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JR's Blog: Mick Foley Joins JR in NYC this Sat Night, 1st Program Watched on WWE Network, RAW Feedback, Order JR's Deliciousness Online

Posted: Feb 25th 2014 By: CMBurnham

Greetings one and all on one of the most memorable weeks I can recall in many a moon. Thanks for stopping by and let's stop burning daylight....

Very pleased that my old pal Mick Foley is going to sit in with me Saturday night at our late show at the Gramercy Theater on the Q&A portion of RINGSIDE: An Evening with Jim Ross in NYC. That's was a nice surprise for me and I appreciate Mick taking the time out of his schedule to support our efforts to build a brand with these one man shows.

I may never be as good as Mick Foley on stage but I can be the best JR that I can and that 's what fans will get Saturday night. Tickets are still available at the box office and http://www.ticketmaster.com. VIP tickets that include a meet and greet are still available for the early show. Join us!

We'll have some JR's' BBQ Sauce, Championship Beef Jerky and some new, event shirts available at the shows in the Big Apple.

Big day for WWE Monday as their Network launched and they had a huge, RAW that should easily top 4M viewers when all is said and done with the TV ratings.

I subscribed to the WWE Network first thing Monday morning with no issues. Actually enjoyed watching the main event at WM1 Monday night after RAW. That may be the answer to a trivia question some day....or maybe not. It was great hearing Gorilla and The Body call the match even though I recall Gorilla not enjoying being called Gino on the air.

Vince McMahon, ever the riverboat gambler, had it all riding on the river card at WM1 as it had to hit for him to stay in business. It hit.

The rumblings of Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at WM30 was made official on RAW or that's what I got out of it. I think that these two will exceed most fan's expectations at WM30. Not sure I can tell you why but it's merely a gut feeling that I have. I think that they keep it basic, physical and at an old school pace which isn't plodding but one that fans can process and 'feel' what they are seeing.

I see WM30 as a card that will likely evolve right through the last RAW prior to the event in NOLA. Yes, I think that card tweaks could occur the final week of the promotion for the big event.

Getting way too much negative feedback here about how Batista is positioned as if it is Dave's fault. It's really no one's 'fault' as sometimes talents are simply miscast. I've see it happen since the day I walked into the biz in 1974. The great thing about TV Wrestling creative is that the most powerful weapon in the business can be called upon.....the eraser.

I have always thought that Batista, because of the Daniel Bryan phenomenon, was a better fit to be a villian but that's easy to say now. I expect that to occur later this week on Smackdown.

Great pop for Hulk Hogan and did you notice that WWE gave Hulk his spotlight uninterruptedly and did not align him with anyone nor did they have anyone confront Hogan.....yet. Good to see Hulk back on WWE airwaves. Hogan was more 'over' in 5 minutes on WWE TV than he ever was on TNA Impact.

WWE has a potential hit with the RAW pre and post game shows if the panel's jell and my friend Josh Mathews can keep the rudder in the water on unpredictable seas. The key thing is that the panelists must talk in sound bytes, have something tangible to say, and put over talent.

I assume WWE will have a different panel each week but that's mere speculation on my part. Perhaps they try multiple talents to see who's going to fit the best. I will tell you that I'd certainly use Alex Riley as he's a young talent with an unlimited upside as it relates to broadcasting. ( Hope I just didn't jinx Alex.)

Daniel Bryan wants HHH at WM30 but will that keep or make Bryan's fans happy? Likely not. WWE has a golden opportunity to provide Bryan and his fans a 'magical moment' in the Mercedes Benz Super Dome come WM30. Time will tell if that happens. It seems too obvious that it should happen for it to not occur.

I was broken into the business with most, big money programs being that of the 'slow burn' variety but today's audience is different from the old days and their patience is not as prominent. Plus, today's fans, or at least many of them, like to become a part of the presentation with their defiant chants at televised events which then influences live event audiences, to a much lesser degree, and the next TV crowd.

Really liking the Wyatt's and the Shield right now. They have made it from Dale Mabry Drive and FCW in Tampa thru NXT in Orlando all the way to main event relevance, or damn close to it, and they have done it well. But they are all still a work in progress. This is when their coaches/mentors need to put their foot on the gas and on the ass if necessary. Young talents have to be constantly pushed and reminded that it's a long, hard ride to the top.

Seth Rollins and Luke Harper have both had especially good outings Sunday and Monday.

Thinking that Bray Wyatt is the hottest young villian prospect WWE had had in years while Roman Reigns has "it" and should be printing money sooner than later and could be my favorite to be WWE World Champion at WM31.

See it...feel it...plan for it...take it a week at a time... and make it happen. That's the theory.

Good, solid match by Sheamus and Christian. WWE can't have too many men in their locker room like these two.

Chicago next week for RAW is going to be an interesting show as it relates to the whereabouts of CM Punk. The only way to look at these challenging weeks, something I learned from the Monday Night Wars, is to embrace the challenge and have fun with it. One thing is for sure, the Chicago crowd is always one of the best in the universe and they alone should help make the night interesting.

I'd be shocked to see Punk in Chicago but I'd certainly enjoy it. As Gorilla would say, "highly Unlikely."

Will Punk return at WM30? Steve Austin thinks so as that's what he said on the Ross Report podcast last Wednesday. Part two with Stone Cole which is an ass kicker is due on the Ross Report which drops no later than Wednesday this week at podcastone.com and ITunes.

Q&A's are updated.

Be well and thanks for the visit and don't forget to visit http://www.wweshop.com for great deals on JR's delicious products.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