The question tonight/today is why...is race still an issue in the WWE?

Why does Vince dislike Sasha Banks so much? Why does a great wrestler like Alicia Fox have to be in a bull crap love storyline in the crusierweight division? Isn't it ironic that not too long after that picture of New Day, Sasha Banks, and Rich Swann with their titles that the New Day and Sasha dropped their titles? Am I reaching when I say that in 2016, WWE still has a race issue? Why is Bayley rumored to be getting a better run with the Women's Title than Sasha? Allow me to give my opinion. Bayley got that white skin. It protects her. As the great Paul Mooney would say, "The complexion for the protection for the collection." 

Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of Bayley. In my opinion should have been called up when Becky, Sasha, and Charlotte got called up. But to not give Sasha a meaningful run with the Raw Women's Championship is a load of cow dung. To say that Sasha is not over with the audience is a load of cow dung. It's well rumored that Vince is not a fan of Sasha. That would explain that Sasha hasn't had much communication with Vince, at least that's what she says. This isn't the first time that Vince has been accused of racism. Remember when Vince said nigga in front of Booker T? Remember that storyline between Booker T and Triple H that had a major racial undertone that Triple H ended up going over in? Complexion for the protection for the collection. 

Why hasn't Naomi even mentioned with the top women superstars on the Smackdown Live roster? Too dark? Naomi is a hell of an athlete, and I believe deserves a shot at the top spot of the women's division. And as I'm typing this hasn't really been on TV in the past couple of weeks. As Hurricane Helms would say, "What's up with that?"

We can do 5 blogs on the fact that there hasn't been a black world champion in so long. I don't count the WWECW title because that was doomed from the start. But Zeke and Mark Henry got short runs with it, and one could look at that as pity runs. When that last time a black man was even the WWE Champion? The Rock is half black so I guess that counts. I'm half black myself, so props to the Rock, but I'm talking like Mark Henry, Ahmed Johnson, R Truth, Booker T. R Truth had a title shot against John Cena. Mark Henry I remember cut his best promo ever with that fake retirement speech, and turned heel against John Cena. In my opinion, the man should have got a title run with that alone. But Super Cena, who got big off of portraying a rapper. Right? So in other words, a wigger can be a champion but not a nigga. Great message WWE.

Ok, The New Day became the longest reigning tag team champs in WWE history only to lose not too soon after. 

Don't get me wrong. I understand it's wrestling. I understand it's all a work. I understand that it's all predetermined. I also understand there's a lot of urban black kids watching the product, who hasn't seen a black world champion in quite some time. I'm old enough to remember when WCW died, and who was the champion when WCW died? Booker T. This is the good old boy, southern territory, WCW having Booker T end it all as the WCW Champion. If WCW got it toward the end, why can't WWE get it now? Again, I ask, am I reaching? What are your thoughts?

~Daniel Richerson

AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT SEES THIS? and SURVIVOR SERIES PREDICTIONS

So this Sunday (11/20/2016) we got Survivor's Series, which was originally WWE's answer to WCW's Starrcade. That is if you watched the Starrcade DVD, never mind. The PPV that is the same age as I am, 29, has struck some controversy because it seems like story lines has been thrown out the window. It seems the Universe of smarks are up in arms because some of the rivalries have been put on pause due to the traditional survivor series tag matches.

I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't see this as a big deal. They're fighting for a greater cause of showing brand loyalty. They're putting differences aside to defend the brand. To me, it's kinda like the Olympics. Like look at the basketball team. You got players from rival teams that played together to play for their country. Remember the original dream team? Magic Johnson, Larry Byrd, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and them boys came together to win a gold medal. They put differences aside for the greater good of representing America. When Jordan was playing on the dream team, he wasn't representing the Chicago Bulls, He was representing America. Magic wasn't representing the Lakers, etc. So I see what's WWE's doing.

I don't mind that I saw Bayley coming to SmackDown to help being down a member of Smackdown's Women's team. For the greater good of her brand. She's representing her brand. Again I may be on my own on this, but I'm not mad at that. I also get the Stephanie McMahon playing the dictator role saying that if anyone messes up, they'll be punished. I get it. Now I get it that Stephanie has taken Big Show's gimmick and has turned heel and face like 20 times since the brand split started, but that's neither here nor there.

After Survivor's Series everything's going back to normal. But for this one cause, differences are put aside for the greater good of being on the best brand.

Now since I got more space, let me do some predictions, which I never do.

Brian Kendrick (raw) vs Kalisto (SDLive) for the Cruiserweight Championship - I see this being a new start for Kalisto and the Cruiserweight Championship. If Kalisto wins, the championship and the division gets moved to SD which makes since due to that new 205 show coming out. So I see Kalisto winning this.

