WWE, FINALLY!!

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Just about immediately after the Attitude Era ended in the WWF/E people were complaining about it and wanting the Attitude Era to come back. Most people had nothing good to say about the PG era. For those folks and the rest of us I give you the Monday night Raw 6/17/2013 episode. Most of us call it the best Raw of the year. I put it up there as one of the better ones in the past 5-10 years. I mean actual surprises happening and working. Christian coming back was a complete shock to me. I expected him to come back sometime but never expected it to happen last night. I would have expected some vignettes, but for him to come out as a surprise on Monday Night Raw was just classic.

Speaking of classic, let’s move forward to the Mark Henry segment. Nicely done. Very nicely done. I admit I actually thought it was genuine. I didn’t see a swerve coming at all. Boy was I wrong, and I’ve never been happier to be wrong in my life. When Mark Henry and John Cena hugged, and then Mark gave Cena the World’s Strongest Slam I felt cheated. I felt doped. I haven’t had that feeling in a long time regarding WWE or wrestling in general. But it was a good feeling none the less. I thought it was genius. I thought it was classic. And think about this folks, it wasn’t just the talk of the WWE Universe, it was the talk of the wrestling world as a whole. Look back at the tweets from Matt Hardy, Shane Helms, Axl Rotten, Kevin Steen, etc. It was just a great moment. It made me a Mark Henry fan. I will say this up front, I was not a Mark Henry fan at all. I thought he was a waste of TV time. That segment changed my whole tune for Mark Henry.

Now Raw did have a bad spot in my opinion. The Randy Orton Daniel Bryan ending was just garbage to me. People are worried about WWE going overboard with the concussion thing, you ask me they already did. Especially with the Daniel Bryan Randy Orton ending. Don’t get me wrong, concussions are serious, but don’t overkill it. In my opinion, this didn’t stop the Daniel Bryan momentum but it did slow it down a little bit. Daniel Bryan will be a World Champion before this year is out. I believe that.

Speaking of World Champion let me talk about the Del Rio/Ziggler story. The Heel/Face turn at Payback was Bret Hart/Stone Cold esq. Del Rio is a better heel than a face and turning Ziggler face was just genius. So CM Punk and Del Rio was the main event on Raw. I go in on Punk in a minute, but the match ended with Del Rio doing the classic heel move and leaving the match losing in a count out. As Del Rio was heading backstage, Dolph ran out jumped off the stage and onto Del Rio. Another surprise and it worked. I don’t know if WWE fired the old writers, got new writers, or if the current writers finally wised up. Whatever it is, WWE needs to keep this going.

I say I would go in on CM Punk. The Best in the world. CM Punk and Paul Heyman are masters of the wrestling world. Geniuses of the wrestling world. Reading the dirt sheets, I knew there was a possibility of a CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar storyline down the road. Well on this epic Raw, the storyline got started. CM Punk dropped Heyman as a manager. Told Heyman, “I don’t need your help. Stick to helping Brock and Curtis Axel. I’m not your client, I’m your friend.” CM Punk wins via count out and you don’t hear Cult of Personality, you hear Brock Lesnar’s music. They have a face off. Brock gets the microphone like he’s going to say something then F5s Punk. Loved it. It worked. And we know Punk is going to have something to say on this and having Punk and Heyman going at it via the microphone? Yes please!

Let me end by giving WWE props by at least trying to give the Divas something on TV. The AJ/Kaitlyn storyline is interesting to say the least. Stephanie came out last night and got involved in the storyline. It made no sense to me, but at least it’s something. AJ Lee is gorgeous and she is the best worker in that woman’s locker room. Better than Natalya? Who got the belt? Now, you can argue that Kaitlyn had the belt, the Bellas had the belt, and Layla had the belt. Ok I see your point. But this is the first time in a long time that the holder of the Diva’s championship was a good worker. Again props to WWE. Also Kaitlyn had the moment of her career. Her puppies seemed to outgrow the dog house they were in. Call me perverted if you want, but I’m 26. I’m a male. I’m straight. And you know this. WWE with the late black out was great too. Those who missed it, I’m sure you can find it via Google or Bing. I’m not condoning you look at this, but I’m just saying it happened.

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

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

My thoughts on the Pinup Strong movement

I was reading this article on WWE.com, some time ago, where they had a list of potential past and current divas who would or could join up with Beth and Natalya in there run to change the divas division. The last one on the list was Eve Torres. Really? Eve Torres for change in the divas division? When she fits the mold of a WWE Diva? Eve came in as a former dancer, and her start in the business was the WWE divas search. WWE is supposed to be the big time in the wrestling business. Eve came in the big time with no, again I say no, ring experience, and yet she became champion over divas that actually came in with experience like Gail Kim, Beth Phoenix, Natalya, etc. Yet you add Eve to a list to join a force that wants to change the divas division? I’m confused. Beth and Natalya actually came in to the big time with ring experience. Yet they can’t get a legitimate run as a champ? Or at least they couldn’t for a while. So for what I understand, the way to make it as a diva in the WWE is to come in with no experience, embarrass yourself and women wrestlers everywhere on national TV every week, and within a month you’ll have title shot.

Now I, along with a lot of others, am not a fan of John Cena’s in ring work. Yet can I really say that Cena didn’t do enough to get where he is? He was discovered working at an independent wrestling show in California by Jim Ross. Jim Ross got him to OVW which at the time was a development territory for the WWE. So, even though Cena’s offensive maneuvers are limited, the dude came in the right way.

With most everything, there are some exceptions. Trish Stratus came in with no experience. Yet she became a very good worker in the ring. Stephanie McMahon. Y’all may think I’m crazy, but y’all got to admit, she wasn’t that bad in the ring. These divas now though? The Bella Twins, Eve, Kelly Kelly...yes I give you, they look good, but their work in ring is not up to par.

Now who I think could add to the movement for change? Again, y’all may think I’m crazy, but Alicia Foxx would be a great addition. She got the skills to be good, she just needs them tuned. What better tuners can you get than Beth Phoenix and Natalya? That new diva AJ would also be a good addition for change. She actually came in with ring experience, and she can work. Why not?

Reading the dirt sheets recently I hear that WWE is gonna have Kaitlyn turn heel on AJ and join Beth Phoenix and Natayla. What kind of sense does that make? Here I was thinking this was about skill. No it seems like this is about being too thick to be a victoria secret model. Give me a break.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to follow me on this blog. Leave your comments below sharing your opinions. Read the last blog. Follow my other blog. Friend me on FaceBook. Follow me on Twitter. Follow me on Dailybooth. Follow me on Tumblr. And I’m out.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty