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JR's Blog: Happy July 4th..WWE Down Under..UFC132 Thoughts..Boxing's Doldrums..Heyman vs Nancy Grace..WWEShop Ships JR's Worldwide!

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Happy July 4th to all that celebrate our nation's birthday. A special 'Thank You ' to all the brave, American Armed Forces members, past and present, who have fought to keep America free. It's a great day to grill so let's fire it up....

If you have recipes or ideas on how to use our products, please send them along to our Q&A Section of the site. I'd love to hear your feedback and the many ways that you use our BBQ Sauces, Chipotle Ketchup and Main Event Mustard. We've been getting several of these ideas on Twitter @JRsBBQ.

WWEShop, which is open 24/7 for orders, ships worldwide and you can check them out at http://www/wweshop.com/category/JimRoss. We're getting great feedback from around the world from folks who are trying our products for the first time. I can only imagine what a 'BBQ' in Saudi Arabia must be like but its happening because orders are coming from there.

The UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Germany, and France are among the countries who ordered over the past few days.

Speaking of Australia, WWE Raw talents are finishing up a 5 day tour there today. This tour will generate well over $3M in ticket sales revenue notwithstanding what the WWE will garner at their merchandise stands. Two live events had whopping 1.1M gates.

We get plenty of questions as to why fans can't buy some of our products at live events. We're addressing it and I could see our Beef Jerky being easily managed and sold at WWE live event merch stands but that's all TBD.

The HBO produced Haye-Klitschko heavyweight title fight from Germany Saturday was a real snoozer. I tweeted that I felt that boxing was in a slump and caught hell for it from boxing purists. How dare a 'wrestling guy' have an opinion. Boxing is in need of a shot in the arm. I am also of the belief that we will one day see a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight. there's too much money on the table for that one including a massive, live gate at an arena to be named and big time PPV bucks. What boxing attraction is out there that you would make sure and buy on PPV? (I'd love to hear Vince McMahon produce Larry Merchant, BTW.)

Loved UFC 132 from Vegas Saturday night. Their annual, 4th of July weekend gathering is a great marketing/promotional tool of which yours truly attended last year. Being in Vegas on the 4th of July is a blast. Here's some quick, random thoughts on UFC 132:

Cruz-Faber was an excellent fight that will be easy to market a return of the return. Great, natural rivalry between two Bantamweights. Smaller guys provide great action. (Let the Cruiserweight talk begin, again.) I tweeted right after the fight and before the decision was announced that I thought that Cruz had won a close one. Could have gone either way.

MMA judging is an evolving skill and because it's a subjective matter it will always carry with it a noticeable amount of controversy just like boxing has all these years. Best way for fighters to address that issue is to finish their fights & not allow judges to be a factor.

When one thinks about judging controversies just think back over the years to various Olympic games where the judging has caused chaos and heart break.

Chris Leben is an animal and after seeing him fight in person and then watch "The Crippler" beat Wanderlei Silva in 29 seconds Saturday on PPV, I'm a fan. Leben has the ability to market and promote his fights which is essential in my mind. Has the 'Axe Murderer' begun his exit?

Tito Ortiz upset Bader who was a 5-1 favorite to extend Ortiz' UFC career at least one more fight. The 'Huntington Beach Bad Boy' is back in the main event scene as fans are aware that he was one loss away from calling it a day in the UFC and likely still is. Urgency, among other emotions, sells tickets and PPV. No promotion can have 'too many stars' and with Ortiz figuratively rising from the ashes that adds some needed main event depth for UFC.

Matt Wiman lost his smile after losing a shocking, unanimous decision to Denis Siver, a $2 Steak Tough German fighter. Wiman bolted the Octagon and left the arena via the people according to those that were there. Wiman will return and will be a marketable antagonist even though me saying such often times infuriates MMA purists.

Carlos Condit's flying knee was of the Slobber Knocker variety. A big money knee shot.

