wrestling / Columns

Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of TNA Impact & WWE Smackdown

October 27, 2014 | Posted by Daniel Clark

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 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.


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By: Jericho Ricardi
IMPACT 10.22.14:

QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* The Hardys def. The BroMans at 6:00 via pin (Twist of Fate + Swanton to Jessie)
* Low Ki and Samoa Joe def. Samuel Shaw and Gunner at 5:00 via pin (Joe chokes out Gunner)
* Bram def. Devon at 5:00 via pin (Foreign Object)
* Kenny King and MVP def. Chris Melendez and Mr. Anderson at 5:00 via pin (King rolls up Melendez)
* EC3 and Tyrus def. Rockstar Spud and Eric Young at 7:00 via pin (Tyrus chokeslam to Spud)

THE RIGHT:
Tag Team Tournament: I’m a big fan of tournaments, and this can only make the tag team titles more prestigious. They also managed to work in advancement of several storylines inside of the tournament brackets. Good stuff all around, and made for an entertaining show. We also got some interesting clashes in styles, with X-Division guys Samoa Joe and Low Ki teaming up against Gunner and Sam Shaw (who is actually a high-flier in disguise). Supplemental Wrong for The BroMans losing in the first round, to which I can only say buhbuhbuhBOOOOOOO.

Spud Continues To Level Up: I would have held off on the Spud return for another week, but it’s good to see him back (with new wrestling attire and music, to boot). The changes to Spud instantly made him look more like a threat, and that was reflected during the match as his attacks were actually doing more than zero damage. Still, he just wasn’t able to surmount the behemoth that is Tyrus (who has an aura of unstoppability that they’re doing a good job focusing on, rather than turning him into a dancing dinosaur). Looking forward to Spud continuing to level up until he can actually defeat Tyrus and get to EC3. The company should really be promoting Spud as their superstar going into the UK tapings in a couple months.

Sam Shaw Betrays Gunner: This segment was way better than it had any right to be. Brittany (w/ special guest star: her pants) turned out to be every bit as whacko as they hinted in the past, so this should be an entertaining Bonnie and Clyde pairing. …until some internet columnist writes an essay on how the company is making light of mental illness in America or something. The two of them rolling around and OVER GUNNER’S CORPSE during their extended makeout session was a sight to behold.

Contract Signing: This was a decent segment, with Lashley finally speaking for himself despite MVP’s attempts to rule the roost. I’m hoping for (and expecting) Roode to end Lashley’s MMA-reign, as Roode is the one who came closest to beating Lashley in a match over the past few months. If Roode loses, there isn’t really anyone else for Lashley to face unless they want to start pushing Gunner again (not a bad idea regardless). Whereas if Roode wins, he’s got MVP, Aries, James Storm, and eventually EC3 and Bram lined up as challengers.

puRgatoRy:
Bram/Devon Feud: I was digging this at first as Bram continues to impress week in and week out. However, once we got down to brass tacks with the actual match between them, it didn’t do Bram many favors. Devon controlled most of the match, and Bram only won with a foreign object. Continuous wins via turnbuckle-shot rather than his finisher aren’t doing Bram any favors. What IS his finisher, anyway? I think he has one, but he has been winning so many matches via foreign object that I’ve forgotten what it is. I understand that his gimmick is that he’s all about weapons, but he needs to be able to get it done in the ring without them. Hopefully this feud with Devon doesn’t end up dragging Bram down.

Havok Vs. Rebel: This wasn’t even a match, and the attack by Gail Kim felt oddly unexciting for some reason. I was hoping for Havok to move onto a new feud, like Taryn, while Gail was on the shelf. It’s also becoming clear that the Knockouts division isn’t deep enough to give Havok a traditional Goldberg-style push.

THE wRong:
NOTHING

THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING

The 411:

This was a fairly run of the mill show that advanced storylines a bit without anything major really happening aside from Shaw’s return to evil (did he ever really leave?). It feels like they’re building towards a PPV, and that Impact as it is now is merely in a holding pattern. There was nothing amazing here, but at the same time there was nothing bad either. The highlight of the show was, as usual, the EC3/Spud feud.

Cheap plug time; support this site and this column by sharing it with your homies. Also, support my site Coronajumper.com by reading my recent posts on wrestling videogames, including TNA Impact. Featuring gratuitous Rebel.

