Y2HH

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 12:33 PM) 3.) "If I hadn't been born with my privilege there is a chance Id be in jail." What does that even mean? While I wouldn't stoop to the level to misconstrue someone's words into making them seem racist to make my point, I could easily say, "Oh, so all non-whites are criminals?" This is such a silly statement. I am not criminal because my parents are good people. My parents planned to have children they could afford and had the personal attributes to foster and nurture myself and my siblings. If my parents were purple and had the same values and priorities I wouldn't just end up in prison because I am not white. You'll say, "You don't know what it's like, you've never dealt with police as a minority." That's true and I don't deal with them as a majority either. Ever since I graduated to legal drinking age and bought a decent radar detector I have had no relationship with police officers. The extent of our relationship is me nodding at them when I get on/off the train. I thought his comments about "easy mode" were beyond simplistic and just without thought. Being successful is never easy mode, even if a person happens to think it was. All those years of schooling, or working to get where you are isn't "easy". I hate when people paint with a broad brush like this because it undermines the thousands of decisions that landed us where we are today. Any one of those decisions could have been a life altering mistake...life isn't easy, and for him to dismiss his own success is telling. Maybe he's a trust fund kid that never had to care. I wasn't. I worked 2 jobs when I went to college full time. White or f***ing green...that s*** was not easy, and for any of you to try to tell me it was...well, up yours.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 12:28 PM) you go ahead and quote where I said that. You never said those words, but those are the exact words you alluded too. "Isn't straight white male privilege awesome" were almost your exact words, in response to me saying I'm enjoying my life. It's not a jump to take that as you saying, "Well of course your life is awesome, you're white". It's what you meant...and you know it.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 10:49 AM) Yes, the door is really stupid. But I don't think it's much better if James climbs the cage because either way the entire point of the cage, and the match (to prevent the heel from cheating), was nullified. And now the feud is probably going to be over with the cheater victorious. This kind of shenanigans might make sense if the Smackdown had a heel GM: "haha tough lucky, Becky", but it doesn't. Daniel Bryan and the refs look like powerless chumps. Well, there are two factors at play. 1) We all know the heel is going to cheat, and adding the cage makes it legal, so they need to just stop talking about that when using the cage. 2) They need to understand what the cage is actually for. And it's to keep the heel (Bliss) from escaping the baby (Lynch). That's it. That's the ONLY thing it does. Only by simply opening the door when Bliss is like, "Hey, lemme out", that nullifies the entire point of KEEPING HER THE f*** IN THERE so Lynch can kick her ass.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 10:05 AM) Obviously, heels cheat. Low blows. Interference. Distracting the ref. Fine. But this was all 100% out in the open and the two referees couldn't have cared less. No, the cheating wasn't the issue. Heels cheat, that's fine. It's the why bother with the cage if you're just going to open the f***ing door aspect of it...they used the cage to prevent Bliss from escaping Lynch AND to stop outside interference...only then they make it just as easy to interfere as if there was no cage present by simply opening the damn door. The cheating should have happened, but they should have made James climb the cage, trapping Lynch in there with both her and Bliss... That cage should NOT have a door on it...and if it does, it should be locked...it's like a huge flaw in the gimmick of why the cage exists in the first place.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 09:59 PM) The problem is he's following your words and there is a disconnect. The specific phrase he's going after is "sit back and enjoy life". You're not even defending that yourself in the 2nd part of this. What you just said is fundamentally different from "sit back and enjoy life". Exactly this. His original words were "of course you're enjoying life, you're a white male". You know, because being a white male automagically means I don't have to try...everything just comes to me. And it's easy. No, not easier than others, perhaps sometimes, but just easier...always...we don't have to do anything...we're awarded the golden ticket at birth, and then just sit back and collect. As you said, what he originally said and what he just said now are fundamentally different. As I alluded too, just because it's easier, doesn't make it easy.

