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

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 10.29.14:
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* Samoa Joe and Low Ki def. MVP and Kenny King at 15:30 via submission (Joe chokes out King)
* The Beautiful People def. Taryn Terrell and Madison Rayne at 5:00 via pin (Double pin off of a Rayne Drop from Madison)
* Matt and Jeff Hardy def. Tyrus and EC3 at 8:00 via pin (Twist of Fate, Twist of Fate, Swanton Bomb Super Combo on Tyrus)
* James Storm def. Eddie Edwards at 5:00 via pin (Last Call Superkick)
* Bobby Roode def. Lashley to become new TNA World Champion at 19:00 via pin (Summerslam ’92 Bulldog Counter)

THE RIGHT:
The Roode Is About To Change: Great main event with a great moment in Roode’s title victory. It’ll be interesting to see what they do going forward with a new champion, and as good as Lashley has become, it was time. The change instantly makes the show seem fresher. That said, it wasn’t the amazing wrestling match that their first clash was, with lots of overbooking. The false finishes didn’t come from finishers so much as ref bumps and slow counts. This ended up being sort of an unofficial two out of three falls match, with Lashley taking the first and Roode taking the subsequent two. At first I thought this made Roode look weaker, but now I see what they’re going for. They wanted Lashley to still look like a destroyer despite losing, and he did. Roode/Lashley III, if it happens, should have a more decisive (and less overbooked) win for Roode. Other than that, damn fine match.

The Tag Title Tournament: Got some good semi-final matches here. Having Tyrus get pinned by THREE consecutive finishing moves from the Hardys was a good choice, as it actually makes him look like more of a beast. It also preserves EC3’s unbeaten streak, technically. MVP/King Vs. Ki/Joe was another fun match, with some very hard-hitting offense from Low Ki. The X-Division’s upper echelon versus The Hardys should be a great match, but I’m wondering if the Wolves will still be a unit for the winners to go on to face by then. I’m also concerned about MVP and Kenny King seemingly dropping down the card lately, but that might rebound now that Lashley is no longer champion.

Lots of Wrestling: This show was full of wrestling, something that has been true about Impact for a while now. They’ve basically done everything that the internet wanted them to do vis-à-vis “more matches, less storyline nonsense” and the ratings have actually gone down. Well, they gave us what we demanded.

Whale Boy: Speaking of storyline nonsense… this Shark Boy thing continues to be our comedy of the week on Impact. Where are they going with it, though? Thus far, Shark Boy has been a really unlikable character since his return, so I’m hoping they go on a “road to redemption” storyline with him trying to get back in shape and be nicer to his fans. Only problem is, he needs a coach, and right now there’s no one like that in the storyline (aside from that stage manager guy, who could actually get over if they go with him in the mentor role). Despite having no idea where they’re going with Shark Boy, I’m entertained by these skits and interested to see what happens.

puRgatoRy:
Darkside Vs. Dinosaurs: Bram continues to do good things, and Magnus is being elevated by Bram’s presence. Interesting that Bram pointed out that Magnus’ title reign would have worked out better had he been “as violent as he is now”, given how awful that reign was and how much damage it actually did to Magnus. This lands in Purgatory rather than Wrong because of the strength of Bram’s promo. That said, the Magnus stuff kinda rang hollow because Magnus hasn’t exactly been on a winning streak, losing to Matt Hardy very recently. That takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of this idea that Magnus is new and improved. Also, feuding with an out of shape Tommy Dreamer and Devon isn’t exactly the way to the next level; as much as TNA thinks those guys have a rub to give, they don’t. Devon has become TNA’s Kane, a guy who doesn’t really make anyone he works with look better for whatever reason.

THE wRong:
Taryn-Derailment: Taryn is the next logical major challenger to Havok, so instead of building to that we derail her with a Madison Rayne feud, Madison Rayne Heel Turn #22, and getting pinned by The Beautiful People (both of them, at least). Not the best way to build up your next major Knockouts contender.

THE RIDICULOUS:
The Other Half Of Beer Money Is Doing Things Too: James Storm cut a great promo before soundly defeating one half of the tag champions. With Roode as champion, this winter would be the time for Storm to move back up into the title scene and renew the rivalry, and getting the tag belts might be a step in that direction. What didn’t work about this is that there really wasn’t any reason for Davey Richards to be so conflicted about whether or not to join Storm’s Revolution. Unless I missed something huge, they never actually built this up in any way; it just came out of nowhere and it was totally not believable. The Wolves are supposed to be a brotherhood, and if one of them would get this conflicted over a weird cult leader politely asking them to join his cult, then they aren’t much of a brotherhood are they? Taz even went so far as to say “we don’t know what’s going on in Davey’s personal life” in an attempt to explain the whole thing. The fact that something like that was the best explanation we got just illustrates how out of left field it was. Also, where does this Wolves-dissention leave the future winners of the tag title tournament?

