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JR's Blog: Random Thoughts on @JoeyStyles..CAC/Vegas..Hump.. Abdullah..Lesnar/ESPN..Bones Jones..Grilling w/ JR!

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Beautiful day in Norman, Oklahoma and we thank you for paying us a visit. Random thoughts...

Several fans sent me a Tweet @JRsBBQ of the first match that Jerry Lawler and I ever announced together which was in 1983. Jerry was with his business partner at the time Jerry Jarrett and they were visiting Bill Watts on a TV night for Mid South Wrestling. Soon after this meeting, Watts and the two Jerry's made a talent trade that brought the Rock-N-Roll Express and Midnight Express (Condrey, Eaton, & Cornette) to Mid South. Both territories were able to freshen up their talent rosters via this timely trade.

The King sat in with me only on one match, as I recall, a tag match pitting Butch Reed & Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo and Iceman King Parsons. Who knew that a decade later that the two of us would form one of the longer lasting broadcast partnerships in TV wrestling history? To see it on You Tube try http://deck.ly/~xOLxT.

I missed out on the OU Football play by play position but the University made an excellent hire with 37 year old Toby Rowland. I'm disappointed that I didn't get a shot at my childhood 'dream job' but I'm happy for Toby and know that he will do a great job of underscoring the 'theater of the mind,' better known as radio, to the Sooner faithful.

Some of my friends feel that my long time association and name identity within pro wrestling over the years did not work in my favor. I'm not sure that I agree with that analogy but the bottom line is that it wasn't meant to be and as I said all along I felt that I was a long shot at best.

Look for Brock Lesnar to pop up on ESPN over the next few days, perhaps with Jonathan Coachman, for a 'unique' feature on the former WWE, UFC and NCAA Champion. Brock next fights June 11, at this time in Vancouver, against Junior Dos Santos. Of course Lesnar is one of the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter which debuts soon not to mention that Brock's book, co-written with Paul Heyman, will be in stores in a few weeks. I'm anxious to read Brock's book and hope that you check it out as well.

Speaking of UFC, they have a youthful fighter in Jon Jones who can perhaps headline three PPV's over a 12 month period if Bones can avoid injuries. The athletically gifted Jones, the youngest UFC Champion ever, is an extraordinarily unique fighter and, at 23 years of age, will recover from fights quicker than older competitors. The licensing and marketing potential for 'Bones' Jones is unlimited. To potentially be able to get 3 main events on PPV from Bones over a 12-14 month period of time is like printing money.

The Jones-Rashard Evans story over the UFC light Heavyweight Title is such a simple story to tell and to sell. Teacher vs. Pupil. Training camp partners. Jones wins 'Evans fight' vs Rua for the title, etc. I don't expect to hear amped up trash talking between the two men but I do expect that their naturally, competitive nature will be exploited as it should.

I got invited by the Celtics to attend their game in Atlanta on Friday night of WM27 week but the game conflicts with an appearance I will be on at the THQ location at WM Axxess. I'm actually going to play against The King in the new, WWE All Stars video game. I predict that Jerry will defeat me just as he will Cole in the Georgia Dome.

I might have actually been able to do some play by play while in Atlanta on Celtics radio with my pal and Celts voice Sean Grande.

For those attending Axxess, Lawler and I will also be at the WWE HOF booth signing autographs on Saturday morning from 10 am- noon. Plus, our JR's products will be on sale at the WWE merchandise stand throughout Axxess as well. Remember, no shipping charges at Axxess.

@joeystyles is lighting it up on Twitter. The artist also known as 'Stocky Balboa' is one of the more outspoken individuals in WWE and expresses himself freely on Twitter. Some day Joey and I may get to broadcast some lost classics for WWEClassics.com or WWE On Demand. Time will tell.

Have any of you checked out the Cauliflower Alley Club website at http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org? I'm looking forward to attending their April banquet in Las Vegas along with several other WWE HOF'ers. Hope to see many old friends and fans there.

We'll all miss Sir Oliver Humperdink at CAC this year as 'Hump' passed away a few days ago at the age of 62 after suffering from bladder cancer. Humpy had those bulging eyes and when he, shall we say, partook of smokable herb, those saucer sized eyes became very, very red.

Or so I heard.

The man born as John Sutton will be missed by us all and will always be one of the all time great managers in the business but likely will also always be underrated just as will his amazing team of the Hollywood Blonds, Jerry Brown and Buddy Roberts.

Great managers knew exactly when to be seen and when to interject themselves and, above all else, knew how to enhance their talent's skills. Hump 'got it' and his Hollywood Blond duo had tag team skills that would easily work well today if tag team wrestling was being featured at all on a national level. The 'Blonds' utilized classic, timeless tag team strategy that I can still vividly recall from matches that they had in the 70's.

BTW and before I forget...if you want an autograph on this site, I do not sell them. I will sign for free but you have to include what you want signed and a self addressed stamped envelope or it won't get done. Send requests to: JR's BBQ, PO Box 721294, Norman, Oklahoma 73070.

In my four plus decades in the wrestling biz, I can't name anyone who stood their ground against a variety of power brokers and stayed loyal to their in ring persona more than new WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Abdullah the Butcher. Abby perfected his game plan decades ago and never deviated from it to any significant degree. He stayed independent in his thinking and managed his own career while becoming a financially secure, Global, main event performer. 'Butch' as the late, great Gary Hart used to call him, is also very astute. If someone pulled the wool over Abdullah's eyes, they only did it once. He gave me some great advice as a young man who was just getting into corporate management within this wacky business.

Abdullah the Butcher is a superb selection for the WWE Hall of Fame as he has stood the test of time and made the term 'Hardcore' fashionable. Who was more 'Hardcore' for more years than Abby? Seems to me that the Butcher was the true innovator of the hardcore style of wrestling featuring blood and weapons.

Remember, we do not ship outside the USA but http://www.wweshop.com does and they do a really good job. If you check out their site, you can find some outstanding deals on products and on shipping especially to the UK, Canada, and Germany.

@JRsBBQ on Twitter has over 114,000 followers and grows daily. Thanks.

We're getting very excited about WM27 in my old stomping grounds of Atlanta. The Mrs. and I enjoyed living in Atlanta so much back in the day. We were homeowners there and still have many, many friends who reside in the Peach State. Being able to announce wrestling from the old TBS studios on Techwood Drive ala Gordon Solie in his heyday was a thrill for me and was a 'boyhood dream' that I was able to experience.

Ah, the 'good old days' when broadcasters actually did play by play during pro wrestling matches....and when a tank of gasoline and a sack of groceries didn't bruise the bank account.

Thanks for stocking up with JR's products from our on line store as it seems as if many of you are planning on WM27 parties and tailgates. We appreciate the biz and you've still got time to get your orders delivered before the event if you hustle.

Boomer Sooner!

JR

Tags: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Bill Watts, MSW, Rock-N-Roll Express, Midnight Express, Dennis Condrey, Bobby Eaton, Jim Cormette, Butch Reed, Jim Neidhart, Lanny Poffo, King Parsons, Oliver Humperdink, Hollywood Blonds, Jerry Brown, Buddy Roberts, Abdullah the B