Thanks for the feedback I have received this week from all over the globe. It is sincerely appreciated. Many of your questions are some that I have answered before, so please don’t be offended if I don’t answer them again at this time. However, as much as the business changes and if these questions become timely, I will address them again.

I also appreciate those of you that shop in our store for our caps, you’ve got to have a Slobber-Knocker cap, and all our sauces. The feedback on the sauces has been overwhelmingly positive and it will be the exact sauce we use when we open our place in Norman, hopefully in April. The construction aspect of the facility is coming along well and we have weekly “tastings” which are both fun and challenging. I want all the food on our menu to be excellent and sometimes people have different tastes in each item. One thing I will tell you is that our meats will be slow smoked the old school way which is the only way to do it in my opinion. Nonetheless, my family and I are very excited about this life long dream coming true. The clock is ticking and we are getting more and more excited by the day.

Today I leave early for Raw and am staying in Omaha two nights where I hear it is damn cold as it will be in Sioux City. Nonetheless, I wanted to get to the hotel to be able to watch the Super Bowl. Travel out of Oklahoma the past several weeks has been challenging, highlighted by my nostalgic 800 mile round trip to Shreveport a few weeks ago. I always look forward to getting to the site of where ever we are working, but the travel, the security lines, the crying babies, etc gets a little challenging at times. But, it is all a part of the deal. 51 weeks a year sort of gets one used to the challenges of travel, so it really isn’t all bad.

I am pulling for the Bears as they have 4 Oklahoma Sooners on their team, even though two of them are on injured reserve this year. With that said and IF I had to make a friendly wager I would take the Colts -7 and the under….that is IF I were betting.

We are still having issues getting our sauces into the UK due to the terrorism issues that exist when shipping liquids. Trust me, if I could make it happen I would do it in a heart beat. We are working on it but it seems as if it is going to take some time to work thru all the politics and the regulations that have been put into effect since 9-11. I will be traveling to Milan and to London in April so maybe I can stash some in my “carry-on”….only kidding.

The way I would describe the Goldberg-Lesnar match at ‘Mania 20 would be “disappointing”. Both are outstanding attractions but outside situations adversely affected each athletes mindset as both were preparing to leave the WWE and not in a positive frame of mind. Those things happen from time to time and used to happen frequently back in the territory days. I am sure that under different circumstances that Goldberg and Lesnar would have had a helluva match.

I don’t think everyone in the business is resentful of the wrestling internet. I certainly am not. Everyone has the right to earn a living in a legal and ethical manner and these folks are attempting to do just that. I think the biggest issues are that some times things are printed as news or fact when they are simply rumors. Then people who are affected by these rumors have issues to unfairly deal with. Also, sometimes when things are being held under wraps and purposely not being announced, some sites jump the gun with info that is premature. Personally, I have no grudges with any one and honestly admire the hours of work many put in to their sites. Their hard work should not be ignored.

Yes, my legal name is James but I have always been called Jim except when my Mom was angry with me and I got the “James William” which meant Mom was serious. I don’t think I am “ring name” worthy. I guess “J.R.” would be it as I was never known by that handle until I arrived in the WWE.

Amen….I love and encourage the “spell check!”

Will the Megapowers ever reunite?? My guess would be “no” but if they did it would be a “one-off.”

Yes I have heard the new version of “My Ass 2” and even encouraged my football coaching friends at OU to check it out. Someone out there is taking a fair amount of time on these projects and I find them funny. As long as I don’t ever have to sing or dance, the song we will all be OK. I consider it all in the spirit of fun.

The only original Assassins I knew were Joe Hamilton and Tom Renesto. They were awesome and I write about them and all my favorite teams in our J.R.’s Cookbook which is MUCH more than a cookbook. It has tons of wrestling stories and top ten lists. We have autographed several copies that are available here on the site.

For all you Randy Savage fanatics out there, 1. I don’t dislike Randy. 2. I think he deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame some day. 3. I have no knowledge if he has “issues” with WWE management, but am inclined to believe that he might. 4. I don’t know what Randy is up to these days or if he is even interested in wrestling again. We had a few bumps in the road back in the day, but nothing serious. I never lost respect for Randy’s abilities or skills. Randy Savage was one of these best in ring performers of the past several generations.

I have to admit that I have not checked out Wrestling Society X as of yet.

I love it that the National Football League is going to play a regular season game in Wembley Stadium this season. Perhaps this will help lead the way to a major WWE PPV in the stadium at some point. The only down side is the potential of bad weather (rain) which could be disastrous. That goes along with any outdoor venue.

Jimmy and Ronnie Garvin were not brothers and are both living in the Carolinas as best I know. Both also are licensed airline pilots, not to mention excellent in-ring performers. I first met Jimmy when he was the late Terry Garvin’s valet in the 70s. Ronnie was one bad dude who no one crossed. Trust me.

The likelihood of an Israel tour is doubtful until the political issues in that region of the country quiet down somewhat. I am sure as soon as warring factions cool it that the WWE will be excited about a potential tour of Israel.

