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JR's Blog: Legends of the Ring Recap..Mother's Day Memories..Questions Addressed..Order Now for Memorial Day Cookouts!

Posted: May 8th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there as we bring you a quick blog with some random thoughts including our recent trip to New Jersey for the Legends of the Ring gathering.

The Legends of the Ring function that I attended Saturday in Monroe, New Jersey was well organized and seemed to be a successful event. I was set to sign for three hours, 9 a.m.- noon but had to stay an extra half hour to accommodate all those that were in line.

The organizers bought 11 cases of our product and they were really smart in how they marketed it and sold out every bottle. They mentioned that they wished that they had bought more. Me, too! It was a win/win for all involved. Hopefully we will earn some new customers for our on line business after folks in the Northeast try our products.

Dusty Rhodes had to pull out of the event late due to personal reasons and circumstances beyond Dusty's control. I was looking forward to seeing 'The Dream' again as were many of his fans. Dusty was excited about the event and I'm sure that the WWE HOF'er will likely be back at the next LOTR function.

Vader has lost about 100 pounds and looks to be around 340-350 pounds. Diet, exercise, and no booze is working famously for the super heavyweight.

Vader's son Jesse White recently signed with WWE and will be going to FCW soon to see if he has what it takes to earn a spot on a WWE roster.

Had a quick visit with Stacey Carter while she was out walking her dog. She's braver than me as I wouldn't have the patience to take a dog on a road trip via an airplane. Mike Tenay concurred.

Got a glimpse of Chyna entering the hotel was I was getting in a car to leave and head back to the Newark Airport. Didn't get to visit with her but I hope that she does well with her next endeavor. I'm still not a fan of women wrestling men plus I NEVER said that Chyna did not deserve WWE HOF consideration, for the record.

DDP was in the area right beside me and he's wound tight with boundless energy. That yoga routine must be suiting Page well. He's very excited about the work that he did recently with WWE on the Best of Nitro out now on DVD. I hope that you check it out.

Good seeing Bill Eadie, who is either teaching or counseling youth, and Barry Darsow. The former duo known in WWE as Demolition were in great spirits. Barry and I talked about his days as Krusher Khrushchev and how hated he was in the Mid South Territory as the 'evil, anti American Russian.' Bill Eadie was one of the greatest masked men of all time for those who engaged in the business after Bill's 'Masked Superstar' run. Eadie was an amazing promo guy.

The Godwin's were a hoot to visit with and I got to spend some time with them on Friday night in the hotel sports bar. Henry and Phineas haven't changed much. :)

Carlito looked really good, relaxed and was personable as usual to me. Heck of a talented young man who still resides in Houston.

Perry Saturn still lives in Minnesota but is getting weary of the cold weather there. Perry is an unique soul who has lived an equally unique life.

Sunny looked good and, by the say, would make someone a great manager. She has name identity, understands the business, and can talk. The recent WWE HOF'er still has the look and skill set to contribute to many entities.

I always enjoy visiting with JJ Dillon who is working within the Delaware Department of Corrections and has two children who attend the University of Delaware. JJ was head of WWE Talent Relations prior to me and we always commiserate on the good days and the challenging days of fulfilling that role.

The ubiquitous Raven was in Jersey after I had just seen him in Vegas at the CAC function. Raven is another person can who talk and might be an asset to a young talent who needs help establishing their body of work.

Maria never looked better, hasn't aged a minute and says she's staying busy with a variety of projects. What a nice, young lady.

Dawn Marie was her usual cordial, attractive self and its always nice to say hello to her and to get an update on her kids.

My hats off to the promoters of Legends of the Ring and I encourage all fans to make an attempt to attend one of their events. I understand the next one will be in October and for all the info stay tuned to http://www.legendsofthering.com.

Here's a few questions that we have received recently from Twitter @JRsBBQ or via the Q&A Section of this site:

Do I think that Hulk Hogan will ever return to WWE? This is a classic, never say never answer IMO....BROTHER! Crazier things have happened BROTHER and one could theoretically see some sort of PR role for Hulk down the road. Who knows? Not something that I dwell on to be honest with you BROTHER.

