IMPACT WRESTLING LIVE: THIS IS HOW YOU RESPOND TO RAW?

Before I go in on TNA, Paul Heyman. I love this man. This man went on twitter and tweeted a clinic on the wrestling business. Somebody please give the man a book deal! If you love the wrestling business like I do, follow this man on Twitter @HeymanHustle. So much respect for Paul Heyman and his mind for wrestling.

Now on to TNA or Impact Wrestling if you will. Tonight was supposed to be a big night. TNA going live. After a huge badly reviewed Monday Night Raw by the WWE, one most likely thought TNA could save the week as far as wrestling goes. Did TNA deliver?

The show started off pretty good. Sting vs Robby Roode in a Lumber Jack. Let me go on record and say, I hate Lumber Jack matches. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that I truly was a fan of. As far as in the ring though, Sting and Roode put on a good match. The highlight for me was the up and over by Sting. The man is in his 50s. Great stuff. Sting gets the win, Hogan comes out to get his time on camera, you know he couldn’t pass that up. Sting vs Roode at Slammiversy for the World Title. Hogan called Sting the man of the company. Um, no. No. I love Sting. I’ve been a fan his all my life. But Sting’s time has come and gone.

Then we go to Bully Ray and Joseph Park. I don’t know. I will say Bully Ray is the one of the best heels of all time. This man is money on the mic. So is another ECW alumni, and I’ll get to him later on. Joseph Park character is stupid to me. I’m sorry. Bully on the mic is always a win though.

Austin Aries vs Sabin. As a wrestling fan, I was really looking forward to this match. It was good too. My only complaint is that it was way too short. Yet It’s better than watching Big Show vs anybody, any day of the week.

Now on to the segment that I thought was going to be much bigger. Man was I disappointed. Of course I’m talking about Brooke Hogan’s debut on Impact Wrestling. This segment did nothing, NOTHING for the Knockout division. This segment did nothing for women’s wrestling. First of all, Brooke used to be a fox. What happened? Something didn’t look right about Brooke. For the talent the Knockout Division has and how they’re allowed to showcase their skills in the ring, I hope Brooke added to it doesn’t ruin what is the best thing going in women’s wrestling.

So TNA asked the fans to pick an opponent for the TV Champ, Devon, and the fans chose Jeffery Nero Hardy. These two was putting on a show in the ring. Not missing a beat since the days of the Hardy’s/Dudley feud from the WWE days. And then…Robbie E and Robbie T came in the ring and got the match “thrown out.” Way to screw the fans TNA. You tell them to vote, and don’t even give them the courtesy of a decent finish to a great looking match.

I have nothing to say about the Gut Check segment other than that Taz is money on the mic. I’d take Taz as a manager any day. Too bad his color commentator skills suck. His mic work in the ring though? Money.

Styles vs Daniels. Another good match. These two never disappoint when in the ring together. The match was good. Then the end happened though. The whole Dixie Carter/ AJ Styles love affair thing. Ehh. Dixie Carter did a piss poor job in her role coming out to stop the tape from playing. Was not a fan of the ending. Big fan of the match though.

Overall I was disappointed. The show should’ve been better. The show was live but it felt like it was taped. Nothing magical. Nothing earth shattering. Nothing wowed me about the live show. Hopefully next week will be a better show.

Before I go, let me go in on the TNA Hall of Fame…WAY TOO EARLY.

#DropsMic

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty
Follow me on Twitter @Big_Dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty

DIVAS ON STRIKE?

I literally just thought of this. The divas complain about not enough TV time. Others complain that the divas don't get enough TV time. Whether they deserve or not...I got an idea.

Go out there and just stand in the ring. Don't do nothing. Then do a Hogan and Kevin Nash. Who ever was supposed to get the win pokes the other diva with a finger and the loser diva takes a bump. After the "match" walk to the back. Strike. I'm mean this would get the fans attention. Like what are these women doing? This goes on for like a month. Then Beth Phoenix gets on the mic and says, "We want more TV time." Drops the mic and leaves. Bam. It will look like a shoot. The means no over acting. Just straight faced real. For Kelly Kelly's sake....she would have to wear a mask. Just wear a mask Kelly, or a bandanna on the face.

I mean nobody cares about the diva TV matches anyway right? Bathroom break people call them. Show fillers, right? Why not make the most of it. Strike. To make it work, it has to look real. If it looks or sounds scripted it wouldn't work.

Thoughts?

Daniel Richerson
Twitter @Big_Dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty

My Review of WWE.com 50 Greatest WCW stars

So I just read WWE.com's 50 Greatest WCW Stars list. For the most part, I agree with the list. I mean no doubt in my mind, Sting is the number one greatest performer in WCW history. Never left the company, stayed from beginning to end. Nevermind the fact that WCW ruined a chance to have a classic series of matches between him and Bret Hart, but that's neither here nor there.

