Greetings from college football crazed Oklahoma, from your BBQ selling, SmackDown talking, Unforgiven prepping, resident Okie – who is ready for Friday Night SmackDown – and for the kickoff of the college football season in Norman Saturday night.

Random thoughts from hither and yon….

Friday Night SmackDown arguably offers the best in-ring wrestling of the week on WWE TV, headlined by a Champion vs. Champion bout between WWE Kingpin Triple H and United States Champion Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin has shown flashes of brilliance in recent weeks and it will be exciting to see him pair up with The Game in a WWE Championship Scramble preview. No one in the WWE is more athletic than Benjamin, and I mean no one, which has been serving Shelton well in recent weeks.

I have said many times that Triple H reminds me of WWE Hall Of Famer Harley Race. Interfacing the physical with the mental part of the game was one of Race’s greatest traits, in addition to being able to recuperate faster than most athletes from injuries. Triple H has demonstrated many of those same qualities over his illustrious career. The 12-time WWE Champion may be an underdog at Unforgiven, but what reigning champion isn’t in those unpredictable Scrambles?

We announcers have driven that point home relentlessly, haven’t we?

Great to visit with John Cena Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, just a few hours after his surgery. As you know from reading WWE.com, Cena’s surgery was successful and John “might” be back in action down the road.

It seems like it has been so long since we all last saw Edge inside Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam, that I expect his face to show up on a milk carton at any time. I hope he is still enjoying his condo in Hell, but seriously, friends and neighbors, I hope Edge is back on Friday Night SmackDown Sooner than later. The newly battered and fried Canadian is one of the most talented Superstars on any WWE roster. Somehow though, I don’t think we will be seeing the Rated-R Superstar any time soon.

What if Edge’s estranged wife, Vickie, still Smackdown General Manager, offers up Edge for a trade? One has to assume that the multi-time champion would bring a heck of a bounty. Personally, I hope that doesn’t happen.

Undertaker doesn’t apparently have pleasant thoughts for Vickie Guerrero and one has to wonder what would the Demon of Death Valley do to extract retribution from the G.M.?

I assure you that Friday Night SmackDown will be more exciting Friday night than will any political convention you might stumble onto on TV.  But wait…there’s more. There’s another political convention next week with MORE professional politicos making empty promises without promising to balance America’s checkbook.

R-Truth makes his debut Friday night vs. Kenny (Don’t call me Lenny) Dykstra, who thinks that he is being grossly overlooked. R-Truth, not to be confused with R Kelly, is a talented and athletic young man who has served time in prison, but is looking to make a fresh start for himself on Friday nights. I say more power to Truth as every one deserves a second chance.

Well, almost every one.

We have autographed copies of “J.R.’S Cookbook” which is packed with easy to prepare “man food” items, grilling and BBQ tips, and a ton of wrestling content as well, on sale for only $9.99 at www.jrsbarbq.com.

WWE.com did a really nice job of staying on top of the Cena surgery story with timely information before it was reported anywhere else. John told me that they used a small piece of bone from a cadaver to fuse his neck. John is lucky in many ways: young, single, big star, wealthy, and now healthy, which is the most important of all those matters. John is also fortunate to have the vision to recognize that his body was telling him something and that it needed to be fixed immediately.

My body tells me things from time to time as well but this isn’t the forum to discuss such “Blazing Saddles” type issues.

Does Friday Night SmackDown and the WWE in general have too many beautiful blondes? What a minute…I just had “a moment” and lost my sense of reasoning. Anyway, Maryse thinks so. She’s French Canadian you know. OH MY GAWD…I just had this incredible urge to shriek CATFIGHT!! I must be channeling my inner Dr. Joe E. Styles of my youth. I do have all the dot com guru’s trading cards that go nicely with my Mickey Mantle collection.

By the way, “Stone Cold” called me recently to check up on John Cena and Steve has probably caught up with Cena by now. If anyone knows about serious neck issues, it is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

Get a load of the Jeff Hardy, or Harvey if you choose, bout Friday night against MVP. It’s a big time match, without question, between two men who are rapidly establishing their places in main event land.

Having new athletes in the main event mix on any brand is a good thing. Wrestling fans like any one else like “new”.

With that said, who all wants to see The Fink vs. Harvey Whippleman at Wrestlemania 25 wrestling in only socks and jocks with a Speedo on the pole? You don’t have to make your decision right now but ponder the visual. On second thought, never mind.