Is it good for new, unproven talents to be exposed/promoted so much on TV? Absolutely. Where do the stars of tomorrow come from if that doesn't happen.Some will succeed and more will fail. Fans want 'new.' It's just too bad that most young wrestlers that make it to TV are no more ready for it than I am with giving up loving BBQ. The absolute key to how young talents are handled/managed/promoted in the early days of their career is HOW they are introduced.

Yes...one of my greatest, professional experiences was teaming with Bobby Heenan during his WWE run in the mid 90's. Bobby Heenan is the MOST talented individual that I've ever worked with when it comes to wrestling, managing, and announcing. Period. End of story.

Christian and Randy Orton had a great, TV match on Smackdown but I don't buy into the 'tragedy' that some fans flooded us with here on our site due to Christian losing the World Title. It isn't as if the loss ended Christian's career and who's to say that 'Captain Charisma' won't regain the title at a later date? Those that truly understand the nature of the genre have a different mindset than those who are knee jerking themselves silly.

Referees names on WWE TV are not provided to viewers because that is a long standing instruction from management. This isn't a new development and has been this way for a long time. Next.

Owen Hart. He would have had a birthday a few days ago I'm told. The talented and proud Canadian was so underrated by so many seemingly until after Owen left us. I don't know when or if an Owen Hart DVD will be produced by WWE due to the seemingly endless and on going legal/PR issues with his estate. Too bad in my opinion as Owen's story would be a great one as he was one of the most well liked and skilled individuals I ever met in my career.

How's Hurricane Helms after his near tragic motorcycle accident? Helms and his girl friend were severely injured in a motor cycle accident last week and seemingly just dodged a fatal bullet. My late father would never let me own a motorcycle and I assume situations like this are the reasons why. I wish Gregory Helms and his lady friend only the best in healing and regaining their health. They are both lucky from what I hear to still be with us.

Mother's Day brings back a cascade of memories for me as I was in London, as I recall, when word came from the States from my wife that my Mama had suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 64. This info was received a few hours prior to a WWE produced UK PPV which, by the way, will naturally spawn the obligatory and worn out question "is WWE going to promote another UK PPV?" of which I have no idea. The McMahon Family offered to fly me home immediately so I could attend to my mom's funeral arrangements with having no siblings and with my Dad passing away just a few years prior. Knowing my mother's work ethic and love of the genre, I opted to stay in the UK, do my job and then come home the next day to deal with the funeral arrangements. The only thing that I wasn't expecting was to come down with my second bout of Bells palsy while I was actually on the air live during that particular show. It wasn't the greatest weekend on record for me personally but I did have the greatest Mom one could ever ask for as she loved me unconditionally, supported my passions, almost to a fault, and gave me a unrelenting work ethic and a no BS approach to many aspects of my life.

My Mom is also the inspiration for all our on line sauces which started with our Original BBQ sauce which my wife Jan worked tirelessly and diligently on based on Mom's homemade BBQ Sauce that my five foot tall spitfire of a mother used to make in her tiny kitchen in our 4 room, concrete block, converted, dairy barn home.

So, when you hear me say that we have a 'Family Business' you can see that we actually do because not only does our family handle all the customer service, etc today but my own Mama was the inspiration for us getting into the BBQ Sauce business to begin with which has grown exponentially over the past few years thanks to your support.

If you are planning on making JR's Family BBQ a part of your Memorial Day Weekend coming up be sure and order sooner than late. Waiting until the week of equates to a shipping, photo finish.

Also, we restrained from raising our Beef Jerky prices when beef costs went up a few months ago but we will have an increase in our delicious, 97% Fat Free Jerky prices very soon.

Have a great day....hug your Mom if you can and, if not, be sure and make that important phone call to her.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

PS....We now have over 140,000 Twitter followers @JRsBBQ and I invite you to follow us.