Kellie
07-12-2009, 02:23 AM
We unloaded over 400 cases of J.R.'s "HOT" BBQ Sauce and Chipolte Ketchup today at our Norman, Oklahoma warehouse in 103 degree weather and, yes, I was sweating Crisco. Nonetheless we now have our three, primary sauces in stock and ready to ship. I know that some wrestling fans get tired of me "pimping" our BBQ products but that's why we created this website....to sell BBQ products. For those that shop with us from time to time, please know that we sincerely appreciate any and all of your business no matter what your purchases may be. For those that dislike me "shilling" our BBQ goods, then I suggest you not log on to the site. Sounds like a simple deal to me.....now on to some random thoughts.
UFC 100 is hours away in Vegas and I plan to watch it with the Mrs. on PPV. Because she's met Brock Lesnar on many occasions and got to know Brock when he was with WWE and I was the EVP of Talent Relations she has developed an interest in MMA. Plus she's always been a boxing fan but with the boxing business on life support Mrs. J.R. has switched her interest from boxing to MMA which is great by me.
Lesnar weighed in at 265 at the official weigh in on Friday but you can count on Brock tipping the scales at 280ish come Saturday night. Brock will likely outweigh his adversary Frank Mir by approximately 30 pounds and even with that size disparity Mir won't have an edge in speed and quickness. Mir does have a decided advantage in MMA experience and has talked a damn good game going into the fight to help sell PPV's. I stick by my prediction that if Brock doesn't make any foolish mistakes early that Lesnar will destroy MIr who will be a HUGE favorite in the arena. Brock once told me that getting booed motivated him to scary levels like when he was a heavyweight wrestler at Minnesota and they would travel to Iowa to compete and where Brock was looked upon as if he was Satan himself there in Iowa City. Lesnar will be booed out of the arena Saturday night in Las Vegas and I don't think that he would have it any other way.
MMA fans love to hate Lesnar with many simply despising Brock because he was a "show biz" wrestler in WWE which is one of the most lame reasons to dislike an athlete one can imagine. There's got to be a better reason than that but apparently there isn't for many MMA purists. Shame on Lesnar for earning a honest living in "rasslin" and becoming the first sports entertainer to earn more than a million dollars a year within the first 3 years of debuting on the main roster of WWE. I also assume it is o.k. to completely disregard Lesnar's vaunted and acclaimed amateur grappling background in high school, JUCO and at Minnesota that culminated with a NCAA Championship.
Perhaps MIr, who, as I mentioned, has done a terrific job in verbalizing this event, might want to consider pro wrestling as his next career after Saturday night especially if he gets destroyed by a bigger, faster, stronger athlete. He might need the pay days.
I am also very interested in the GSP-Alves match up as many of my friends who follow MMA here in Oklahoma feel that St. Pierre is in deep jeopardy against a uniquely skilled opponent who will also have a decided weight advantage come fight time. Both men weighed in at 170 but Thiago Alves is expected to be closer to 200 pounds Saturday night and will probably outweigh the ultra talented and classy GSP by 20 pounds or so. I'm a huge GSP fan and hope that he can pull this one out of the fire but from all accounts this will be GSP's toughest fight of his amazing career.
A friend of mine text me Friday night and said that primo, ringside seats were being scalped for $10K which, if accurate, is amazing. "Nose bleed" seats were being scalped for $1,000 a pop. I'm very content to enjoy the festivities from my La-Z-Boy in the proverbial "comfort of my own home."
There has been much written lately about if UFC will ever present a show in Toronto or New York City and even though those aren't "done deals" those eventualities are lay ups. No state of province is going to turn down the revenue that any major sports or entertainment event can bring to their city especially in today's brutal economy. There will always be a certain degree of political posturing but eventually the event will be held. It's reminiscent of the WWE being shut out of the state of Oregon for many years until more objective and wiser heads prevailed.
I have forced myself to not read the WSOP "spoilers" which will taint my viewing of the event on ESPN in a few weeks. It's akin to quitting smoking as I feel if i can make it a few more days, I'll have the matter whipped.
A headline on ESPN's website read that "Manny = Mantle on Home Run list. O.K. while that may be statistically accurate but to compare Manny Ramirez favorably with "The Mick" is a stretch.
The Chris Jericho challenge of Rey Mysterio for the IC Title Friday night on Smackdown was a helluva bout. The two, future Hall of Fame performers had the time on the canvas to create some memorable art. I loved the ride that they took me on and I emotionally invested in the story that they were telling.
