THIS IS THE YEAR OF THE AMERICAN DRAGON

This is the year of the dragon…the American dragon if you will, Bryan Danielson aka Daniel Bryan. The momentum this guy is on is going to make him enough money to build a retirement fund. He’s in the Money In The Bank match, I feel he’s a shoe in to win that match. Vince is a business man. Whether we believe it or not, Vince is a smart business man. So here’s what should go down in my opinion. Daniel Bryan should stay face. And go ahead and turn Cena heel. I would say about 85% of the “Universe” is turning on him anyway. Merchandise sells, will they go down? Depends on how bad of a heel Cena is. Back in early 2000s, Cena was a pretty good heel in my opinion. The whole Dr. of Thuganomics gimmick was working. I’m not saying he should go back to that gimmick, but I am saying why not play to the fans a little bit. I say turn Cena heel, let him lose on the microphone, and see what happens. Remember when CM Punk cut the infamous promo in Vegas? The internet exploded. People tuned in to see what Punk was going to say next. Why not Cena? Cena is a good on the mic. One of the better talkers WWE has but he’s in such a bad gimmick right now, that the corny stuff they have him saying is barfable. If Cena ever cuts a Hulk Hogan Bash At The Beach ’96 type promo and tells the Universe to stick it, I think business would pick up. Ratings would possibly go up. On the other hand it might be too little too late. I think try it. I mean using the gimmick that Cena is going to be Cena despite of the fans think of them is just a standard bs way to go. Jalen Rose says it best, “Got to give the people, give the people what they want.”

So Cena goes heel, then Daniel Bryan goes up against him at Summer Slam and wins the title. The reaction would be…EPIC! Daniel Bryan and Cena could have matches possibly better than the Punk/Cena matches. As far as wrestling ability, Bryan and Punk are neck and neck. Bryan has been stealing the show on every Monday Night Raw for weeks now. Give the man his due. There’s an old Gospel song that says, “Put your time in, pay day is coming after while.” Bryan has definitely put his time in from NXT, to Nexus, to the 18 seconds bull, to the Team Hell No, to now. The man is ready to carry the company. The fans are behind him. The Yes chants are over more than the What chants ever were. It’s time to see Bryan get his Shawn Michaels on, who trained Bryan btw.

To be honest, I have doubts that the Cena heel turn will ever happen. Most of the IWC wants this to happen, but I don’t think Vince has the grapefruits to do it. Hogan was face a bit too long and the fans got tired of him. Hogan went heel and got another huge run out of the deal. Vince is making the same mistake with Cena I believe. Also I’ve read rumors about some backstage are pushing for a triple threat match at Summerslam with Super Cena, Mark Henry, and Ryback. No! No! No! Sorry, Ryback is not ready clearly. His promos suck, and his skills in the ring leave a lot to be desired. Ryback lost at Westlemania, Extreme Rules, and Payback, and some “geniuses, think he deserves a title shot? Am I missing something here? I know Vince is high on Ryback, but Vince needs to give the people what they want. Why the people? Cause we the people, not pun intended to Mr. “Weed the people” Jack Swagger, pay his salary.

That’s all I got to say. I’m not a wrestling guru or anything; I’m just a lifelong wrestling fan with a medium to post my thoughts on the product. Hope you enjoyed it. If you agree or disagree, let me know in the comment section. Thanks for checking the blog.

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

WWE, FINALLY!!

Hey thanks for stopping by.

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

I'M BACK WRESTLING FANS. WRESTLEMANIA BUILD UP! GOOD OR BAD?

WWE got us all talking about them again. Once again CM Punk made WWE interesting again like he did 2 years ago with the infamous promo in Las Vegas. All you marks complaining about are the same ones that are going to be buying the show cheering for Taker to beat CM Punk. I admit if I had the money I’d buy Wrestlemania. I think it’s going to be a good show. CM Punk and Paul Heyman just created a storm for WWE and that’s exactly what’s is needed for Wrestmania. People are complaining about the build up, I disagree. The CM Punk/Taker stuff has been classic in my opinion. I personally believe that CM Punk is the next Mr. Wrestlemania. Bold statement I know but I said it anyway.

At first I was against the Cena vs Rock II this year but I’m actually excited for the potential for this match. Let me explain. I’ve read the dirt sheets that Cena may be turning heel. We as the IWC has been begging for this for years. I say this should have happened about 7 years ago when the fans started booing Cena, but the potential of Cena pulling a Stone Cold from Wrestlemania 17 and going heel to get the win, excites me. So Monday, Cena can come out on Monday Night Raw and vent. Cena going heel is a brilliant move. I hear you folks saying that Cena is a great merchandise seller and all that. Let’s take a flash back to July of 1996. When Hogan finally turned heel. How good was the merchandise sell of the nWo shirts? I rest my case.

Alberto vs Swagger. It has potential but the build up for that match has been horrible in my opinion. I’m a fan of Swagger’s work ethic. I like the fact that Zeb is out being the mouth of Swagger, but the build up could be so much better. By the way, does the World Title mean anything anymore? I mean why is it still around? Seriously. Smackdown and Raw are not separated anymore. So what’s the use? Combine the titles again.  Bring back the Undisputed title until or if they decided to split the shows again. Am I right or wrong?

