Random thoughts while battling an eye infection that has returned after an almost 3 year absence (Credit: JR's Blog)


I’m taking powerful eye drops (a form of a steroid…gasp) every hour that I am awake that should have me good to go by Monday night’s big 3 hour RAW, that will most certainly have Wrestlemania 24 implications. I’m just thankful I’m not driving from Oklahoma to Milwaukee this week or that would be an adventure.

I’m looking forward to seeing our old pal Gordon "Red" Batty and his son in Milwaukee. Red is the equipment manager for the Green Bay Packers and is honoring me with a signed Brett Favre Packers jersey that we will hang in our newest J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q, which we hope opens in mid April even though my money is on May 1.

Speaking of Favre, did you see the Sports Illustrated piece comparing #4 to the "Nature Boy" this week. Fun piece and it was obvious the author was a Flair fan at some point in his life. Of course, the expected and obligatory dig from the legit sports guy was present but all in all it was a fun read. Check it out on SI.com.

Wrestling lost one of its classiest and toughest competitors this week with the passing of Don Curtis. Don was a great collegiate wrestler and football player and is one of the very few men I have never heard his peers say one negative word about. In the wrestling business that is virtually an impossibility, with all the jealousy and insecurities that often times exist in the old locker room. Don and Mark Lewin made a superb tag team and Don eventually became Eddie Graham’s promoter in Jacksonville for many years. Don was a bona fide credit to the business and if wrestling had more men in it like Don Curtis it would be much better off.

Pet Peeve of the Week…..no time limits for the vast majority of wrestling matches. Time limits make the sports entertainment presentations have a little more "sport" to them and add to the sense of urgency. Point made…soap box stored.

I get asked questions all the time from wannabe wrestlers about how to go about training. There are several good schools that offer legit training, but one suggestion is to investigate www.OVWrestling.com and contact Danny Davis in Louisville. Danny is producing two TV shows a week in addition to all the in ring training and Davis is one of the best, most honest guys around.

One of my favorites, Larry King, will have a Wrestlemania themed show next week on CNN featuring Vince McMahon, John Cena, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Chris Jericho, who could well steal the show. I’m kinda surprised that the King of Talk did not request Maria considering her Playboy cover is every where as we speak and Larry’s fondness for lovely ladies. Larry was known to be quite the ladies man in his day and his former makeup artist in Atlanta and former WWE Superstar, Terri Runnels, has shared many a hilarious story on the talk master.

John Legend will sing "America the Beautiful" at Wrestlemania 24 which could have eliminated the ultra talented legend from being on Lilian Garcia’s Christmas card list. :)

Wrestlemania will be "Posse Central" with the likes of "Money" Mayweather, 50 Cent, John Legend, Kim Kardashian (Reggie Bush??), and one of our all time favorites, Snoop Dogg. WM24 catering should be an interesting place to hang.

Just thinking out loud here, but if Kim Kardashian, reality TV star, were a wrestler would she use the "Stink Face" as her finishing maneuver? She has the equipment for it, not that it’s a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.

Have you caught "The Dirt Sheet" starring John Morrison and The Miz on www.wwe.com lately? It has been entertaining and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to see it make its way to ECW TV. I wish Morrison and Miz would be traded to RAW.

I received a wonderful signed copy of Bret Hart’s autobiography and it is definitely a "must read," just as most sane people have said. I don’t do book reviews per se, but this is one helluva read and I have much admiration and respect for Bret for his tireless efforts in telling a thorough and honest story. If you are a fan of wrestling to any degree, this is one book I strongly suggest you read. Chris Jericho’s is another. I am looking forward to getting some tights, etc from Bret to frame and hang in our new restaurant. It is great seeing "The Hitman" making appearances at fan conventions on occasion, which is an indicator that he is feeling better. I really miss seeing Bret wrestle I can tell you that.

I spoke with the Rock recently about the hiring of the new Athletic Director at Rock’s alma mater, the University of Miami, where the Great One has donated a ton of cash to help endow scholarships and improve the athletic facilities. My friend Kirby Hocutt, formerly here at Oklahoma, is the new head honcho at "The U" which should make every alum very happy. Rock is jacked about being a part of the WWE HOF Ceremony on Saturday March 29. I am not a TV programmer, but I can’t see how the entire HOF Ceremony shouldn’t be televised as it can’t be any worse than the never ending story known as the Academy Awards Show. Perhaps next year MyNetworkTV, Sci Fi, or USA will step up to the plate and cover the bulk of the festivities. ESPN does a nice job covering the Pro Football Hall of Fame so why not the WWE HOF becoming a major TV event?

As we mentioned here several weeks ago it should come to no one’s surprise that Bobby Lashley is training to compete in the MMA and will be a viable commodity for some MMA organization to bid for and Lashley using TNA as a little leverage for a big money MMA deal is predictable, but smart. Bobby’s MMA window is closing as he isn’t a kid fresh out of college and he needs to hit for a big lick of cash sooner than later in MMA. Pro wrestling will always be there if and when Lashley decides to go back into the ring. Lashley is an intense and gifted athlete whose skills and comfort level may well be best suited for MMA and I wish him well. I like it that he is taking his time, training, and allowing the offers to be fielded as they come. Lashley should have plenty of suitors.

It would be nice to see some fireworks between Mayweather, Jr. and the Big Show Monday night at their weigh in on RAW. This concept might be risky, because I don’t think "Money" has totally gotten just how powerful the 400 plus pound Big Show is and the fact that Floyd is going to scoop into WM24, make a HUGE payday and bolt while Show is going to stay in the WWE for the foreseeable future and continue to earn a living. I have known wrestlers in the past who would "go into business for themselves" in matters such as this to protect their individual persona’s. The problem is if Show manhandles "Money" prior to WM24 would Floyd want any more on March 30? Floyd has not endeared himself to the WWE locker room or so it seems. I could be wrong on that assessment, but that’s one man’s opinion.

Finally, last week the Mrs. and I lost our 18 year old cat Molly that we nicknamed "Molly 3:16′ after she "kicked out" of an illness many years ago. We adopted Molly when she was 7, while living in Connecticut. With my corporate work load and travel schedule, Molly was my wife’s constant pal and kept her company while I was away. I never liked cats before we gave Molly a home, as growing up with a redneck, hardass father we were not allowed to have any pets in the house. Molly won me over and it was heart breaking to have to put her down after she suffered what is thought to be a series of strokes. I realize that in today’s world of controversial feedback from fans that this subject will likely be lampooned which is fine. I felt like I owed it to my wife Jan, Molly and all our friends and the wrestlers that had visited our home over the years that Molly entertained to mention her passing.

Thanks for checking out our site and for doing a little business with us in our never closed on line store. Don’t be afraid to bring any J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q signs to TV events as "baby needs new shoes". Yes, this site is an infomercial waiting to happen, but we hope we provide enough infotainment to keep everyone happy. If our gratuitous plugs anger some of you then by all means avoid this site like the plague and continue to send your heavy handed feedback to other wrestling websites. For the other wrestling sites that help us promote our Bar-B-Q business via this site we are very grateful. Also please keep your questions and comments coming as we are doing our best to keep up with the new Q&A section of our site. There’s our webmaster and yours truly currently working on the site so it is easy to see that we can get a little behind from time to time and it is physically impossible to answer all the questions we receive, but we will continue to do our best. We have several specials in our store and are selling more Bar-B-Q Sauce, Beef Jerky and our soon to be famous "I’ve Got Big Nuts" T shirts, ready to ship asap.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

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