Tazz is allegedly angry that MVP is the highest paid man on SmackDown. Apparently Tazz feels he is on MVP’s level in many levels of sports- entertainment. Wait, this just in: Tazz is not just angry at MVP but Tazz is angry at….everyone. I’m sure glad we cleared that one up.

You should get a load of Tazz giving ECW’s Matt Striker “pointers” from time-to-time on Tuesdays. All they need is to be sitting in a woodshed.

Personally speaking, Striker and Todd Grisham are doing an excellent job of broadcasting ECW every Tuesday night on Sci Fi as their youth, matinee idol /SportsCenter anchor good looks, and witty repartee bodes well for them. 

Big Show, who looks amazingly like Captain Insano, told me in Pittsburgh that he hasn’t had an overabundance of title opportunities since Vickie Guerrero took over for Teddy Long as Smackdown G.M. If I were Mrs. Edge (how could that be?) I would suggest that she make some sort of amends with Show as she really doesn’t want to have to deal with both Undertaker and Big Show at one time. A peace treaty needs to be reached by the G.M. soon or Friday night’s could get a little chaotic.

Perhaps Vickie can enlist the help of Vice President Cheney who will be looking for work this fall.

We have a new batch of answered questions from fans up on our Q&A section of www.jrsbarbq.com.

It would be great to see a half a dozen or so hot tag teams challenging Hawkins and Ryder for the WWE Tag Titles. Who’s the better young team, Hawkins and Ryder or Raw’s Rhodes and DiBiase?

Will the potential WWE Title changes in the WWE Championship Scramble be entered into the record books, or just the final pin or submission prior to the 20 minute time limit expiring?

HBK’s deeply personal issue with Chris Jericho in the eyes of many continues to be the most compelling matter currently being featured in the WWE. These two will have a classic fist fight at Unforgiven that will likely steal the show whether they intend to or not. These are the types of matches that broadcast teams live for. 

Just so you will know where I stand, air travel sucks pond water, unless of course one is lucky enough to fly most of their miles on a private air craft as many of my friends in Oklahoma’s oil business do. Crowded planes with unseasoned travelers and crying children, and those who are unable to turn off their cell phones when asked, are tough even for veteran travelers such as yours truly. For my own sanity thank goodness I finally learned how to download music in my iPod.

No iPod oriented wise cracks please.

Yours truly is headed to St. Louis EARLY this Sunday morning to tape Friday Night SmackDown on Sunday night, which will also  see Monday Night Raw taped prior to SD. The fans in attendance in St. Louis, home of “Wrestling at the Chase” at one time, will see two, WWE broadcasts taped in one sitting. The city of St. Louis has a magnificent wrestling heritage as it was the city that Lou Thesz hailed from when he debuted in the wrestling biz.

Be well everybody and have a save holiday weekend for those of you that are going to be celebrating Labor Day. 

BOOMER SOONER!
J.R.

Greetings from under the custom made, black hat from your resident Okie coming off another Summerslam pay per view while preparing for Unforgiven in about three weeks in Cleveland.

BBQ’ed thoughts from hither and yon….

Great wrestling matches start with the combatant’s in ring effort and for there to be a clearly defined reason for competing with one another. With that said, the Hell in a Cell match at Summerslam delivered the goods. I loved the physicality and the pacing of the contest. The Undertaker is as dominate as ever and an argument can certainly be made that The Undertaker is the greatest WWE Superstar of all time based on productive longevity. Edge is allegedly recuperating in his fireside condo in Hell but more info on the status of the “R Rated Superstar” will be provided on Friday Night Smackdown.

I read where some “blue suit wearing executive” of this fine organization declared that Monday Night Raw was the top TV program in the WWE and not Friday Night Smackdown. An interesting observation that won’t endear this fellow to Tazz, not that any one I know has endeared themselves to my broadcast colleague outside of his immediate family.  This executive must have gotten his info from Mike Adamle, Raw General Manager who took numerous shots to the head in his illustrious NFL career.

Friday Night Smackdown emanates this week from the Quad Cities an area still recovering from the unbelievable floods of earlier this year.  Hopefully the

WWE was able to bring some needed entertainment to the area on Tuesday night. But I did not get to make it to the John Deere Steakhouse as I had planned but others did and raved about it. I dropped a few bucks in a Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament while in town and had to watch my spending.