And how impressive is Naomi? I’ve been very vocal of my criticism on the woman’s wrestling of the WWE. But athletes like Naomi gives it promise. The Bellas being former champs, which is a joke, got out worked by both Naomi and Cameron on the recent Raw. AJ Lee should get getting a shot at the Divas title, also. No stupid Lumberjill match. Just give AJ and Kaitlyn time to show off their skills or lack thereof in front of a crowd for the title.

The tag team title match is not a plus for me. Big E has been nothing but a waste of TV. Big E is just pushing Vince McMahon’s love for steroid freaks of nature. Ziggler needs to focus on cashing in the money in the bank rather than going for titles that mean nothing anymore . The tag team titles have come to mean nothing in the WWE’s world of wrestling. Which is a shame. I can remember The Hardy Boyz, The Dudleys, E&C, Too Cool, New Age Outlaws…teams who made the tag team titles mean something. What happened to that? I admit it showed a little life when Kendrick and London got the titles but after that it just died. Again it’s sad. I’m a Daniel Bryan fan or mark if you will. The way Daniel Bryan has turned into a joke is sad. Daniel Bryan is a modern day, dare I say it? Yes I dare. Chris Benoit. (gasp) Yes I mentioned Benoit. Benoit was always known as a wrestling machine, and that’s what I see in Daniel Bryan.

The Intercontinental Title being pushed to pre show shows how important that title has become. Un—

I know it’s been quite some time since I posted my thoughts on professional wrestling but I hope this makes up for it. Thanks for sticking around I’m about to make some Ramen noodles. I’m a fat man, folks. I’m hungry.

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

ARE POLITCS AND FOOTBALL TO BLAME FOR BAD RATINGS FOR WRESTLNG?

Cue Hero by Chad Kroeger feat Josey Scott. It’s been a while since I posted a blog on this blog spot and it’s because I can’t watch wrestling like I used to. With the job and other stuff I have to do, I don’t have the time. And the fact that I don’t have DVR. Either way, I do the best I can with YouTube and the dirt sheets, mainly NoDQ.com and WrestlingNewsSource.com. Either way, this came to me tonight while watching the CM Punk DVD produced by WWE, and may I say, it’s a great DVD. One of the best ones I’ve seen. I put it up there with The Rise and Fall of ECW and the Bret Hart DVD. On to what I really want to say…

I’m reading that the ratings this time of the year are supposed to be down for the WWE because of Monday Night Football and the Presidential Debates. To me that’s just an excuse to produce bad TV. If football and politics are the source to blame of the bad ratings then why even put a show on TV during this part of the year? Why even put money into all the lighting and booking? I mean according to the way things are, the ratings are going to be bad anyway, right? So if no one is going to watch, why waste the time putting the show on? Here’s my thing. Maybe it’s not the politics or football that’s the cause of the ratings. Ever think that show has not been made important enough? Maybe if you put the mindset in that you’re going to produce the best product to the audience that will make them want to come back and watch every week no matter what else is going on. Have the mindset in that you’re going to produce a product so riveting that people would rather DVR the debates and football to watch your product. People would rather watch your product as it’s happening, and then go on YouTube to catch up on football or presidential debates.

Never underestimate the power of the tongue which is now turned into the power of social media. In a sense, it’s the same thing. If you’re producing the best product you can on TV, no matter if it’s live or taped, people will talk about it. People will tweet about it, and eventually it will become what is now called “trending worldwide” or like what it was called back before social media “the talk of the town.” WWE is pushing social media hard. Having like a Twitter celeb tweet about it every week to make it more relevant. It’s an idea that could work better if the product was more relevant as a whole. Here’s the problem with wrestling in general. Not just WWE, but wrestling in general. For some reason or another, wrestling promoters decide to wait for one or two times a year to do something that everyone will talk about. Like when CM Punk cut that historic promo in Las Vegas, which by the way was the best promo in wrestling for a long time, the media went crazy. As Colt Cabana said, “The internet blew up.” It was going good after that for a while, and the night I think it all messed up was when Triple H was going to run the show with just him, Punk, Cena, and Sheamas. Then for some reason, Vince McMahon decided to go bring everyone back under Johnny Ace and have the show run like usual. To this day I don’t know what was the idea behind that. It was stupid. I still feel that they could’ve gone longer with that storyline. The wrestlers would be still working house shows and all that but the TV show, they would be striking. To me, that would have been money.

 Sometime later, Brock Lesnar returned later and all of the sudden the buzz is back. It was the night after Wrestlemania, and what I still feel was the best Raw produced. The crowd was a wrestling crowd. That crowd in Miami is the reason I love professional wrestling. The passion not only from the wrestlers in the ring but from the crowd. Daniel Bryan was made that night. And that lasted for a little bit. Now, from what I’m reading, it’s become stale again. Why not keep the momentum going? Why not say ok, let’s build on the momentum that we have and keep the fire burning? I never do understand in wrestling where a major story line dies, the whole product dies. It doesn’t make any logical sense to me what so ever. You have the people talking. You have the people tweeting, posting on Facebook, and making YouTube videos about your product. Instead of building, you’re giving people that YouTube video that’s went viral and then a few months later it’s back to square one. If you have solid foundation, the building will be solid. Maybe that’s the issue with TNA and WWE with the lack of ratings. They’re destroying the foundation.

I don’t know if this is going to change anything that I’m saying. I don’t know if anybody big in the business is going to read this, but I feel that if you have buzz, keep it going. If you see it dying, it’s because you stop building and became content.

Daniel Richerson
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @Big_Dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty

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