No one ever confused yours truly with the handsome, tanned, baritone Michael Buffer but please indulge me while I ask if everyone is “Ready to Rumble” this Sunday in Dee-Troit?

“The Road to Wrestlemania,” get ready to hear that a bunch this week, officially begins this Sunday at The Joe in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match that, since 1993, has sent its winner to face the WWE Champion in the main event at WrestleMania. Now with the World Heavyweight Title representing the Raw brand, the winner of the Rumble match gets his choice of titles for which he would like to challenge.

I predict that after doing a huge, major PPV on Sunday and the subsequent Monday Night Raw, those in WWE that attend the Tuesday event in Indy will be just a “little edgy.” It should make for an interesting night in Indy. 

Back in the day when only two announcers, many times the King and me, broadcast the one-hour plus Rumble match I always said it was the most daunting match to broadcast of any match of the year. I assume all three broadcast teams will be put to work for this match as it is imperative to get the Slammy Award winning, dynamic duo of Todd Grisham and Matt Striker to work other than them only broadcasting the Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy ECW Title bout. The fact that all three teams will be participating makes my night somewhat easier. 

Did you know that only three men have won the Royal Rumble more than once and that list includes Shawn Michaels (2), Hulk Hogan (2) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (3)?

Pat Patterson is the architect of the Rumble and the HOF’er turned 68 years young this week. While we are at it, a belated Happy Birthday to Pat who is also the first IC Champion. Pat is the WWE’s undisputed karaoke champion and one of the company’s most eligible bachelors. 

Historic week in America with the swearing in of the first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama, who I hope goes down in history as not only the first of his race to be our Commander in Chief but also to be known as the president who jump-started America’s anemic economy and kept us out of unwinable wars.

Ironically, on the day President Obama was sworn in, I was in one of the garden spots of America, Stamford, Conn., hosting a Legends Roundtable discussion regarding African Americans in Wrestling. The panel was made up of WWE HOF members Tony Atlas and Dusty Rhodes along with Cowboy Bill Watts and Teddy Long. This compelling feature will air on WWE 24/7 On Demand and eventually on DVD. The Legends Roundtable DVD is a classic collection and is more than eight-hours long and is available now, I think. 

I hope you will check out Friday Night SmackDown this week and watch my sit down, face-to-face interview with WWE Champion Jeff Hardy. There is no question that Jeff will defend his WWE Title this Sunday at the Rumble against the opportunistically gifted Edge. Jeff made that point, among others; abundantly clear in this candid interview.

My question is, will fate intervene again and facilitate Jeff Hardy become nothing more than an enhanced, transitional champion or will the unique and individualistic WWE Champion win his first ever title defense on pay-per-view?

Jeff dodged a bullet last Friday night after getting caught in an errant pyrotechnics gaff, but many insiders feel that the younger of the two Hardy brothers won’t be so lucky against the SmackDown General Manager’s husband in the Royal Rumble main event Sunday evening in the Motor City.

Yours truly will arrive in Detroit Saturday evening to begin what will likely prove to be an interesting road trip that won’t end until l arrive back in Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon. The “World’s Angriest Announcer” and I will help broadcast the PPV and then drive 300 miles from Detroit to Indianapolis on Monday to prep for Tuesday night’s doubleheader taping of Friday Night SmackDown. The car trip will be five-hours plus and I am sure most of it will entail my broadcast partner talking baseball on his cell phone with his Long Island associates whose last names usually end in a vowel….not that there is anything wrong with that.

Many wrestlers I talk to in the locker room are buzzing about Undertaker’s submission finishing maneuver that The Deadman calls "Hell’s Gate." Many guys have discussed what they perceive might be potential counters to this seemingly impregnable hold. As of yet no one has found a solution to this painful problem.

Does “Aunt Vickie” really like her nephew Chavo Guerrero? I have my personal thoughts but you can be the judge when you watch Friday night’s TV show.

Oh, yeah I’m supposed to mention that The Great Khali is a quasi-sex symbol and that women line up for miles to get a glimpse at the Punjabi Playboy and that Tazz swears it is true. Whew.

Divas Champion Maryse tries her hand at TV commentary this Friday night which was an adventure. The French Canadian lass is a lovely woman, don’t take my word for it just ask her or my partner who just may be smitten by the exoticness of the champion, and she was extremely outspoken during her stint at our announce table on Friday.

Who’s the most underrated Diva on Friday Night SmackDown? For my two cents it is Natalya. I’m just saying.

Nonetheless, the Diva most people who come into J.R.’s Family BBQ in Norman and Moore, Okla., ask me about is Michelle “It’s All About Me” McCool.

There is a heck of a tag team bout on Friday Night SmackDown this week featuring two sets of champions. WWE Tag Champions Primo and Carlito take on the World Tag Team Champions of John Morrison and Miz. Tag team wrestling main event depth isn’t as deep as it once was but these two teams would have been successful over the long haul back in the day.

It was nice to see the dear, long-time, inspirational leader of WWE, and all things McMahon, Mr. McMahon, back on Monday Night Raw this past Monday from one of my favorite cities, Chicago. But what in the hell happened?! Did I see what I thought I saw? 

Triple H is having his life made a living Purgatory by the SmackDown G.M. and if this was the NFL or the NBA the future Hall of Famer would probably ask for a trade. Crossing the boss is never a great, long term strategy as I can attest. Vickie Guerrero is a strong willed woman who strikes fear in many.

My wife’s Pittsburgh Steelers are in the Super Bowl which may necessitate yours truly making a trip to Tampa for the big game. Arizona played angrily last Sunday against the Eagles and the dissed home team rose to the occasion.  I had ‘Zona and the points so I ended up smiling on that one. O.K., thanks to two bouts of Bells palsy perhaps I wasn’t smiling in a traditional sense but you get the message.

Although I can’t direct you to a pricey 900# or WWE.com’s Dirt Sheet for more info, there are major plans a float for J.R.’s BBQ Restaurants in Oklahoma which will positively affect our growth for years to come. We’ll have more on this developing story in a few weeks.

When will the next inductee of the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame class be announced? Who’s dragging their feet here or are the head honchos just waiting until we get past the Royal Rumble this Sunday to make the next announcement? Of course, Monday Night Raw will get the scoop, one can only imagine, as they seem to get all the “love” under the WWE broadcast umbrella.

Stocky Balboa, you know my good friend who has “people” inside WWE and is affiliated with the waste management consulting world, says that “The Fink,” a season ticket holder for the New York Jets since Joe Willie Namath was a pup, is ecstatic with the selection of a man with Oklahoma roots, Rex Ryan, as the new head, tackle football coach of the team formerly known as the N.Y. Titans.

The 2009 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony tickets are moving like sliced brisket and tasty ribs at your friend J.R.’s “House of Q” and will without question exceed the number of tickets sold for last years HOF event.

We have received some real “beauts” of emails recently from fans from around the world at our ever growing Q&A section of our website at www.jrsbarbq.com where we are about to launch one of our biggest sales ever in our on line store.

Thanks for checking out our space and I hope you will tune in Friday night for SmackDown starring Tazz and a cast of thousands….or dozens.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.