Unlike Raw, who simply named their entrants to the “Championship Scramble” to be held at Unforgiven, the 4 challengers to HHH’s WWE Title in this format will be determined by competition in the ring. All 4 contenders will be determined on this week’s Friday Night Smackdown broadcast.

Did you know that with balladeer Johnny Cash now deceased that WWE Dot Com guru, Dr. Joe E. Styles, is now the leading candidate to be named by a popular periodical the most famous person in the world who wears black attire on a daily basis? 

Chris Jericho may be on the cusp of replacing fellow native Canadian Edge as the most disliked Superstar in the WWE after Jericho inadvertently struck HBK’s lovely wife Rebecca Sunday at Summerslam. I think both Jericho and Michaels should be traded to Friday Night Smackdown and commence to settling this issue in the ring. What about a former wedding planner and a wrestler to be named later? Plus, a case of J.R.’s BBQ Sauce! And 97% fat free beef jerky! This could be bigger than the Jets signing QB Brett Favre!  

Yours truly spoke with Stone Cold Steve Austin recently and Steve is still working out as diligently as ever but 3:16 fans don’t get your hopes of a “one more match” scenario for Austin. That is likely to never occur even though I would love to see it. However would WM25 in Houston, Texas be a good time and place for Steve to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? It seems as if there is no demand for out of shape action adventure, film stars which pretty much eliminates that vocation for yours truly’s post WWE life. 

Speaking of the WWE Hall of Fame, I would like to see WWE.com and its visitors to be involved in the voting for the Hall of Fame to some degree.

Todd Grisham and Matt Striker, if that is his real name, is doing a really nice job of broadcasting ECW. It always takes time for new partners to mesh and when one adds in the added element of both being new in these particular roles I think that both these young guys are doing a “darned” good job. (PG13).

I can’t believe that my beloved United States Women’s Softball team lost the Olympic Gold Medal to Japan. This isn’t a shot at the Japanese as I didn’t think any team in the world could beat the USA in women’s softball. With that said, just wait until I see Funaki in catering next week in Pittsburgh!

Is it me or does it seem like grapplers such as U.S. Champion Shelton Benjamin, “The” Brian Kendrick, MVP, Vladimir Kozlov, Kenny Dykstra, Festus, and, of course, Jeff Hardy have taken clearly defined steps to raise their respective games in recent weeks on your favorite Friday night TV program? I say, give ‘em the ball coach and let’s see who can “get ‘er done.”

There is no fact to the rumor that the legendary ring announcer and WWE wrestling savant Howard Finkel and SD newcomer Scotty Goldman are cousins.

Keep an eye on raw boned and aggressive Ryan Braddock who makes his 2nd SD appearance this Friday night. In time, I think Braddock will turn heads.

Did you know that you can purchase autographed copies of “J.R.’s Cookbook” for only $9.99 when you visit our online store at www.jrsbarbq.com?

Is it just me and my nearsighted and totally biased opinion but is the United States Title getting more popular than the long standing Intercontinental Title?

If so, we can always “Blame it on Rio.” Come on…do your home work…its a little funny.

WWE Champion HHH joins “The Tazz” and me on some commentary this week on Friday Night Smackdown which I think you will enjoy.

“Got Sauce?” We do on our website in the form of high quality T shirts with the catchy phrase of “Got Sauce?” and our BBQ logo on the front. This new item sells for $9.99 each. Hey, we are approaching the gift giving season aren’t we?

R Truth is slated to debut very soon on Friday Night Smackdown and it seems as if there is an anticipation of such. What will call this young man, R Truth or once we get to know him can he be simply called “R”?

The King, who I got to visit with in Indianapolis Sunday, is very excited about Unforgiven being held in one of his all time favorite cities, Cleveland. The Browns are at home earlier the day of the PPV and King has indicated he would like to attend some of his beloved Browns game before broadcasting the Raw portion of Unforgiven. Maybe Jerry will invite yours truly to tag along. Browns General Manager Phil Savage is a long time wrestling fan and a friend of both Lawler and mine.

Our Q & A section of our www.jrsbarbq.com site is rolling along and you are invited to check it out and ask your questions. We get some beauty’s let me tell you. Take care and thanks for your support of Friday Night Smackdown.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.  

