When the WWE announced a few months back it was going to bring back the "Brand Extension" by making Raw and Smackdown separate programs, this was met by a good deal of excitement from fans that were wanting something "different" from what was quickly becoming a bit of a stale product. While on paper the brand extension seemed like a good idea, the reality has quickly proven the old adage "be careful what you wish for. " Today, I'll give what I feel are the "Good, Bad and the Ugly" of the present brand extension. Good: Women's Division Bayley[assets/Uploads/Blog/Bayley.

This is my first blog in a while and I'll deviate from poker for a bit to talk about a story in wrestling that has come to a head in the past week. *Ryan Reeves*, better known to the WWE Universe as Ryback, recently announced that he is "no longer doing business" with the WWE. Ryback has been off of TV for a few months now after WWE officials sent him home over a dispute over pay. He's been contending for a while that mid- and lower-card wrestlers should be paid better than they are and, while I can understand his beef, at the same time he doesn't really seem to get the realities of the pro wrestling world.

If you follow poker at all - or at least some of the major news in the poker world - you've likely heard about the "apology" issued by former Full Tilt Poker bigwig *Howard Lederer*. If you haven't heard, head over to FullContactPoker. com and check out Daniel Negreanu's latest blog.   Negreanu chose to be the vehicle through which Lederer issued his apology for his poor oversight of Full Tilt's financial management, and when I first heard this from a third-party source I thought it was a troll by Negreanu.

Some of you may have been following Daniel Negreanu’s posts over on Full Contact Poker about his recent high-stakes poker escapades in Las Vegas. A point I wanted to talk about is when he mentioned building relationships in order to get a seat in some of poker’s top cash games. Negreanu revealed that if you’re a winning player and a bit of a jerk, you probably won’t get invited to many of these games. Instead, relationship building is key to getting into these games.

Prior to the start of the 2015 World Series of Poker, I made my annual series of predictions for the event. Now that the November Nine is set, it is time for me to review my picks. I must admit, this WSOP was a bit disappointing overall. While attendance was technically up overall, most events saw dips in attendance.

I was getting ready to write a blog about some of the poker media's reaction to Daniel Negreanu busting out of the November Nine but then I went over to check out the results of WWE BattleGround. King Barrett Won - Not a Big Shock. R Truth is mainly just used to build up talent nowadays. Orton Beat Sheamus - Considering I didn't know the two were even wrestling in this event, I'm meh on this one.

Have you been watching Tough Enough? If not, you might consider yourself fortunate. I've always supported the Tough Enough concept in the past because the show has been successful in producing some future talent for the WWE and in many cases, it was great television. Then we get the current piece of crap being passed off as tough enough. I saved the Christmas rush and started hating the new concept from the first episode.

The 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event has just completed Day 2 and the remaining players are beginning to seriously contemplate whether they can become poker's next world champion. In this edition of Flashback Friday, we look back to the 1998 WSOP Main Event and the heads-up match between Scotty Nguyen and Kevin McBride. At the river, the board was 9h-9d-8c-8h-8s and Scotty Nguyen moved all-in. While McBride contemplates what to do, Scotty says the immortal words he's now known for: :You call, it gonna be all over baby.

On Monday night, there was a medical emergency during the ONE DROP High Roller involving a spectator. Fortunately, there was a doctor playing in the $1,500 NL Event and he was able to offer assistance. This scenario reminded me of a story conveyed to me a few years back by a couple of old school poker pros and was a great example of the poker gods smiling down on one of the good guys of the game. Dr Will Noyes, aka the Poker Doctor, was a well known player in the 1990 through the early years of the Poker Boom.

Many of you have probably heard about the controversy from the WSOP over the weekend regarding the Pledge of Allegiance being recited before the Seniors Event. I purposely waited to see the reaction from players and let others have their say. Nolan Dalla provided a well written and insightful piece that I don't completely agree with, but at least he presents it in a level-headed and respectful way. I'm not Nolan Dalla.