wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of TNA Impact
How the 4Rs of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO-THREE 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 needs 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.
TNA Impact Review 1.19.16
Jack McGee
TNA Impact 1.12.16
– Jeff Hardy defeated Tyrus @ 2:55 via DQ
– Knockouts Title Match: Champion Gail Kim defeated Awesome Kong @ 5:45 via pin
– Beer Money defeated Drake and Godderz @ 4:05 via pin
– Mike Bennett defeated Pepper Parks @ 2:58 via pin
– TNA Title Last Man Standing Title vs. Career Match: Matt Hardy defeated Champion Ethan Carter III @ 18:06
THE Right:
Opening Promo/Jeff vs. Tyrus: The opening promo and match worked well in the sense that it was all part of the biggest picture, and that was the main event and angle that came out of it. I will give credit when credit it dude, and while this was not some groundbreaking piece of TV, it was quality and made sense. Jeff, who was way better than usual here on the mic, shows concern for his brother, who is putting his career on the line later in the show. They have some brotherly back and forth, where Matt discusses letting people down but says it will be ok. Tyrus comes out, but instead of trying to hurt Matt, tries to take out Jeff. Which even without the double turn talk, makes sense because they would want Jeff gone so that Tyrus would be out there to help Carter. They have a short, but fine outing, which was not supposed to be a technical wrestling classic. It was supposed to be the big guy trying to take out the little guy, and the big guy (who is a heel) attacked his previously established injury. It was simple, not over thought, and made sense. This is something that TNA has honestly failed at over the years, feeling as if they have to over complicate things, when the simple way, the easiest way to get there, works best just like it did here.
Beer Money defeated Drake and Godderz: I liked this for what it was; as Csonka put it, this was Beer Money’s greatest hits to reintroduce them to the TV audience. Unfortunately, if history is any indication, no one really watched their return on the One Night Only PPV. With that being the case, this was a needed match to hold. Drake and Godderz are inexperienced as a team, and even with the lay off, Beer Money has the experience advantage. This was a fine, but short match, where Beer Money showed off that they are back and ready to move forward as a team.
Setting Up Angle vs. Lashley: Outside of the main event, the other big angle on the show was setting up another of Angle’s farewell opponents. Angle played to the crowd, which loves him and Lashley then appeared. Speaking of guys doing better on promos, Lashley did a much better job here than usual, and added a lot to the segment. He put over Angle as getting him into wrestling and for giving him great matches last year. This all led to the challenge, which Angle accepted. The segment was fine, but the ending really put it over the top. The music hits and you think that it’s over, and then Lashley is still there so Angle can’t leave, and tells him that he’s going to beat his ass. The change in intensity was excellent here, and added a ton to an otherwise solid segment. Post segment, a mystery woman met with Lashley, adding some intrigue to the new attitude of Lashley. This was good stuff here.
Matt Hardy defeated Champion Ethan Carter III: The Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III main event match ended up being a damn fine piece of business, quality wise it won’t be remembered at the end of the year as a top tier match, but I felt that they delivered a damn fine main event match. They worked really hard, got a lot of time, and the tone of the match was great from the standpoint that it reflected a title match as well as a match where Hardy’s career was on the line. I get that not everyone is a Matt Hardy fan, and he is far from my favorite, but the guy is working really hard in TNA and this match was another example of that. Carter also busted his ass and has shown that he is willing to go the extra mile and take punishment in the big matches to make sure that they come off as big as possible. The main event delivered for me. We’ll discuss the double turn later…
puRgatoRy:
Crazzy Steve and Abyss Attack The Wolves: The Wolves cut a backstage promo this week, teasing the feud with Beer Money that most expected that we’d be getting since they are now back. Unfortunately for them, Crazzy Steve and Abyss attacked them. This was a short, but effective segment. I do have some questions and concerns. First of all, Steve and Abyss have been complete dog shit in the ring for the better part of a year. I hope that a new motivation and teaming them together will help remedy this. Steve going evil has potential and I love the idea of getting Abyss out of pointless hardcore matches with no hype or importance. We’ll see if this works, and I hope the injury bug doesn’t get involved because The Wolves vs. Beer Money should be a ton of fun if and when we get there. I am cautiously optimistic here.
Mike Bennett defeated Pepper Parks: Mike Bennett defeated Pepper Parks in a fine debut match. Bennett took most of the match, as he should have, but I am not feeling his character yet. It’s still early, but right now Bennett just feels like another guy on the roster. Hopefully his direction becomes clear and Bennett can emerge as a payer in the weeks to come. Right now he is fine, but I want to see him make an impact, no pun intended.
The “Double Turn”: The big news coming off of this week’s show was Matt Hardy winning the TNA World Title, in a what was essentially a double turn for he and EC3. The Hardy stuff was largely done well, although I felt commentary tipped their hat a bit too early, instead of questioning Hardy they seemed accusatory and didn’t play up the fact that his career was on the line. Now I feel that Hardy’s turn can work and is working already, the “Big Money Matt” persona is a great play off of some of the work he did in ROH. That stuff was great, because he pushes all of the buttons of the “smart fan,” and does it well. His post match promo was well done, and the little teases from Tyrus and the way that Matt made sure that Jeff was not around also worked very well. To me the question mark here is EC3. EC3 has been a very good heel, one I felt delivered and that I enjoyed. But right now, and of course the follow up will be key, I don’t but him as the face. I don’t buy him as wronged and I do no empathize with him at this point. His whole run has been that of a self-entitled prick that has done horrible things and has had a lot of things handed to him. There was no tease to signal the face turn or to make fans care. So that is the question. Can the writing make this work? Maybe more importantly, can EC3 make this work as we move forward? Of that I am not sure at this time. I hope that they have this carefully mapped out, but for now, it lands in purgatory for me.
THE wRong:
Champion Gail Kim defeated Awesome Kong: Gail Kim defeated Awesome Kong to retain the Knockout’s Title, and when all was said and done, all was the same. The match was far from bad, but they keep trying Kim vs. Kong and it doesn’t click anymore; they are older and Kong is banged up. They simply can’t do the match that made them popular all those years ago. But again, the thing here is that nothing really changes. Kim faced Kong, Kim beat Kong, the Dollhouse interfered, the Beautiful People are still a thing, the Dollhouse brawled with the Beautiful People again and the feuds will all continue. The Knockout’s division needs a complete overhaul at this point because it is beyond stale. Kim is still great, but she’s also 38. We need new blood, we need new feuds and we need a new face of this division.
THE Ridiculous:
Nothing
Overall I felt that TNA was a good show this week, with a lot of groundwork laid for the future and the big title change and Hardy heel turn. Can they follow up? We find out this week, and for their sake, I hope that they can.
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
