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

IS RAW REALLY THAT BAD?

In the current state of Smackdown vs Raw, I think it's safe to say that Smackdown is winning right now. Smackdown is building characters. It's building new talent just like it did around when the roster first split some years ago. Smackdown built John Cena, Raw then drafted John Cena, and now we got the John Cena we know and---well we got John Cena. John Cena can wrestle. Yes he can. CM Punk did not wrestle those matches by himself. Shawn Michaels did not wrestle those matches by himself. Ever heard that saying, it takes two to tango?

So what is wrong with Raw? What is Raw doing that is not working well enough to get stronger ratings? Is something wrong with Raw? Is Raw doing something wrong? Is there something wrong with us the fans that are burying Raw? First thing we got to understand is that Vince is not running things like a wrestling company. He's running it like an entertainment company. He said it himself . He was talking about when Ted Turner bought WCW, and Ted called Vince and told Vince that, "I'm in the 'rasslin' business." And Vince said something to the fact, "That's good, but I'm not in the 'rasslin' business, I'm in the 'entertainment' business." Once we get that logic in our minds, WWE's booking probably wouldn't bother us so much.

But on the other hand with that being said, some parts of WWE is still wrestling. Like NXT, like Smackdown, like CWC was. Now back to Raw. I watched some of this video with this guy saying that Raw is dead. That Raw has gotten so bad it's dead. One thing we fans got to realize is that we don't know everything, and some of what we think we know, we really don't know. There's a reason Kevin Nash calls us smart marks, or smarks. I watch a lot of shoot interviews involving members of the Kliq, specifically with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall since they do a lot of them. I learn a lot from watching them cause I listen. Why do I listen? Because they were a part of a backstage group of guys that had Vince's ear. Vince listened to them.

I'm going off topic. Anyway, Raw. Is Raw dead? I don't think so. I tune in to Raw and it's looks pretty full to me. I don't see any card board cut outs of fans to fill in the seats. People still go to the shows. So as long as the fans keep buying tickets, Raw is still alive. Is Raw pulling in the numbers they did in the Attitude Era? No, but is the wrestlers from Attitude Era coming through that door? For the most part no. We got to consider that people are not watching TV like they used to. Whatculture's Simon Miller put out a good video on this subject. Simon Miller is not my favorite Whatculture personality, but he made some valid points in it. I'll put the link at the end of the blog. 

So has Raw been as good as it can be? No. Could it be better? Yes. I heard Scott Hall say something recently that was talking about fans and WWE creative, and he was saying that as soon as we think that they don't know what they doing, they show us that they do. So I think that Raw is going to show us soon that they're not as dumb as we think they are. I mean I think it's time for Vince to hand over control to Triple H. Just my opinion. So I don't think Raw is dead. I think Raw is suffering a little, but I wouldn't go straight to death.

~Daniel Richerson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Iz7gVcDb8 (Why WWE's TV Ratings Aren't As Bad As You Think- WhatCulture Wrestling)

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

DOES VINCE EVEN CARE ANYMORE?

I didn't watch the 2/23/2015 edition of RAW but this is just going off the reviews of the tweets I saw and from what I watched on Fastlane.

It seems to me that Vince is throwing in the towel. Bad booking all the way. Between NXT and the main roster is night and day as far as booking goes. NXT is the wrestling that most of us long to see when we turn into Monday Night Raw or Thursday Night Smackdown. The booking of Roman Reigns getting stuffed down our throats to get him over is not best idea. I saw someone that said that the fans really want to care for Roman but they just don't like the booking. I'm not a fan of bad booking in any fashion. I hate it in reality as well as entertainment.

Thinking it over, I'm going to give the divas the benefit of the doubt. I've complained and complained about the divas for years, but after thinking it over, you have to most of the blame on Vince and the "creative team." The good ole days when you had Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria (Tara), Jazz, Chyna...the divas actually got time. Speaking of Chyna, did y'all see that twerking video? Chyna still on drugs? Anyway, I read that the divas only got 30 seconds on Raw. 30 SECONDS! How can you have employees show off their skill in 30 seconds? Especially in business like wrestling. I do see that the women get time on House Shows or "Live Events", but I'm sure they would want some time in front of the camera other than to be eye candy. I admit, I'm not the biggest Bella Twin fan in the world. I'm a fan of Paige, AJ Lee, Natayla, those who actually had a wrestling past not coming in for a "divas search." Just making a joke of the profession. Granted, search winners like  Layla has gained experience over the years, but seriously tho.

Bryan Danielson aka Daniel Bryan seems to have the Shawn Michaels mentality in that he tries to make every match the best it can be. He made Roman look great at FastLane. It was a good match. Everybody knows Reigns has a lot to improve on, but the talent is there in my opinion. Reigns needs to learn had to follow what the crowd is giving each night. He seems to have script and sticks to it, but with a live audience, you have to make tweaks here and there to make it work better. In church we call it, following the flow of the spirit. If the spirit is leading to something that's not according to the program just follow it. If the live crowd is not liking what the product is producing in the ring then the performers should have the mindset to call an audible to follow the flow of the crowd.

How great is Rusev as a heel? He's the kind of heel JR likes. If you listen to the JR podcast, JR has complained about there's no more real heels in the business. Hopefully he's satisfied with Rusev and Lana. Lana has become one of the better valets of this era. I've heard she's wants to actually work in the ring, but I've also heard because of injuries she can't. Though with this role as a manager/valet, she's doing great business.

Sting and HHH is going to be money. They sold that match so well at FastLane. I'm in agreement with a lot of people when they say that the Sting and HHH segment at FastLane was the best of the night. Sting didn't say a word and still made his point. WWE is already booking Sting better than TNA ever did. As a fan of Sting, it's cool for me to see him in a WWE environment and properly used.

Bray Wyatt's undertaker promo at FastLane was so good. Completely had me fooled. That's the kind of stuff I miss as a wrestling fan. The joy of being surprised. Bray Wyatt came out in a coffin and cut a promo from the casket. It was done so well. Can't say enough about how good that was. A lot going around how old Taker looks now. Well, you can't been the clock folks. It was bound to happen. Now he's dyed his hair and is working out. Now who should go over in that match of Bray vs Undertaker? Bray, but that's just me. Bray is the young guy, Taker has had his time. He's still a HOFer so the streak being over doesn't hurt his legacy at all in my opinion.

All in all the yes the product could be better. Not all is bad, but not all is good either. Vince is old. Triple H is going to have the book soon. It seems like Vince is on his way out the door. Vince would deny that, but you watch the product, it seems that way.

~Daniel Richerson