world by Yahoo which may be arguable as GSP is ranked #2. However, Yahoo's panel's ranking of Brock Lesnar as only the 10th best MMA righter in the game is somewhat of a head scratcher.

To make sure all of those who are planning on attending the NWA Fanfest the first weekend in August in Charlotte, I will be making a one hour stop from 9-10 pm Thursday evening at the BBQ that's being held and at the Hilton hotel and will be signing and posing for photos on Friday. The highlight for me will be the banquet Friday night where I induct Danny Hodge into the Hall of Heroes. It will be awesome to have two of my very first traveling partners in attendance including Danny plus Scandor Akbar. Boy, the stories that I could tell. :)

We're getting lots of questions on the revisited, ECW TV storyline being used by TNA. For the record, I hope that all wrestling organizations do well as the individuals who comprise the various company's rosters are largely passionate fans living out their dreams. I'm not a 'dream squasher.' Do I think that this matter will be successful? I don't know. It might be o.k. for a one off sort of deal for a company that needs a 'hit.' Time will answer the 'will it be successful question' which is somewhere subjective in itself as what is the true definition of 'success' in wrestling? It varies by company, that's for sure.

Paul Heyman will not be a part of this presentation which does it no favors. Heyman was the strategic mastermind behind the original ECW that grew to have a passionate, cult following and lasted much longer than many 'experts' predicted when ECW started up primarily due to Heyman's leadership and creative vision along with a locker room full of passionate athletes who were in their prime and loved kicking ass.

To me, the old ECW officially ended with the last WWE produced PPV in 2005. But as I said, if wrestling fans enjoy something and want to invest their time and energy into it, so be it because it is and always will be about the fans.

Emailer...speaking of ECW...No, Joey Styles has no interest in broadcasting again in WWE on a full time basis, or so he has said to many, and has expressed his happiness in working to build WWE.com to an even bigger brand. Joey and I hope to broadcast one match together some day in the future for WWEClassics.com or WWE 24/7 On Demand.

As of Sunday afternoon, I've updated the Q&A section of the site so check 'em out.

We stayed busy keeping a steady stream of Tweets going out over the weekend @JRsBBQ. Join us on Twitter. BTW Steve Austin's Twitter account is @steveaustinBSR.

Stone Cold made a brief drive by appearance at San Diego's Comic Con over the weekend but is now back in Vancouver where he expects to finish shooting his latest film this week. I don't know the release date other than it will be sometime in 2011 and is another kick ass, action adventure flick.

Our new, HOT BBQ sauce is continuing to get big time reviews and is becoming a great seller on line. I hope that you will try it. Our three pack of 1 Original, 1 Hot, and 1 Chipotle Ketchup is a nice way to give our products a test drive.

It was interesting how many kids in FCW have college degrees. I was impressed and if I was in a position to make such mandates I would suggest that a college graduate get priority over someone with no degree if it came down to a tie breaker. There's one prospect in FCW that actually has a doctorate.

Got a kick out of hearing the talented Mauro Ranallo use my "ugly as a bowling shoe" clich? Friday night on Showtime's presentation of Strikeforce. Mauro brings a great deal of energy and knowledge to the broadcast booth of a MMA event and could be equally as effective as an analyst which is high praise from yours truly. It's too bad that one of Mauro's broadcast partners didn't, apparently, appreciate Mauro's pro wrestling background which comes off as narrow minded and lacking good judgment considering that a large contingent of today's MMA fans were at one time hugely invested emotionally in pro wrestling.

I still feel that a three man booth on most MMA fights is unnecessary and too cluttered. It's essentially the same feeling that I have about three man booths in pro wrestling too.

An emailer wanted to know if I thought Shaq would make it in MMA. I rarely never say never but I feel comfortable in saying that I NEVER see Shaq in UFC and I also wonder how the 7 footer would make weight at 265 pounds. Shaq is a big MMA fan, as am I, but he's a hoopster and is looking for that one more deal that might help him earn one more NBA Championship ring. BTW Shaq is one helluva great guy and will have many, many opportunities after his playing days are over in broadcasting and/or entertainment.

Thanks for dropping by and a special thank you to those who are taking advantage of our FREE cap offer with every order this weekend. You still have time to place your order as we will officially close the books on this offer late tonight and get very busy in shipping your orders on Monday.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, NWA, ECW, TNA