wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, The Wrong and The Ridiculous of WWE Raw
How the 4Rs of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. We will group our feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come. This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, our goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. We will not apologize for our opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.
By: Jack Stevenson
Raw 11.17.14:
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* Luke Harper d. Dolph Ziggler to become the NNNEEEEEEEWWWW Intercontinental Champion
* Tyson Kidd d. Adam Rose
* Ryback d. Cesaro
* Rusev d. Heath Slater
* Big Show vs. Sheamus went to a no contest
* Brie Bella d. Nikki Bella
* The Dust Cloud, The Miz & Damian Sandow d. The Usos & Los Matadores
THE RIGHT:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper: WWE’s treatment of Ziggler since that great, rehabilitative segment with The Authority two weeks ago has been deeply disappointing. I understand that as the smallest member of the fan favorite team he is going to have to catch some beatings, but having him lose the Intercontinental Championship, so emphatically and completely out of nowhere, seems a humiliation too far. On the plus side, this was a darn good opener, fast paced, fresh, and packed with impactful moves. While Ziggler losing the belt at this stage isn’t ideal, I’m pleased for Luke Harper, he’s a tremendous, fearsome giant and capable of being so much more than just a Bray Wyatt henchman. OK, so right now he’s just transitioned into an Authority henchman, but that’s still slight progression up the card and giving him a singles title indicates they have some faith in him. The good outweighed the bad in this segment.
The Big Show vs. Sheamus: The running storyline that tied this week’s Raw together was the Authority’s quest to eliminate everyone John Cena had recruited to join his team. We’ve already covered how Ziggler was taken out, but the way in which Big Show and Sheamus were dispatched was much more interesting and productive, I felt. Having initially tried to bribe Show into quitting with the prospect of a Hall of Fame induction, Stephanie McMahon’s machinations seemed to have stalled when Sheamus marched out proclaiming his loyalty to Team Cena. However, Steph soon came up with a fun Plan B, pitting Show and Sheamus against one another with a WWE Championship match on the line! Obviously Showmus were soon tearing into one another, and in the end it was all for naught, as Rusev and Mark Henry took out both of them for the double DQ. This was a superb, genuinely well thought out bit of Machiavellian scheming from Stephanie, dangling a seductive carrot in front of Show and Sheamus’ faces before repeatedly smashing them both in the face with it. Rusev and Mark Henry were convincing forces of destruction, looking great as they tore apart their enemies. And, hey, the match itself wasn’t bad- it lacked a bit of direction, which is understandable considering it wasn’t leading anywhere conclusive, but it was on the level of the fun Ryback-Cesaro match from earlier in the card. Good work all round.
The Usos & Los Matadores vs. The Dust Cloud, The Miz & Damian Sandow: This was in the fine tradition of the multi man tags from the first half of the year, rather than the kind of lackluster ones that cluttered up the midcard a few weeks ago. It was totally formulaic and the crowd were disappointedly disinterested, choosing this match to pump their inane chants for the announcers into. But the pace was good and the finishing stretch was a fantastic, fluid, frenetic frenzy of finishers, everyone flying in and out of the ring and cracking whoever was in their with them with the best move they knew. A really good effort from everyone involved.
Team Cena Fights Back: As we neared the conclusion of Raw, things looked bleak for John Cena’s team. With Sheamus injured by Mark Henry, they were down to three members, and Show and Ziggler were so beaten up that there were question marks over whether they’d be able to compete as well. Worse than all of that though, John Cena’s sense of humor was seriously misfiring as he cracked some lame jokes in the ring to try and distract from his desperate situation, jokes which Triple H responded to with the sarcastic disdain they deserved (though in fairness to Cena it wasn’t a bad promo at all outside of the wisecracks, there was believable passion about him as he told the Authority that even with four members of the crowd on his team he’d find a way to win. And The Authority were pretty good as well, with HHH and Stephanie seeming really upset at the prospect of losing the single most important thing in their lives if their team failed them). However, just when things looked their bleakest, there was a steady stream of good news for Cena. Big Show and Ziggler could definitely compete! Erick Rowan would stand in for Sheamus! AND RYBACK MAKES FIVE! Then there was a big brawl, and Cena put HHH through a table to end the show. I wasn’t looking forward to this at all as contract signings are almost always dreary, but this was actually a good deal of fun. Rowan’s reveal as Sheamus’ replacement was a fun, unexpected twist, and the bit where Cesaro pretended to ally himself with Cena only to openly laugh in his face was great. It all lead to Ryback’s big decision, which was sold brilliantly by everyone, and it really does feel now like the most significant Survivor Series match in a good while. A strong end to the show.