Look, I know he did what he did. I don't condone what he did. Killing yourself, wife, and son? It was beyond wrong what he did. But...if we were completely honest with ourselves, the fact that Chris Benoit, yes I said Chris Benoit, is not on this list, and Dennis Rodman is doesn't make any sense to me. It's laughable. Dennis Rodman is a sexually confused crazy guy that came to WCW for a cup of coffee and some danishes, and all of the sudden he's one of the 50 greatest in WCW? Wrong!! Where's Psychosis? La Parka? Heck put Disco Inferno on the list. Denis Rodman? I give, the man was a great rebounder in the NBA, but that has nothing to do with World Championship Wrestling. Give me a break...

Back to Chris Benoit. The man had some classic matches in WCW. The main one that comes to mind is the tribute match he had with Bret Hart for Owen. He was one of many people that was so poorly used in WCW. I remember Larry Zbyszko many times calling Benoit, "A Wrestling Machine." Again, I'm  not condoning what he did, but talking strickly WCW, he deserves to be on this list. Case closed.

Bobby Eaton I think was underrated. Probably one of the most underrated in history. I saw Bobby Eaton as one of those performers that was gifted but didn't have that it factor that would make him memorable. I have the upmost respect for Bobby though. Glad to see he made the list.

Brian Pillman making the list did my heart good. Somebody in WWE please put the guy in the Hall of Fame already! What's the problem here? Eddie Guerrero died of basically the same thing Brian Pillman did, right? And when did Eddie get in the HOF? I rest my case. Don't give me that, "What did Brian Pillman do?" What? What?!?! How about one of the true innovators of what is now known as "Attitude." Before there was Stone Cold, there was Brian Pillman. Before there were "pipe bombs" there were "loose cannons." Pillman was a gift onthe mic as well in the ring. If it wasn't for a Hummer accident, no telling where he would've gone in his career. All I'm saying is, he's a Hall of Famer in my opinion.

Again, for the most part, I liked the list WWE.com put together. Here's hoping that Sting at least makes an appearance on WWE television before he gets in the Hall of Fame. Going out in a small destruction of a company where starts are quitting like TNA, is not an ideal way to go out, in my opinion.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty
Follow me on Twitter @Big_Dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty

5/14/2012 RAW REVIEW: A BAD SANDWICH

May 14, 2012. Last Monday Night Raw before the Over The Limit PPV, which has the potential match of the year on the card with CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan. #ItsClobberinTime vs #YesYesYes. With all that, WWE produces this awful excuse of an entertainment show. That’s what WWE is right? An Entertainment company, as Paul Heyman so eloquently put it at the start of the show while talking to Triple H. You know who’s winning in all this? TNA. TNA is getting rave reviews with they’re recent PPV outing. WWE answers with again, one of the worst Raws I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoyed the Triple H and Paul Heyman segment at the start of the show. WWE had a strong foundation to build a great show. And then…

They team CM Punk with Santino to face Daniel Bryan and Cody. For? My hatred for Santino aside, the match itself wasn’t bad at all. Then? Alicia Fox vs Beth Phoenix. My attraction for Alicia Fox aside…yes, Alicia Fox is a fine specimen of a woman indeed…this match was what it was supposed to be. I actually think Beth and Alicia put on a good show for the time limit they had, but the crowd has been fed so much bad diva matches one after another, that even if they get a good showing, they give it no reaction. After the match, Layla ran to ring and gave Beth a face plant, and no reaction from the crowd what so ever. Layla, another fine woman in her own right, is nothing to the fans as far as talent goes. I am hoping that this leads to a Beth vs Kharma feud. That would bring credibility back to the diva division of the WWE.

Let’s go to the part of the show that was a complete joke. Big Show vs Kane. This match, first of all, was way too long. It was brutal. Adding to the fact that Johnny Ace was out there because Big Show had to apologize or be “fired.” So what happens? During the match, which was going completely bad already, Johnny Ace gets on the mic and tells Big Show to apologize, and that leads to one of the worse choke slams in professional wrestling history. After the match, WWE decides to make Big Show look like a lap dog. Seeing a 7 foot tall big bald man on his knees crying like diva breaking a nail was a joke. One good thing it did do was make Johnny Ace a bigger heel. What it did for Big Show? Nothing positive, I’ll say that much.

After that fiasco, the booker decided to bring out Brodus Clay. (Insert face palm here) Brodus Clay and Lord Tensai need to get together and thank God for still being hired in this business. Naomi and Cameron, never going to complain about them on my TV…precious they are. All that aside, they have R Truth and Kofi going against Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler at Over The Limit. I see the potential. I don’t get it as far as storyline wise, but the match itself has potential. I can’t wait for credibility to come back to the tag team scene in the WWE. I recently got the new Edge DVD, which is awesome by the way, and on that DVD there’s a match with Edge and Christian vs Too Cool vs T & A vs the Hardy Boyz for the tag team championship. In today’s WWE, that would considered a cluster----waiting to happen. Those 8 wrestlers managed to put in a great match. The ring psychology in that match was phenomenal. For the love of God WWE, bring the psychology back to these tag matches!!

Then you came to a highlight of the show, Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho. So much pressure on these two at this point because the crowd has sat through a crap fest for the most part. With all that said, Orton and Jericho put on a show for fans in attendance. Yes it did end in a DQ, but I feel it gave a great build for the World Title match at Over The Limit. Alberto Del Rio was missing in the equation tonight, but I can pretty much guarantee he’ll be involved on Smackdown one way or another.