Miz (Smackdown) vs Sami Zayn (Raw) for the IC Title - I think Zayn is winning. Even though this is the best work Miz has done. Even better than his work with John Morrison. But with Zayn winning that means Smackdown would need a new secondary title. So I don't know. Maybe for that reason Miz retains, but I'm still giving it to Zayn.

Team RAW vs Team SDLive, Tag Team elimination match - I give Team SD this win. I think Team SD has the stronger division, I know New Day is going for the record, and all that, but I think SDLive wins this one.

Team RAW vs Team SDLive Women's elimination SS match - I think Raw wins this hands down. They got 3 of the 4 horsewomen, and they got Nia Jax. I think SD will get some eliminations, and Natayla will get involved somehow, but RAW has this one in the bag.

Team RAW vs Team SDLive Men's elimination SS match - this one is a coin flip for me. I want to say SDLive wins just to pick a side, but I think RAW might win in order to create more storyline with the Undertaker on SDLive. But I'm going with SDLive for the upset win here. There I said it.

Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar - And now for the main event (uh) of the evening (uh)...see what I did there? Bill Goldberg returning for his "last match" against Lesnar. Since obviously the first match they had went so well at WrestleMania 20. Sarcasm there. I remember watching that match on PPV, both men got booed out of Madison Square Garden. It was brutal. I didn't like this idea when I first read the rumors because of how bad the match went at first. I see Brock winning. Not that Brock needs it, but I think Brock is going over. I don't see it being dominate but I see a hard hitting match with Brock winning.

So that's my thoughts, If you disagree, find me on Twitter @D_Rich864, or on Facebook.com/bigdusty. Or just comment down below how much of a mark I am and all that nonsense.

~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)

SMACKDOWN LIVE FOUGHT THE RAW AND THE RAW WON...

So the first week of this so called "new era" is over. Both Raw and Smackdown now have specific rosters. This week they both had the first shows post the draft and post Battleground. Let's start with Raw.

Raw was the type of show wrestling fans beg for by the week. It was a great show. A few mishaps, but nothing that drags the show down too bad. To get the negative points out the way. The Golden Truth playing Pokemon Go. Nuff said on that one. And as of right now, I don't like the name WWE Universal Championship. The initial reaction it seems cheesy, but then again, the spinner belt John Cena introduced seemed cheesy then it became the norm. The New Day segment went on for way too long. The Who's On First type joke did not go over. Sonny Boy...just a load of barnacles that segment was.

Now, let's get to the positives. The two fatal four ways to determine who wrestles in the end of the night for the number one contender spot in a match at Summerslam against Seth Rollins for the new World title. Great idea. Finn Balor won the first fatal way match, and Roman Reigns won the second fatal four way teasing what made the IWC barf at the thought at Roman getting another shot. But WWE did the unthinkable. WWE gave the people what they want. Finn Balor is going to Summerslam. I marked out so much when he won. That little kid in me that is still a wrestling fan came out. Get in there (in my King Ross voice).

Also, we got a new women's champion. The Boss, Sasha Banks. Sasha Banks and Charlotte had an instant classic match. The type of match you'd expect these two athletes to have. The type of match they had in NXT. Let's not neglect the fact that prior to this match, the crowd was dead. The crowd was non existent. These two athletes, these two women, brought that crowd back to life. It was tremendous. Sasha paid tribute to her favorite wrestler, the late great Eddie Guerrero, and got Dana Brooke, who is on the main roster and Bayley isn't, let that sink in...

Anyway, Dana Brooke got sent to the back. Charlotte and Sasha had a great match. One of many match of the year candidates we've had this year so far. Sasha Banks went over with the bank statement. What made it even more great is that they let Sasha have her moment. I was fearing the worst. Like Nikki Bella returning and getting heat on Sasha type fear. But no, they let Sasha have the moment. Great stuff.

I got to bring up the jobber matches. Some people didn't like them. I personally loved it. It reminded me of the old school wrestling days. It made Braun Strowman and Nia Jax look like the monsters their supposed to look like. My only thing on Nia Jax, is that she needs a new finisher. I don't think that leg drop is lethal enough. The jackhammer she used on NXT could be considered for a finish I think, I mean, unless Goldberg is actually coming back, which I doubt.

They moved the announce table on RAW. It's up by the stage. It's not that much of a major change, but it worked. Other than the shot of all three commentators standing. Like them poor guys couldn't have a shot of them actually sitting at the commentator table?

So that was Raw. A very surprisingly good night. Mostly positive feed back. Before I go on to Smackdown, another good thing is that you barely saw Stephanie and Mick Foley in the show. You really only saw them in the opening segment, and that was it.

Now to Smackdown Live. I had such high expectations. I was hoping and expecting another great wrestling show. Sometimes when you expect something so much--

Let's talk about the positives. The opening shot of Shane and Daniel introducing the show was cool. The opening video package was great. Shelton Benjamin is coming back soon. Another mark out moment for your boy. Becky Lynch got a W. Good week for 3 of the 4 horsewomen. Sorry Charlotte.