I have heard a ton of Ed Whelan stories from the Harts, especially Owen and Bret. I even use “malfunction at the junction” from time to time in honor of Mr. Whelan. He was quite the character as I understand it.

I sure hope that there is another Saturday Night’s Main Event some where down the road, but that has not been confirmed to me. If one does occur one would “assume” it will be prior to Wrestlemania 23. Time will tell.

I think the NHL’s Penguins are leveraging the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh for a new arena via their talks with Oklahoma City. I do think OKC would support a NHL team as they have supported the NBA Hornets. However, I doubt if the Pens leave the “Steel City.”

I consider Tazz a friend. He is a fan of our sauces and we often talk about college football, as he is a Nebraska fan and of course I am an Oklahoma fan. Tazz could have had a great “run” in the WWE if he had not been injured early on. Remember, Tazz choked out Kurt Angle on Tazz’ debut in Madison Square Garden and Angle isn’t a slouch. I think Tazz is witty and entertaining and I also think too much is made that “Tazz and Joey Styles are not as good as they could be.” I don’t buy it. They do a damn good job on the re-building of the ECW show, which is obviously a long term, work in progress.

I prefer to not discuss my thoughts on the accidental death of Owen Hart in this forum. Perhaps some day I will if I write a book. I have never seen the tape of that horrible day in Kansas City and will watch it, alone, when I do. When one is only a few feet away from watching a wonderful friend and co-worker die how do you think I would feel?

How do I feel about the Rock? I signed him and helped get him trained and watched his career skyrocket. I am ecstatic for him and his family with Rock’s success on the silver screen. Will Rock ever step back into a WWE ring? I think it is doubtful, but I have been wrong before. I know Rock does miss performing in front of a live, WWE audience and the adrenaline rush it provides him. We talk as often as our schedules allow and he still watches Raw when he can, but he seems to be about as busy as a fruit merchant. The Rock is a happy man and is very thankful for his many blessings I can assure you.

No, I did not keep the Toga from Wrestlemania 9. It was a rental. We don’t wear too many togas here in windy Oklahoma.

Shelton Benjamin has the physical tools to be as good as any one currently in the business. The day Shelton refuses to be nothing but the very best is when he will “explode”. Bottom line it takes some wrestlers longer to get the “hunger” than others. Nonetheless athletically speaking Benjamin has few equals in today’s business. Shelton is another young man I signed and have great expectations for.

I am a huge Chris Berman of ESPN fan and he would probably make a great wrestling announcer. We both attended an “Eagles” concert at the Mohegan Sun a few years back. From what I am told by mutual friends, Berman is a nice guy.

Unfortunately Jack Tunney and Lord Alfred Hayes are both with their Lord. I knew both well and each man was a gentleman and life-long student of the game.

George “Cry Baby” Cannon was a fixture in Detroit wrestling headlined by the Sheik. Cannon wrestled, but was known more as a manager of Cannon’s Army. George was good at stirring up the fans and his career lasted several decades.

I think we are putting Skittles on the map! They are one of our great Raw sponsors and I love reading their ad copy. We just have fun with it. They are fruity you know. And delicious.

Gary Michael Cappeta, The World’s Most Dangerous Ring Announcer, is another class act who taught school and ring announced part time. Gary also wrote a book a year or so ago you might want to check out.

There will be plenty of Ric Flair stories in any book I may write. I have seen “Naitch” walk into a bar with maybe 30 people in there, 20 of which he did not know, and order 100 Kamikazes for every one and then watch as the patrons got plastered. $1,000 bar tabs on consecutive nights for Flair was not unusual. Then at 6 in the morning he would be in the gym doing cardio like a wild man.

The ownership of the USWA library is a tough one to answer. I think Jerry Lawler owns most of it, Jerry Jarrett may have some of it and I know some of it was sold to a company out of Cleveland. It is a real cluster and the chances of it being a part of WWE 24/7 are, unfortunately, a long shot. However, never say never. The USWA library is full of great material featuring The King and my pal Lance Russell.

Joe Fowler, who had a short lived WWE announcing career back in the mid 90s, has done well for himself doing infomercials on TV and is based out of Los Angeles. I see Joe on late night TV from time to time selling pots and pans and the like.

The WWE has a partnership with World Class Championship Wrestling and I am sure that you will be seeing plenty of WCCW material on WWE 24/7 in the future. I hear that Kevin Von Erich and Freebird Michael Hayes may even host that portion of 24/7 but that yet to be determined as best I know.

Speaking of WWE 24/7 more of the Legends Roundtable will be taped in the upcoming weeks. I won’t let the cat out of the bag but the panel should be a doozy.

Again, thanks for shopping with us and trying our products. Your business is sincerely appreciated. I hope you enjoy Raw Monday night from Sioux City, Iowa where I hear it will be below zero when we go on the air. Thank God we are in doors!!

Take care and enjoy the Super Bowl!
J.R.