The 411:
This was a good episode of Impact due primarily to the main event. I had more complaints with it than usual, though, and there were a number of baffling developments. Still, it was enjoyable and the main event is recommended viewing. I’m still not enthused with these Bethlehem tapings, though, and I kept thinking about how much bigger the main event would have felt in front of a hometown crowd for Roode had this match been on an Impact taping in Toronto. TNA has completely missed the boat on doing shows in Canada, and there was a time a few years ago where they could have filled a substantial portion of the Skydome with a well-promoted show (with, say, a beloved hometown guy going for the title). Alas, that time has likely passed.

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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 10.31.14
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* Nikki Bella def Paige, Alicia Fox, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Emma, Summer Rae, Layla and Rosa Mendes at2.45 in a battle royal to become number 1 contender to the Divas title
* Kane def. Dolph Ziggler at 8.53 by pinfall
* Seth Rollins def. Dolph Ziggler at 0.25 by pinfall
* Ryback def. Seth Rollins at 1.27 by pinfall
* Los Matedores def. Goldust/Stardust by pinfall at 7.58
* Rusev def. The Great Khali at 0.54 by submission
* Dean Ambrose def. Cesaro at 7.19 by pinfall in a ‘Trick of Street Fight’

THE RIGHT:
Heath Slater vs. Ryback: Simple and effective as the rebuild of Ryback is back on. Heath Slater is his usual annoying self, which makes him perfect for these squashes, but Ryback is not in the slightest bit amused and just kills him. I guess we will be seeing a few of these squashes in the next few weeks to re-establish Ryback which will be fine, as they were always fairly entertaining. It is what happens after that which requires a lot more thought as to whether he can be a main eventer again.

Rusev vs. The Great Khali: We’ve finally got to the stage where Rusev is going to challenge for and will surely be successfully in winning the US title, and I am looking forward to his match with Sheamus. Both men will be able to give as good as they get and it should be a very hard-hitting and physical encounter, and for all that Sheamus’ character is stale, he will producing when he gets inside the ring. Rusev crushing the Great Khali also makes him look really impressive as if beat him so quickly and so convincingly. The slow and steady build of Rusev continues well.

Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose: These two went out and made the most of the gimmick match that they had been given and embraced the Halloween stuff and made it part of the match and created some good and innovative spots around it. The match was pretty decent and perfectly fine for a TV main event and it allowed Ambrose to pick up a big win, as for all he has done lately, it was something that was slightly lacking on his part. Cesaro gave a good fight here but they do seem to have slightly given up on him making it to the main event at the moment, as his week has seen him lose twice to Dolph Ziggler, once to Ambrose and got beaten up by Ambrose. But, for Ambrose, this was a good one and one in a decent match that used the gimmick it was given to further it.

puRgatoRy:
Adam Rose: This segment, with the Rosebuds partying backstage, is probably going to end up meaning absolutely nothing and be a waste of time, but I am giving the WWE the benefit of the doubt with what R Truth said in regards to people having forgotten about Adam Rose because of all the attention being on the bunny. If it is a throwaway line that leads to nothing then it is a waste of time. But, it could be leading to a more serious Adam Rose who actually has a purpose and tries to establish himself so that he is not being overshadowed by the bunny, or could lead to a heel turn where he snaps on the bunny for stealing the spotlight. This however is dependent on their actually being a plan for Rose.

