WWE & Overworking Talent

Hello again folks.  Hope everyone had an outstanding weekend. Before I begin with this week's "Wrestling Cypher" piece, let me just say I recently picked up the new, and MUCH anticipated and overdue Best Of Sting DVD and, although it definitely reminded me why he's one of my top five wrestlers of all-time, it was a slight letdown.  The reason being that there were only FOUR pay per view matches.  They should've included his matches with the likes of Vader, The Great Muta, Hogan (from SuperBrawl VIII), and Luger.  These were rather hot matches that would've been greatly watched and appreciated to further highlight the in ring high-level abilities of Steve "Sting" Borden.  Hopefully when they do decide to drop the bio of Sting, they'll include those matches on there as well on the bonus features portion.  Just my three cents.  Let's go with this week's wrestling minute, and this one could cause some WWE anarchy.

I recently stumbled across a blog that pointed out how former WWE wrestler, and champion, CM Punk and the relationship he had with WWE was continuing to dissolve and how bridges were continuing to burn, only not on his part.  The blog was excellently pointing out how Punk's passion for the business was snuffed out due to sloppy booking, false promises, and injuries he had acquired due to overworking him when he desperately needed time off.  However, the WWE continues to bury him on television and label him as a "quitter" and that he "walked out on the fans".  Oh, how marvelous the WWE makes everyone look like crap except themselves.  Punk's issues are very much more of a problem than people realize, and continues to make the "industry leader" look like insensitive, irresponsible assholes.  Allow me to break it down.

Just like the blog pointed out, there was an earlier incident in 2003 when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin "took his ball and went home", or in other words walked out, when he was booked in an angle to job to the monster rookie (at the time) Brock Lesnar.  He has stated that, although he didn't have a big problem jobbing to Lesnar (that's losing for those not in the wrestling lingo know), the build was not properly set up and it would make his character look weak and normal, when his character was ANYTHING but that.  He subsequently took his own sabbatical and went home to Texas for a while. While this wasn't the only reason he went home, it was the paramount of some understated frustrations of the "rattlesnake".  Although he looks back on it now and regrets his decision to do that, many would totally and completely understand his thought process at the time in doing so.  Phil Brooks had a passion for this business unlike many we had ever seen, and was an understated genius at that.  He had been fighting the system from day one of his arrival.  It's been clearly known that Vince and WWE didn't want him because of his lack of size and physique, not to mention his straight-edge lifestyle and outspoken approach was quite different for them as well.  He managed to overcome every single obstacle placed in front of him and became a record-breaking WWE Champion, and arguably the hardest working in-ring performer in the locker room (sans the likes of Bryan and Ziggler).

Let's fast forward to Royal Rumble 2014.  An already mentally and physically worn out Punk, who was told some weeks earlier that he would win the Rumble match, was tossed out so that the returning forty-five year old grandfather Batista would win instead.  It's well documented how livid the fans were with booking at that event, to the point where the fans "hijacked" the event as well as the next night's Raw.  It made complete and logical sense to them that Daniel Bryan, in spite of losing a damn good match earlier that night to Bray Wyatt, enter as number thirty 30, come in, clean house and win the Rumble, or at the least have Punk win after entering at number one.  Neither of those things happened.  The outcry of the fans was incredible, but the anger backstage was even more hostile from one particular "Voice of the Voiceless."  Punk reportedly told Vince and Hunter that he was "going home".  He hasn't been on WWE television since, although fans day in and day out chant his name throughout every venue there is.  While many of us miss Punk and his controversial, yet superbly talented, in-ring abilities, there's an underlying factor here that must be covered.

The blogger wrote specifically about Punk and how overworked he was and how it led to his eventual burnout.  There are quite a few other CM Punks in the locker room as well, in terms of those performing three hundred days out of a year with current or lingering injuries.  John Cena being a big time case.  He's the biggest star of the company and has been for nearly ten years.  He took the place of Austin and The Rock in terms of megastar, box office attraction for this crappy, watered-down era known as the "PG Era".  Cena, for all intents and purposes, is a workaholic in and out of the ring.  He's dealing with neck issues as well as back and knee problems, but is expected to perform at high levels almost all year long with no time off unless its for surgery or death in family.  However, here's where the irony comes in.  Dolph Ziggler is one of the company's most talented, and overall most athletic, in-ring performers who, even when he was a heel, had a very significant fan base because of how sincerely great of a competitor he was, and still is.  He had finally hit the big mark of winning the World Heavyweight Title (you know, back when there were still two belts).  Unfortunately, he suffered a pretty nasty concussion and had to drop the title to then-WWE star Alberto Del Rio, and hasn't been pushed back ingot he main event since.  Also, the current situation with Daniel Bryan.  He's clearly the company's most popular overall act, even though the company wants to continue to have him appear as the number two guy in the company behind Cena in terms of audience draw and financial popularity.  Bryan has been out for almost the entire year due to a career-threatening neck injury.  His neck problems had been built up since his indie days and his high level in-ring working style, but it had been aggravated even more by the constant travel schedule with very little days off.

What exactly is my point?  I'll be happy to tell you.  Even the most prized workaholic needs time to heal and rest from any type of lingering issues so that they can perform at the highest caliber rate possible for all the fans who pay to see them.  The problem is, Vince doesn't believe in rest.  By Jim Ross' own words, Vince once said to him "Sleep is our enemy", which means Vince is very OCD when it comes to his product.  He believes all his performers should perform at one hundred percent in spite of injuries or issues that could shorten their careers or even their lives if not careful.  Traditional sports have off seasons, even regular entertainers have down periods.  Vince doesn't believe in that.  Punk had reportedly asked for time off quite a few times, and was only allowed that period between Wrestlemania XXVIX and the Money In The Bank pay-per-view three months later.  While that would be normally seen as long enough time by many wrestling purists, it's not nearly long enough on a human level.  Punk at the time was thirty-four, which is still fairly young by all merits but he was clearly not at the level he should've ben at due to the wear and tear of the business. All that he asked was to main event Wrestlemania, but due to the company riding Cena's nuts, he was never given that top billing, in spite of holding the title for over four hundred twenty days.  The only reason to be in the business is to be (ahem) the best in the world.  This was a moniker that Punk held very dear to him because of in-ring ability and work ethic.  When injuries and declining health come crashing down, on top of being booked as second or third best, that moniker has little significance anymore.  My guess is, if he felt he couldn't sincerely be the best at what he could do, there was no reason to perform and rob the people or dumb himself down for that matter.