And Smackdown, gooooood again. I thought the James reveal could have been handled better, but the Bliss/Lynch match was actually good up to that point. How they follow it up will be what makes or breaks this Bliss/James connection. Lynch carried Bliss as expected, as I've noted the WWE is clearly protecting Bliss while making her look great in the ring. I'm kind of thinking they're going to make Bliss related to Triss Stratus somehow, hence why James likes her and is helping her. One negative I'll give that main event is if the sole reason you put them in a cage is to prevent interference, then do away with the door gimmick and make them climb the damn thing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 08:26 AM) I think he has a point. Telling a person who is working hard, has no health insurance because they don't deserve it, who is one paycheck from bankruptcy, who has a relative they're supporting after a meth/opioid addiction, that they're sailing by smoothly doesn't get the point across. They're not going to consider the alternate case where they got pulled over for having a taillight out and were shot. No, I think it's an ignorant thing to say that just because a person is white it's easy for them to "sit back and enjoy life", which is what he's saying VERBATIM. Being white doesn't mean you're successful, or rich...or without struggle. There are more white people on welfare than any other race...I'd love to see Reddy tell them how "easy" their lives are...I mean, they're white...so s*** must be easy! The problem with his entire statement is the same bulls*** ignorance used against Black Lives Matter. Just because they're saying Black Lives Matter doesn't mean they're saying other lives don't...I'm not saying others don't struggle...or have it hard. What I am saying is that just because I'm white doesn't mean s*** just came easy to me. It's simplistic bulls*** is what it is.

We have a small gym at my new work, so I use that. On days I'm home, I'll do a DDP Yoga or a P90X3 workout. I'm coming off my lazy season (until recently I hadn't worked out from the beginning of November till around mid December). I've decided I need get back into shape, so I flipped the switch. I know what kind of dedication it takes and being in shape for me (and for most) is like 60% diet 40% exercise... So I'm back on the bandwagon...I need to shed the 6 pounds I've put on since getting lazy.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 09:39 AM) Alexa may not be the best wrestler but she's great on the mic and with personality and dat ass...I mean she's talented. She'll get better in time. But on the main rosters, mic skill matters just as much or more than wrestling skill, which is what's holding both Naka AND Asuka back.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 09:13 AM) It's not even close. 2 hours means some guys don't have to be on every week and we don't get sick of them as well. I wish both shows would have shorter angles. The fact that Alexa and Becky are still feuding baffles me since Alexa has beaten her like 5 times. Why does she keep getting rematches? She doesn't know who La Luchadora is for petes sake! I actually enjoyed what I saw of Raw last night. No authority figures and the 6 man main was good. I've bought into Braun as well. Because there is nobody else on the Smackdown roster capable of holding their own against Alexa on the mic. She already makes Lynch look stupid half the time when they do in-ring promos, calling her a potato farmer and stuff like that...and she'd f***ing wreck anyone else on Smackdown right now. La Luchadora has to be Mickey James...so I'd assume they'll transition to Lynch vs James (with James protecting Alexa) and possibly bring up someone else to go against Alexa? I just don't know who. Asuka is obviously the most in-ring ready and can likely carry Bliss to good matches, but again, there's no way she can hold her own on the mic against Bliss. As biased as I am with Bliss, she's not the best "wrestler"...and the WWE seems to be protecting her right now... I guess I'll find out how right I am tonight...but I'd expect James to get involved. Bliss needs to keep the title for now, and they need to avoid playing hot potato with it like they did with the women on RAW.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 09:47 PM) 3 hour raw is insane... its self-evident when they show the SAME damn replay segments 2-4 times! I've seen the Brock segment twice, the nia jax segment twice. I DONT NEED TO SEE IT TWICE. That's the problem with this 3 hour format. RAW contains too much filler in order to fill that 3rd hour...I know they won't do it because they'd take a huge revenue hit by going back down to 2 hours, but they should bite the bullet and swallow the short term loss of revenue because it will dramatically increase the quality of the product long term. Smackdown is hands down the better show. And whether that's considered just my opinion or not, it's not even close as far as I'm concerned. It's the first time since the "brand split" era that I believe I'm seeing actual competition between RAW and Smackdown, and Smackdown is just on fire. If I was on RAW, I'd be clamoring to go to Smackdown.

