It is plausible that the segments "Word Up" and "Pretty Ricky" are designed to focus on a particular demographic.

Unfortunately, I find the content itself to be demeaning and insulting to all viewers.

The segments are dedicated to the African-American viewership, but I am willing to bet that this portion of fans are neither amused nor impressed.

If it is being done to amuse those outside of that demographic, well then that is a large step back in civil rights.

Shelton Benjamin, MVP and R-Truth are three of the most talented wrestlers in the business. Their race will always be in some way an influence on how they are used by the WWE. It is essential that it can be used in a positive way.

Hopefully the current messages being sent by MVP are a sign that it can be done.

The use of R-Truth and Cryme Tyme are the antithesis of that progress.

Having only returned to watching wrestling within the last year, it is very hard for me to fathom Shelton Benjamin and all his talent being constantly buried.

Is there racism in the WWE? Are the fans to blame?

The creation of the new Jesse character tell me that it is likely...

Bri you may be on to something their if you look at Vinces take on Afrrican Americans in his company i will go back as far as the 80's when I might dare say that the JYD maybe was the #2 Popular face then but i can't really remember him beating anyone or coming out on top in any feud, then in the 90's The nation gimmick when DX came in to their and wrote a whole bunch of racial slurs against them. Some may say that you have the Rock, booker T, and lashley, but i say look at S D, The JYD,Koko, Butch Reed,Ron Simmons,MVP, Shelton, Mero, 2 Cold etc. That being said I don't think and hope that Vince is not that way. now back to business I am sick and tired of all these champions being pinned cleanly Punk has been twice by morrison, Kofi back to back by Show & Bourne, Orton by Henry, Dreamer by Kozlov.

If it is being done to amuse those outside of that demographic, well then that is a large step back in civil rights"

___________________________

I am outside the African-American demographic, and I am not amused by Word Up. Indeed, I am tired of watching Jesse be Cryme Tyme's funky white fool.

As for Benjamin, he is never going to be the company's flag bearer, but it's not because of his race. Shelton is just too ... well ... normal! He is not a beneficiary of Vince McMahon's big-man fetish (see Lashley, Bobby), nor is he the kind of talker which WWE likes. We all know that there is nothing average about Shelton's athleticism, but the ability to jump onto the top ropes from the canvas means nothing on the talk-show circuit.

I'm tired of seeing Punk getting pinned, period. I am disgusted with the WWE.

In the last 3 years, except for maybe the slow burn on the Jericho/Michaels feud last year, I havent seen a booking as good and precise as CM Punk's right now. Every word, every move, every facial expression is dedicated to this slow heel turn. It is just fantastic to watch. Notice that Punk didnt even put his hands on Hardy. He used Jericho as a weapon to knock Hardy down. Punk doesnt antagonize the fans yet. So i wouldnt say his heel turn is complete.

I know this has been said before but Morrison really does remind me of a young Michaels. Everytime Shawn has a match on Raw, it's the only wrestler that I think is a must-watch. I feel the same about Morrison now. He flies around everywhere, Selling well and putting people over. At the same time, getting in some innovative offense (That knee to the head looks better and better each time btw).

I feel that great faces and great heels are measured by how much they can carry someone's face turn or heel turn. In other words, you know that Jericho has been a fantastic heel when his heat is hot enough to make the crowd cheer another great heel like Edge. These are just two of the top workers in the WWE doing what they do best and it's a pleasure to watch.

I'm guessing there will be a McCool-Melina Women's title match at the PPV next Sunday (due to the theme of every title being on the line), but you wouldn't know it watching this week's Smackdown. Very odd.

frank from dundalk, you seem to have missed the point of that DX angle from the 1990's. The point was that DX framed the Hart Foundation for what was spray-painted in The Nation of Domination's dressing room. It was just another example of DX outsmarting the Foundation, not an attack on African Americans.

As for your list of black performers who never made it to the top, I feel compelled to point out the list of whites who didn't reach the top is much longer. Not everyone gets to be a headliner.