When you have a new car and it only has ten thousand miles on it, most of us tend to like to run it up and down the highway like there's no tomorrow.  The car holds good gas, the engine is on point, and no internal problems.  The car is like that!  As time and years go along, the car has hit over one hundred thousand miles on it.  There are more and more problems with the car, and it doesn't hold gas as greatly as it used to.  This means the car has to get better taken care of and maintained, plus it may just be time for a new car because it's no longer the prized value it was.  However, to some people, it still can be, but the maintenance must be kept up completely if they want it to perform even half as nice as it did when they drove off the lot with it.  It's the same thing with wrestlers.  These are phenomenal athletes, but they're also human.  As time, years, and injuries start to collect, it's time to have better maintenance.  This includes rest, any necessary rehab or surgeries, and just time to refuel, if you will.  Even Cena has thought about having some adequate time off, but here comes Vince again with this whole, "But John, the company really needs you" bullshit, and he acquiesces to the VKM philosophy of "sleep is your enemy". We really don't want to see these exceptional athletes and workers in disabled heaps once they reach elderly ages. What is it going to take for Vince to see that this extremely rigorous road schedule is walking the lines of inhumane?  For that matter, when will talent have the balls to say to Vince or Hunter or Stephanie, "I need some time off to heal so that I can give you and the fans my best" before it's too late.

There's the argument that could be made saying that back in the sixties and seventies, people like Ric Flair were wrestling all year round, all over the world.  Even as recently as the Bret Hart reign era, he had admitted that he didn't have a day off in six years.  That's beyond ridiculous.  I have to wonder if the unbelievable workload over the years was a factor in his unfortunate stroke that he ultimately recovered from successfully, along with the stress of losing his baby brother Owen, as well as his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, and friends such as Mr. Perfect and Rick Rude, and the whole "Montreal Screw Job" fiasco.  It was stupid then, and it still is now.  These wrestlers aren't robots, they're human beings.

I applaud Punk for saying enough was enough and deciding to leave.  Although we miss him as an in ring performer, Punk needed to heal, spiritually (although he's a widely-known Atheist), mentally, and definitely physically.  In public appearances that he has had since his departure, he appears a LOT more happier, starting to get back in good shape, and looks overall very relaxed and at peace.  WWE or not, wrestling business or not, that's something EVERYONE should want to have for themselves in this industry or in any walk of life: peace.  Maybe if more people took the route that Punk did, Vince will start opening his eyes more towards being a human being instead of a boss who's hell bent on financial gain than the safety and long term well being of his talent.

That's all for now.  Trust me, there's a lot more I could say about this subject.  I'll end it, however, on that note.  Stay good, and trust me, if there are things that are grinding my gears about WWE or wrestling as a whole, you'll definitely know about it.  Based upon some of the stuff I'm reading on dirt sheets already, this is already looking to be an interesting week, and not all of it in a good way either.  See you guys and gals next week!

Night Of Champions

After last night's Night Of Champions pay-per-view, only one word comes to mind: LAZINESS!!!!  This was exactly what I was afraid of when it came to this event, and I was spot on.  Not that this event has ever really been a very big, substantial event in the past, this one constitutes as one of their worst ones.  Before I get any further into my personal view of the vent, let's get into the recap of the event for those that still don't have their $9.99 together and subscribe to the network.

The event started (after some kickoff show antics with Chris Jericho and the now semi-retired Christian) with the Tag Team Championship with the reigning Usos defending against the extremely bizarre, yet very dangerous, Gold & Star (don't call me Cody Rhodes anymore) Dust.  After the somewhat surprising heel turn of the Rhodes brothers, this rivalry became personal, and with trash talk and (kayfabe) injuries being involved, this match was in tow to be quite a competitive match.  After  about close to ten minutes of action, Star Dust rolled one of the uses clean for the pinfall and the Dust Brothers (unofficial name) became the two-time Tag Team Champions.

Next was the U.S. Title, as Sheamus defended against Cesaro.  On paper, this looked to be a very physical battle, next to Cena and Lesnar, and truthfully it was.  Surprisingly a pretty good match and a great outing for the champion.  Those that are familiar with the indie history of the wrestler formerly known as Claudio Castognoli (which is actually his birth name as well) know that he can main event anywhere in the world.  Sheamus, on the other hand, can have hits and misses most of the time.  This was a definite hit.  After a lot of very grueling action, all it took was the much-feared Brogue Kick and Sheamus retained the title.  Great showing by both men.

Next was the Inter-Continental Title match between the champion Dolph Ziggler and the challenge of former two-time champion The Miz.  No this match wasn't great, but what made it straight buffoonery and shameful was the usage of both men's "stunt doubles".  If Damien "Mizdow" isn't enough (again, what the hell did this man do to deserve such terrible treatment by booking/creative), R-Ziggler is the epitome of coonery and embarrassment.   Not only does the Black community find it appalling, some within other races do as well.  Entertainment???  I don't think so.  I digress.  Truthfully, this match was so bad my attention span didn't last longer than about three minutes.  I was just so over this entire angle with these two.  At least the former Miz, the must-see sports entertainer, was good enough to be a worthy heel with great promos and a naturalistic way of generating his heat.  This 'Hollywood" Miz is tired, played out, and frankly makes him look worse than he ever has in his career.  Ziggler, on the other hand, SHOULD be a main evener any time, anywhere.  Now, he's nothing more than a B-listed young wrestler that is undisputedly the most under appreciated guy in the locker room besides Kofi Kingston. On top of that, the country music duo Florida Georgia Line was invited to help call the match.  Are you serious right now??? Long story short, Miz became a three-time champion.  Not surprising considering how little they think of Ziggler because of how "injury prone" he is, which is a PISS poor excuse.

This past Friday, Roman Reigns underwent emergency incarcerated hernia surgery.  This is not a work.  At first I was very skeptical because of the timing of it.  What do I mean?  I'll explain shortly.  He was scheduled for a match against Seth Rollins, Mr. Money in The Bank came out and wanted the referee to raise his hand by forfeit.  He then issued an open challenge to anyone in the locker room.  We shortly see on the titantron a cab pull up into the arena, and out comes Dean Ambrose!  Ambrose had been out shooting a WWE Films movie and shooting wrapped this past Saturday so he was already scheduled to be at Raw tonight.  Ambrose came out like a house of fire and there was a brawl between both men, but as usual The Authority wanted Ambrose thrown out of the building and arrested.  Although Rollins managed to escape with Steph and Hunter at his side, this was the not the last we would see of Rollins this evening.

Next up, the gigantic struggle between Mark Henry and the undefeated Russian destroyer Rusev.  Seen as a match of nationalistic pride, Henry seemingly has embraced the role of the patriot due to his near involvement in the Olympics of 1996.  In fact, the beginning of the match had Lillian Garcia singing the national anthem, while henry was openly weeping as the song was being sung.  What...in...the...hell????  I could see Kurt in this role, but Henry????  Out came the Lana-proclaimed "Super-Athlete", and boy did these two collide with each other.  Although not as good as the Sheamus/Cesaro match, this was another highly physical match, but Henry ultimately tapped out to the move formerly known as the Camel Clutch, The Accolade.  Rusev's streak of defeating all the Black wrestlers has finally been met.

Next was Chris Jericho, who will be leaving to tour with Fozzy and for the promotion of his new book "Best In The World", faced Randy Orton.  Whenever these two get together, it's magic and this was overall no exception.  After ten to twelve minutes, Orton scored a big win over a sure shot future Hall Of Famer in Jericho.  Word is Orton's next rivalry will be with Ambrose, and that one, folks, will be interesting.