Show Rating: 7.5

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


By Daniel Clark
Smackdown 10.24.14

QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* The Miz and Damien Mizdow def. Los Matedores at 2.47 by submission
* AJ Lee def. Alicia Fox at 2.06 by pinfall
* Dolph Ziggler def. Cesaro at 11.13 by pinfall to retain the Intercontinental Title
* Nikki Bella/Summer Rae/Cameron def. Brie Bella/Naomi/Natalya at 1.56 by pinfall
* Bo Dallas/Stardust/Goldust def. Mark Henry and the Usos at 5.49 by pinfall

THE RIGHT:
The Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matedores: This was pretty simple and effective and a decent way to lead into the Miz/Sheamus match for the title at Hell in a Cell. The Miz was entertaining again and his attempts to impersonate Sheamus was quite good, but once again, Mizdow was a highlight of the match and he is getting everything that he possibly can out of the gimmick and is revitalizing his career and when he does turn on the Miz, he is going to get a massive pop from the crowd. Some nice symmetry with the two Miz’s facing an identikit team in Los Matedores, so it was also like a mirror of the match taking place. Nothing exactly special but the match was good enough and Sheamus on commentary did his bit to sell the match at the PPV.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro: It is Ziggler against Cesaro, so of course it is going to be good, but as good as this was, you know that they could do a lot more and perhaps are saving something for a PPV clash or their final encounter when they will get 20+ minutes to put on something special. But for a TV match, this was great, and it is not often that WWE fans chant ‘this is awesome’, so that tells you something. These two just bring out the best in each other as they both are prepared to go flat out throughout the match and have the stamina to do so and not require any rests. Really good match that is going to be someone near the top of best matches on Smackdown this year, and the fact we are getting another match at Hell in A Cell is even better. But although the 2 out of 3 falls match should be great if given the time that it deserves, which on an eight match PPV whereby at least two matches will go very long, I’m not certain it will do, does have a slight drawback. Cesaro may have beaten Ziggler on Raw, while Ziggler got his win back on Smackdown, but in recent matches over the last couple of matches, Ziggler has beaten Cesaro three times in singles match, once in a triple threat and twice in tag matches, only losing one tag match, so it is not exactly the same that Cesaro and Ziggler have been evenly matched – Ziggler has beaten him time and time again. However, no-one is going to complain if they get 30 minutes against each other.

puRgatoRy:
Big Show Interview: I’m not quite sure what to think about this. On one hand, the Big Show came off very sensibly and as if he has thought about his actions and words carefully and that this incident makes him more determined to get one over on Rusev on Sunday and make sure he beats him – his closing shot that he might not be able to keep his emotions in check but knows that he can beat him does make you want to get behind him, as does his genuine emotion and honesty about his respect for the Armed Forces. On the other hand, this response came about as a result of Rusev kicking a man who ran into the ring to confront him in the face – the fact he happens to be dressed as a soldier is what makes this more of a bigger deal than it should be. Should Rusev have kicked him in the face – probably not – but the fact he is a solider – a man who is trained to fight – actually makes him more dangerous and so from Rusev’s point of view, kicking him in the face before he had the chance to attack him was the best defense mechanism. The Rusev/Big Show has always worked better if you are an American who cares and respects tremendously their Armed Forces and I have a feeling that the solider element of this feud will do wonders for making average American care about this and get behind their man, but for me, it doesn’t change anything.

The Usos and Mark Henry vs. Stardust/Goldust/Bo Dallas: I’m not quite sure that the WWE really know what they are doing with Bo Dallas and seem to move him from being a joke to a threat on a weekly basis. On one hand you have Bo Dallas having a massive winning streak over Mark Henry and having his number and whatever they do – on the other hand, he lost to Big E this week, who had not won a match since July, so it is hard to know what to think about that (other than arguably Rusev’s big win over Mark Henry is looking less and less impressive by the day). So another win for Bo Dallas over Henry either will mean nothing if he keeps on losing other matches or something if he then goes and beats someone else. The match was fairly decent, although nothing special, and the tag team title feud seems to have cooled down a bit and has lost some heat lately, but without any other teams really in the picture, they have to keep feuding with each other.

THE wRong:
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins call each other out: As good as the Ambrose/Rollins feud has been, and as good as their match on Sunday will be, this really was a waste of time and added nothing to what has been a great feud and in reality, the segment that they had on Raw with Mick Foley should either have happened tonight, or if it happened on Raw, they should not have appeared tonight. Ambrose starts the show by calling out Rollins and reiterating that he is not a nice guy, only for Rollins to say that he will call him out later. What this tells me though as the viewer is that the opening segment was a total waste of time because nothing happened and that anything that will close the show, but also, nothing that Rollins has to say it that important as he is willing to wait. Rollins then mentions that when he beats Ambrose, he will then cash in the MITB contract. However, there is a problem with that as how can he cash it in if Brock Lesnar, the champion, is never around? It’s exactly the best thing to do to mention and remind people that the champion is missing and anyway, if the champion is never around, then what is the use of the MITB contract? I have praised Rollins in the past for his intelligence his smartness but what he did when he did call out Ambrose at the end of show was just so ridiculous and stupid it defies belief. He firstly mentions that he is used to Ambrose hiding and attacking him out of nowhere, so he knows that it is something he does. He secondly has some security out with him so that when Ambrose comes out, the security will stop Ambrose getting to him. So what does he do? He has his two members of security guarding the ramp-side of the ring – the one place Ambrose is not going to come from. He then shows a video on the titantron that he fixes his, and his securities attention on, giving Ambrose the perfect excuse and distraction to sneak into the ring unnoticed, from the other ring to where the security is, and attack him. The sheer stupidity of this is so different to what we have seen from Rollins in the past. He has been positioned as a smart, calculating and intelligent man. This was the actions of an idiot. Eventually we see Ambrose win the brawl after the attack, but Rollins run away, and then watch as the security are put through tables – bar that specific detail, this was the same ending as we have seen plenty of times before, and as the final segment before the PPV, was not that good and did nothing extra to make you want to see the match but did harm Seth Rollins’ character.