The negatives. Basically the rest of the show. They had a 6 pack challenge to determine the number one contender for the WWE Title. Participants included, Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin...Baron Corbin...Bar--, and after winning a battle royal Apollo Crews. I personally wanted Bray Wyatt to get the W just to give him a shot. Spoiler Alert, Bray didn't win. Dolph won. Not saying Dolph winning is a negative, but we've seen WWE look like they're going to give Dolph a shot only to rip the rug from under him. Of course Shane and Daniel had to come out with their music playing. I don't mind them coming out by why did their music have to play? Taking the spotlight off of Dolph.

I mentioned the Becky Lynch win as a positive. The negative about it was that she was facing Natayla again. WWE is once again going with this 50/50 booking. So after Becky got the win, all the other women on the Smackdown roster came out. What happened after that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They still have no title or anything to fight for. We just now know what all the women on the Smackdown roster look like. That's basically it. No title.

Rhyno returned.

Heath Slater still has no spot on either show. He was out cutting a promo only for Shane to get in another segment and for Rhyno to return and gore Heath. Boring it was. Boring.

There was a Miz TV segment. If that wasn't bad enough Randy Orton came out. It went as well as you would think it would. That of course led to a match. Nothing to say after that. It was just poor.

Basically in my opinion, my opinion,  Raw was everything you wanted and Smackdown Live was the opposite.

~Daniel Richerson

The WWE Draft: WHERE-IS-BAYLEY?!!?!!?!?!!?!!?!!?!!?

The build up for the draft was better than the actual draft. The build up from WWE and the dirtsheets I was expecting a night to remember. Honestly, the December to Dismember was more memorable.

First let's look at the positives. Fin Balor is going to RAW. American Alpha is going to Smackdown. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro are on the same roster. I expect great matches out of that. Sasha Banks gets drafted to RAW after saying she wanted to go to Smackdown, but she's on the same roster as Charlotte. So we get to see that feud build up to a championship match with Sasha hopefully going over. Also a positive Stephanie McMahon's dress. Yep. Also the New Day is still in tact on RAW as a team. I don't think anybody wanted to see them split. Naomi, aka Trinity Fatu got drafted to Smackdown. I really do hope this is a start of a big push for her. AJ Styles is on Smackdown. Could be good. Heath Slater not drafted, and then the camera shot at the end. Hilarious.

And now...let's start with the flubbed lines by both Shane and Stephanie. And they are supposed to be "running" the show. Stephanie trying to over sell every draft pick they made on the show was just bad. Bad shouldn't have been done. I now understand why Vince wants to script every line. I get it now Vince.

Roman Reigns got drafted to a massive boo. Such a boo for a top baby face, huh? Turn him heel WWE, turn the man heel. It took way to long for Cesaro to get drafted. Easily a top 10 guy. But Cesaro ended up being a 6th round pick. That's a way to put the guy over the top. The Golden Truth is still a tag-team. Let that sink in.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big R Truth fan. I'm a Golddust fan. I'm not a fan of the tag team. Each guy can carry a match on their own. They're good in the ring as individuals. But just not a fan of the team.

Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Eva (yes that one) Marie, Carmella all drafted. Everyone, just about, was waiting to hear Bayley's name. Guess what? We're still waiting. Well, at least we'll get Bayley vs Asuka at least one more time. That should be good. Bayley gets a rematch for the NXT Women's Title. So there's that. But still. Heel move by the WWE on that one. Getting everyone's hope up, and...nothing. Eva Marie? Really? Like her and Dana Brooke on are the "main roster" and Asuka and Bayley are still in NXT. Again just going to let that sink in. 

All this is my opinion. Just another wrestling fan with access to the Internet and a way to put my opinion out there. 

~Daniel Richerson

A FEW THOUGHTS ON "THE GUY"...ROMAN

I was watching this video WWE put on on YouTube and it was showing how some of the superstars on the main roster got their start with the company. One of the superstars they showed was Roman Reigns and he was an NXT guy before getting called up. What's the main the reason we have for not wanting our favorite NXT people getting called up? Bad booking. Tyler Breeze, Baron Corbin, Emma, the Ascension, Becky Lynch, and The Vaudevillains are just some of the examples of getting called up from NXT only to get poorly booked. Some exceptions to that include Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Russev, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn.