The Divas Title match was next.  The twenty-two year old champion Paige defended the title against prior champion AJ Lee and the newly heeled Nikki Bella (yawn!) in a Triple Threat Match.  This actually wasn't a terrible match like most Divas matches are expected to be. The promo of Paige was well done and nicely put together before the match.  It helps that AJ and Paige are great, great wrestlers, and...then there's Nikki Bella. While I admit Nikki took a big time bump to the floor during that match, she doesn't strike me as, pardon the expression, an A-plus player.  However, AJ ultimately came away with her third Divas Title, which is making her one of the most celebrated stars to hold that championship.

The main event is finally here.  Cena against Lesnar.  The build up has been pretty good.  The story of Cena overcoming his doubters was completely on point.  Would he endure that same vicious and one-sided ass kicking that he suffered at Summerslam?  We would find out when the bell rang for the match began.  This time, Cena gave Brock the Attitude Adjustment (the F.U. for longtime Cena fans) within five minutes.  The match didn't end with that, but this was clearly not the lopsided match Summerslam was, nor did I expect it to be.  We definitely saw a lot of fire and intensity that we're used to seeing from Cena, but we also saw that same animalistic barbarism from the champion.  The match was very much back and forth, and Cena was narrowing in on tying the (recorded) title reigns of Ric Flair with sixteen World Titles.  However it was stopped by Seth Rollins, who attacked Cena and also a prone Lesnar with the Curbstomp finisher (known as The Blackout in the indie world).  He attempted to cash in his contract to get his World Title shot, but Cena prevented that from occurring.  This now serves as a very interesting set of circumstances involving these three men.

Overall, this night was average to probably below average in the WWE.  TNA threw shots, in fact, at WWE, tweeting "While we like the iPhone 6, Samsung Mobile is available as well.  Angry with #WWENOC, you have options too.  Impact on Spike.  Wednesdays at 9."  TNA may not be a great source to throw shots, at least a lot of their pay per views historically have been pretty well put together.  Neither is as on point as ROH or the iPPVs of Chikara, however.  Truth be told, this event didn't hold good placing with NXT's recent Takeover II: Fatal Four Way event (see last week's blog).

It's very obvious Vince and his creative team has gotten extremely lazy.  This is stuff that I've been saying for a long time now.  Why weren't the Wyatts on the card?  What the hell kind of ending was that during the main event?  This is proof of how mediocre the product has become and how they seemingly don't care.  This should've been an obvious note to fans that they really could care less about you if you're over the age of thirteen.  This night, as a whole, was embarrassing to watch and literally made my bad day only worse because of the very lackadaisical approach to provide compelling entertainment that actually makes sense and keeps the fans intrigued instead of accurately predicting the outcomes of very tactless writing.

Later this week, I'll provide a piece on the minors and indies could revive the dying wrestling scene.  However, for now, that's it and that's the basic summary of the C- graded Night Of Champions.  See you guys and gals later this week.

NXT Takeover II: Why Is The Minor League Better Than The Major League???

What's happening folks?  Obviously it's been a newsworthy week within the world.  In wrestling it's been almost as newsworthy.  First of all, I can't continue without giving a rest in peace salute to former WCW, WWE, MMA and NJPW star, Sean O' Haire.  He passed away September 8 from an apparent suicide, as reportedly his father found him hanging by his bed post.  He was also reportedly dealing with substance abuse and was in a deep state of depression at the time of his death.  His accolades included being a former three-time WCW Tag Team Champion and former Rookie Of The Year in 2000.  Once his wrestling career started winding down, he had brief careers in the MMA world as well as in acting.  Here's to Mr. O' Haire.  Very underrated and grossly misused, O' Haire could've been a bigger star than even he imagined for himself.  My hope and prayer is that he finally found the peace in the afterlife that he very much wanted for himself while alive.

Now, on to the subject at hand.  This past Thursday marked the third special event for WWE's developmental company, NXT.  The event, entitled Takeover II: Fatal Four Way, was very much hyped to be a noteworthy event, and it lived up to its hype, yet again.  Although not exactly flawless, this event was still very much worthy of being among the best events the WWE has produced all year.  We saw new Tag Team Champions in the newly named Lucha Dragons of Sin Cara (shamefully not the original one that they fired earlier this year) and former indie sensation Samurai Del Sol, now known as Kallisto.  They defeated the impressive duo of Viktor and Konnor, known as The Ascension.  The Ascension had held the belts for near an entire year, defeating previous champions of the current NXT Champion Adrien Neville and Corey Graves.  Although many would say that Viktor and Konnor had practically zero serious competition, they still held the titles for a very lengthy period.

Next up marked the debut of Baron Corbin, a 6'8', 275 pounder who was formerly a part of the NFL as he played for Arizona.  He very soundly defeated CJ Parker and I suspect we will see a lot more from this guy.

Soon after, we had the much anticipated arrival of famed international star, KENTA.  he signed a developmental deal with the company earlier this summer (which is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned because this is the same man that influenced the styles of the likes of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan and you send him to the minor leagues???).  After an excellent introduction by new NXT GM William Regal, out comes KENTA to a much deserved standing ovation.  He gave half of his promo in Japanese, however, the other half was in English, albeit choppy.  He also introduced his WWE name (WTF ???), Hideo Itami, which is named after his mentor.  Soon after comes The Ascension, who had just lost the tag belts earlier and they wanted to jump the Japanese legend.  It was to no avail, as Hideo cleared the ring and we can look forward to a program involving these three men in the weeks to come.

The Hair Vs. Hair match was upcoming between Enzo Amore and Sylvester Lefort.  I'm starting to be a fan of the pair of Amore and his seven-foot partner Collin Cassidy.  Their humor is getting infectious and they're not being overtly annoying like say, Santino.  At least not yet, although that 'S-A-W-F-T' will start to get old eventually to the new audiences of NXT.  After about five minutes, Amore got the win over the Frenchman.  Unfortunately, they weren't able to get their hands on Lefort to use the hair removal cream.  They were, however, able to pour the cream on top of Lefort's partner, Marcus Louis.  This was overall an okay segment, but you could easily tell this was filler for the show.

The NXT Women's Championship was next with the challenger, Bayley, facing the current champion,  the daughter of Ric Flair, Charlotte.  Although this match paled in comparison to the match Charlotte had to win the title against Natalya, both women performed very well, as Charlotte continues to show incredible growth in the ring.  Charlotte defeated the young challenger to retain the title, with an exchange that resulted between her and ex friend and BFF member Sasha Banks.

We then witnessed a brief, although physical, battle between Mojo Rawley and impressive newcomer Bull Dempsey.  Simply put, Dempsey rolled over the former NFL Defensive Lineman.

We were then ready for the main event.  Adrien Neville defended the title in a Fatal Four Way Match against Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, and Tyson Kidd.  After nearly thirty unreal minutes, Neville retained the title.  Let me just say, this was easily a match of the year candidate and the truthfully the best NXT main event all year.  Every single person gave A-1 performances and I would suspect all four of these young men to get called up to the main roster very soon.

