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JR's Blog: JR's Broadcasting Partners, UK Tour, UFC Thoughts, Big 12 Football, Johnny Football, Bruiser Brody, Grill w/ JR's Products!

Posted: Jul 18th 2013 By: CMBurnham

Great day to touch base with everyone on a gambit of topics on a blog that is 'packed to the rafters' with random thoughts from more than being strictly squared circle oriented. For easy access to JR's delicious products, one can simply and efficiently order online from either http://www.wweshop.com or from Manchester, England's http://www.americansoda.co.uk. IT'S GRILLING TIME!!!! Getting very excited about my upcoming trip to the UK for my first ever spoken word tour. A limited number of tickets are still available in Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow but Cardiff and Glasgow are both close to selling out along with London which sold out a week or two ago. Manchester is the biggest venue of the tour at approximately 500 seats but tickets are going fast there as well. For ticket info on this unique, first of its kind, intimate, event simply go to http://psievents/eventbrite.com/. Remember that http://www.americansoda.co.uk will be at every event selling JR's products with no shipping or handling charges so come ready to stock up? Johnny Football aka Johnny Manziel, the first ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, did not come off well at the SEC media day earlier today. The kid did simply not seem truthful. He's a 20 year old who seems entitled and immature. However, who wasn't immature when they were 20? Best policy for @JManziel2 is to simply 'fess up, be honest and take your lumps. The public loves to forgive those who truly want forgiveness. Plus, stop making silly mistakes. I must say that I have never seen a better freshman football player than the one who tore up my Sooners in the 2013 Cotton Bowl. Manziel will be a massive, marked man this season and if he makes it through the entire year unscathed it might should be considered a miracle. If that miracle happens Johnny Football could well win is 2nd Heisman Trophy before leaving to enter the NFL Draft as expected. @TheCoachESPN aka Jonathan Coachman is becoming a major player within the self proclaimed world wide leader. It just goes to show what hard work and product knowledge will do for you. Our 'Country Whipping Match' in Chicago, and I do use the term match loosely, was one of the highest rated segments on Raw of that year. Why? Likely because, like some NASCAR fans, some folks like to see 'crashes' and to chuckle at other's missteps. While in Waterloo this past weekend, @UFC legend Matt Hughes told me that the upcoming fight between GSP vs. Johnny Hendricks was the most dangerous fight that St. Pierre has had in a good while. It's apparently not a good matchup for the Canadian Superstar. Hendricks is a former Okie State mat star who has very heavy hands. BTW @MattHughes9X is a class act and a credit to his profession. Many fighters within the MMA world would be well served to emulate Hughes character and dignity. Matt also said that former Octagon kingpin Anderson Silva "got what he deserved" while losing his championship to Chris Weidman. Silva won't take Champ Weidman lightly the next time that they meet and for those already declaring 'Spider' the winner, you might want to give that declaration more thought. A Silva win is far from a lock. The @UFC PPV in late December has me tempted to ask the Mrs. to go to Vegas for Christmas this year. I'm anxiously awaiting the Ronda Rousey vs. Meisha Tate fight as it has amazing crowd appeal and sizzle....plus both women legit don't like each other which always adds a little sauce to the brisket. I'm a big fan of women's MMA and @DanaWhite has a hit on his hands with this division. Nope...did not watch one inning of this year's Major League Baseball game OR the Home Rum Derby. Simply have no emotional investment in the MLB game this time of the year and the Home Run Derby, even though it got a great cable TV rating, is bad TV in my opinion. Future @WWE HOFer Chris Jericho @IAmJericho is apparently done with WWE for the time being to tour with his band Fozzy which was his plan all along. I wish Chris the best in his 2nd passion and look forward to seeing him again in WWE which I do think will happen at a time to be determined in the future. Jericho vs. RVD Monday night was superb especially for a cold, fan favorite bout that can often times be challenging for announcer's to call. Matches w/o antagonists vs protagonists, at least to some degree, or matches that have vague, near falls IE a Last Man Standing Match, a Buried Alive Match, an Ambulance Match, etc are also challenging for many broadcasters to master. It's sad to see so many pro athletes end up broke after earning so much money during their younger, playing years. It happens in all walks of life but it seems especially prevalent in sports and entertainment. If someone in WWE Developmental says me that they don't earn enough money to save any of it, then I often times wonder how prepared for adulthood