Some internet pundits rip 2 hour wrestling shows on a regular basis and many of them also identify the problem. Arguably, there isn't enough main event depth to satisfactory fill two hours of in ring wrestling each week. Some weeks are obviously better than others but the depth issue still exists. New stars have to evolve and every individual on every roster has to be utilized in a way to accentuate their strengths what ever those strengths may be.
For example, many of the Divas could probably be utilized more efficiently therefore eventually meaning more to the viewer.
As I have mentioned before, there seems to be a significant gap between the established main event players to the talents who are a work in progress to the inexperienced, new wrestlers. There are three distinct levels of talents, as I see it, and obviously the goal is to get more individuals to find residency at the main event level.
I'm not being an "apologist" as some ill informed individuals say but simply stating my own personal opinion on the state of the business.
Jerry Lawler's run for Mayor of Memphis is going to be challenging for my friend because there will be candidates who will raise plenty of funds to buy ample radio and TV ads to help their cause. Hopefully Jerry will be able to get enough media exposure to assist him in garnering the votes needed to win. Also, if these other candidates feel that the King will be an easy target in a debate they might want to reconsider that ill advised theory. Jerry Lawler can damn sure talk and has the ability to make viable points. Don't take my word for it, simply You Tube some of his old, Memphis TV interviews.
Call me cynical if you choose, but in many respects pro wrestling is just as real as are politics in today's world and few pro wrestlers were ever as proficient as Jerry Lawler was on the mic.
If Jerry wins the mayoral race this Fall, WWE will be in the unique position to attempt to replace the WWE Hall of Famer on Monday Night Raw which won't be an easy task.
Lawler making the point recently about the travel being challenging 51 weeks a year is a matter to which I can relate. If King had the Smackdown announcer schedule, he would be on the road twice as much as he currently is working on Raw. However, being mayor of his home town would allow Jerry to get off the road for the first time in, essentially, his adult life.
It appeared that Dolph Ziggler took a giant step forward as Friday Night Smackdown left the air as the young man seemingly entered into an issue with Rey Mysterio. I'm interested in seeing this pending rivalry develop. It's time for Ziggler to hunt with the "big dogs."
The next young talent on SD to move up seems to be John Morrison who made it clear he wants an opportunity at the World Title sooner than later.
Both Morrison and Ziggler apparently elevating mean that SD should have some fresh main events which is a positive move.
Thanks for checking out the site and for your business. I have also updated the Q&A section of the site.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
UFC 100 is hours away in Vegas and I plan to watch it with the Mrs. on PPV. Because she's met Brock Lesnar on many occasions and got to know Brock when he was with WWE and I was the EVP of Talent Relations she has developed an interest in MMA. Plus she's always been a boxing fan but with the boxing business on life support Mrs. J.R. has switched her interest from boxing to MMA which is great by me.
Lesnar weighed in at 265 at the official weigh in on Friday but you can count on Brock tipping the scales at 280ish come Saturday night. Brock will likely outweigh his adversary Frank Mir by approximately 30 pounds and even with that size disparity Mir won't have an edge in speed and quickness. Mir does have a decided advantage in MMA experience and has talked a damn good game going into the fight to help sell PPV's. I stick by my prediction that if Brock doesn't make any foolish mistakes early that Lesnar will destroy MIr who will be a HUGE favorite in the arena. Brock once told me that getting booed motivated him to scary levels like when he was a heavyweight wrestler at Minnesota and they would travel to Iowa to compete and where Brock was looked upon as if he was Satan himself there in Iowa City. Lesnar will be booed out of the arena Saturday night in Las Vegas and I don't think that he would have it any other way.
MMA fans love to hate Lesnar with many simply despising Brock because he was a "show biz" wrestler in WWE which is one of the most lame reasons to dislike an athlete one can imagine. There's got to be a better reason than that but apparently there isn't for many MMA purists. Shame on Lesnar for earning a honest living in "rasslin" and becoming the first sports entertainer to earn more than a million dollars a year within the first 3 years of debuting on the main roster of WWE. I also assume it is o.k. to completely disregard Lesnar's vaunted and acclaimed amateur grappling background in high school, JUCO and at Minnesota that culminated with a NCAA Championship.