This, in tow, leads me to the topic at hand.  This is the third big event for NXT, and even their worst one was better than most of the main rosters pay per views.  The question is: why???  This is completely back-asswards.  Their first event, NXT Arrival, was very, very good.  The second one, NXT Takeover, was arguably the best event that wasn't named Wrestlemania.  NXT has been consistently good in their special events, even if their syndicated show isn't all of the time.  Granted, I get that they would like to make stars, but for every one success like Bray Wyatt, we have Bo Dallas, Fandango, and Adam Rose that have been floundering and Vince has all but given up on them completely.  For the developmental guys and girls, it's almost as if you would rather see them stay where they're at rather than see them go to the main roster and turn into subsequent failures to keep people like Orton, Cena, and others that like to hog the main event.  No, I'm not forgetting about the former members of The Shield, but so far it's been Roman (the next megastar), Seth (main evener), and Dean (whom Trips claims isn't main event ready get, which is nothing more than a crock).  If three of the four combatants (Tyson doesn't count because he's actually still on the main roster) get called to the big stage, they SHOULD be booked to be mid-upper card status, especially Sami.  However, booking/creative is known to drop the ball on a number of occasions when it comes to talent and story angles.  I digress.

We can all attest that, in spite of WWE being the industry leader, they're far from the best WRESTLING product in the world.  Most are familiar with how good TNA talent can be, ROH never fails to deliver great wrestling, and other promotions like PWG, Dragon Gate, and Full Impact Pro always present some of the best action in the world.  However, WWE's "minor league" promotion is in the spirit of these indie promotions that are hungry and want to get worldwide respect.  It's this spirit and mind state that consistently compels them to bring the best they can, especially with special events such as Takeover.  The writers of Raw and Smackdown need to seriously look at their developmental league and look at how much sense their storylines make sense.  I guess it goes to the comparison of college and the pros.  Many adore the heart, hunger, and the need to prove within the college-ranked levels.  NXT is roughly considered the college ranks.  The only catch is, this college-level ranked developmental promotion has showed up the "professional" ranks three straight times in terms of acclaim and appeal.

Next Sunday, WWE will present the Night Of Champions and although the card looks like a pretty good event overall (give or take the triple threat Divas with Nikkie Bella involved).  They will have to look at the NXT event, and turn it up a notch to keep the positive momentum going.  It's not a good look to have your minor league outscore your major leagues.

That's all for now, folks.  See you guys and gals next week!

The Decline Of The Divas

What's happening everyone?!  Great to have you back with me again.  Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and that hopefully someone saved me some grub!  Anyways, let's get down to it shall we?

This blog is centered around the decline and subsequent ridicule of the Divas division in WWE.  What exactly is the Divas division?  It's just really a group of decent to terrible women wrestlers trying to obtain camera time.  Truthfully folks, it's not all these young ladies fault, at least not entirely.  This is clearly not the age of talented women in the ring in WWE.  Gone are the days of superb in-ring talent of underrated stars like Ivory, Mickie, and Victoria (later known as Tara in TNA) and special, exceptional wrestlers like Hall Of Famers Trish Stratus and Amy "Lita" Dumas.  Let's go back even before them.  Icons like the late pioneers of Sherri Martel, Fabulous Moolah, and Mae Young helped define women wrestling for generations to come.  For Vince McMahon, it became all about models, ex-dancers, and former professional football athletes.  While the pro football athlete isn't terrible necessarily, models and ex-dancers should NEVER be in this game without a decent amount of wrestling knowledge and ability.  The question is "What happened to those who could care less about being models, and just cared about hanging with the guys and being show stealers?"  I have to keep remembering that this is VKM's world.

Case in point about how bad the division has gotten: this Bella Twin storyline.  First of all, the Bella Twins, although very attractive and fairly athletic, have become the 'it' girls of the company.  They were trained by retired wrestling great Tom Pritchard and have since been the centerpieces of the division.  Am I a fan of the Bellas in the ring?  Not at all.  Do they have heart and show that they like to perform?  Yes and I'll give them that.  However, this angle of twin versus twin speaks of the same tired, worn-out, formulaic story lines that we've seen way too often before: one twin, or sibling, is more successful than the other and the other gets resentful.  This already has overdramatic acting all over it (you don't believe me?  Watch last week's "Family Meeting" segment on RAW concerning those two).  In case you've been missing what's been going on, here's the skinny.  Stephanie Nicole "Nikkie Bella" Garcia turned on her sister Brianna Monique "Brie Bella" Garcia-Danielson (yes it is true that she's the real-life wife of recovering star Daniel Bryan) at Summerslam in what was a very anti-climatic and predictable moment.  The inevitable twin versus twin matchup will occur very soon and I can't say that this will be a new Trish versus Lita classic, nowhere close.

That however is the problem.  Why wouldn't it be?  Why aren't these two young ladies good or exciting enough to garner a potential classic?  The answer lies in the fact that WWE could care less about thrilling Divas matches.  Take for example the rivalry between champion AJ Lee and the youngest star in the entire locker room, the twenty-two year old Paige.  These two are arguably the best overall performers in the Diva locker room and their match at Summerslam SHOULD'VE been that good classic, at least it looked that way on paper.  Not only was the match sub-par, but it was also short, but then again the average time for Divas matches is between five and seven minutes.  This should be a legitimate flap in the face to Divas like Natalya (whom in my opinion is the best pound-for-pound performer in the Diva locker room), Naomi, and Emma, who are all tremendous working talent.  They should be given a ton more time to exhibit their gifts and story-telling abilities and with more compelling story lines.

The NXT ladies of Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, and NXT Women's Champion, Charlotte (daughter of iconic Hall Of Famer, Ric Flair) are all stars in the making, but I dread them getting called to the main roster.  Although Paige, former NXT Women's Champion, is finding success, Emma has not.  She's been relegated to a fairly comedic act that's not being taken seriously, in spite of how good her in-ring work is.  I've often stated that there's closeted racism that's going on the WWE, but don't sleep or ignore sexism either.  At one time, Trish and Lita was the main event on RAW at one time, and nearly there main event on several other occasions.  If, in fact, those days are long gone, I feel very sorry for the division, for Vince is silently killing it without loudly doing so.  The fact that the NXT Women's Trainer, Sara Del Ray, is one of the toughest women on the planet and she's just relegated to a trainer is beyond ridiculous.  Take a look at the "Death Rey" in indie action.




Folks, THIS is what true, passionate wrestling from women is really all about and what it should represent.  Young female wrestlers such as Sara, Jessica Havok, Mercedes Martinez, and others put their blood, sweat, and tears into the business just as much as the guys do.  Maybe, young ladies like Cameron, Summer Rae, and Layla could be far better competitors in the ring with lots more disciplined training, but all Vince, Kevin Dunn (EVP of Television Production), HHH, and Stephanie McMahon Lesveque care about is the entertainment aspect of the company.  Before, the sexism was centered on heavy sexuality and partial nudity (not to mention Jerry Lawler's constant references to women's chests and refer to them as "puppies").  Now, it's making these young ladies look like incompetent amateurs that don't need to ever be on television except at ringside being eye candy.

