WWE Draft 2008 Follow Up: J.R. Issues Statement on Being Traded

 

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In my last column I ranted and raved about the Draft, and made it clear that the Jim Ross/Michael Cole switch was ratings suicide.I guess I am not the only one who thought this was a bad idea.

On J. R.’s official blog (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/), he has issued this statement about being sent over to SmackDown:

As many of you know, I was “drafted” to Smackdown Monday night in the “random lottery”. Obviously that means I will be leaving Monday Night Raw and my long time partner Jerry Lawler.I am not happy about this surprise development.

I also contemplated calling it a career Monday night and not going to Houston to tape SD.

After speaking with my wife and thinking on this matter until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, I have decided to do the right thing for the fans who care and the talent who care and begin my new assignment.

It has been explained to me that the WWE’s Smackdown tenure on My Network is a high priority within the corporation. Allegedly, my presence is needed in that effort.

Many are speculating about when I learned of this development…the same time those of you were watching at home. I should have detected something with the demeanor of certain individuals either thru their plastic, poker faces or the perceived smirk that I thought I might have seen on some of their faces during the day.

As far as going to Connecticut each week to do Smackdown post production, that’s not going to happen. Either Mick Foley can handle it or the WWE can install a DSL line in my home to facilitate the work.

I think this, by itself, shows how unexpected and unpopular this decision was.  If a man like “Good Ole” J. R. will open up about how upset he is, and “shoot” a blog like that, I would be trying my best to remedy the situation.

In my opinion, the backlash from this will, ultimately, either have this “trade” undone, or swap Ross and Foley to Raw, and King and Cole to SmackDown.

Nevertheless, this situation will continue to be monitored as it continues to play out.

 

Taken from:

http://bleacherreport.com