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JR's Blog: Monday Blog...OTL Thoughts..Punk-Bryan in rarified air..Great, Wrestling Rivalries, Order JR's @ WWEShop.com Quick Delivery! .

Posted: May 22nd 2012 By: CMBurnham

Happy Monday to all...let's roll with some random thoughts...

Getting ready to fly to Connecticut Tuesday to do some work there but wanted to share some thoughts on Sunday night's Over the Limit PPV.

The WWE Title bout was the overwhelming show stealer in Raleigh. @CMPunk vs. @WWEDanielBryan had one of the best bouts that I can recall seeing in years.

Was it better than WM28 Undertaker vs. HHH? Not in my view but it was damn close and considering the atmosphere at OTL compared to Miami that's a viable compliment. Plus, regarding Taker-HHH, I'm biased because I had the opportunity to call that one. Just being honest.

Punk vs. Bryan has the personality traits of some of the business great, mat rivalries where seemingly every time out a great match occurred.

Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk, Jr. had amazing chemistry and, arguably, the best, pure wresting rivalry ever over the long haul.

Verne Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkel in the AWA was another classic, wrestling rivalry that clicked and stood the test of time.

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat's long, series of bouts will be remembered for years to come as some of the best wrestling matches of their generation. Naitch vs. the Dragon also came in an era where there were numerous top stars who could get it done inside the ropes. Being on cable TV at that time in the late 80's helped the perception of Flair/Steamboat as well.

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels had some amazing matches as were outlined on their Rivalry DVD that is currently available on NetFlix. There's SO much more to the Hitman-HBK rivalry than simply Montreal/Survivor Series 1997. However, the bottom line is that these two had chemistry and told tremendous stories inside the ropes.

Steve Austin vs. The Rock was a huge money earning rivalry that headlined three WrestleMania events. Austin and Rock also had amazing chemistry and brought out the best in each other.

Austin and Rock were two talented men with strong, almost obsessive egos who both HAD to be number one. Those traits/elements created magic.

On a side note, many fans today would likely complain loudly if two men headlined three Wrestlemanias considering what I heard when two great stars such as Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels had two WM main events.

So to see Punk vs. Bryan Sunday night at OTL on PPV was amazingly refreshing to me. They were virtually seamless, had animalistic intensity, dehabilitating strikes, crippling and painful submissions and told an overwhelmingly compelling story.

It would appear that WWE has found lightning in a bottle with the two, former independent grapplers who paid their dues time and time again for little money to earn the opportunity to play at the highest level in the business, the WWE.

Punk and Bryan certainly are not '8X10 guys' but are two superbly conditioned, highly skilled, physically and mentally tough athletes who have sprinkled in just enough 'show biz' to make each man a uniquely marketable package.

Hopefully we will be treated to more of these two men in the future. This rivalry has unlilmited potential including the opportunity for an Ironman Match, 30 or 60 minutes, among many other show stealers.

Punk vs. Bryan Sunday night would have held up in any era of the business that I've personally been involved and that takes us back to the mid 70's. Bravo to both men. I wish that the WWE had a locker room full of CM Punk's and Daniel Bryan's.

The Fatal Fourway at OTL was another outstanding outing where all four performers had their 'moments' and the match had many momentum swings. Sheamus is a big, tough lad who is getting more popular by the week and because of his tireless work ethic the Irishman deserves all the success that's coming his way. I enjoy Sheamus a great deal because he comes to work with a lunch pail mentality and appears to truly enjoy physicality.

The tag title bout, without a great amount of fanfare going in, delivered, as well. Kofi and Truth are evolving and can hopefully continue to breath more life into the tag titles while Swagger and Ziggler are simply two of the most naturally gifted, athletic performers currently in WWE. Kofi in particular had some amazing moments during the latter stages of the tag title bout as his physical skills are significant. The talented Ziggler is Curt Hennig-like in some ways.

Of all the talents on WWE TV right now, the individual who has adapted, in my view, the best in a new role and that I enjoy watching perform on TV each week is Eve. She's perfect in her role and gets better at it each week.

Congrats to Christian for winning the IC Title. The Canadian veteran is considered by some to be one of the more underrated stars in WWE and without a doubt can have a good to great match with a long list of in ring talents. Plus, Christian is a real positive inside the locker room. It just seems as if it were yesterday when I signed both Christian and Edge to WWE contracts and now Edge is retired and in the WWE HOF and, hopefully, Christian will earn the same accolade some day.

Idea...egg whites or egg beaters with a little JR's Chipotle Ketchup as a topping. So good you can't sit still and eat it. Healthy too.

Good time to order JR's premium products from http://www.wweshop.com/Category/JimRoss and remember that WWEShop is on Twitter @WWEShop to answer many of your questions regarding shipping, etc.

Doing some research today on the origins of hardcore wrestling and also on Monday Night Raw memories of which they are many. I sometimes feel that I could darn near write a book simply about my tenure on Raw.

Also doing some prep on an upcoming CM Punk DVD interview that I'm going to do this week. Did you know that Punk had a dark match tryout in Philly at the May 5, 2003 Raw?

Raw is in Richmond tonight where it was that I think I had my first TV assignment for Jim Crockett Promotions after the UWF buyout. Bob Caudle and I hosted JCP's secondary show, NWA Pro Wrestling, just prior to Tony Schiavone and David Crockett going out and doing the 'A' show Worldwide Wrestling.

You're personally invited to follow me on Twitter @JRsBBQ. We are growing at a rate of 4-5,000 new followers per week.

It's picture in picture for me tonight as the @okcthunder look to close out their series with @Lakers in OKC. However, I'm not sure if any team in the NBA can beat the San Antonio Spurs right now.

The Q&A section of this website is updated. Check it out while you're here.

I'm told that domestic orders from http://www.wweshop.com/Category/JimRoss are shipping in a matter of days. We get shipping questions all the time and I wish I could be of more help in that area but unfortunately I can't. Again, Tweet @WWEShop for help of touch base with customer service at WWEShop.com. Thanks.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.