Black Widow
04-20-2008, 05:37 PM
JIM ROSS TALKS ABOUT THE KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT, COMEDY IN WRESTLING, MIKE ADAMLE AND MORE
As I write this, I have no idea who will be in the King of the Ring Tournament this Monday night on the 3 hour Monday Night Raw TV Special presented by the USA Network. I bring this up for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to make some predictions, if I could actually lay eyes on a tournament bracket, just as many of us did during March Madness. Plus, I wanted to do a little extra preparation for Monday night and I guess I will have to do it by reviewing the past 17 King of the Ring Winners with the first being Don Muraco, a WWE Hall of Famer. All I know is that all three WWE brands are going to be represented in the perceived 8 man, single elimination tournament that normally would create 7 bouts including the finale.
Does comedy in wrestling sell tickets or pay per views or is comedy in wrestling simply a "let me up" on the drama or serious presentations of wrestling? There probably isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question, but I will gladly provide my personal opinion because, as has been pointed out elsewhere. "J.R. is a master bulls******" (my thanks to whoever proclaimed that one). Comedy in wrestling is best served when it occurs naturally and if it is not a natural act, interesting choice of words, then it must be delivered by someone who has natural comedic timing. Simply writing something that is perceived to be humorous, no matter who says it, is no guarantee that the line will score. I am a fan of comedies in general and many of my favorite movies are comedies….check out the classic "Hollywood Nights" when you run out of something viable to do, as it is an off the radar comedy classic…but it seems that quite often, comedy in wrestling doesn’t work as intended. Does comedy sell tickets or pay per views? No. When organically executed does comedy have a place in wrestling? Hell, yeah.
It is hard to read about all the ailing wrestling greats this week including two WWE Hall of Famers, Killer Kowalski and Verne Gagne, along with lady wrestler Susan Green. Verne was LeRoy McGuirk’s successor as the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion after McGuirk was blinded in a car accident in 1950. My first job in the wrestling biz was earning $125 per week, with no benefits, and served as McGuirk’s driver, and provider of his cigars and whiskey. More importantly, I got to take many a long car trip with LeRoy and I learned about the heritage of the pro wrestling business from a proud man who was also a NCAA National Wrestling Champion. Verne has to be considered one of the top ten all time pure athletes ever in the pro wrestling business, especially when one considers Gagne’s amateur success on the wrestling mat and on the gridiron.
Killer Kowalski, affectionately known as "Walter" to many of us, fell recently and is recovering. Walter is a vegan and has been for decades, but at one time the 6′6"-275 pound freak of nature certainly looked like an avid carnivore. I have seen many old tapes of Kawasaki wrestling from the 50s and 60s and he was the real deal inside the ring who old timers tell me had one of the great "motors" ever in the business.
Susan Green was extremely athletic when I refereed some of her bouts back in the 70s. I think Susan was a Texas native and she sported cowboy attire, including a hat and cowboy styled wrestling boots most likely made by Austin Hall Boot Makers. Susan was 6′1" and was a solid in ring performer who had a long career. If my memory serves me correctly "Captain Redneck" himself, Dick Murdoch, had an "eye" for the tall Texas gal, but to the best of my knowledge the two never "rode the range together" so to speak.
My most sincere, heartfelt wishes to all these ailing stars and wishing them all a speedy recovery.