From the land where people love’s J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurants more than they adore Olympian Michael Phelps, your resident Okie has a weekly helping of SmackDown and some delicious “side dishes” for your sports-entertainment taste buds.

Raw’s John Cena and Batista are now not on the other’s holiday card list. There’s a significant physical confrontation between these two this Sunday at the 21st SummerSlam. This one won’t resemble a Funk vs. Brisco mat classic from the 1970s, and my best guess is that we are going to see a slobberknocker of a brawl along the lines of those of yesteryear in my hometown tavern on a payday Friday night.

Prediction: I’m taking Batista and the points.

CM Punk, who is World Heavyweight Champion last I looked, is sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of WWE, it seems these days. Punk can’t seem to get any respect with a fist full of hundreds. I have the solution to the talented Punk’s dilemma ... Win. It’s like Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders always preaches, “Just win, baby!”

Punk won’t win a fist fight with JBL, but if Punk can utilize his feet and knees, then I like Punk’s chances to silence more of his critics. If JBL wins, then the Brooklyn Brawler and Harvey Wippleman will be organizing a parade in the tall former Texan's honor at the verbose one’s mandate. JBL, who was a great champion, and Punk have clashing styles, which can be either feast or famine for the combatants and for the fans.

Prediction: Take Punk and the over.

The highlight of SummerSlam is arguably the Hell in a Cell match that I suspect will close the show and will feature the commentary of the “Human Suplex Machine” and his partner. Taker has more Cell experience than any man alive, and may function better in that destructive environment than any one any of us can think of. Edge has never been in Hell in a Cell to date, but there is no doubt that Edge has been to Hell. I hear that Edge bought a condo there with a great view. (That could be more of those internet “rumors” which is another world for fertilizer.)

Mentally, and thanks to Mick Foley of all people, Edge may be in the best, and I use that term loosely, frame of mind of any Undertaker foe inside Satan’s Playground. There will be casualties in this one and something tells me that if any Hell in a Cell match ever comes close to the Undertaker vs. Mankind of 10 years ago, this one just might be it. We’ll all see Sunday in Indianapolis.

Don’t repeat this but there may have to be an intervention between Tazz and ECW’s newest broadcaster Matt Striker. I think Striker reminds Tazz of a teacher Tazz once had in school. You know the one Tazz choked out in the fourth grade. Yeah, that guy. Every Tuesday catering is the place to be (no jokes please “Mr. I Only Eat Chicken Breast Guy”) at the regular WWE events to see the former ECW Legend verbally assault Striker. (BTW, who's favorite movie is Airplane. But, as usual, I digress ...)

If we do have the intervention, I am nominating the esteemed and levelheaded Joe E. Styles to moderate this budding conflict. Apparently, Tazz thought he got “Koskeyed” on Striker’s first night on the job and Brooklyn’s Baddest doesn’t easily forget. No, I have no idea what getting “Koskeyed” means.   

When I was a broadcaster on Raw, remember those days, I always traveled with "The King" Jerry Lawler. We made some great trips together and had tons of laughs. We became like brothers, me being the youngest of course. Do you think now that I am a proud member of Friday Night SmackDown that I travel with Tazz? Nope … Tazz travels with all his friends. He (damned pronoun) travels alone with his orange towel and a heavy foot, just like in the "Old West" ala Eastwood. I hear Tazz drives 90 miles per hour while sending text messages using both thumbs to type. Not even Clint Eastwood could do that.

Get a load of Jeff Hardy challenging Shelton Benjamin for the United States Title on Friday Night SmackDown. This one is red-hot and arguably the best match of the week on WWE TV, not that I am unbiased or anything. The Unique Enigma and the Gold Standard (big day for nicknames) rocked Norfolk.

Another match that was shockingly competitive and extremely physical was undefeated Vladimir Kozlov colliding, literally, with Festus. Vladimir, from Russia, battled Festus, who has “kin” in Georgia, in an extension of the civil conflict currently on going in Europe. By Georgia, I meant the state of Georgia, as in the Peachtree State of Georgia.

The Brian Kendrick Experience continues to impress WWE insiders and outsiders alike with his SD winning streak, even though many are also talking about Kendrick’s advisor, Ezekiel Jackson -- no relation to Reggie or Jessie. Trust me, Kendrick doesn’t need Zeke to win, but it sure as heck doesn’t hurt.

