Greetings from under the black hat and thanks for checking out our blog here on the omni powerful WWE.com,  the home of my favorite dot com piece of business..... WWEClassics.com.

That's a lot of dot com's for one paragraph.  

This week yours truly had a nice trip to "the Island" no, not the Bahamas, but Long Island where, for some reason, folks in that part of the world thought that I "talk funny." How could that be??

Bottom line is that I did not frequent one BBQ place while visiting the Nassau Coliseum Tuesday for the taping of Friday Night Smackdown. That's a mortal sin. For any potential investors out there, Mr. McMahon are you listening, a J.R.'s Family BBQ on Long Island would be a cash cow. I'm just saying. 

Not sure when some of you will read this but don't forget to check out WWE Superstars on WGN America Thursday night at 8/7Central. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike "Fort" Knox is the main event and a "guest commentator" joins the "announcers" at ringside. 

Damn, what a physical match Christian had defending his ECW Title Tuesday night against "Big Beefy" Tommy Dreamer. I really enjoyed the physicality and was even more pleased it was someone else getting beat to dickens and not your favorite Okie. Physically wrestlers can't have matches very often such as we saw Tuesday night between the ECW Champion and Yonkers favorite son on Sy Fy starring Josh "I'm A Single Man" Mathews and Matt "Good Thing I Got Out Of Teaching" Striker. Really nice work done by all.

Friday Night Smackdown seems to be another solid broadcast headlined by a red hot, personal issue for the World Heavyweight Title as Jeff Hardy defends his championship against C.M. Punk. This rivalry just seems to get better and better each week and I don't think that you will be disappointed in what you see Friday night. This match features multiple surprises that, as a fan, I really enjoy. 

We'll also determine the #1 contender for the IC Title Friday night in a Fatal Four-way pitting Finlay, Mike Knox, R Truth, and Dolph Ziggler. The winner meets Rey Mysterio for the IC Title in Los Angeles in a few weeks at Summerslam.

I assume everyone knows why I refer to Finlay as "The Quiet Man" but if not stay tuned.

Chris Jericho is in one on one action Friday night against JTG in a very intriguing bout. Really a clash of in-ring styles and life styles. No, I do not think that Big Show with his new shave looks like the "World's Largest Amish Man" because I know that Show reads this blog and I have always felt that the Big Show has "ruggedly handsome" feaures much akin to The Fink.  Plus, I can't see Show selling delicious jellies and jams.  

Summerslam is so big this year that I'm heading to L.A. on Friday just so I don't miss any thing. Lots of really cool fan activities are being planned from what I hear.

Plus, I will have a MAJOR surprise for some folks at Summerslam. Gosh, I love surprises.  

Off the record, Stocky Balboa is hosting a private party in L.A. with all you can drink Nestles Quik. Gonna be a heck of a time....karaoke, charades, and Stump The Fink.  Thank goodness Stocky isn't serving Tang because when 'Ol J.R. drinks too much Tang....well, it's not a pretty sight.

Hey are there any BBQ joints in Edmonton close to the airport? I enjoy visiting cities like Edmonton because their Arena is old school and the site of many "Gretzky Moments" from back in the day of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL....you know, that pro sports league that few in the States watch.

Did hockey ESPN analyst and former NHL Coach Barry Melrose's hair/mullet start growing when he was in Edmonton. Brother's got some hair, now. He's like Grisham, loves the hair gel.  

Stu Hart, patriarch of the legendary, Hart wrestling dynasty once played pro football for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League. That one would not have stumped "The Fink" but it might be new info for others.

I wrote on my blog at www.jrsbarbq.comthat Jeremy Piven was/is a ladies man. Is that so wrong?! Piven had to have been in Heaven on Earth hanging with all the smart, sexy, and powerful WWE Divas Monday night. Not a bad gig if one can get it. One can only imagine the numbers of the lovely women in Piven's IPhone. But what's with that 5 o'clock shadow business, Jeremy? I tried that once and my whiskers all came in sort of, uh, white. There,  I said it. 

Just because I know so many of you are keenly interested, the Oklahoma Sooners started football practice this week. That's it from the sports desk.

Seven early 20 something young men from Kansas State University stopped at J.R.'s in Norman on Thursday on their way from Manhattan, Kansas (The Little Apple) to Dallas. I enjoyed visiting with them and I must add that they are all good eaters and enjoyed the coldest brewsky in town.

I have to admit that I have become addicted to watching Poker on TV. NBC's Poker After Dark is destination TV for me. I think WWE having a Pro/Am Poker game for charity is a splendid idea for a TV special if I do say so myself. J.R. could be the "Doyle Brunson" of WWE on the felt. Plus, the World Series of Poker is now being DVR'ed in our home much to the Mrs. delight.  

I got a rise out of some of the WWE Universe when I mentioned that I thought in the future bouts such as Rey Mysterio vs. Evan Bourne or Rey vs. Tyson Kidd would be hot. Hey, I'm a fan and as a fan there are matches that I hope to be able to see some day. What's the difference in talking about matches that I personally would like to see and playing fantasy football? Case closed.

Not that I have any thing to say about what Jack Swagger does or doesn't do, but I suggest that my fellow Okie push his way onto the front porch and start looking to hunt with the "big dogs." It would be interesting to see some day how Swagger would fare against, say, HHH or Cena or even Mr. RKO.   

Count me as a fan of the Raw Guest Host scenario, Jerry Lawler LOVES them all for the record, as I enjoy seeing how people interact within the WWE world like Piven and Shaq. Especialy with it being live, any thing can happen and if it's good then we see it unfold and if it's bad then some can choose to write negative emails about it using phoney screen names which would be a first for this genre.

Just so you'll know, Dr. Ken hates decaffeinated coffee.

No, not Dr. Ken Ramey, former manager of the Masked Medics, but Piven's sidekick.

BTW don't make fun of sidekicks, folks, because I recently attended sidekick school, got my liscence and it wasn't easy. "The sea was angry that day, my friends."

Have you checked out the latest Legends Roundtable on WWE 24/7 On Demand which talks about Patriotism in Wrestling. Interesting show in case you missed it. Sgt. Slaughter, who will Guest Host Raw this Monday, was especially good on this installment of the Roundtable.

We are working on some interesting and NEW specials for our BBQ site that will offer some great deals on shipping which is a necessary evil of the Internet sales biz. Check out our site for this info, blogs, and our Q&A's at www.jrsbarbq.com.

Yours truly has not been scheduled to be in Calgary at this time but if you bump into me at the Edmonton Mall Monday afternoon (wait, that's King's gig)....never mind.

My thanks to those of you who shop at WWEShop.com for your J.R.'s products and those who shop at www.jrsbarbq.com. I appreciate the business greatly. 

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.