Mike Adamle replacing Joey Styles as the play by play voice of ECW has created a plethora of talk this week regarding wrestling announcing. A couple of things on this matter, some people have a natural gift for wrestling broadcasting such as Gordon Solie did, but to others the art of wrestling announcing is "an acquired taste" (sort of like a guy once told me about Scotch Whiskey, but I have never been able to "acquire the taste" for Scotch). I know that after being a life long fan of wrestling and getting the opportunity to work in a viable wrestling territory for a great mentor (Bill Watts) that I had a better chance than most in making it as a wrestling broadcaster for so many years. Being involved with the WWE’s flagship cable broadcast is a huge honor and responsibility of which I take seriously. Perhaps too seriously at times in my life, especially when I was replaced on Raw, which resulted in yours truly not being a prize to be around until the sting went away. After my cancer scare of 2005, I look at my career a little differently now and take every day one day at a time and know that my next broadcast could be my last for any number of reasons. Bottom line is I count my blessings and I am proud of much of the work of which I have been associated and honestly feel I can contribute for many more years in my current role on Monday Night Raw. I know the King feels the same way. However, when the day comes to say adios on Monday night there will be no Tony Soprano "Poor me" stuff going on. But for those keeping score at home, in my mind I am far from ready to tap out and call it a career. Was Mike Adamle brought in to replace yours truly at some point? Beats me. And I don’t care. I do know that my best days are yet to come behind the mic, or at least that is how I choose to approach my work. As it relates to wrestling announcing, interesting days lie ahead.
Read a really nice article this week on Trish Stratus’s Yoga business that will open soon near Toronto. I enjoyed her definition that Yoga is a "power nap for the mind". Trish will do well as she is a true people person, highly intelligent and a self starter. I recall vividly our first meeting in my office in Stamford where I interviewed her for a job in the WWE that she took and ran with to great success. I always considered Trish one of my most significant hires while I was in the Talent Relations role in the WWE. She was never high maintenance and worked tirelessly to become a better wrestler. I joke about Diva’s learning to actually wrestle or to at least become accomplished cat fighters, but all Divas who get into wrestling should be athletic and have the desire to be the best female wrestler ever. Sometimes there is too much emphasis in this area of the business on silicone and not enough on side head locks, not that I am so old that I don’t appreciate the efforts of a talented plastic surgeon. :)
The WWE Kids Magazine being promoted on TV is a really good idea and one that we are going to provide our young guests when they come into J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant in the near future. I became a fan of wrestling as a youngster and have remained such for the many years since which is the essential concept of appealing more to kids one would assume.
Interesting stories on ESPN this week about the trade rumors of the NY Giants outstanding tight end Jeremy Shockey. If you remember we talked about this matter several weeks ago after I had an opportunity to attend a backyard cookout with the Oklahoma native here in Norman. Jeremy told me and others that night that he fully expected to be traded to New Orleans and was looking forward to a fresh start for Saints’ head coach Sean Payton who was Shockey’s former coach at New York. Our news was discredited by some because of my background in wrestling, plus this is a Bar-B-Q site and not a pro football site. Time will tell because the NFL Draft, one of my favorite days of TV, is next weekend. I’m taking the over on a Shockey trade.
Oklahoma ran the no huddle offense this spring and this offense will add even more explosion to the Sooners’ offense this fall. OU is preseason ranked #2 behind Georgia, but as we all know, the preseason rankings mean next to nothing. It might help some schools recruit or sell tickets, but not a program on the national level as Oklahoma. Nonetheless, the 2008 college football season is greatly anticipated, as usual, here in Norman, Oklahoma. I just renewed our 6 season tickets of which there is a several year wait. As many of you know, I am a big time football fan, that’s American, tackle football, and we will occasionally write about the gridiron as the season approaches and into the fall. Hey, the site is free and you don’t have to read it if you only want wrestling "dirt" and opinion here.
We are in the process of getting tons of memorabilia framed for our second restaurant that is slated to open in June in Moore, Oklahoma along Interstate 35’s west side. We have game worn jerseys from every XFL team, some new John Wayne and Mickey Mantle items, Rey Mysterio’s silver mask he wore when he returned from injury at the 2007 Summer Slam event, Floyd Mayweather’s autographed boxing glove he wore at WM24, a ton of signed football jerseys from many NFL’ers, especially those that were former OU Sooners, a great selection of signed guitars from some of the biggest stars in the world including Eric Clapton and Santana among others, some vintage, mint condition wrestling posters, our recently signed #4 Bret Favre jersey, and literally dozens of unique items that will add to the uniqueness of J.R.’s #2.
There is a great article in this month’s "Oklahoma Monthly" magazine on our restaurant that I encourage those of you that can to check out.