In contrast, the Knockouts division in TNA is a little more fair game.  Ladies like Gail Kim (the TNA Knockout Champion), Madison Rayne, Terryn Terell, and The Beautiful people duo of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky are decent to great athletes that legitimately work their rear ends off and we, as fans, greatly appreciate it.  The huge six foot, two-hundred pound aforementioned Jessica Havok is now on the TNA roster, and it's very possible she will turn that division upside down.  Also, independent women promotions like Women Superstars Uncensored, Shimmer, and Women Extreme Wrestling highlight superb talent that needs to get presented to the masses on a global scale.

One only knows how much longer this will be acceptable to audiences.  Point blank: the Divas division is a joke and needs to be seriously addressed.  I hope the young ladies of the locker room, one day, have the audacity to let Vince have it and say enough is enough.  In the meantime, I guess money really does talk.  Before I go, I'm going to show two different vids.  One will show a match between "Divas" Eva Marie and Bayley from NXT and a highlight tribute video of "Death Machine" Jessica Havok.  See you guys and gals next time!

Part-Time Wrestlers: Ego-Driven Or Useful Help?

Folks, what's happening? Glad to see you back with me for another highly opinionated observation within the world of professional wrestling (note: this is not the place for "sports entertainment").  This piece centers on an area that a lot of hardcore (in this instance, very enthusiastic) fans get really rattled and irritated by,  The area in question is part-time wrestlers.  What are part-time wrestlers, by chance?  Part-time wrestlers are wrestlers that literally come and go whenever they feel, or wrestlers that have temporary contracts that wrestle and entertain until their contracts are up and stay gone for some time and come back again.  Let's explore this further.

One of the first part-timers in this age is Dwayne Johnson, otherwise widely known as The Rock.  When The Rock first came on the scene, he was one of the most naturally gifted athletes the sport had ever seen, and that covers a lot of ground.  If you've known or had become aware of his professional history, you're familiar with the fact that he was struggling to get over with the fans, struggling quite hard in fact.  Although great in the ring for a rookie, possessing a look that screams "star", and enrapturing the proverbial "it factor", his white-bread, clean cut, overtly happy image wasn't hitting on cylinders.  It wasn't until he became a part of the Nation Of Domination faction, which at the time was lead by WWE hall Of Famer Ron Simmons, who was playing the militant, Huey P. Newton-esque Farooq.  Once he was running way past the leadership of Farooq, he became the star and all eyes were on him instead of Farooq.  His previously mentioned traits, along with his ever building charisma, made him a big time star before anyone knew it.  In fact, as time progressed The Rock became one of the sport's brightest stars.  At a time where "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vince McMahon's on-screen character Mr. McMahon, and D-generation X were all defining a new era (affectionately known as the "Attitude" era), The Rock was starting to make his own name known and building his own identity.  Fast forward a couple of years and he and Austin are the two biggest wrestlers not just in the WWE, but in the sport.

Once the lights were bright on him, movie directors started knocking on his door, and before long the acting bug hit him.  His first stint of acting came in The Mummy Returns and eventually the lead role in The Scorpion King.  Once that movie took off, so did he.  He put his burgeoning movie career as a bigger priority than his wrestling career and of course the fans resented him for a while because of it. He ended up briefly returning to feud with Austin, his longtime and most revered rival, and before you knew it, he was gone again to do more movies.  It became a return-then-leave situation for the next few years for The Rock.  As he started doing more movies, there was less and less attention the fans were giving him, but one could clearly tell that the people were really missing him.  Enter Valentine's Day 2011, where was seen as the host of Wrestlemania XXVII in Atlanta.  He was greeted with an extremely deafening ovation, which showed how much the fans still loved The Rock. He was soon entered into quite the entertaining rivalry with WWE's top guy, John Cena.  After the two year rivalry had passed, it was back to Hollywood (this after he swore he would never leave again).

The Rock started getting a lot of criticism from Internet fans for not only coming and going as he chose, but he actually ended the record-breaking four hundred thirty day-plus WWE Championship reign of then champion CM Punk at the Royal Rumble of 2013.  He lost the title to Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIX, and was gone until Wrestlemania XXX (that's 30) in New Orleans, where he was in the opening segment with Austin and Hulk Hogan for what was one of the most iconic moments in WM history.  However, he wasn't the only guy that would leave the company and come back, and leave again on a regular basis.

The night after Wrestlemania XXVIII, Cena was confronted, and sub sequentially attacked by the returning Brock Lesnar (I wish I could say that in Heyman's voice). Lesnar had been gone for years after a failed stint trying out with the Minnesota Vikings and eventually moving on to UFC where he became UFC Champion.  After he lost the title, and retired from MMA competition due to diverticulitis, he was in talks with Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Vince about returning.  The catch was he would only do a few on-air appearances per year, including pay per view events, plus he wouldn't do any live house shows. While the fans were really amped to see Lesnar return, and feud with the likes of Triple H, Cena, and Mark Henry, there was still subtle resentment that guys that perform night in and night out on a daily basis, three hundred to three hundred ten days a year.  Nearly two weeks ago, Lesnar became the WWE World Champion for the first time since 2003 thoroughly defeating Cena at Summerslam.  Once again Internet fans (or "marks" as the term is frequently called) were highly resentful at a part-time guy who gets special treatment in his contracts is the new champion.

Other names that are considered part-timers are Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho.  Van Dam returned to WWE in 2013 after a successful run in TNA where he became X Division and World Champion.  The catch was that he would wrestle 3-4 months on-air and on pay per views and not wrestle at live events.  Plus he could exercise his option to leave after his 4 month period was up and could possibly return after his sabbatical.  As for Jericho, his music career started highly taking off, as he would tour with his band Fozzy and put out quite a few successful albums.  Whenever there was a lull in his touring, he would return to help the company and help get talent over.  His current rivalry is with one of the company's brightest stars, Bray Wyatt (yes I know I'm a Wyatt head so part of this is subjective, but hey he just is).  His run with the company ends in September, as he goes back on the road with Fozzy.  Van Dam just left the company this past Tuesday after his match with Seth Rollins. There's currently no time period as to when or if he'll return.

I almost forgot about Batista.  After a five year hiatus, in which he tried his hand at MMA and eventually returned just in time for the Royal Rumble of this year and needless to say it was received quite underwhelmingly.  In fact, fans starting booing him and referring to him as "Boo-tista."  He won the Royal Rumble match and ended up co-headlining Wrestlemania, along with then champion Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, who ended up winning the title.  Batista ended up leaving once again, only this time it was to promote his highly-grossing movie Guardians Of The Galaxy.  It's been said that he plans on officially retiring soon to fully concentrate on his movie career.

