The Real Miyagi

Now with it being Wrestlemania season, and WWE has Roadblock coming along, and NXT has NXT Take over Dallas, one would figure I'd be talking about something pertaining to that. Maybe in another blog, but I just finished watching this amazing documentary on Fumio Demura, who is one of the forefathers of Karate in the U.S. As I was watching this I was thinking to myself this guy could have been a great pro wrestler. He's thought process on making moves look good during demonstrations, and making moves look good for the camera, could, I think, very well contribute to up in comers of the professional wrestling business. Because if you think about it, that's all professional wrestling is, it's a demonstration of precise moves in a time limit to put on a show for the audience that's both watching through streaming or watching live in attendance.

I think wrestling fans and professional wrestlers should study Fumio Demura. Watch this documentary called, The real Miyagi. Fumio was the inspiration for the Mr. Miyagi character in the original Karate Kid movies.

Fumio, I think could very well be in a pro wrestling hall of fame. I know he's technically never been involved with pro wrestling, but again his thought process on precision and making stuff look good for the camera, is part of what's missing in today's professional wrestling. It's one of the things NXT is doing right with the fact of making moves look good. Fumio sold his art as authentic as possible. Made every move look like it hurt. Sold it as the demonstrations were a shoot, if you will.

Now, I'm just a wrestling fan. A mark if you will. By the way, I don't take the term "mark" as duragitory. If a mark is what I am, it's what I am. I'm finding myself now respecting the art of professional wrestling as well as the entertainment value of it. I saw a post on facebook that asked who did more for wrestling, was it Flair or Hogan. I would say Flair because he as an artist in the ring, as well as an entertainer. Hogan was straight entertainer. He had enough of the art form down to get by, but his main focus was on the entertainment factor of the product. Just my opinion.

There's been reports that Vince McMahon is not a fan of NXT. Why would he be? Why would Vince McMahon be a fan of something that's working? That the fans are enjoying? I think that proves that the character of Mr. McMahon is more like the real Vince than he cares to share. Again just my opinion.

But back to Femio Demura. He's a real living legend in the art of fighting. He was sports entertainment before Vince coined the term. Not only was Femio's demonstrations precise, it was also entertaining. Like professional wrestling, but work behind the scenes is hard work. The documentary showed a bit of the training that goes on. Wrestling may be predetermined, but I bet if we tried to do the training that it takes to be a pro wrestler, we'd find out how "fake" the product really is. Again, I highly recommend the documentary, The Real Miyagi, for any wrestling fan and professional wrestler. You can find it on Netflix. Especially if you respect the art of wrestling. Fumio Demura for WWE Hall of Fame!

~Daniel Richerson

Impact Wrestling making little Impact...

I know I’m just a mark, and what I say on this blog will change nothing in the wrestling business or probably won’t be mentioned by any dirtsheets as valuable column, but that’s the benefit of living in America. I have the freedom to post my thoughts and opinions on the wrestling business whether anybody likes it or not. So let’s go.

Watching Impact Wrestling last night…no I didn’t lose a bet…but while watching the so called wrestling program, I noticed, like a lot of people, how bad Taz is on commentary. It’s pathetic on how bad he is. I found a solution. Not really found but I just thought of it. If Taz would do less talking, we wouldn’t hate his commentary so much. I know his job is to talk, but what he says is so Mike Adamle bad…’member him? You ‘member, ‘member? And Taz was one of the better talkers in the business at his time. For him to stink so bad at commentary is sad, really. But I have to give him the benefit of the doubt though, he man works with Mike Tenay. Bless his heart.

Ok am I the only one that remembers that the X-Division title was the title to have in TNA or Impact Wrestling? The X-Division was never about weight limits, it was about no limits…hence Samoa Joe once having the title. The X-Division Title was the most “over” championship in the company at one point. Probably because the highly overrated Jeff Jarrett had the TNA or NWA championship for so long. I digress. Watching Kenny King, Petey Williams, and Chris Sabin wrestle for the X-Division champion ship to little or no reaction was disappointing. When Kenny King held on to the title, he got NO reaction. He got the reaction Kaitlyn gets when she goes to the ring as Divas champion. Hogan has buried the X-Division so far down, I don’t know if he can get back up to where it once was. Yes I blame Hogan. Why? Because is easy to do and everybody else does it.

Now let’s get to Sting. I’ve been a fan of Sting for most of my life. From the surfer Sting to the dark Sting. I think Sting hurt his career for never competing in the WWF/E. Digressing again, my bad. So some brain child in the backstage area decided to give Sting a Title Shot against Bully Ray, again burying the likes of Samoa Joe, Magnus, AJ Styles. Sting is 54 years old now. 54. This young fans don’t remember the surfer Sting. Don’t remember the Sting that beat Hogan at Starrcade 1997. Sting can still go a little bit don’t get me wrong, but he’s had his time. Let the Samoa Joes get the spotlight. James Storm. Christopher Daniels…who by the way has become an embarrassment. Sting should not be wrestling for a world title, what he should be doing is help putting the next generation of stars over. Hogan and Sting continue to put themselves in the spotlight thinking they’re still relevant. News Flash! The 80s and 90s are over. WCW is over!

Thanks for reading. Follow the blog so you’ll know when the next one is posted. Share with other wrestling fans if you agree with me. If you disagree let me know your point of view.

~Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty

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

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