For the Indianapolis fan, Raw returns to Indy on Monday March 19. Good luck to the Colts as even with the home field advantage Sunday in the NFL playoffs, beating Tom Brady’s Pats won’t be easy. For some reason, however, it feels like this “may” be the Colts time. It is hard to go against Belichick and Brady and the Pats playoff successes. This is not a weekend for yours truly to place a friendly wager or two as I am way too conflicted over these games to wager on them.
C.M. Punk fans- I don’t judge anyone’s career over wins and loses and especially not over the short haul. Punk has excellent potential and seems to still be a work in progress. I like to watch him wrestle and would love to see him on Raw. Nonetheless, enduring one loss to Bob Holly won’t kill Punk’s career whether the masses agreed with the loss or not. I remember Steve Austin winning hardly any matches for a year or more and his fans hung with him until Austin finally got his break. Punk is one of the reasons I watch ECW every Tuesday night.
Flair-Foley 2006 rivalry? I really liked it largely because of the verbal skills of each participant. Ric and Mick can verbally hang with any one in the business which is what made this matter so personal and fun to follow. Personal issues draw money but before any personal issue can take off the fans have to have made an emotional investment in the participants.
I get lots of questions about a “new” Hart Foundation, etc. I don’t even know if this is going to happen or is even under consideration. I also don’t know if the younger Harts want to travel down that road. I am not sure I would if I were them, but would instead want to establish my own legacy. Teddy Hart has significant in-ring skills but has made some errors in judgement over the years that have cost him some opportunities. I think I remember hiring him twice when I was in charge of WWE talent. Perhaps Teddy has matured now to where he can handle the responsibilities of being on the road full time because there is no question that physically, Teddy is gifted.
Someone compared Bob Holly to Stan Hansen as far as aggressiveness is concerned. That may not be fair because Stan was 300 pounds worth of toughness while Bob is around 60 or 70 pounds less of toughness. Both are tougher than $2 steaks but Hansen gets the nod here because he is simply a bigger dog in the fight.
Yoyo Pogo- Coming all the way from Ireland for Wrestlemania 23! Congrats! I hope you have a great time and enjoy the USA. I am afraid HHH will be unable to wrestle at ‘Mania this year do to his quadriceps surgery but nonetheless it is Wrestlemania and it will be a helluva event to witness no matter who is in the main event. Your girlfriend did well with scoring the tickets!
Kelvin- I have addressed Kevin Kelley’s announcing before, but I always felt like KK was an excellent announcer with passion and product knowledge. He was enjoyable to work with and was a true student of the game. Why didn’t he make it in the WWE? I certainly don’t think it was because he was a bad announcer. But, I don’t know all about the behind the scenes issues he may have encountered which are not foreign to the WWE of any other large company. Kevin was always professional to me and we seemed to get along just fine. I wish him well.
Samuel etoo- No Samuel I don’t “hate” Luger or Savage. Sorry to disappoint you. Savage belongs in the WWE HOF while I feel Luger does not at this time. That’s my OPINION which is my right and it is not based on “hate”. I can honestly say I don’t “hate” any one in this business even though there are people I would prefer to not be around and, no, I am not going to provide a list of their names. This isn’t the “National Enquirer”.
I totally agree that the WWE should have a separate building to house the WWE Hall of Fame. I know this has been discussed. I don’t know where it would be located but if you build it they will come…so to speak. And yes, one of the great ribbers, flying villains and long time superstars, Mr. Fuji will most likely be in the hall of fame in the future. No, I don’t know when.
ECW- This subject always strikes a hot button with many of ECW’s long time fans. The closest these die hard fans, who I do have great respect for, will ever get to the old ECW is by watching WWE 24/7. That is where I get my “fix” of wrestling from back in the day more often than not. The product has changed and many of us traditionalists have to either change with it or wait until the current trends change again. And they will. The fact that the ECW wrestlers are on the road with the Smackdown wrestlers as they make their way to the Tuesday TV day makes it cost prohibitive to shoot the ECW show in South Philly or the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. I have actually seen the numbers and it unfortunately will not work. I was a fan of the old ECW and watch every Tuesday night the new ECW to see how it is going to evolve and who the ECW stars of tomorrow are going to be. I wish wrestling shows of today were more like the Mid South shows of the 80s but that is not going to happen either. I will continue to watch the product because I am a fan….of what I individually perceive to be good wrestling and what I perceive to be bad wrestling which boils down to only one man’s opinion.