Being a part-timer in an industry that requires one to perform fifty-two weeks a year for the fans is one thing, but winning Royal Rumbles and World titles is completely something else.  In his now legendary "pipe bomb"promo, former WWE star CM Punk briefly stated how angry he was that "Dwayne" as he called him was in the main event at Wrestlemania and he wasn't.  he's far from the only person that feels that way, but nobody will actually come forth and say anything likely due to either getting fired or getting buried on the roster (to those that aren't aware of this term, it means constantly losing, or jobbing).  Incredible wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett (who's currently sidelined with an injury), Kofi kingston, and even Dean Ambrose aren't spotlighted in the main event, but guys like Lesnar and The Rock can be.  Booker T replied to those that have complained, in terms of wrestlers in the locker room, by stating, "Once you sell out arenas and pull big box office draws, then you can be part time if you so choose".  In all respect to one of my favorites ever, what a load of crap.  While there are a lot of young guys that aren't stepping up on a weekly basis to steal the show, there are those (such as the ones I just mentioned) that work their asses off to do better than the match before.  They still can not get to the main event.  Is it fair?  Absolutely not, but then again we all know Vince, Steph, and Hunter all have their favorites will stay in the main event or the upper card (Shaemus and Cena anybody?).  It's a complete and total slap in the face to those that put in the work.  The main reason why those guys stepped up to the level they worked to was that there was competition going on, whether it was with Eric Bischoff or even within his own company (I can't lie I miss the brand extensions).  Without any big reason to step up, guys will remain complacent, in spite of their best intent.

Lesnar SHOULD NOT be the champion.  Nobody that is a part timer should be a champion, especially not a World Champion.  Part of the grip that Punk had was for the guys that busts their asses night and day to live their dream and to entertain the fans that pay their hard earned money to see them, and they get pushed to the side in favor of people that go and come.  The exceptions are Van Dam and Jericho, for they have nothing more to really prove in this sport as both men are future Hall Of Famers and they want to work with young guys to help them get to the next level like people had to help them along in their careers.  The Rock is seriously contemplating retirement and so is Batista, but Lesnar has terms with his contract and he becomes champion.  Is Lesnar at the top of his game right now? Damn straight he is.  Should he be World Champion compared to others like Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Dolph, or Bray?  Hell no.  Part-timers should stay part-timers unless they're around to help the next generation of young guys elevate to the next level of their careers.

For Batista and The Rock, that realize their in ring careers may really be over for greener pastures in hollywood, all success to those guys.  They get it, and in all respect to The Rock, he did want one more Title before he left for good, and he transitioned the belt over to Cena at Wrestlemania XIX.  Now Lesnar, if he's going to be part time, be part time.  If he's going to be a champion, he needs to have NO special terms on your contract.  Is Vince or Hunter that scared to make new stars that they would lower themselves to acquiesce to the demands of Lesnar?  He keep doing this, and I would expect guys like Dolph and Barrett and Ambrose to head to Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling when it launches.

That's all for now cats.  I will leave with this thought.  Many hate Cena, loathe Cena, and think he straight sucks.  One thing about him, is that he has given all he had to being the best.  Regardless if he's Vince's golden boy, he works hard day in and day out.  Whether at Madison Square Garden or in Fayetteville, NC he gives one hundred percent each and every time he performs and he's for the fans. Part-timers, especially those that would like to be champions, are selfish.  Then again, it's all about business right Vince?  Check you kind folks out later.

Summerslam 2014...Hot Or Nah??

What's going on kiddies!  Another pay per view in the box.  Last night was the annual WWE Summerslam pay per view.  In front of a sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, we witnessed some some pretty good action, and some hit-or-miss angles as well.  One thing that struck in particular was the fact that every single championship changed hands last night that was on the line.  We have a new Inter-Continental Champion, new Divas Champion, and especially a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  However, I will go into the event in detail for those that don't have the WWE Network (folks, as they keeping pushing, it's only $9.99!!).

First up was the Inter-continental Title match between champion The Miz and challenger Dolph Ziggler.  Easily the most under appreciated match of the night, both guys performed well and it was enough to keep the people engaged in the match.  Yes, Miz has a very annoying new "hollywood" gimmick (be for real, Mike Mizanin has done the small screen and DVDs/Blu-Rays, but big screens???), but his in-ring work has been actually better then before when he left to do The Marine 4 (coming soon with co-worker Danielle 'Summer Rae" Moinet).  However, Dolph, a former two-time World Champion, is easily one of the best all-around performers on the entire roster, and has been for the past couple of years.  These two young guys put on a pretty good match for the viewers, but at the end it was the Zig-Zag of Ziggler that was the death blow in the championship reign of The Miz, which by the way was only about forty-five or so days.

Next up, the Divas match.  On paper, this match between champion AJ Lee and challenger (and former champion) Paige had the makings to be a Divas classic.  Although it was short of that feat, it was still not a bad match.  The build up to the match had Paige getting the best of AJ in confrontations, and referring to Lee as her "frienemy" (get it, friend and enemy?? Blame that on creative, folks).  Arguably the two best overall Divas in the locker room (save for Natalya, Naomi, and a currently injured Tamina Snuka), these two have exchanged the title twice.  When Paige graduated from NXT to the main roster the night after Wrestlemania, she defeated AJ, only for AJ to defeat the nearly-ten year veteran the night after Payback in much the same fashion.  This is reality is their first regularly sanctioned match on a card.  These two young ladies didn't have a very long match, and quite frankly it was very underwhelming, but Paige, or her twenty-second birthday yesterday (the youngest star on the entire main roster) won her second Divas Title with a cradle DDT that she called "The Ram-Paige."  Although I would love to see another match between the two because of how good this rivalry can be, rumors are that AJ may be on her way out of the company to start a family with her newlywed husband, the severely-missed CM Punk.  Only time will tell.

Next was a big time encounter between former members of the very impressive faction The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.  This was a match I had been wanting to seen on a big stage like WWE due to their indie histories and how great both guys are as in-ring performers.  Rollins has achieved accomplishments and garnered championships in ROH, PWG (if you don't know about them, I implore you to Youtube them), FIP, and FCW (later became NXT).  He was also the first NXT Champion.  Ambrose, on the other hand, had success in the previously mentioned FIP (that's Full Impact Pro), Evolve, and the animalistic promotion Combat Zone Wrestling, where he won two World Titles.  The build to this match was done overall very well, with Ambrose finding time to attack Rollins at every turn possible.  The stipulation for the match was it would be contested as a Lumberjack Match (others may refer to it as a Human Cage Match).  I had my concerns initially, as I'm typically not a big fan of Lumberjack matches, but this match was easily the match of the night, or should I say fight of the night.  The action didn't last terribly long in the ring, although the rules clearly state that if a participant leaves, or gets tossed from, the ring, the "lumberjacks" on the outside of the ring are to throw them back in the ring.  Simply put, the match exploded onto the outside to where both guys fought amongst the crowd and then back to ringside.  Truthfully the craziest spot in the match was a HELLACIOUS clothesline from Ambrose that literally knocked Rollins into a 180-degree turn in mid-air.  However, despite his best efforts, the once-again-corporate Kane got involved and Rollins took the opportunity to use his Money In The Bank briefcase to hit "The Lunatic Fringe" in the face with it to pick up a big win.  Although Ambrose has been signed on to star in an upcoming WWE Studios film, I would suggest this rivalry isn't over by a longshot.  Unquestionably the best lumberjack match that I can ever recall.

