I want to RKO myself when I think about the time I never had with JR. I was always so busy going onto the next damn thing, that I ducked many conversations with him because of my immaturity and lack of patience. Back then, JR just wanted to get as much detail as he possibly could for that night’s show, and I could only offer him minutes . . . seconds at times. However, in fairness, and to not totally beat myself up, part of that was me knowing what a pro Jim was. And whether he was prepared or not, he was going to call the best damn show on instinct alone.
Wrestling misses JR.
The announcers today make it easy for the casual fans to laugh at our product, because at times, they make a mockery out of it themselves. Listen sometimes . . . really listen . . . you can’t help but be bludgeoned with it at times. And, if they’re not degrading something, or someone, they’re putting on open mic night at “Caroline’s”.
For some, getting their own comedy over is more important than putting the talent in the ring over. You never got that with JR – NEVER. His job wasn’t to be a comedian, or a “heel”, or a “babyface” – his job was to be an announcer, “BY GAWD!”, and do his job in the best possible way that he could.
JR would call wrestling as if it were 100% real – as if everything in the ring was actually happening. And, because he believed it, you believed it at home. Trust me, as the writer of the show, JR was given some ridiculous segments to make you believe, but somehow he did. Why? Because, it was simply his job. JR was announcing, and announcing was JR. Today in wrestling, that art is lost.
I should have appreciated JR more then…
…I certainly do now.