To the Finley fan out there, I don’t think Finley is too old to be a champion. Finley can wrestle and is so fundamentally sound that the Irishman can beat anyone on a given night.
So Victoria wanted to be in Playboy but it didn’t happen. I don’t think I ever talked to Victoria about this matter but I do know it takes two to tango and if Playboy was more interested in another Diva then the magazine’s decision weighs heavily on who ultimately appears in the magazine. With that said, I would enjoy Victoria’s presence in the publication if it were to happen.
I am a big fan of ESPN’s Bill Simmons who writes for their website and their magazine and has mentioned the WWE and wrestling in general on numerous occasions. I have heard from other sources that Bill is a long time fan as is Stephan A. Smith of ESPN.
To the fan who asked about travel, the WWE has a full time travel department who have the responsibility of making sure all the folks that need to be at a specific place get there safely and on time. These individuals have a thankless job but do a helluva job in moving so many people around the world 51 weeks a year.
Yes, all the announcers wear headsets so we can hear ourselves, the crowd, our partners, and the individuals who provide info, instructions, direction, etc into the headsets. These headsets can be a blessing or a curse…trust me.
For fans who want to get autographs, I suggest you either hang out at your local airport’s baggage claim, a hotel you may think the wrestlers are staying or get to the arena early and try and get access to the wrestlers as they arrive. These are some of the things fans do but there is no guarantee as it all comes down to timing and good fortune.
How much longer am I going to announce? That all depends on my health and desire to continue to travel weekly. I am taking it one year at a time and will make a decision as to whether I will stick around another year by this fall. I have casually said I would like to make it until Wrestlemania 25 but who knows? The WWE may not want me back this fall when my contract expires so there are many variables involved in this matter that I cannot address with total certainty. I know this. I still love the business and look forward to going to work every week and broadcasting on the most watched and influential and successful wrestling TV show in television history. When things stop being fun, that is when I stay at home. That time has not arrived yet.
I am often asked to comment on Vince Russo. I have spoken to Vince a few of times over the past few years especially when I was ill and had colon surgery. We have no lingering issues between us. There is no “hate” that exists which I know will disappoint some “hate mongers”. When I broadcast wrestling with Vince he was nervous and inexperienced but he did his best. Announcing wrestling wasn’t Russo’s calling at that time and it is not an easy job. Did I like all his creative ideas when he was writing? No. Does that make Russo a bad or a stupid person? No. My tastes in wrestling are more sports/athletic based while Russo liked shock TV a la Howard Stern’s radio show or “Crash TV” as it were. Bottom line is that Russo wrote some shows that got big numbers and that was what he was paid to do. We both have moved on from any issues we have had in the past. Isn’t that the healthy thing to do?
Another title run for HBK? Is this possible? Hell yes it is possible. HBK is still one of the best 2-3 in-ring performers alive for my money and has proven on many occasions he can have a classic match with a wide variety of opponents. I am a huge believer in Shawn Michaels.
Due to the 911 tragedy in the USA there are issues shipping liquids to the UK and beyond. We are working on it as we speak but there is tons of red tape and political issues we have to deal with in order to ship our delicious sauces to the UK. We can ship our shirts, caps, and books nonetheless. We are trying to work with a UK company to become our distributor there and I will keep everyone posted. As far as having our Bar-B-Q trailer in Detroit for Wrestlemania we are not planning for it at this time. I do think it is a good idea though.
Thanks for visiting our store and for becoming a customer. If you haven’t become a customer we encourage you to do so. The feedback we are getting on our merchandise and sauces is heart warming and much appreciated.
Our first restaurant opens in Norman, Oklahoma in the spring of 2007 just off I 35 and Main Street. Exciting times lie ahead!
Thanks and we will have more blogs this weekend.
J.R.
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