The Flag Match was next between Jack Swagger and the undefeated Rushev.  With their respective corner personalities of Zeb Colter and Lana, the patriotic build up has been intriguing, as Zeb has done a fantastic job on the mic with his promos, and Lana has done modestly continuing to get heat for her and her guy (both on AND off camera) Rushev.  This, folks, was physical but in the end, it was Rushev with the win.  Swagger was caught in the Accolade (Rushev's version of the Camel Clutch), but didn't tap out.  Instead the young Oklahoman, and former World Champion, passed out.  As per the stipulation of the Flag Match, the winner's flag would be raised and the country's national anthem would be played.  Rushev, who had just brutally kicked a sixty-plus year old man in Zeb in the face, celebrated with glee as his country's song was played.

The match between WWE "principle owner" Stephanie McMahon (Levesque) and former Divas Champion, Brie Bella, was next.  Nobody expected this match to me a Trish/Lita chess game...and it wasn't.  To no surprise this was the worse match on the card, but then again, it wasn't about the technical nature of the match, it was the storytelling of the match. In all fairness, Steph is not a seasoned wrestler, nor has she ever been classically trained (what's sad is that, last night, she looked better as an in-ring wrestler then a few of the Divas in the locker room *cough Eva Marie cough*). The build was all the way on up until last week and the rather stupid and idiotic storyline twist of Brie's real-life husband, currently injured star Daniel Bryan, being involved in an affair with his "Physical Therapist" last week.  While Brie putting her hubby's "Yes Lock" arm submission on Steph was a good visual, the match was, well, kind of what you would imagine.  The story, however, involved one of the evening's biggest shockers (depending upon whom you ask) when Brie's twin sister Nikkie, turned on her and caused Steph to deliver the "Pedigree" onto an already semiconscious Brie for the one-two-three.

Next was the match up between Chris Jericho and (my personal favorite wrestler in the company since he debuted last year) Bray Wyatt.  This was the rematch to their match last month at Battleground where Jericho, in his first match back in nearly a year, defeated the "Eater Of Worlds".  The rivalry continued with more attacks from Wyatt and his two huge followers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.  Although this hasn't been quite the verbal battle I had hoped that it would be, this has still been a somewhat compelling rivalry.  This match pretty much picked up where their last match left off, only with the absence of those two big towers.  After just past ten minutes, Wyatt picked up a much needed win over the soon-to-be Hall Of Famer in Jericho.  Now that the rivalry is at one won and loss each, that naturally means a rubber match will be coming soon, and this one could be very good.

The next match was a tremendous one in the awesome, eleven-time World Champion "The Viper" Randy Orton against the company's next big megastar in Roman Reigns.  Both men actually have one thing big time thing in common: both come from hugely successful families.  We all know Orton is son of WWE hall Of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. and grandson of Bob Orton Sr.  Reigns, on the other hand, is the son of Hall Of Famer Sika of The Wild Samoans.  His famous family consists of The Rock, The Usos, Rikishi, Tamina, and deceased wrestlers Yokozuna and Umaga.  This has already been a noticeable year for the young Reigns.  Reigns had an outstanding showing in this year's Royal Rumble and had excellent matches (when with The Shield, they had exceptional matches against The Wyatt Family and the temporarily reunited Evolution).  His clout continued to grow when being a part of the Money In The Bank ladder match and was in the Fatal Four Way match for the World Title at Battleground.  This match was a highly competitive, back and forth match.  Although Orton showed why he's one of the company's best of our generation, clearly this time is Reigns', as he picked up a big time win.  Many would say he's not quite ready for that main event spotlight yet, and he's not, but with enough grooming, and continued hunger, he might be in an okay spot.  I just feel that it's a shame that Caesaro, a much more worthwhile contender for that number two baby face role, had his momentum taken from him just to focus on Reigns, thus making Caesaro a relative job-guy now.

Finally, it was the big one. The main event.  The World Champion, John Cena, defending against the unbelievably intense Brock Lesnar.  The build for this match was simply off the page.  The sit down, in depth promos between these two made this match a big fight feel, and it completely worked.  Not to mention, Paul Heyman's mic work has been stellar as usual (if you have not peeped his new DVD/Blu-Ray "Ladies & Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman", it is simply FABULOUS and one of the best bios the company has produced since the riveting CM Punk bio).  Cena's mic work has been excellent as well so the stage was set for an explosion.  The result: one of the worse physical beatings in recent memory.  With a huge chorus of boos from the sold out crowd in L.A., Cena stepped in the ring against Lesnar, who has already had a historic year by being the man that defeated The Undertaker to end his twenty-one year undefeated streak at Wrestlemania and sent Taker to the hospital with a severe concussion.  Within five minutes of the match, Lesnar hit his F-5 finisher onto Cena, even though Cena kicked out.  Cena was the unfortunate recipient of an exhausting sixteen suplexes and another F-5.  This time, after all of that abuse, which was quite brutal, he couldn't kick out and we had a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  Lesnar dethroned a fifteen-time World Champion.  Say what you will about Cena, and most usually do, but Cena is a workaholic.  We've seen this man put on noteworthy performances throughout his ten year run, but never have we ever seen him demolished quite like last night, with little to no offense from him whatsoever.

It's not the most popular decision for McMahon and company to give the belt to a part-timer like Lesnar, much less for him to be rumored to hold it until Wrestlemania at the least, but at the same time we all know that if one is about to shoot a movie or two, there's no need to have them hold on to the most prized belt in the company, and some would even say in the entire sport.

What this match showed was two things in particular: one, Cena was in fact human.  Cena has been very much vilified for being "Super Cena", as in coming back each and every time from severe adversity to have very clear cut wins.  While many were cheering at first, the cheers turned into concern after about the eighth suplex.  Kudos to Cena for selling the punishment like he was, and for legitimately putting his body through that kind of torment.  However, the second thing of note was that Lesnar is the most feared star perhaps in the history of the business, or at least of this generation. Lesnar commanded the attention of the people just by his mere presence, but once the match started, Lesnar turned on the switch, and it was such a one-sided match, to the point where you had sympathy for Cena.  Not in the way that we've had sympathy for him in the past whenever he would take an abundance of punishment, but people were genuinely concerned with his well being.  The scary thing about this, as well, is that he didn't cheat.  This didn't step outside the ring.  No "foreign" objects were used.  There wasn't even any outside interference from Heyman.  Cena, for the first time that i could ever recall, was plain and simply outmatched.  In fact, there was a part in that match where Cena did his "Attitude Adjustment" finisher, and not only did he not pin Lesnar, but "The Beast Incarnate" sat up similar to The Undertaker, and laughed at Cena.  Simply put, it was scary and slightly psychotic.  Lesnar wasn't quite this incredible in his first run with the company, and that was very impressive in itself.  This Lesnar is more mature and looks better than any of us could've imagined.  Keep in mind, he left WWE after winning three World Titles from 2002-2004.  He went to UFC and won their World Title as well, having quite a dominating run there as well, only to have his career in MMA end from diverticulitis.  Upon his return, he has gone through the likes Of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, back in 2012, he had a bloody war against Cena at Extreme Rules, but he came out the loser in that exchange.  However, this event will be known as the night Brock Edward Lesnar truly was, as Paul Heyman refers to him, "The Conqueror".

