thoughts on the SPORT of professional wrestling

So as I often do, I was thinking out loud about certain things regarding the business of professional wrestling aka sports entertainment. Now, due to reasons, I have not been able to watch the product on television lately, but i have been keeping up with everything via social media and the dirt sheets. With that being said, I do have some thoughts.

• Why is wrestling the only source of entertainment that gets heat for being predetermined, but at the same time the some of the people that watch Scandal, Game Of Thrones, Empire, Power, and other shows treat the actors playing the character as if they are the character they are portraying? You know, like wrestling used to be. Are those TV shows more believable than wrestling? Has wrestling become so unbearable that it's not believable anymore? What is the issue? I heard from Steve Austin that, "Kayfabe is dead." But the fact that I called him Steve Austin not Steve Williams kinda proves it's still there. I call him CM Punk not Phil. I call her Charlotte not Ashley. I call him Triple H, not Paul. So there's still some kind of kayfabe there. Now we know that the business has been exposed a little bit, but that shouldn't cause the stories to get lazy. Like, I'm pretty sure the fans of those TV shows I mentioned before know it's a TV Show, but the stories are so believable that they buy into the show. Character development wise, WWE needs to do better. I think that goes with more of the performer than it does the creative team, because the performer still has to perform. The creative can do what they do, but they don't go in front of the camera. 
• I personally think that the creative team picks and chooses who they allow to be more genuine as a character. The more genuine the character is, the more over it gets. Bayley's character, according to what I've seen, has become a bit stale. For some reason or another, what Bayley did as a character in NXT is not working on the main roster. Sasha and Charlotte have been able to make a good transition. Becky has as well, but for some reason Bayley doesn't seem to be transitioning well. I'm a fan of Bayley's work. She can have a good match with just about any other female on the roster, Dana Brooke and Lana aside. Bayley has never really been believable on the microphone. Probably because she's not speaking from her perspective, she's speaking through another person, because reasons. I'm hoping Bayley takes her time, gets healed from her shoulder injury, and comes back with some development to her character. I'm not necessarily saying a heel turn, but I'm saying more of an edge to the character if you will. Like, not being shook by the crowd response.
• It's been 29 years since DX was formed, with the original members being Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna (R.I.P.), and Rick Rude (R.I.P.). I personally think that, a group like DX is definitely needed in today's WWE product. You have a DX like group in wrestling known as the Bullet Club, but WWE is missing that. I mean yes, you have Kevin Owens who is that kind of rebel, but imagine if there was a faction of rebels like DX was almost 30 years ago. I guess the New Day is closest thing we have to a kind of rebel to the normal we have in WWE right now. Plus, you can tell New Day are having fun. I heard Scott Hall say, "This business is supposed to be fun." 
• Going by the clips I've seen on the YouTube, GFW/TNA still sucks. I got to catch a whole episode to get the jest of the product, but by the clips I've seen, it's hard to follow. 
• WCPW is a great product. The return episode of Loaded was a solid show. I'm also enjoying the Pro Wrestling Cup tournament. They're not trying to be something their not, they're just presenting professional wrestling as is. Some of the storylines are questionable, but that comes with the territory. Overall I'm a fan of the WCPW brand.
• Sports Entertainment. Sports and entertainment. WWE tends to focus more on the Entertainment part, but let's not forget how important the sports part is. As a fan, I personally want to see Mickie James and Alicia Fox used more on TV rather than just on house shows. Like Lana and Dana Brooke, below average workers at best, get TV time all the time, while Alicia Fox and Mickie James, get squat. Now Alicia Fox and Mickie James were on TV to become to determine who was going to get the number one contender spot for the Raw Women's Title, but did anybody really believe that either one had a shot to be the final two? 

Just a few thoughts I had on the product overall. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section. Give me a follow on the Tweetie and the Gram: @D_Rich864. Thanks for reading.

~Daniel Richerson

MY TAKE: Steve Austin Show feat Ariane Andrew

Before I start, let me say that I do understand that this post may cost me in the fact that I'm just a smark behind a computer that's never been in the business, blah blah blah. Anyway--

I was hesitant to listen to this episode of the Steve Austin Show because of how Ariane sounds. I didn't know how much how I could take listening to that valley girl voice, but I got through it. I liked some of the things she said and some of the things I didn't like. Let's start with the positives. When she talked about the whole Ryback fiasco. She stood her ground on what she tweeted what she did. I liked the fact that she talked about the heat she was getting could have been a good thing because it could've made for a better character. I also like the fact that she said that she presented some ideas that didn't quite get through. I know from following her social media that she was indeed working on her craft. She was doing some house shows or live events for NXT and getting better. I even saw she had a new move she was incorporating in her matches. I was glad that she actually cared enough about the craft to get better at it just in case she got called up to the main roster she wouldn't stink it up. She owned the fact that she was not a wrestling fan but she grew to love the business. She said a key statement when she said something to the fact that if you don't learn to love the business you won't last. I've heard Kevin Nash say something similar to that. So that had me thinking, she kinda gets it.

I even liked the fact that she mentioned that being a heel came natural that it was more fun than being a face. Which I've heard plenty of other people that are or were in the business say.

So later in the interview she gets asked if WWE calls would she take the call, she said she would accept because she feels "she has something to prove." No problem with that at all. Steve then asked her if some other wrestling organization would offer her a job, she basically said that since she's been in the WWE so going any where else would be downgrading. Now in this same interview she said that she still has an "itch" for wrestling. Obviously it isn't a major itch because she wouldn't work an independent show. To me that's a slap in the face to the performers that has worked for WWE and are now working the independents, like Sean Waltman, Sabu, Lisa Marie Varon, Mickie James, and others. Then you got folks like former WWE "diva" Maria who is not working for TNA. She spent time on the independents and worked on her craft and she got much better. Her promos in ROH were not bad in my opinion, but didn't allow the fact that she was no longer working for WWE take away that itch that was there for wrestling. Don't say you have an itch, but you don't want to scratch it. I don't know that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, She got the training, might as well do something with it, Just my opinion. I do wish her all the best in whatever she decides to do in the future.

~Daniel Richerson