Dangerous A

I am not sure about Cuba. Costa Rica might be cheaper and has just as much, if not more to see from what I've heard. Other than that, yeah, weed and the "gentlemen's club" is the way to go.

Thank you, LOTC. I "get it" now.

I hate to bring up the Sonjay Dutt bit again, but when he was introduced in TNA, he was just out there. No turban. No Arab music. Just Sonjay and his work. Now, I haven't seen every single episode of TNA, but I don't recall "USA" chants at him or signs in the crowd reading Sonjay 7:11. The reason he didn't get the reaction Hassan got was because it's not the reaction TNA wanted. Hell, when Sonjay debuted, it was when TNA was still running Nashville and I'm banking Nashville isn't the most progressive city in terms of race relations in the U.S. Sabu, even with the Turban, didn't get the reaction Hassan got because it's not what ECW/whatever indie he's working wanted. They wanted the crazy, spotfest wrestler who scares people. If they wanted, they could get that reaction, but they didn't go there. Everything about Hassan has been to build him up as a race baiting heel that plays off of Americans xenophobia. Now, if WWE were to have presented Hassan like Sonjay Dutt, just out there with no references to his race, and then he got the "USA" chants and signs reaction and such, then went on to don the Turban and come out to Arab music to "embrace" his culture because the fans aren't going to accept him anyways, then your argument would hold water. Not only that, Hassan's character would have the ultimate reason to be heel. However, that wasn't the case because WWE's intent was for Hassan to be a race baiting heel FROM THE GET GO.

I definitely agree with you. Cena needs to stay on top for a bit as well. There are enough workers on Raw to make Cena look decent in ring. It's just that when Cena is asked to be "the man" in a match, it doesn't end well. Again, he is over enough to justify a title reign, you just wish he'd start to show more improvement in the ring.

I'm also under the impression Angle isn't the swiftest cat in the street when it comes to picking storyline direction. For all we know, Angle was the one who came up with the attempted rapist scenario. It's funny how wrestling will change people. Angle gets all pissy in '96 for ECW doing a crucifixtion angle, but he's all open to being an multiple atttempted rapist?

Problem is he hasn't shown anything remotely good after that perfomance. I guess the sun shines, even on a dog's ass.

So let me get this straight, WWE makes the Hassan character do stereotypical things and imagines him as such in hope to debunk part of Hassan's story? And WWE asking me to keep and open mind? I can't write stuff this funny. Excuse me while I tell Vince and WWE Corperate to kiss my ass.

But it's so stupid, I think that people want to think there is a deeper meaning. I'm a smart guy and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. And at the risk of starting a war with many on this board, I have to say.... how in the hell is this guy over and why is he WWE champion?! I've reserved comment for a while because the guy was on Smackdown and I rarely catch the show, but now I have seem him a few times on Raw and literally can't stand a thing he does. The guy is absolutely terrible in the ring. And not terrible in that he relies too heavily on spots to pop the crowd,, or has a weak looking finisher. He just literally looks like he has no idea what he's doing in there. There is no fluidity to his movement, the matches have no reliance on psychology and he blows spots all the time. His look is beyond awful. He doesn't look street or thug... he looks like the wiggers you see at the mall who have no idea how ridiculous they look. I don't think anything he does is edgey. In fact it's a ridiculous gimmick and its the sort of thing that makes me embarrassed when I show a non-fan. Furthermore, he's way overrated on the mic. Although I think he can talk, nothing he says makes me want to pay to see him and none of it gets over the feud or the guy he's working with. He relies too much on the gay bashing and street talk. Now if you think I'm wrong, enlighten me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> As far as in ring work, you are spot on. With the exception of the weapons filled brawl from Judgment Day, which masked the bad wrestling, Cena is terrible in the ring. He can be carried and has had watchable matches with Taker, Angle, and Benoit. However, that being said the rest of his work since he entered in WWE has sucked. He won't improve in the ring because he knows he doesn't have to. As far as his mic work and charisma, I can't front and say I don't see it. I'm not one for the whole "I'm real and from the streets" bit, but he does connect with the fans. As over as he is with the fans, he deserves a run with the title, but his in ring work is not that of what a champion should be. Cena isn't even better than Batista right now in ring and that says a lot because Batista is what I'd call barely watchable. Cena is pretty much unwatchable in the ring.