Roman Reigns, bless his heart, has been poorly booked ever since The Shield broke up. It's not all his fault. I always say when he won that Royal Rumble 2015, He was a product of a poorly booked Royal Rumble. I would venture to say that was probably the worst booked Royal Rumble ever. At no fault of Roman or anybody else that was involved in the actual delivery of the match, maybe except Big Show and Kane, but nevertheless--

Now I will say that it's not all the booking's fault. Roman has to take some blame in this as well. I once heard Triple H, you know the guy you love on NXT but hate on Raw, say, "If you think it's going to work, then go out there an do it." I heard it said that it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Especially when it's live TV. If it's on live TV, why not go out there and go for broke. Shawn Michaels made a living doing that in the early days of the Attitude Era. I think it worked out well for him. Not saying Roman is on Shawn Michaels' level of talent or charisma but something has got to give.

So let me bring up the obvious, his suspension. We in the IWC have been begging for a heel turn for Roman. Perfect time to do that is at Battleground. One thing WCW did right is when Hogan was getting booed, they turned him heel. I think that worked out, at least for the short term. Nwo was one of the greatest factions of all the times and a lot of it I feel had to do with the way it started. Back to Roman, he's already one of the most hated with the crowd. Why not turn him. He's on his way to becoming another Cena, and NOOOOObody wants that. There's a big but here though. Turning Roman heel may be a bit too obvious. May be a bit to logical. Oops. I say oops because logical and WWE booking go together like Trump and, well, anything.

I actually think Roman can work. He's good in the ring as far as having a decent match is concerned, in my opinion. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on that, and? I also think John Cena can wrestle. Gasp! What?

I think Roman needs better booking, and I also think Roman needs to do a better job of taking advantage of being live TV. And Roman needs to get off of what ever got him suspended, that would help also.

~Daniel Richerson

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NXT Takeover: The END...Paul Ellering?

Because of church, not complaining about church, but because of Wednesday Night Bible Study and going out to eat afterwards, I missed watching NXT Takeover: The End live, but I did watch the replay. Solid wrestling back to back. To me, NXT is making wrestling fun again on the main stream level.

First match was the Tye Dillenger vs the debut of Andrade "Cien" Almas. Great match, and spots. Andrade has a great showing. I think the guy is money. Character may need a little tuning. The whole pimp hat white suspenders thing...besides that, I enjoyed Andrade's work in the ring. Tye Dillenger also had a good showing, showed some new moves. I hear the name Tye Dillenger I think of that old security guy from the WCW days Doug Dellinger. Remember that guy? Am I the only one that thinks that?

Anyway, the NXT Tag-Team title match. Great to see a great tag-team wrestling match without any gimmicks again. The Revival is a great old school, Hart Foundation type, team. I love the work. American Alpha, Team Angle 2 I call them, is a great team as well. I may be looking too into this, but it seemed to be a lot of teases of Kurt Angle making a come back and American Alpha joining him. With the Angle lock and the crowd chanting their names to the Kurt Angle WWE theme...ehh? Revival goes over wins the titles again. American Alpha selling the loss, and then two big dudes come in and attack. Then as the two big dudes are handling business, Paul Ellering makes an appearance. Now the NXT crowd is supposed to be a smark crowd, but even they were chanting, "Who are you?" Seriously? The manager of the Road Warriors. Google, kids. Paul Heyman is not the only Paul that can has managed in wrestling history. Don't call it a comeback...get your money Mr. Ellering.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Austin Aries. Nakamura and Sami Zayn tore the house down at NXT Takeover: Dallas. In my opinion, this match didn't disappoint. Nakamura is the definition of flamboyant. Austin Aries had a strong showing too with his impression of DDP with taped ribs. Great match. The crowd singing the theme song to Nakamura was magical. The chants during this match was loud, which is a good thing. Shinsuke went over.

The Women's Title match. Asuka vs Nia Jax. This could have been bad, but with Asuka being as great as she is and Nia Jax playing the monster in the ring that can sell, we got a pretty solid match. I think Nia Jax needs a manager as a mouth piece. A new finisher would be good too, just my opinion. Great match though. Asuka goes over. Didn't expect a spot fest of a match cause it didn't need it. It was it was supposed to be. I thought Asuka was going over before the show cause she needed to go over to set up the rematch between her and Bayley. Nia is not going anywhere tho. Also a clean finish with no old timer manager interfering? What a concept. If only the main roster allowed...let's hope Vince will take notice.

Now the main event. The first steel cage match in NXT history. Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor. What a show these two wrestlers put on. Some old timers would be mad that no blood was shed, but seriously, it's a new era. Great spots in this match. Some jaw dropping moments as well. That finish was crazy. The muscle buster from the top rope was insane. Loved every minute of this match. Finn Balor may be heading up to the main roster, I don't know. Obviously he should be involved in the Club angle if he is called up. We'll see...

Over all like most of the NXT Takeover shows, this was a 5 star show. From commentary to the matches. Also, I have to mentioned Bobby Roooo. Finally signed with NXT. It's about time. This should be great for this new era of NXT. Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode for the title? YES PLEASE!

~Daniel Richerson