I turned off the Cryme Tyme crap as soon as it came on. When I turned it back it was pretty Ricky. How sad and STOOPID

Excuse me Kevin, I speak jive...

If you want to talk about how African Americans have been used in wrestling, and more directly by the WWF/E, I got two words for ya:

Saba Simba

At least we've moved beyond the "from Africa!" gimmicks into more modern stereotypes. Not much of an improvement, but hey, when you have old white men grilling a Supreme Court nominee like she's the maid who's over-watering the plants, it's not a stretch that old white men running creative can't relate to other races and cultures without resorting to movie stereotypes.

Shocking to believe that Micahel Hayes would write a show that degrades African Americans and promotes stereotypes in two different segments.

Punk will be Jericho's partner. He wants someone who is the self righteous truthful heel like himself and currently the only other one in the WWE is Punk. Also it would be entirely unexpected by a majority of the WWE fans and it would serve to complete the heel turn. It then gives them a reason to have Jericho run in the Punk vs Hardy match and Punk becomes a double champion and a full fledged heel as everyone is in shock.

I've been thinking; is it possible for the returning Chris Masters to be Chris Jericho's new partner, that would be some re-debut, and Zigglor seems to obvious now

I hope Punk creates a Straight-edge heel faction.

Christopher you are right but you didn't pay attention to what i said i don't believe that Vince is a racist #1 that being said DX could have donr something else then spay painting things like no KFC like AA are the only ones that eat their. Secondly I would hope that there is more white wsuperstars that didn't reach the top than white since it is and was probably a 5 to 1 ratio at the very least so obviously you can't push everyone nad its not right for the people like Scott Hall,Owen hart, Dusty under vince Jr.,The Hammer, The Dragonm Tito, Pedro under Vince Jr. etc not to get real main event pushes. Anyway i am really sad to see Edge be a face i think some people are better to be heels than faces and Edge is probably the best heel in the business I thought they would turn Randy back before Edge shows what I know. i do think though that Punks attacks on Hardy are getting to personal and i really could not blame hardy if he leaves again between this and the way the humilated Vickie after she gave her notice.

I agree with Jon. When Jericho was destroying Hardy after the end of the match, he had some looks at Punk, like "Hey, mate, see? I'm bringing down your foe, now you do something for me". My bet is that at the end of NOC, Punk will at the same time WHC and Tag Team Champ. Hardy will be out of the picture and Morrison will be the next Punk's opponent for the title.

My guess is that the Undertaker will be Jericho's partner. Random, yes, but Punk and Ziggler are probably too busy.

CM Punk is the wrestler of the week. That exchange with Jeff Hardy was amazing, as was the match with Morrison--those two have great chemistry. Punk really opened up his arsenal for that match, which is well beyond his kicks and knee strikes he seemed limited to on Raw. That was the match of the week for me.

R-Truth was over just being himself. His "comedy" segments are useless and are the complete opposite of the promotional videos they aired before his debut.

Hey Rob the barber, who could honestly fit into a straight edge faction in the WWE? I don't know. Scotty Goldman is gone...

What I think is really interesting is that Chris Jericho is only listing a fraction of Edge's real-life injuries.

They're probably worried that if he listed any more that the fans would agree with him lol

"I hope Punk creates a Straight-edge heel faction."

___________________________

My guess is that Chris Masters would NOT be a member.

That clothesline by Natalya was sick. She is definitely one of my favorite WWE divas along with Beth Phoenix and Mickie James.

If Punk weren't on his way to becoming a full heel, there is one thing I would love for him to say to Hardy that might be a little too babyface-ish for what WWE wants to do with him. Rather than being all preachy like he was on this last Smackdown, here's what I'd want him to say:

"Jeff, you needed to use steroids to become the champ. I didn't."

No matter what CM Punk the character does, I admire the hell out of the real guy for not juicing in a business where so many others do. Plus, a CM Punk match is a lot more entertaining to me than, say, any Scott Steiner match ever was.