and a career in sports entertainment that they really are. If for no other reason than to save to pay one's quarterly taxes, saving money isn't an option but it's a requirement from my perspective. #WhatWouldYourDadSay? Who is my all time favorite broadcast partner? It's one of the many questions that I get asked repeatedly on Twitter @JRsBBQ. I've been really lucky to have worked with some amazingly talented men. Obviously, my most tenured and beloved partner was Jerry Lawler and we were fortunate to have had seamless chemistry almost from day one. Jerry was so easy to work with and was consistently predictable...in an excellent way. Jerry carried me to many outstanding broadcasts. Paul Heyman @HeymanHustle was the most combustible partner that I ever had but we had 'car wreck chemistry' that one couldn't look away from more often than not. Our work at WM17 was some of the best of my career thanks in a large part to 'Happy Heyman.' Heyman was brilliant more often than not in his antagonist role. Bob Caudle and Terry Funk were likely the most underrated men that I ever worked with and their styles were completely different but oddly the same when it came to 'getting over' talents. They were extremely talented and unselfish broadcasters and made the story about the talents and not themselves. Jim Cornette was much akin to Heyman only with a Southern accent and could dissect a match and embellish talent as well as any one that I've ever broadcast with over the past 30+ years. J.C. was another gifted with natural timing and a great pro wrestling IQ. For those that watched my work in UWF with Freebird Michael Hayes, I felt like we had a helluva team and Hayes exceeded Jesse the Body during Michael's peak years as a color analyst, at least in my view, when Jesse was considered the best in the biz. Working with the legendary Gorilla Monsoon was like working with a beloved Uncle and his wisdom and presence helped me immensely. He was my closest ally much of our time together in WWE especially in the few yeas after I arrived in 1003. And then there is Bobby Heenan, Wow. The most brilliant, comedic mind that I ever worked with but he could still be a stinging antagonist. Without question, when one takes wrestling, managing, broadcasting, and simply being a TV character into question, who was ever better than Bobby "the Brain" Heenan? For my money, 'The Weasel" was the best, three tool talent in the history of the business. I don't even know who is in second place. No one that I've ever met in all three areas ever rivaled Bobby's timing other than The King. Amazing that people actually think that I know what will Main Event WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. Truthfully, I don't, and equally as truthful if I did I wouldn't spill the beans. I will say this because I've been asked this question a lot lately, IF Daniel Bryan ever faced CM Punk in a WrestleMania main event level bout, I wouldn't want to be the talents that had to follow it. If you have bona fide leads/individual contacts on how to get JR's products into major grocery store chains please leave that info at Contact Us on the home page of this site. We don't have a large team so I really need your help. I expect the Big 12 to have at least 4 or 5 teams get viable votes to win the league this year w/ my Sooners being one of them. OU's schedule isn't friendly especially on the road (is it ever?) as Oklahoma could win any where between 7 and 12 games. It's going to be that crazy of a season and I've made plans to attend every OU game including all the road games which includes my first trip to Notre Dame. I'd likely vote for Oklahoma State or TCU to win the Big 12 in 2013. with Texas as the dark horse. Today is the anniversary of the death of Bruiser Brody. Frank Goodish was a West Texas State football lineman who was influenced by the legendary Funk Family to enter into the world of pro wrestling when Frank's football days concluded. What a global star he was. Big, aggressive and Frank lived his persona to the hilt. Few big men were as athletic or agile as Frank. He was also tough, independent and extremely cerebral. He like was the original 'Cerebral Assassin' before I dubbed HHH that long after 'Bruiser Brody' was a memory. Frank was going to be a sports writer at one point in time until he found out that he was gifted to be a wrestler. His partnership with the equally talented Stan Hansen was legendary. Those two dominated the Japanese wrestling scene like no other since the days of Lou Thesz and the Funk's. I spent a great deal of time with Frank while I was in Florida in 1976 attending MLB Umpire School and he was working for Eddie Graham. Frank's murder in the locker room shower in Puerto Rico was completely senseless/unnecessary and was a travesty of justice that rivaled that of the Trayvon Martin killing. Thanks for stopping by and a special thanks to those who are ordering JR's products online. The Q&A's are updated here on the site and await you. This is my 3rd blog this week so read them all...They're free! Boomer Sooner! J.R. @JRsBBQ