puRgatoRy:
Family Ties: The Bray Wyatt-Dean Ambrose rivalry hasn’t really got off the ground so far, it’s been too unfocused and disjointed. I couldn’t even tell you much about why they’re feuding with each other, aside from the fact that Bray’s taunting Dean about his family and doing the “JOIN THE DARK SIDE” schtick that every vaguely sinister bad guy in WWE does at least once in his career. Having said all this, I felt this promo was in and of itself a decent watch. It’s always refreshing when Bray reigns in the criticisms a bit and speaks his mind more transparently, and that’s what he did here with the direct references to Ambrose’s parents. Dean’s goofy, video taped response made me chuckle and their brawl was pretty good and heated. It’s far from an inspiring feud and in the grand scheme of things this segment did little to alter that, but it was enjoyable enough for what it was.
Ryback vs. Cesaro: Not a bad match by any means. It was a short, bruising encounter in which the two men just traded power moves until one couldn’t stand any more, and those kind of matches are always fun. This could have done with some more intensity, and it’s disappointing as always to see Cesaro floundering around doing very little, but it was a fun addition to the midcard of the show anyhow.
A Bella Exhibition: Nikki Bella had her poor sister dress up as AJ so she could beat the heck out of her and send a message to the champion before their match on Sunday. This was a genuinely good idea, and while it was too rushed to be a truly excellent angle, it got the message across just fine. Brie eventually won on a fluky roll-up after AJ caused the distraction. I imagine their Divas Championship match will be OK enough, and I sincerely hope all the rumors about AJ losing the bout and departing the company are as wrong as they consistently have been over the last few months.
The wRong:
Words Words Words: Raw began with an extended talking segment featuring the Authority, as it so often does. Now, last week that wasn’t a bad thing at all, since it was intended to rebuild Ryback as a serious threat and did so incredibly effectively. This week they could have done something similar, for Luke Harper or someone, but unfortunately they just kind of discussed nothing instead. They recapped all the events that have occurred recently, and then they tried to tempt Ryback back onto Team Authority, only for the Big Guy to state he didn’t want to be on anyone’s team. As a whole it desperately lacked purpose; one week before Survivor Series and they’re killing time by going over previous events at some length and then talking up someone who didn’t desperately need the hype. I’m not opposed to the concept of Triple H and Stephanie cutting a promo because they’re reliably entertaining, but the source material should have been stronger. They could have accomplished everything they needed to within about three minutes, but it yawned out aimlessly.
THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING
THE RAW MATCH OF THE YEAR LIST:
No change.
* 3.03.14- The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family
* 2.17.14- John Cena vs. Cesaro
* 5.5.14- The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family
* 2.03.14- Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton
* 2.10.14- Sheamus & Christian vs. The Real Americans
* 1.27.14- John Cena, Sheamus & Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield
* 6.2.14- The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family
* 27.10.14- John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
* 8.18.14- Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
* 4.21.14- Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett
Another very solid episode of Raw. They were let down this week by a flat, unresponsive crowd, but the quality of the storytelling was excellent- the show long centerpiece of The Authority dismantling Team Cena was well plotted, developed well, and led to an exciting, satisfying conclusion. The wrestling quality again wasn’t outstanding, although Ziggler-Harper and the eight-man tag delivered the goods, and, as I literally just said (weren’t you listening?) the crowd undermined the show somewhat, but for the third week in a row I think Raw makes for a very worthwhile watch.
Show Rating: 7.0
As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale…
0 – 0.9: Torture
1 – 1.9: Extremely Horrendous
2 – 2.9: Very Bad
3 – 3.9: Bad
4 – 4.9: Poor
5 – 5.9: Not So Good
6 – 6.9: Average
7 – 7.9: Good
8 – 8.9:Very Good
9 – 9.9: Amazing
10: Virtually Perfect