With it being Summerslam, and once again in L.A., of course the stars came out.  ESPN's Michelle Beadle (who had a locker room falling out last year with CM Punk and AJ Lee), hip-hop trailblazer Rick Rubin, and the most dominant MMA female fighter in the world, Ronda Rousey, were all in attendance.  Speaking of Rousey, the self-professed "Heyman Girl" and her "Four Horsewomen" collective are rumored to be a part of Wrestlemania 31 in California, which could be very, very interesting.

Overall, Summerslam was a fantastic show.  Definitely better than the last few pay per views WWE has had since Wrestlemania.  The question is now, how will WWE follow up with last night's excellent show?  I can only hope tonight's RAW broadcast will continue the good storytelling and angles from last night.  Also, Night Of Champions will be here next month.  Will they repeat the success of last night?  We'll see.  Until next week people!

Racism In Pro Wrestling

First of all, before I get into my blog, I've missed doing this "blogging" thing.  Between finishing up grad studies and other personal matters, I haven't kept up with my blogging since April.  However, I'm back and it's time to start back to my weekly topics within the world of professional wrestling (not sports entertainment).

The topic this week deals with something that has been very taboo and rarely ever mentioned within the sport, and that's racism.  Lately there have been an alarming number of young Black adults having been killed by police in different parts of the country.  Between the meaningless rear-naked choking death of Eric Garner in New York weeks ago to the most recent shooting death of an unarmed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri, it's obvious that racism is still very much alive and kicking.

Now let's center on sports, especially wrestling.  If you have ever watched the Legends Of Wrestling roundtable show on the WWE (in case you didn't know...it's $9.99 per month, in case Trips didn't beat it into your heads last Monday night), panelists Tony Atlas and Theodore R. Long gave their opinions on any possible racism in the business.  While there was nothing outstanding in terms of claims, Long did mention that he would get called the "N-word" by Ole Anderson, original member of The Four Horsemen and former booker for World Championship Wrestling in the early nineties.  Damn shame, however, chances are it wasn't uncommon.  It's just a matter of who you would ask.  Wrestlers such as New Jack have openly called people such as Jim Cornette, Dick Murdoch, and even his fellow ECW locker roommate, The Sandman, who also apparently called him the dreaded "N-word", racists.

The question is now, what about today's society of wrestling?  Let's examine that.  Clearly nobody will come out and openly say if anyone has been deliberately racist towards them, especially in the WWE.  However, some things really make you think.  One of the greatest stars in the recorded history of the business is Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as The Rock.  This man won eight World Titles (seven WWE Titles and one WCW World Title) and one of the authors of the highly touted and regarded time period in the WWE, The Attitude Era.  Born of a Black man (WWE Hall Of Famer and one half of the first Black Tag Team Champions in the sport, Rocky Johnson) and a Samoan woman (daughter of another Hall Of Famer, "High Chief" Peter Maivia), The Rock was, and still is, something that the sport had never seen before in terms of entertainment alone, much less being seen as one the most naturally gifted athletes to ever step foot in the ring.  However, in all fairness to him, he's of mixed decent.

The shameful truth is, there has NEVER been a Black WWE Champion.  Ever.  No, the "World Heavyweight Championship" doesn't count.  Should it?  Yes it should, actually it should matter even more than the WWE Title, simply because of the belt's lineage dating back to the 1905 with George Hackenschmidt, Frank Goch, and Jim Londis.  However, in this Vince McMahon-ruled era of the sport, it's all about the WWE World Title.  The first Black champion, according to Ric Flair, was pioneer for Black wrestlers, Bobo Brazil.  In August of 1992, Hall Of Famer Ron Simmons became the first RECORDED Black World Champion.  Vince, on the other hand, has never had a Black WWE Champion.  With the plethora of Black talent that has gone through the ranks of WWE like Ernie Ladd, Koko B. Ware and especially the late Junkyard Dog, none of these highly popular guys ever held "the big one".

One could make the argument that there were Black WWE Tag Team Champions in Atlas and Johnson (collectively The Soul Patrol).  In fact, they were the first.  With that being said, there's a difference between winning the Tag Team Titles and the World Heavyweight Championship, especially the WWE Title.  Under VKM's rule, there have only been two World Heavyweight Champions, Mark Henry and Booker T (when he was King Booker).  Great accomplishments, yes, but still NO WWE Championship.  Even my Hispanic friends have had representatives as WWE Championship holders.  Who can forget the awesome and moving win of one of my all-time favorites, the late great Hall Of Famer Eddie Guerrero, winning the WWE Title at No Way Out 2004 against (in my Paul Heyman voice) BROOOOCCCCCKKKK LLLLLLLEESSSNAAAAARRRRR!!!!!  Also Rey Mysterio had a brief reign (I do mean brief...as in 2 hours) as WWE Champion, and the recently fired Alberto Del Rio held the title twice.  Granted, some would say that they needed Hispanics, especially Mexican-Americans, to be champion due to the fact that they have to market to Mexico because they do tours over there from time to time.  The fact still remains that another race/culture held the big title.

Recently, a disturbing off-the-record accusation of racism surfaced with the firing of the previously mentioned Alberto Del Rio.  Last week, Del Rio was fired for "unprofessional conduct with an employee of WWE."  While rumors started to surface, the one that seems to be sticking by most accounts is that he got into an altercation with a wwe.com staff member over a racist comment that was made and Del Rio slapped him.  Del Rio stated to Mexican wrestling icon-turned very successful American wrestler Konnan that it was in fact a racist statement that was made.  However, reports are that the powers-that-be are leaning more towards the employee's side of the story that he never said anything racist towards Del Rio because if Del Rio's "past issues" of fighting with fellow wrestlers in the back, his attitude problems on occasion, plus the fact that his contract was expiring this year and he wasn't going to renew it.  What a load of crap!

From Black guys being stereotyped (Chryme Time anyone??) to amazing in-ring athletes never even getting past mid-card status (Kofi Kingston, Big E, R-Truth, and Titus O' Neill), WWE can't keep ignoring the impact of their Black stars and the McMahons need to take a real close look in the mirror about his views on minorities, especially Blacks, holding the WWE Title.  Unfortuantely, it may have also extended to the hispanic culture as well with this new Del Rio situation (ironically, his former sidekick Ricardo Rodriguez was released from his contract a few days before even though it's rumored that he ASKED to be let go).  Racism is a silent epidemic that either goes unnoticed by the vast majority or goes unspoken for.  The question is now, what has to happen before change occurs?