AJ Lee vs. Alicia Fox: This match happened would be a simple way to explain it, and in honesty, it was the exact same thing that we have seen every week involve the divas. AJ wins the match via a rollup and then escapes before Paige has the chance to get to her. We have seen this happen every single week and it adds nothing to their feud other than tires out the audience and wane any interest that they may have. If there is nothing that the creative team can think of that is going to advance this feud, then don’t do anything. Interest levels in AJ vs. Paige would have been higher had they just shown a preview video or had an interview with one of them than putting out this two minute rushed job that we have seen before.

Six Diva Tag Match: I simply don’t see how this can possibly do anything to sell the match between Brie and Nikki at Hell in a Cell. Leaving aside that the crowd was practically silent for this whole match, how does the heel pinning the face cleanly in under two minutes in a six person match make you want to see those two face one on one and pay some money towards that? Nikki didn’t win because she cheated, she didn’t win by distraction, she didn’t win on a fluke – she won with her finishing move. If Nikki can win a match so quickly then a) why would anyone care and believe that Brie has any chance on Sunday, and b) how is going to look when she doesn’t win as easily when it is just the two of them? Ever since Nikki turned heel this feud has died and any interest in it that the crowd had when it was Brie vs. Stephanie has gone. The match was poor anyway and I cannot see them doing anything that really gets the crowd into the match at the PPV, particularly given the shoddy booking here.

THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING

The 411:

This may have been the last episode before Hell in a Cell but did not really do anything to persuade the viewer to watch the show if they had not already made up their mind. Barring a great match between Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro there was very little if anything worthy of being on a go-home show.

The Ziggler/Cesaro match was excellent and following on from the matches that they have had this week, I am definitely up for seeing them have a 2/3 falls match. But as good as the match was, it is another defeat in a title match for Cesaro and in reality does not make him a viable contender for the belt given how often he has been beaten by Ziggler in the last couple of months. That said though, they did put on one of the better matches on Smackdown this year and the match itself did in a way save the show.

The main feud that was highlighted this week was the Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins, but they did not do a particularly great job of building to the HITC match. They opened and closed the show but nothing of importance really happened and what did damaged them. Ambrose opened the show and called out Rollins, but he said he would call him out later, so the opening promo was a total waste of time and did not achieve anything other than you wanting them to do something.

And then the closing promo showed Rollins up as being stupid and foolish by allowing a perfect opportunity for Ambrose to sneak attack him – which went against everything that we have seen of Rollins’ behavior lately, and the ending, with Rollins getting away is the same that we have seen time and time again. In truth, the feud would have been better served had neither man been featured on the show and nothing could top or add to the ending that they were given on Raw.

The Big Show interview showed him to come across a reasonable and passionate American and did reiterate all of his reason why he has a problem with Rusev, but the decision to almost shoehorn in the military angle does seem to be a way of trying to get more heat onto the feud, but I’m not entirely sure it is necessary. Still, it should be a good match between them at the PPV.

The rest of the show was filler really. The Miz/Mizdow tag match was entertaining and reminding you that he is facing Sheamus this Sunday. Bo Dallas got another win over Mark Henry but they still don’t seem to have any idea as to what they want him to be with him flip-flopping from a joke and a serious wrestler in the same week. The AJ/Paige stuff was exactly the same that they have been doing for weeks now with no-one even trying to come up with something new and interesting to progress the feud. The Bella stuff just didn’t interest anyone and Nikki pinning Brie clean in under two minutes was utterly stupid and backwards in terms of trying to get anyone to care.

This was a very poor episode of Smackdown and take away the Ziggler/Cesaro match and it would not have been far off being the worst of the year. It was just disjointed, full of booking that didn’t help anyone, and seemed as though they had totally checked out and finished the hype for Hell in a Cell on Monday night.

Show Rating: 3.5

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

The 934th edition is over…

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article topics :

Wrestling's 4Rs, Daniel Clark