Now we come to the end of the show. The showdown between John Cena and Johnny Ace. Going into this segment, I thought it was going to be a complete waste of time. I’ve never been glad to be so wrong. This segment delivered. Johnny Ace started off talking noise, then Cena came out to a surprisingly good pop. He did go into his usual Cena antics, but for some reason tonight, it worked. The crowd was into it. I mean, yes it was corny, but it worked. Then with the new stipulation on the match that if Johnny Ace loses, he gets fired, may have sold more buys for the PPV.

If I had to give Raw a grade, I’d give it a D+. I don’t need parts of the show to be great. I don’t need parts of the show where the crowd is alive and hot. I need this for the whole show. This is NBA Playoffs time just in case WWE forgot. TNA just delivered a great reviewed PPV just in case WWE forgot. And this is the show produced before Over The Limit? When people eat a sandwich, they eat more than the bread. They need the meat to be good as well. One bad tomato, one rotten lettuce, one bad piece of meat can ruin a whole sandwich.

Stay Saved,

Big Dusty
Daniel Richerson
@Big_Dusty on Twitter
Facebook.com/bigdusty

Raw Thoughts 5/7/2012 and other banter...

Before I go in, follow me on Twitter @Big_Dusty and get at me on Facebook.com/bigdusty

Johnny Ace comes out cutting a promo. Good to see Johnny holding the mic up to his face this week. Johnny said that he was the "Hulk Hogan" of Japan. Funny, I never saw his reality TV show, Ace Knows Best. Anyway, Thank God for CM Punk. CM Punk delivered on the mic like he always does. Saying that the only reason Johnny went to Japan is because nobody in the US wanted to pay him. That was genius. Not the worst opening segment in the world, but having CM Punk drop pipe bombs make it watchable.

By the way, i cannot wait for the match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan and Over The Limit. Y'all we got to make this one of the hottest PPVs of the year just for that match alone. Come on wrestling fans!!

Anyway back to the show. We got a IC Title match between Show and Cody that nobody knew about until about 5 minutes before the match. Way to push a title WWE. Basically the match ends with Cody walking out to save the title. Show gets on the mic and calls Cody out, and out comes, Miss Hancock! Oops, i'm sorry, um, Eve. Eve comes out because Show made fun of Johnny Ace's voice which is a no no. Basically, Show got his grapefruits busted by Eve. Waste of time segment in my opinion.

The Dolph vs Kofi match was way to short in my opinion. If you going to put talent like that on TV, why not utilize that talent the way is supposed to be used? I don't get it...I really don't.

The Cena interview with Michael Cole was what it was. Cena came on the screen said he's going to beat up Johnny Ace. Moving on? Moving on...

And of course the divas got there 5 seconds of flash photography...it's not even worth going in on that subject anymore.

One in the show not one mention of the late great Owen Hart. Shame on WWE. Today would've been Owen Hart's birthday by the way.

So we got a Jericho/Del Rio vs Sheamus/Orton. Why is Jericho and Orton in this match? When did this feud start? And Jericho got the pin? What kind of sense does that make? But I did enjoy seeing Randy RKO Sheamus. For some reason, I liked that. Plus Randy Orton Heel > Randy Orton Face...any day of the week.

Now the World Title match is a fatal four way match. Well, that's great. Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk is still on the card right? I'm in.

Naomi and Cameron were on my TV. Ladies and gents you will never hear me complain about seeing those lovely ladies on my television set.

Brodus Clay vs Miz. At least it wasn't a squash. Miz actually tried to make a match out of it. The crowd booing Brodus was a great touch.

Punk Tweeted a picture of Paul Heyman....

PAUL HEYMAN SAVED THE ENTIRE SHOW TONIGHT. Paul Heyman just gave a clinic, on how to cut a promo. The man has been off of TV for, 6 years? 6 years and he comes back and cuts a promo like it's nothing? The crowd was so disrespectful. What chants? WHAT CHANTS? Disrespectful. Thank you Paul for saving this show.

As epic as Paul Heyman was, that's how awful the next and last match was. We're talking about Punk vs Bryan for the WWE Title at Over The Limit. Potential match of the year...and in the main event you have CM Punk vs Lord Tensai/Bryan. Lord Tensai is so big of a waste of time. He botched a finish. The match ends with Punk getting pinned by..Lord Tensai. This match did nothing for the build up between Daniel Bryan and CM Punk match. WWE is trying to stick to us the wrestling fans, the IWC. Let's stick it back to them, and make the Punk vs Bryan match what it's supposed to be.

The show as a whole sucked...as a whole it sucked. The crowd sucked. Over all horrible. The show was saved by two promos. CM Punk and Paul Heyman saved this show tonight. The crowd didn't deserve to have Paul Heyman speak in front of them on a mic. That's real. I said in a crowd before the crowd makes the show. This crowd made this show unbearable.

Stay Saved,

Big Dusty aka Daniel Richerson