BTW, and before I forget it, Edge is acting like a deranged, psychopath with a career death wish even when the TV cameras aren’t rolling. Upon seeing Edge this week, he looked to me like he had not slept in days, hadn’t shaved, and someone reported that the most unpredictable and dangerous man in WWE was, allegedly, smelling a little “gamey."

Regarding The Undertaker vs. Edge inside Hell in a Cell Sunday, I’m going with The Deadman. Check out Taker’s track record at SummerSlam and I think you will agree. Nonetheless, if this match goes as I visualize it, this Sunday could easily be the last time we see both Taker and Edge for a good while. It’s as if the Cell is a living entity and is anxiously awaiting its next two victims. Keep your eye out for a couple of newcomers to this week’s Friday Night SmackDown as both showed promise. You can and always will be the final judge of that.

Word on the street tells me that long time N.Y. Jets fan, WWE Legend, the first-ever employee of WWE, and Future Hall of Famer  Howard Finkel, who is now somewhere around the No. 2 or No. 3 guy at WWE.com, has purchased seven, that’s right seven, No. 4 Brett Favre jerseys AND multiple pairs of green and white No. 4 PJ’s. I look for these “game worn” items to make it to WWEShop.com around the holidays.

How many of "The Family" do you think will show up on Friday Night SmackDown after their experiences on the hottest show on Friday nights last week? You might be surprised.

One of my fondest memories of SummerSlam’s past was working the WWE RADIO call of the event with the late, great WWE Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon. We were left to our own devises as we had our own food, beverages, ashtrays, and the opportunity to do an entire PPV by just rolling along having fun and truly telling audio stories.

I am really liking the R-Truth vignettes we have been seeing on Friday Night SmackDown, and there is another scheduled for this Friday night as well. R-Truth has had one helluva life and the mere fact that he is alive and wants to vie for a main event position on Friday Night SmackDown is amazing.

Triple H is actually scheduled to wrestle Friday night on SmackDown just two days before his WWE Championship defense against the 7-foot-3 Great Khali. Khali has “bowling shoe ugly” but dangerous offense, and one could question the wisdom of the WWE Champion wrestling 48 hours before a major title defense.
 
The King of Kings said he was going to focus on Khali’s legs in their match Sunday, and if that holds true, I’m picking the 12-time champion to retain. In the 20 previous SummerSlam events, the WWE title has changed hands three times.   

What match do you think will steal the show at SummerSlam? I have my thoughts but I would love to know yours.

If you find the time, be sure to check out our newly designed Web site at www.jrsbarbq.com as we finally launched it this week. The popular Q&A aspect of the site is back and I hope that many of you will take advantage of it.

Both of our J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurants are doing super and for that, we are very grateful. We have some new caps, shirts, and autographed cookbooks for under $10 each now available on the site. It’s never too early to think about the holidays. You can also purchase our products right here at WWEShop.com. 

See you in Indianapolis on Sunday and in Moline on Tuesday. Does any one know a good BBQ joint in Moline?? 

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.        

Thanks for taking a moment to stop by our space here on WWE.com. Things are great in the land of J.R.’s BBQ here in Oklahoma and with that said let’s get this show on the road as we are “burning daylight.”

Friday Night SmackDown emanates this week from Atlanta, once the home of multiple, regional wrestling promotions including WCW, which much like the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL, had many more “losing seasons” than winners. With that said, I still have many fond memories of working and living in Atlanta in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s before coming to WWE and lovely Connecticut in 1993.

Whatever one does, do NOT, play any sort of drinking or eating game Friday night based on a litany of Olympic Games’ references during the opening match of the night which features six SmackDown Divas in a variety of Olympic garb. This match will never be confused with a Triple H vs. HBK mat classic, but it was uniquely entertaining. Yours truly may have even channeled the late, great Jim McKay for a few seconds.

Hawkins and Ryder, along with most of “The Family” had interesting nights in Atlanta as the WWE Tag Team Champions are still looking to establish themselves as bonafide WWE Tag Champions, whose names belong with some of their more noteworthy predecessors. Just one man’s opinion, but ECW’s Morrison and Miz just might be the best tag team in the entire WWE as I write this. Ryder and Hawkins are a talented, young duo and I love their upside, but they need to step out of Edge’s shadow, including the Edge-like haircuts. The Long Island-bred duo also might want to study WWE 24/7, especially when tag teams such as Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, the Midnight Express, and the Rock ‘n Roll Express are featured. Knowledge is power. 