Oh, and the show is just too damn long. 3 hours with the usual overrun, as if 3 hours wasn't already too much.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 08:46 PM) This raw has been awful. Cruiserweight division is a joke. New day has nothing useful to do anymore. Tribute to Snukka, the murderer. Argh I hate New Day. This modern day wannabe DX grabass stuff does nothing for me. And it's not just this RAW. It's RAW in general with Stephanie and her overbearing way of unintentionally burying talent.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 08:17 PM) Quick rant: The Club. So, tonight, they had their tag title match vs. Cesaro and Sheamus. f*** YOU RAW BOOKING. HOLY s***. It's bad enough that the club (and every other undercard/midcard) has been booked to be AWFUL, but they have Sheamus knock the ref out and then The club pins Cesaro for the titles... only for the ref to wake up and declare a DQ? WTF? Just f***ing awful! They... screwed... the Heels out of the titles... lmao. Team Smackdown.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 03:07 PM) That's literally not what I said. I said you had a leg up, and that in Trump's America you will continue to have a leg up, and as such, it's easy for you to sit back and "enjoy life". That's the problem with this, and why it's simplistic jibberish. No, it's not.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 03:18 PM) It sucks both Owens and STyles will both be losing their belts at Rumble. I don't really care about Owens and that title. The booking of it and him has been trash. AJ should be champion for a long time and the rumors of where he is going into WrestleMania does not interest me in the slightest. It's a waste. I'm hopeful Styles will retain, because Smackdown has seemed a bit smarter with it's booking...it's a lot less predictable than RAW is. Owens is another one for me...I'm just not a fan. Without Jericho carrying him, I'm convinced nobody would actually give a s*** about him despite the fact he's Universal Champion. And let's be honest. The real world title is on Smackdown, and AJ has it. That's the title Austin, The Rock, Hogan, Cena, etc., have all held...that's the title with history. It's the only title that really matters...and they've done the Universal Title no favors by how they've booked it. Where the Miz brought prestige to the IC title, Owens has brought almost none to the UT. Not that I'm biased or anything, but Alexa Bliss is a better champion than Kevin Owens.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 03:31 PM) I agree with this as well... giving Finn Balor the Universal title and a Rumble win is a bit... much for a guy that's barely been on the main roster. However, he is my #3 as I literally don't want any of the other guys to win. Now I feel sad about the rumble. Ah. They clearly believed in Balor, and the crowd responded positively for it...so I see no reason to hold him back when he returns. Let's let the rubber hit the road and see if he can drive. Samoa Joe is uh...I'm not a fan. Let's just leave it at that. Naka would be good, but I don't see the WWE trusting him just yet, as he can't carry on a 20 minute English promo, which is almost REQUIRED for WWE Champions today.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 02:46 PM) So who do you guys want to win the Rumble, and who do you think actually wins? Personally, I'd like Owens to retain against Reigns and Sami winning the Rumble match. Had they give Sami a better push, it'd set up a great match between him and Owens at WM. But realistically I think we will see either Taker, Jericho, or Finn (making a surprise entry) winning it. I just don't see a whole lot of possibilities here. Lesnar and Goldberg will get each other at WM, so they're out of the picture. Braun isn't ready to main event WM (though his chances increases if Reigns beats Owens), and Rollins will get Triple H at WM, and WWE has passed on him getting the belt way too many times since his comeback so I doubt they let him win this year. Most of the wrestling world is making the Taker prediction, and in this day and age, if your Rumble match results are this predictable (and the person winning isn't deserving - all due respect to Taker, he can't be the champ if he can't wrestle more than 2 matches a year), it does not sit well with the fans, especially the smarks. If Taker wins, I'd expect a lot of boos. Edit: I can see Miz being a dark horse pick from Smackdown. He's had a great year, would be great on the mic doing promos with Cena in weeks leading up to WM. Him losing to Ambrose in their IC match, then winning Rumble to go on to face Cena at WM, and Cena putting him over. That would be much better than Taker winning IMO. If Balor/DK is able to return as a surprise entrant to the RR, I want Balor to win it. It will INSTANTLY re-establish him at the top of the card, and he can go on to unseat Owens for the Universal Title. Owens needs to be rebuilt after his constant string of losing...I like his heel gimmick, but he's lost credibility as a winner. Miz is my second choice to win the RR...as he's clearly primed for a top run now. I do not want any of the old guard winning the Rumble. Goldberg/Lesnar should eliminate each other and cause a huge pull apart outside the ring, rebuilding Lesnar as a beast and adding tremendous heat to the ongoing feud in the process...make it clear Lesnar didn't care about winning the Rumble, ALL he cared about was eliminating Goldberg and reminding the world who he is.