How about this for Jericho's partner (and this is just a shot-in-the-dark, it'd-be-really-damn-cool-but-ain't-happening):

The Hart Dynasty.

Jericho: Hart-trained. His ultra-serious, righteous heel persona would be perfect, and he could elevate those guys like HHH once did Orton and Batista, if they let him.

I don't know, some loophole in Jericho's "if Edge should get hurt" contract allows him to do it, a la the nWo using three people to defend the tag titles. Whatever. It's pro wrestling, don't think too hard about it.

Then, if I allow myself a fantasy booking indulgence for a minute, a heel v. heel feud as Kidd/Smith ultimately battle Rhodes/DiBiase for the tag titles with Jericho/Orton battling for the WWE title. Heel/heel feuds usually fail, but not always. I think it'd work and would maybe even turn Legacy face.

I don't normally think hard enough about these things to formulate this deep of a thought about it, so someone tell me if I'm nuts here, or if it wouldn't be terrific.

I was thinking that the Pretty Ricky gimmick was supposed to be making fun of the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie "Bruno". Or at least referencing it.

Although on second thought, that doesn't make R-Truth look any better...

I thought Jeff smoked weed. And that's why he failed the tests.

So not steroids.

That clothesline by Natalya was great. Eve said via twitter that her neck was still sore two days later.
Big fan of the young Harts, hopefully we will see them in a match at breaking point and for those upset with how Cryme Tyme are being used, ummm it is better then when they had them stealing. Survivor Series 06 they cleaned out Lita's dressing room.

Okay.. Is it just me or does Punk-Hardy fued remind you about Eddie-Angle fued at wrestlemania 20. Punk-Hardy fued is going great guns.

Jericho, once again was the star of the show along with Punk. If Edge vs. Jericho happens at wrestlemania, I would be more than thrilled. And the icing on the cake would be if they have a 30 minute or 60 minute iron match. I think only these 2 guys can do it in the present roster.

And speaking of African-Americans not getting the push... hello does somebody remember a guy called "The Rock". Actually one has to be idiot to not push this guy. Rock,sorry, Dwayne was awesome. I still miss him.

And yeah did somebody watched jericho vs. Steamboat in some house match. I've read it somewhere that this might be the best match of the year after Shawn-taker match.

Jeff Hardy looked really pale, almost sickly. I haven't seen him look that pasty white since 2003 right before he was released by WWE. Uh, oh. I've heard rumors that he renewed his contract for another year but now I don't know.

RE: "By the way, Ross and Todd Grisham have zero chemistry. It’s odd because Ross is the best in the business in my opinion, and I don’t think Grisham is bad either. ..."

I totally agree, but I think part of the issue is that both JR and Grisham are, at heart, play-by-play guys. JR is supposed to be the color commentator and yet, he falls right back into his play-by-play ways too easily, which basically leaves Grisham with nothing to say -- i sure as hell don't want to hear Grisham analyze any matches.

But, at least its not as bad as the guy with Matt Striker on ECW!! (Josh Matthews I think? he's so unnoticeable i don't ever remember his name...) Sometimes, it seems like Striker is the only one talking and they will literally go 1 or 2 full minutes with nobody talking! Matthews or whatever his name is looks like a scared puppy dog most of the time.

I've never been a big Punk guy, but his heel turn has been very successful. Now if only Hardy was better on the mic...

I'm very happy with the way Morrison has been pushed since coming to SD. JR was on the bandwagon early, and clean wins over the champ set hi up for a title shot sooner rather than later. But are they rushing his development because they know Hardy is leaving?

I like Cryme Tyme in the ring, hate them on the mic. Horrible gimmick, WWE should be ashamed.

I'm surprised by how fast Edge has been able to win the crowd over. I guess even the non-smart fans realized it was time for a change with his character.

I think that Grisham and Ross don't sit right because they are both play-by-play men.

Hey guys make sure to stay tuned for my upcoming skit with Cryme Tyme called "What's Up Pretty Ricky?" coming to a Smackdown near you.....SOOOOOON