JR's hot BBQ sauce and WWE Shop a winner for Australian fans; Brings back fond wrestling memories, by Greg Tingle - May 2013

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Jim Ross WWE Shop WWE Wrestling Food and Hospitality Shop Australia

Being a long time WWE, wrestling and Jim Ross fan, you can imagine how wrapt I was when my latest WWE Shop order arrived to my home in Sydney, Australia.

Normally, I wouldn't bothering ordering any food or beverage product from all the way up in the United States, via internet or not, but why wouldn't I want to support the man (and the company) who have provided my family and I with so much enjoyment over the years.

JR's BBQ Hot BBQ Sauce may not have been the actually catalyst for my latest WWE Shop order (CM Punk's new arty t-shirt was), but the sauce was something I just had to have - almost as a moral obligation.. if you willl (thanks Dusty Rhodes).

The sauce worked a treat on the egg and tomato roll (with salt, pepper and Vegemite) that my good woman made me for breakfast, and the young nephews enjoyed JR's sauce too, with a "nice but a bit hot" comment. Mate, it was one of the most awesome home breakfasts I've had in years, and it was in part thanks to JR! The nephews enjoyed their fruit juice more than usual, drinking it out of the John Cena - Rey Mysterio drinking cups I ordered (but the cups don't do anything for me... but it put smiles on the boys mugs, so that counts for something).

Back to JR...I believe the first time I had the pleasure to enjoy a Jim Ross announced match was back in 1985 or so. It was Ric Flair VS Sting which I enjoyed via Channel Nine 'Wide World Of Sports' (a weekend sports program, who fortunately was hosted back then by a couple of sports announcers who enjoyed enjoyed quality pro wrestling. I watched the broadcasts religiously with my late farther, and we always had the old BETA videotape recorder at the ready for the best stuff. 90% of the wrestling matches they screened were WWF matches but when they did show a NWA / WCW match, it was a barn stormer. The next time I heard JR was years later was when I moved to Sydney and enjoyed catching the Sting VS Nikita Koloff world title match at the popular drinking hole, Newport Arms, located on Pittwater at Newport, half way up Sydney's beautiful northern beaches region. My old mate 'Big' Tim Bristow introduced me to 'The Arms', but Timmy preferred boxing over wrestling. Fortunately it was my old man who introduced me to the pro wrestling when Killer Karl Kox, Brute Bernard and friends would tear it up on the black and white TV's circa 1976. Dad told me it was show business, but he also said in a serious manner "You wouldn't want to mess with the best pro wrestlers. They are as tough as they come".

Some readers may find it interesting that the American pro wrestling matches acted as a motivater of sorts for dad and I to go to the local Sydney sports club wrestling matches. Of course, 'The Balmain Tiger' George Barnes being one of dad's truck driving mates (his day job), didn't hurt either. I will never forget Barnes being dropped on his head via Piledriver at Manly-Warringah Football Club. If only JR was there to call the action for that one.

Fortunately, here "down under" in Australia, we can continue to hear JR's broadcasting thanks to our pay television provider, Foxtel, and then there's the WWE and JR's Place websites, and others, to keep up with the news on JR and friends.

Good on JR for helping maintain the fine standards at the WWE and in the world of broadcasting, and Jimbo... keep them honest at the WWE Shop.

We are hoping to catch the WWE action live when they come back to Australia this year. Still saving the money for the tickets as the Labor - Julie Gillard government has really knocked our internet - media based business for a six with their b2b e-commerce unfriendly policies, but that's another story for another column. The WWE has had mixed experiences as far as censorship goes over the years so the full story won't get a run in some circles anyway. Let's just thank God that Australian wrestling fans can get WWE via television and the internet, and that the WWE Shop works fine through Australian internet filtering systems - at least at this stage of the game.

The only real area for improvement on WWE Shop and JR's Place shop that comes to mind is to reduce the price of shipping (my order was in the region of $50 postage to Australia), but that wasn't too bad considering I ordered 4 shirts, BBQ sauce and John Cena - Rey Mysterio cups.

Thanks JR and crew, and us Aussie fans look forward to seeing you on the box again next week.

PS: Maybe JR or the WWE Shop should also put out a branded coffee. If its good enough for Australia's Hugh Jackman (Laughing Man) and Hollywood's Leonardo DiCaprio, it should be good enough for them (but then again - they might not want to risk upsetting their world class menu).

Worst JR moment: Dressed in a toga at WrestleMania - Trump Plaza for Hulk Hogan VS Randy Savage (we do know he was told to wear that get up).

Best JR moment: all of the play by play for the Ricky Steamboat VS Ric Flair series.

JR's hot BBQ sauce rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (maybe there should be a warning for kids and your JR fans about its hotness).

Deliver time to Australia: 2.5 weeks