I don't think the complaint is about the content of the word cheap, but how corny it sounds when Cena is using it.

Quit crying racist? Over the terrorist bit, you are right. However, the whole Hassan character is one big race bait. And DokDoyle, I'll disagree with you about Sonjay Dutt. While he doesn't get the promo time Hassan gets, TNA doesn't put an emphasis on his race. He gets over on the content of his in ring work. As for Hassan's original promos, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't think they were intended to make Hassan an underdog babyface. Go back and listen to the commentary by Lawler and JR, he is definitely supposed to be a heel with a good point.

But the content of the promos was Hassan being a whiny Arab-American. Add to that the fact he comes out in the turban and his entrance music and yeah, WWE is playing the race card on this. I'll point back to the Sonjay Dutt example. He doesn't come out in a turban or doesn't have the Arab music as his entrance, yet people aren't chanting "USA" at him and he is in fact, a face. (albeit somewhat of a jobber)

It's like you said, it's his obnoxiousness. That, and he is quite full of himself. That's not to say Reali is the most humble guy in the world or anything, but it's a different kind of arrogance he projects. It's all a matter of taste really and Max just annoys me while I think Reali is pretty cool.

Probably better than Randy Savage's "Hogan Sucks" rap concert or Chyna on Howard Stern. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's not saying much.

Michael Holley on ATH?!!? Excellent. I just hope they DON'T bring back Max Kellerman. Leave Reali alone, he's doing just fine.

You know, I'll bet Charlie would never say this because he respects Kurt so much, but if Angle was really down to do it, Angle could've gotten this done. Angle, although not at the status of Taker, JBL, or HHH does have a decent amount of pull in the company and if he strongly believed in the angle, he could've gone directly to Vince and they could have done it.

Great, Vince is venting his "freedom" rant through Hassan. Yep, Batista is losing the title at Summerslam to Hassan. I can just feel it. Call it the JBL syndrome.

Here, here to that. I'm not a hockey fan by any means, but I also hate it when trolls come along (I remember MikeSC in particular in regards to basketball) and start bashing whatever sport is being discussed in a particular thread. I'm just happy for hockey fans because being deprived of a sport you love because of labor issues just flat out sucks. Being an NBA fan, I only had to deal with the short mini-lockout from 1998-99 and that sucked. Congrats, hockey fans. Now, if I can only get something done about the football snobs.... oh yeah, MikeSC isn't here anymore

Jingus speaks the truth. This is why I can't stand those idiots who do backyard wrestling. There are so many nuances to something like a vertical suplex or giving and taking a splash that I'm not surprised there aren't more instances of decimated spinal columns and more brain hemmorages when the backyard wrestling phenomenon was so hot years ago.

I actually think, on paper, that this card is better right now than GAB.

A scary thing is Steve Austin tried to get John Laurinitis to give Dalip "Giant" Singh a look after doing "The Longest Yard" with him. Methinks Laurinitis may think twice about Stone Cold's recommendation.

In WWE world, Davairi is stereotyped into that background because they HAVE to play up to racial caricatures. Sonjay Dutt works TNA and they aren't doing any "I'm Arab-American and mad about it" type angles with him. If Dutt was in WWE, he'd be cannon fodder just like Davairi is.

Off topic, but still related to an ESPN show, did Cold Pizza get rid of Jay Crawford? Hope so because he came off like such a tool. Something tells me he is on a long vacation or something, but I haven't seen him in a few weeks, which makes me want to tune in. I still haven't forgiven Cold Pizza for getting rid of Thea Andrews and replacing her with that new gal who's name escapes me at the moment. On the website, they have bios for Woody, Skip, and Jay, but not the new gal.

Post Raw thoughts here, I guess.

Jeff Jarrett's not on the card, It's already 100% better show on this fact alone. If I can get confirmation JJ won't make a surprise appearance, I may order this for fun.

Sort of, except Fox produces 24 and then turns around and shows it on their TV. WWE and UPN are different corperate entities. WWE needs UPN's station to show SD. The only public criticism 24 would get for a character would be from other media outlets.