Perhaps MIr, who, as I mentioned, has done a terrific job in verbalizing this event, might want to consider pro wrestling as his next career after Saturday night especially if he gets destroyed by a bigger, faster, stronger athlete. He might need the pay days.
I am also very interested in the GSP-Alves match up as many of my friends who follow MMA here in Oklahoma feel that St. Pierre is in deep jeopardy against a uniquely skilled opponent who will also have a decided weight advantage come fight time. Both men weighed in at 170 but Thiago Alves is expected to be closer to 200 pounds Saturday night and will probably outweigh the ultra talented and classy GSP by 20 pounds or so. I'm a huge GSP fan and hope that he can pull this one out of the fire but from all accounts this will be GSP's toughest fight of his amazing career.
A friend of mine text me Friday night and said that primo, ringside seats were being scalped for $10K which, if accurate, is amazing. "Nose bleed" seats were being scalped for $1,000 a pop. I'm very content to enjoy the festivities from my La-Z-Boy in the proverbial "comfort of my own home."
There has been much written lately about if UFC will ever present a show in Toronto or New York City and even though those aren't "done deals" those eventualities are lay ups. No state of province is going to turn down the revenue that any major sports or entertainment event can bring to their city especially in today's brutal economy. There will always be a certain degree of political posturing but eventually the event will be held. It's reminiscent of the WWE being shut out of the state of Oregon for many years until more objective and wiser heads prevailed.
I have forced myself to not read the WSOP "spoilers" which will taint my viewing of the event on ESPN in a few weeks. It's akin to quitting smoking as I feel if i can make it a few more days, I'll have the matter whipped.
A headline on ESPN's website read that "Manny = Mantle on Home Run list. O.K. while that may be statistically accurate but to compare Manny Ramirez favorably with "The Mick" is a stretch.
The Chris Jericho challenge of Rey Mysterio for the IC Title Friday night on Smackdown was a helluva bout. The two, future Hall of Fame performers had the time on the canvas to create some memorable art. I loved the ride that they took me on and I emotionally invested in the story that they were telling.
Some internet pundits rip 2 hour wrestling shows on a regular basis and many of them also identify the problem. Arguably, there isn't enough main event depth to satisfactory fill two hours of in ring wrestling each week. Some weeks are obviously better than others but the depth issue still exists. New stars have to evolve and every individual on every roster has to be utilized in a way to accentuate their strengths what ever those strengths may be.
For example, many of the Divas could probably be utilized more efficiently therefore eventually meaning more to the viewer.
As I have mentioned before, there seems to be a significant gap between the established main event players to the talents who are a work in progress to the inexperienced, new wrestlers. There are three distinct levels of talents, as I see it, and obviously the goal is to get more individuals to find residency at the main event level.
I'm not being an "apologist" as some ill informed individuals say but simply stating my own personal opinion on the state of the business.
Jerry Lawler's run for Mayor of Memphis is going to be challenging for my friend because there will be candidates who will raise plenty of funds to buy ample radio and TV ads to help their cause. Hopefully Jerry will be able to get enough media exposure to assist him in garnering the votes needed to win. Also, if these other candidates feel that the King will be an easy target in a debate they might want to reconsider that ill advised theory. Jerry Lawler can damn sure talk and has the ability to make viable points. Don't take my word for it, simply You Tube some of his old, Memphis TV interviews.
Call me cynical if you choose, but in many respects pro wrestling is just as real as are politics in today's world and few pro wrestlers were ever as proficient as Jerry Lawler was on the mic.
If Jerry wins the mayoral race this Fall, WWE will be in the unique position to attempt to replace the WWE Hall of Famer on Monday Night Raw which won't be an easy task.
Lawler making the point recently about the travel being challenging 51 weeks a year is a matter to which I can relate. If King had the Smackdown announcer schedule, he would be on the road twice as much as he currently is working on Raw. However, being mayor of his home town would allow Jerry to get off the road for the first time in, essentially, his adult life.
It appeared that Dolph Ziggler took a giant step forward as Friday Night Smackdown left the air as the young man seemingly entered into an issue with Rey Mysterio. I'm interested in seeing this pending rivalry develop. It's time for Ziggler to hunt with the "big dogs."
The next young talent on SD to move up seems to be John Morrison who made it clear he wants an opportunity at the World Title sooner than later.
Both Morrison and Ziggler apparently elevating mean that SD should have some fresh main events which is a positive move.
Thanks for checking out the site and for your business. I have also updated the Q&A section of the site.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.