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JR's Blog: The Funks...King & Cole...WWE 24/7...Verne Gagne Tragedy...Hodge Book

Posted: Feb 22nd 2009 By: mikeiles

I hope this finds every one well and getting ready to enjoy a nice weekend. The Mrs. and I will be attending a sold out OU Women's Hoops game Saturday afternoon as the #2 rated Sooners play #5 ranked Baylor in the annual Breast Cancer Awareness game. I'm not sure how I'm going to look in pink, pretty I suppose, but it is for a great cause. We have some major news coming soon from JR's Family BBQ but we are excited about what we will be announcing in the next 30 days. In the mean time, we have several new items packaged as specials in our on-line store and for United States guests I think you will appreciate the shipping costs that we have outlined. We know that shipping costs are an issue and we are doing all we can to lower them including getting ready to stop selling any product in glass jars sometime in the future, hopefully sooner than later.

The Funks going into the WWE Hall of Fame is a no brainer. Great selection in my book....evn though I don't have a book....yet.

In the 70's I refereed a NWA Title Bout in Tulsa at the Fairgrounds Pavilion between Dory, Jr. and Harley. I wish this match existed on tape somewhere as it was one of the best matches I ever witnessed and that means ever. These two artisans went approximately 55 minutes in the one hour time limit before a winner was declared by pinfall. This contest was as compelling a story as any match on TV any where today as the two exchanged holds and counters that emotionally engaged the fans in attendance and had them on the edge of their seats. I never once heard the combatants say one word to each other as they were totally focused on each other. Even as the referee, I was as emotionally invested in this contest as any one in the audience. This was the first time I made over $40 for the night of refereeing an entire card and thanks to the main event selling plenty of tickets I remember earning $60 for the night's work.

Any naysayer who attended that contest no doubt that their disbelief suspended during the course of this match. These men did not use any ladders, or chairs, or tables but simply wrestled and wrestled as well as any two men in the world could have on that night. No one longed for the "Holy S***" Moment or ever once chanted boring. I am not oblivious as to the demands that many of today's fans put on wrestlers to be more sensational and more high risk seemingly every time out but for old school fans of wrestling this match was mat heaven. Isolating a body part, debilitating it, focusing on it, going for pinning combinations, and watching the momentum change in this match has me remembering it all these years later and one can only guess how many bouts I have witnessed since the mid 70's. That in itself speaks volumes.

Terry Funk came to New Orleans in the late 70's as the "Bounty Hunter" (no, not Dog the Bounty Hunter) to do the biding for Colonel Buck Robley and attempt to eliminate local hero Ken Mantell who was one of the few men to beat Danny Hodge for the World's Junior Heavyweight Title. Unlike the scientific battle outlined earlier between Terry's older brother Dory and Race, this match was wild, out of control, and hardcore long before fans were chanting E-C-Dub in South Philly. Chairs, weapons of all kinds, blood, and covert violence was the order of the day. I officiating this one too and I remember I had to soak my striped shirt in cold water to get all the blood out of it so I could have a clean ref's shirt to wear for my next night's booking. If Mantell won, he got Robley the next week. If Terry won, Mantell had to leave the territory which would then protect the villainous Colonel. I had never seen any thing like the performance of Terry Funk that evening in New Orleans. I was amazed at his creativity and ingenuity not to mention his fearlessness in an area that sold plenty of beer...in glass bottles. Mantell got his hand raised that night....I got a job offer from Terry to come to the Amarillo territory to referee....and I saw one of the greatest brawls ever and that I have never forgotten.

The Funks were an amazing duo together as well as their classics with Jack and Jerry Brisco will attest. These four men were as responsible as any men in making Florida the red hot territory in which every major star wanted to be booked. If you get a chance to see any of these tags or any Brisco vs. Funk singles match please take the time to watch it closely and see how the business was built.

I can see it now....Dusty Rhodes goes too long with his HOF introduction and the Funks come out to the stage in the Toyota Center and assault the Dream just like in the old days. I miss aspects of the old days for moments just like I just described.