The store is open…we sell things here…your business is sincerely appreciated…we ship any where. Thanks for stopping by and for enduring our site overhaul which will be completed soon. Be well.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
jrsbarbq.com
As I write this, I have no idea who will be in the King of the Ring Tournament this Monday night on the 3 hour Monday Night Raw TV Special presented by the USA Network. I bring this up for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to make some predictions, if I could actually lay eyes on a tournament bracket, just as many of us did during March Madness. Plus, I wanted to do a little extra preparation for Monday night and I guess I will have to do it by reviewing the past 17 King of the Ring Winners with the first being Don Muraco, a WWE Hall of Famer. All I know is that all three WWE brands are going to be represented in the perceived 8 man, single elimination tournament that normally would create 7 bouts including the finale.
Does comedy in wrestling sell tickets or pay per views or is comedy in wrestling simply a "let me up" on the drama or serious presentations of wrestling? There probably isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question, but I will gladly provide my personal opinion because, as has been pointed out elsewhere. "J.R. is a master bulls******" (my thanks to whoever proclaimed that one). Comedy in wrestling is best served when it occurs naturally and if it is not a natural act, interesting choice of words, then it must be delivered by someone who has natural comedic timing. Simply writing something that is perceived to be humorous, no matter who says it, is no guarantee that the line will score. I am a fan of comedies in general and many of my favorite movies are comedies….check out the classic "Hollywood Nights" when you run out of something viable to do, as it is an off the radar comedy classic…but it seems that quite often, comedy in wrestling doesn’t work as intended. Does comedy sell tickets or pay per views? No. When organically executed does comedy have a place in wrestling? Hell, yeah.
It is hard to read about all the ailing wrestling greats this week including two WWE Hall of Famers, Killer Kowalski and Verne Gagne, along with lady wrestler Susan Green. Verne was LeRoy McGuirk’s successor as the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion after McGuirk was blinded in a car accident in 1950. My first job in the wrestling biz was earning $125 per week, with no benefits, and served as McGuirk’s driver, and provider of his cigars and whiskey. More importantly, I got to take many a long car trip with LeRoy and I learned about the heritage of the pro wrestling business from a proud man who was also a NCAA National Wrestling Champion. Verne has to be considered one of the top ten all time pure athletes ever in the pro wrestling business, especially when one considers Gagne’s amateur success on the wrestling mat and on the gridiron.
Killer Kowalski, affectionately known as "Walter" to many of us, fell recently and is recovering. Walter is a vegan and has been for decades, but at one time the 6′6"-275 pound freak of nature certainly looked like an avid carnivore. I have seen many old tapes of Kawasaki wrestling from the 50s and 60s and he was the real deal inside the ring who old timers tell me had one of the great "motors" ever in the business.
Susan Green was extremely athletic when I refereed some of her bouts back in the 70s. I think Susan was a Texas native and she sported cowboy attire, including a hat and cowboy styled wrestling boots most likely made by Austin Hall Boot Makers. Susan was 6′1" and was a solid in ring performer who had a long career. If my memory serves me correctly "Captain Redneck" himself, Dick Murdoch, had an "eye" for the tall Texas gal, but to the best of my knowledge the two never "rode the range together" so to speak.
My most sincere, heartfelt wishes to all these ailing stars and wishing them all a speedy recovery.
Mike Adamle replacing Joey Styles as the play by play voice of ECW has created a plethora of talk this week regarding wrestling announcing. A couple of things on this matter, some people have a natural gift for wrestling broadcasting such as Gordon Solie did, but to others the art of wrestling announcing is "an acquired taste" (sort of like a guy once told me about Scotch Whiskey, but I have never been able to "acquire the taste" for Scotch). I know that after being a life long fan of wrestling and getting the opportunity to work in a viable wrestling territory for a great mentor (Bill Watts) that I had a better chance than most in making it as a wrestling broadcaster for so many years. Being involved with the WWE’s flagship cable broadcast is a huge honor and responsibility of which I take seriously. Perhaps too seriously at times in my life, especially when I was replaced on Raw, which resulted in yours truly not being a prize to be around until the sting went away. After my cancer scare of 2005, I look at my career a little differently now and take every day one day at a time and know that my next broadcast could be my last for any number of reasons. Bottom line is I count my blessings and I am proud of much of the work of which I have been associated and honestly feel I can contribute for many more years in my current role on Monday Night Raw. I know the King feels the same way. However, when the day comes to say adios on Monday night there will be no Tony Soprano "Poor me" stuff going on. But for those keeping score at home, in my mind I am far from ready to tap out and call it a career. Was Mike Adamle brought in to replace yours truly at some point? Beats me. And I don’t care. I do know that my best days are yet to come behind the mic, or at least that is how I choose to approach my work. As it relates to wrestling announcing, interesting days lie ahead.