Yours truly mentioned last week that Triple H will achieve the most success at SummerSlam when he defends the WWE Title against The Great Khali if The Game is able to destroy Khali’s 7-foot 3-inch vertical base. The WWE Champion makes that point abundantly clear to the most popular Indian athlete ever in WWE. I have never seen an arm wrestling contest like we featured Friday night including shards of glass on the arm wrestling table. In this contest, one can see the amazing size difference that Khali holds over Triple H and The Game is 6-foot-4!

United States Champion Shelton Benjamin faces Jeff Hardy, or is it Jeff “Harvey,” this week on SmackDown, and these two put on quite a wrestling display. It’s another strong SmackDown one-on-one match that surpasses any other bout on WWE TV this week in my biased opinion.

It looks as if Jeff Hardy and MVP will finally get their one-on-one match at SummerSlam, and this match has the potential to steal the show from where I will be sitting. Both these two athletes have glowing skills and both truly need a victory at a major pay-per-view such as SummerSlam. One of these two will likely be very disappointed in Indianapolis come Aug. 17.

In doing research on the still-undefeated-on-SmackDown Vladimir Kozlov, it seems that the Moscow Mauler started his physical training to wrestle and compete in the Russian submission style, hand-to-hand combat known as Sambo, while he was still in elementary school. The big Russian wants more competition and I am sure he will be accommodated regarding that request soon enough. Kozlov has the chance to be the most dominate Russian grappler ever in WWE, and that includes former WWWF Champ Ivan Koloff.

Friday night on SmackDown, The Brian Kendrick continues his campaign to reinvent himself, which is working in a strange sort of Pillman-esque way AND we find out Ezekiel’s last name for those of you that are keeping score at home and, no, it isn’t Ezekiel Finkel.

Edge seems to once again “steal the show” on Friday night which is getting to be habitual for arguably, in the eyes of many observers, the hottest Superstar in WWE. I don’t know if Edge is the hottest WWE Superstar or not, but he certainly seems to damn sure be the most controversial. 

Edge vs. Undertaker at SummerSlam inside Hell in a Cell may be the most compelling Cell Match any of us have ever seen, and speaking from personal experience, yours truly has seen them all and has called the action on the vast majority of them. I fully understand, as sure as Joe E. Styles loves a nice, black suit, that Edge/Taker will have to go the extra mile to overshadow Undertaker vs. Mankind from back in the day, but that is a distinct and viable possibility. I look for the Undertaker to win at SummerSlam, but if anyone thinks it is going to be a slam dunk or that Edge doesn’t have a fighting chance to beat the Deadman at his own game then think again. I would not even wager one bottle of J.R.’s Original BBQ Sauce on this one – which, BTW, one can find at WWEShop.com or at www.jrsbarbq.com. 

Did anyone notice new Raw General Manager Mike Adamle’s new haircut? It looked as if Adamle, who did a nice job on his first full night in charge of Raw, was looking to emulate the previously mentioned Dot Com Guru Styles’ classic “fade.” Suggestion for GM Adamle … don‘t lose your index cards with your notes on them. Then you might start sounding like Mike “W” Adamle.

Bravo to the new broadcast duo, at least for this past week, of Todd Grisham and Matt Striker for their efforts on ECW Tuesday night on Sci Fi.

Finally, I regularly address a variety of sports including football and MMA and wrestling topics on my blogs at www.jrsbarbq.com several times a week and I also write blogs on a regular basis for the WWE Fan Nation, which you're reading right now.

Thanks for checking in and I hope to see many of you next Tuesday night in Norfolk, Va., which is the city that I first met the legendary wrestler Lou Thesz when he attended a WCW pay-per-view at the Norfolk Scope of which I was a part. Be well everybody and count your blessings. Enjoy Friday Night SmackDown.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.

My goodness it's warm in Oklahoma! Temps are in the 103 range today which isn't just warm but Ron Simmons' DAMN hot.