The WWE started their recent international tour off with a bang with a sold out house in Leon, Mexico Thursday night. It is a nice benefit to have Lilian Garcia on the tour ring announcing as Lil is bilingual and speaks fluent Spanish which helps the live audience immensely. I wish I knew two languages but I am still working on my English which as we all know leaves something to be desired from time to time.

It is sad to hear of the recent tragedy that apparently WWE HOF'er Verne Gagne was involved that resulted in a fellow patient in the center where Verne was living died. Both men suffered dementia and it is likely Gagne has nor will he ever have any memory of this alleged matter. I had heard from others recently that Verne was in really bad shape and that he did not remember many of those close to him including family. This is a sad story especially when those of us that knew Verne over the years and knew what a vibrant and amazing athlete he was as a two sport star at the University of Minnesota and as the long time kingpin of the AWA. Our condolences go out to both families involved in this tragedy. Verne Gagne trained some of the best wrestlers in the world of pro wrestling and mentored my mentor Cowboy Bill Watts. Verne told me once that he regarded me as a "wrestling grandson" as far as being in the business and learning from Watts who had learned a great deal from Gagne as well as Eddie Graham, Vincent J. McMahon, Fritz Von Erich, LeRoy McGuirk, and Roy Shires.

I read an interesting interview this week with the King in the UK Sun. I am happy that Jerry is enjoying working with Michael Cole and I consider both men as great friends. I did not know that I was that hard on the King as neither of us had been in a TV production meeting in years but I will admit that I liked to get together in the afternoon and review the show we were about to broadcast. I always said publically that Jerry was more talented that I and that while I liked to prep he liked to ad lib. I too love surprises on a show and the less I know of the proceeding the better but I do feel it is incumbent upon me to know background info, etc. That's just my style, for better or for worse.

Who knows what the draft will bring as it relates to announcing teams but it would seem likely that there is a good chance some changes could go down but that's just my own assumption. As I have said before, change can be good.

I finished my voice overs over the past two days for the THQ Smackdown vs. Raw video game that will be out prior to the holidays later this year. As previously mentioned, it seemed as if the writing of the announcer copy was well thought out and better than it has been in the past.

Danny Hodge's book which I strongly suggest you order if you love to hear how the business was and how sports in general was a generation or two ago is available by logging on to www.wrestlingmuseum.com. I strongly believe that Dan is the greatest living wrestler alive and many of you will agree when you read his story. The MMA bad-asses should breathe a sigh of relief that Dan is 76 years old and not 26 or there would be a new sheriff in town.

If you haven't checked out WWE 24/7 On Demand recently, there is some great footage commemorating Black History month. One match, Bobo Brazil vs. Bruiser Brody was a classic from MSG and a Rock vs. Eddy Guerrero bouts on Raw from around 2002 had me off my chair. Also, check out a slimmer albeit hugely popular Dusty Rhodes as he loses the Florida Title in controversial fashion to Ernie Ladd in a bout narrated by Gordon Solie. Three WWE Hall of Famers in this process that shouldn't be missed.

Friday Night Smackdown came out of Oregon with two really solid shows that I hope that you will check out. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy is always great stuff and that is on this week's show and next week's installment of the MyNetworkTV ratings juggernaut (hey, why not pat ourselves on the back as it's better than a kick in the backside or so said the late Gorilla Monsoon) arguably might be even a stronger broadcast.

Thanks for stopping by and please check out my blog at www.wwe.com on the Smackdown page. For those of you that are taking advantage of our specials in our on line store we really want to thank you. Be well.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, NWA, Buck Robley, Ken Mantell, Danny Hodge, Jack Brisco, Jerry Brisco, Dusty Rhodes, Verne Gagne, AWA, Bill Watts, Fritz Von Erich, Leroy McGuirk, Jerry Lawler, Bruiser Brody, Ernie Ladd