Read a really nice article this week on Trish Stratus’s Yoga business that will open soon near Toronto. I enjoyed her definition that Yoga is a "power nap for the mind". Trish will do well as she is a true people person, highly intelligent and a self starter. I recall vividly our first meeting in my office in Stamford where I interviewed her for a job in the WWE that she took and ran with to great success. I always considered Trish one of my most significant hires while I was in the Talent Relations role in the WWE. She was never high maintenance and worked tirelessly to become a better wrestler. I joke about Diva’s learning to actually wrestle or to at least become accomplished cat fighters, but all Divas who get into wrestling should be athletic and have the desire to be the best female wrestler ever. Sometimes there is too much emphasis in this area of the business on silicone and not enough on side head locks, not that I am so old that I don’t appreciate the efforts of a talented plastic surgeon. :)
The WWE Kids Magazine being promoted on TV is a really good idea and one that we are going to provide our young guests when they come into J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant in the near future. I became a fan of wrestling as a youngster and have remained such for the many years since which is the essential concept of appealing more to kids one would assume.
Interesting stories on ESPN this week about the trade rumors of the NY Giants outstanding tight end Jeremy Shockey. If you remember we talked about this matter several weeks ago after I had an opportunity to attend a backyard cookout with the Oklahoma native here in Norman. Jeremy told me and others that night that he fully expected to be traded to New Orleans and was looking forward to a fresh start for Saints’ head coach Sean Payton who was Shockey’s former coach at New York. Our news was discredited by some because of my background in wrestling, plus this is a Bar-B-Q site and not a pro football site. Time will tell because the NFL Draft, one of my favorite days of TV, is next weekend. I’m taking the over on a Shockey trade.
Oklahoma ran the no huddle offense this spring and this offense will add even more explosion to the Sooners’ offense this fall. OU is preseason ranked #2 behind Georgia, but as we all know, the preseason rankings mean next to nothing. It might help some schools recruit or sell tickets, but not a program on the national level as Oklahoma. Nonetheless, the 2008 college football season is greatly anticipated, as usual, here in Norman, Oklahoma. I just renewed our 6 season tickets of which there is a several year wait. As many of you know, I am a big time football fan, that’s American, tackle football, and we will occasionally write about the gridiron as the season approaches and into the fall. Hey, the site is free and you don’t have to read it if you only want wrestling "dirt" and opinion here.
We are in the process of getting tons of memorabilia framed for our second restaurant that is slated to open in June in Moore, Oklahoma along Interstate 35’s west side. We have game worn jerseys from every XFL team, some new John Wayne and Mickey Mantle items, Rey Mysterio’s silver mask he wore when he returned from injury at the 2007 Summer Slam event, Floyd Mayweather’s autographed boxing glove he wore at WM24, a ton of signed football jerseys from many NFL’ers, especially those that were former OU Sooners, a great selection of signed guitars from some of the biggest stars in the world including Eric Clapton and Santana among others, some vintage, mint condition wrestling posters, our recently signed #4 Bret Favre jersey, and literally dozens of unique items that will add to the uniqueness of J.R.’s #2.
There is a great article in this month’s "Oklahoma Monthly" magazine on our restaurant that I encourage those of you that can to check out.
The store is open…we sell things here…your business is sincerely appreciated…we ship any where. Thanks for stopping by and for enduring our site overhaul which will be completed soon. Be well.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
jrsbarbq.com