One could assume that all Monday night Raw fans will hear some sort of response from new Raw G.M. Mike Adamle Monday night in Knoxville. Remember, it's live TV without a net so Mr. Adamle's remarks will be out there to live forever. Not that is a bad thing.

Did anyone ever figure out why 'Ol J.R. was summoned to appear on Monday Night Raw last week in D.C.? Me, neither.  

NFL's Carolina Panther wide receiver Steve Smith got sent home and suspended for the first two games of this season for fighting with a teammate in practice. Back in the old days if two wrestlers started a locker room fight in Mid South Wrestling, head honcho Cowboy Bill Watts would fire anyone who broke the fight up before its conclusion. I remember one time when Butch Reed and John Nord got into a tussel in OKC on Sunday afternoon and when they arrived in Tulsa for the Sunday night TV taping, Watts made them finish the fight in the locker room area before the taping started.

The R-Truth vignettes that have been airing on Friday Night Smackdown have been on the money. Nice work by all involved. Killings found himself incarcerated for quite some time at a young age and is now doing his best to be a positive role model and not allow history to repeat itself. Killings future is largely in his own hands and I,  for one,  hope that he makes an impact over the long haul in the WWE. 

I saw some of WWE HOF'er Superstar Billy Graham's orginal art work recently and it is truly impressive. Superstar would be great at capturing  life like images of WWE Superstars either on merchandise or in publications. With The Superstar, Jerry Lawler, and Jeff Hardy all accomplished artists,  there may be more in the WWE, one coudld make an argument for another "Art Show" in 2009 at WM25 in Houston.

Time will tell how badly banged up Mick Foley will still be when it comes time to tape another edition of Friday Night Smackdown this Tuesday night in Atlanta. Perhaps G.M. Adamle would loan Lawler to SD G.M. Vickie Guerrero if Mrs. Foley's baby boy is still on the mend. Stay tuned.

If you are intrested, on my latest blog on our BBQ website which is www.jrsbarbq.com yours truly discusses a variety of topics including MMA, football, Olympic hoops, Brett Favre and more. 

Adding The Undertaker back in the mix on the Friday Night Smackdown roster only makes the strongest talent roster in the WWE even better. Just a thought but at this year's Summerslam, it would be my assumption that this will be the only Hell in a Cell match scheduled for 2008 in the WWE. I don't have any "insider" knowledge on that one but it sort of makes sense.

Todd Grisham had a solid maiden voyage as the play by play voice of Tuesday night's ECW broadcast. Todd has paid his dues in the WWE and I hope he has a long, enjoyable run as an on air talent. It certainly won't be boring Todd. Trust me on that one.  Plus, Todd gets the opportunity to work with the greatest athlete to ever attend C.W. Post University, The Tazz. Now all Todd needs to learn to do is to shreik "CATFIGHT!" ala the beloved and immortal voice of E-C-Dub, the man with the fashionable "fade", Joe E. Styles.

Down on the farm, the WWE Developmental program located in Tampa, keep an eye out for former Oklahoma Sooner All American wrestler Jake Hager who looks to have the physical tools to be a "BTP" (big time player) in the WWE much Sooner than later. Hager was a 2 sport star, football and wrestling, at OU and is in the 6'6"-270 pound range and is cat quick.  However, let's all remembrer that potential will get a guy noticed but potential won't buy the groceries over the long haul. Hager will be sternly tested if he is called up to the WWE. Jake allegedly had an alpha male-like close call  with the great TE of the New Orleans Saints Jeremy Shockey during the spring in Norman, Oklahoma. Sometimes, boys will be boys.      

I wonder how long it will take for the Boston area WWE fans to sell out the Survivor Series? It might already be "clean" which is promoter talk for a sell out. This might be the one market in American where John Cena is regarded as an overwhelming fan favorite. No one should feel sorry for Cena, a muscle car enthusiast, as he is living his dream and earning a fair amount of cash one would have to assume. I'd trade checks with John for a month just for the helluva of it and sight unseen!

Mick Foley and yours truly have worked hard to add credibility and a sense of heritage to the United States Title currently held by Shelton Benjamin. For students of the game, the individuals who have been a U.S. Champion reads like a who's who.

Thanks for checking out our blog. Excuse the spelling errors as I don't know how to use spell check on this site. I do appreciate all the emails and I am going to try and become more interactive in the future or as my schedule permits. Be well.

Boomer Sooner!
J.R.