It might be nice to hear from some of the UFC celeb's on hand especially ex-fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell. It's always good to hear the perspective of a Hall of Famer. Nonetheless it is good to see those of notoriety who attend these events. Nice positioning because everyone generally wants to follow what is 'cool' and 'topical.'

And no, I didn't need to hear from Justin Beiber who was sitting at ringside but having Beiber on hand is a nice PR hit for UFC.

One can tell that the UFC production team's work load has been overwhelming. Those guys need some down time. The show was excellent, the commentary, especially @JoeRogan, was stellar, but UFC has settled into a formula of how they produce their PPV's that is predictable. It's good but it is predictable which, in time, becomes an issue.

Anxious to see the TV ratings of networks like HLN with their wall to wall, incessant coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. I have to admit that I watched a fair portion of the closing arguments.

Seems like Ms Anthony is guilty of something but I'm not informed nor educated on the case enough to determine what. "Reasonable doubt' is a key term in this matter. This case is a tragedy no matter the outcome.

However, on a lighter note what about these two ideas?

1. A coast to coast car trip with Jerry Lawler and Jane Velez Mitchell for a reality TV show perhaps taking calls or Tweets from fans? Both are chatty individuals and both like the ladies. Of course, there's nothing wrong with either.

2. A PPV Debate pitting Paul Heyman @HeymanHustle vs. Nancy Grace vs. Jose Baez, Ms. Anthony's defense attorney? I could see Jane Velez doing a run in, taking Baez out and then joining the debate. I think my money would be on Mr. Heyman on this encounter. I'd buy this PPV more than any one in boxing at this time other than Pacquiao vs Mayweather. Nonetheless the fireworks on PPV between Paul E. and Nancy would be riveting or, at least, hilarious.

Our Q&A's are updated as we speak. Some good questions and comments this go around. One gentleman took exception w/ me about my opinion on a wrestler's union of which I'm confident will never see the light of day. From my personal observation, most wrestlers don't trust their peers enough to put their faith and confidence in wrestler elected leadership. There are too many personal agendas amongst the wrestlers to strip away that veneer and get down to business from my observations over the years. Perhaps wrestlers in the future will be more educated and less paranoid than their predecessors and this matter might have hope but I'm still doubtful.

Happy belated birthday to our good friend and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart whose B-Day was yesterday if I'm not mistaken. @BretHart was a pleasure to see when last we were in Stamford together for the HBK/Hitman DVD. Bret looks great and seems to be very happy. He will always be one of my favorite wrestlers and Bret is often overlooked in how much of a positive influence Hitman had on Steve Austin's career in WWE. These two had some amazing bouts including one of my all time favorites at WM13.

Bret's pro Canada/anti USA storyline back in the day was one of my favorites and nationalism issues and storylines are still relevant today if done properly. People love their 'home teams' and that situation will never change.

Another emailer took me to task about my opinion on hunting and particularly endorsing Shawn Michaels new adventure/hunting show on the Outdoor Life Network. I assume it's a generational thing as my Dad used to hunt and we processed and ate everything he harvested over the course of the year from Venison Sausage to quail. Dad's hunting helped our struggling family with our grocery bill and provided a source of lean, protein to supplement the beef, pork and chicken we raised on our farm. Another issue is the over population of some species. Either hunters are allowed to harvest these animals in a systematic, controlled manner or a respective state's wildlife department will handle it.

@shawnmichaels- _ can be followed on Twitter and I hope that fans support his show and stay tuned for more great things coming from Shawn as he begins 'phase two' of his professional career now that his in ring wrestling days have ended.

Have a safe and enjoyable day everyone and thanks for your support at http://www.wweshop.com/category/JimRoss. WWEShop is doing a superb job of shipping our products all over the world.

Remember, we need those JR's product ideas and recipes if you can make the time to get them to us.

Check us out on Twitter as we have surpassed 175,000 followers @JRsBBQ. Join us.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.