I use 1Password

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 08:22 AM) Maybe Rousey and Punk can come in on a "UFC washouts" gimmick Punk would be easier to re-establish than Rousey because he has proven mic skill and history with the WWE. There wouldn't be much need to feed him established talent to recover...one bad night does not end a fighters life. Even Lesnar has lost. Rousey's issue is her ENTIRE image was based on her in-ring dominance...and when she had the chance to step up after her first loss, she went and hid under a rock like a b****, instead. The ONLY traits Rousey had going for her is she's decent looking and was an "unstoppable killer". She's no longer a killer, so now she's just a decent looking unproven quantity and who knows if she even has live mic skill? And let's be honest...Bliss is so much hotter than Rousey it's not even funny. Also, Rousey has a massive ego, and she'd never accept a deal/storyline that bills her as a washout trying to find herself in the WWE, even though that approach COULD oddly work.

The Ronda Rousey thing has likely been discussed here before, but since I keep hearing her name bandied about in relation to her joining the WWE, I thought I'd give my thoughts on it. The WWE has NOTHING to gain by bringing in Rousey. The ONLY marketable trait she had was her mystique, and she no longer has it. The WWE would essentially have to rebuild her and the only way to do that would be to feed her established NXT projects or current WWE stars. What are they going to do? Feed Rousey Alexa Bliss? To what end? To blow years of work getting Bliss to where she is simply to "re-establish" a non-wrestlers mystique whose name no longer carries any weight? Rousey's worth was entirely tied into her in-ring success. And no matter which female wrestler(s) you pick to feed her, you're damaging them just to re-build someone the people no longer believe in...who may not even stick around long term. Compare Rousey's appearance at WM, with her mystique intact...there was something special about it. Now? She's just a person that's been exposed, and the one thing she had going for her is gone. I hope the WWE stays far away from Rousey...positively nothing to gain here other than media exposure...which I could easily see backfiring when sports analysts serve up endless jokes about washed up exposed athletes going to the WWE.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 15, 2017 -> 09:35 AM) That's not really what privilege means, though. It doesn't mean you automatically "win", just that it's generally easier for you. Nothing here I wouldn't agree with. But Reddy is basically saying of course I love life...I'm white. And I think that's patently absurd and simplistic.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 15, 2017 -> 08:34 AM) It IS that simple. Just because some people with straight white privilege failed doesn't mean they didn't have straight white privilege. It just means they sucked at life. Come on, you're a smart guy. Straight white males are running the same marathon as everyone else, their starting line just happens to be about a mile or two into the race already. EDIT: btw, I'm fully aware of my privilege as well. That wasn't meant as a jab at you specifically. But privilege got us both where we are. We weren't born black on the South Side. That gave us a leg up out of the gate. Again, just because you're a straight white male doesn't mean you automatically love life. This is absurd. And no, it's NOT that simple.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 14, 2017 -> 01:16 PM) Omega might not be a pipe dream after all. Last week he tweeted that he is leaving Japan to reassess his future. Now I suppose he could just do RoH and other Indy shows but he is a legend out there in Japan, and can still work Japan and US if he wanted to. Just a feeling, but Omega has said he has had a long standing NXT offer, but my guess is he wants to go straight to Raw/Smackdown like AJ did. I think all the trash he talked about the WWE is a work that's gonna make a surprise debut pretty f***ing epic. I would have Gallows and Anderson come out and celebrate with AJ after he beats Cena and then turn on him . Then out comes Kenny as the leader of the club........................Then out comes Balor, like heyyyy did you guys forget about me??? Sets up AJ/Omega/Balor for Mania......OK last part is prob a pipe dream for now anyway. Kenny has also made it kind of a career talking point that he could become a legend WITHOUT the WWE. I personally hope he joins, but the WWE needs to loosen the reins on over scripted characters. What made wrestling unique was the characters, and more often than not when written in this style, they all become similar. I feel the WWE has as much potential to damage the Omega character as they do to make it even better. His promo style is a bit odd, but it works for him, and I know for a fact the WWE would change it on him to fit their mold. I'm not sure it'll work, either.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 14, 2017 -> 12:31 PM) Just make sure to never change your avatar and we're good. So long as you or anyone else never come in here with a Lynch avatar...there'll be no problems.