THE wRong:
Divas battle royal: This whole match was a bit of a mess from start to finish with Paige really being the only saving grace in it, with her being the undoubted star. Her dressing up as Summer Rae was spot on and she had got the little mannerisms down perfectly and she had an effective strategy for the match while the rest just seemed to aimlessly wonder around the ring before their elimination. Nikki Bella got the win and becomes the number one contender after Alicia Fox takes both herself and Paige out of the match and as a result does not look like a deserving contender. It’s hardly what you want to see to build a title match when the champion is not in the slightest bit worried on concerned as to Nikki being the new challenger to the belt – almost like AJ has dismissed her as a threat, which when she is handed the win but the virtue of others doing all the work for her – is probably the right attitude to have.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane: This began with another Authority segment designed to sell what would happen to anyone who chose to join Team Cena at Survivor Series in that they would be victimized by the Authority. Of course, the once person who actually would take no notice of this and join anyone is Dean Ambrose, and of course, he is going to be tied up with Bray Wyatt and thus won’t be taking on the Authority and Seth Rollins, even though that is what he wants to do. Dolph Ziggler though does seem to want to get involved and comes out to face Kane in a match which turned out to be pretty decent in the end, having picked up dramatically from the slow start that it had. However, I don’t really see why Ziggler had to lose the match as it benefits nobody in the end. Kane’s standing is not going to change whether he beats Ziggler or not, but the loss for Ziggler is disappointing as it is another defeat for someone holding a title and thus weakens the standing of the belt. But also, it hardly makes him look as if he is the man to stand up to the Authority is he is losing matches to Kane. This would have worked so much better if Ziggler had stolen the win, or if they did not want Kane to lose, he caused a DQ, and then you could have done the post-match beatdown and the Ziggler win all the same. The difference is that doing that would not have made Ziggler weak.

Miz TV with Mark Henry: The adjective that comes to mind to describe this is dull. I just don’t think that anyone is really down to see another feud between Mark Henry and the Big Show and nothing that happened in this segment changed my mind. Miz TV can be quite entertaining, particularly when the Miz tries to make the show all about him and goads the guests, but this was not the case here with him just allowing Henry to talk, but doing so dragged this down as Henry didn’t have anything interesting to say and did so in a way that didn’t actually make you want to listen to him, as this was one of his weaker promo efforts. Out came the Big Show, who got involved in a brief brawl with him, only to be thrown through a barricade, and Henry walks off strong. An okay segment to build to their match, but it was not that exciting, nor it is what anyone is looking forward to, despite the fact that they could put on a reasonable match.

Stardust/Goldust vs. Los Matadores: It looks as if the Tag Champs have moved on from the Usos and onto facing Los Matedores, who do not exactly scream as if they should be next in line for the tag belts, but then, there aren’t actually any other tag team around. The problem really with this was the antics around El Torito that just totally distracted you from the fact that there was a match going on and just seemed fairly unnecessary as these teams do not need the shenanigans to put together a good match. The El Torito stuff was just too distracting and of course led to the tag champs losing the match, and not exactly the best start to the feud. I just came away from this not enthused about the feud, which is not the reaction that you want to have.

Bray Wyatt promo: A confession – I’m bored of Bray Wyatt and do not look forward to his segments at the moment. His act is different to anyone else on the roster but he is not making a positive impact on me at the moment and just feel that nobody really has a clue what to do with him at present. He was a bit of fresh air when he made his debut but since then, his maniacal promos where he talks for a long term but actually says nothing might make him a compelling, interesting and three-dimensional character but actually does not make for good and exciting TV. The fact that in his year in the WWE he has not managed to convince anyone to join up or listen and agree to what he has to say, nor has he made a real positive impact and changed anyone’s mind or impression of him also make him come off as a slightly deranged and not someone to be taken seriously at all. The fact that Dean Ambrose, who has spent the last few months trying to attack Seth Rollins, the man he was feuding with, at every opportunity, and just allowed Bray to talk in the ring unchallenged and unchecked and then came out for his match with Cesaro not worried about Bray at all hardly sells the feud. The fact that Bray he saying nothing new about Ambrose or anything that he would not admit to so far doesn’t help things.

THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING

The 411:
This was such as disappointing episode of Smackdown and it felt as if everyone had taken Halloween week off and thus could not come up with anything interesting for this show, and the main segments on this show fell a bit flat and like nothing was actually happening.

The start of the show with the Authority and Dolph Ziggler was all about building towards the Survivor Series tag team match between Team Authority and Team Cena and did a decent job of hyping up to the match, particularly with the reminder of commentary that Randy Orton, who will be part of Team Authority has a great record in these matches. However, there was no need for Ziggler to lose to Kane, let alone as cleanly as he did. The post match beat down, and the ‘match’ between Ziggler and Seth Rollins were absolutely fine as selling the statement and the impact as to what would happen if you stand-up to them, but would have worked as well, if not better, if Ziggler had won the match, as it would been an act of revenge rather than an act of piling on further misery to a man you have beaten anyway.

The top of the second hour was highlighted by the Mark Henry/Big Show feud that is not one that anyone is really invested in or really is looking forward to sitting through and nothing that happened here is going to change that. Henry’s promo was delivered poorly, was dull, and he said nothing of real interest or made you sit up and actually care about the feud, particularly as they did the same feud only a couple of years ago with the same dynamic, and given the usual dynamic of Miz TV, it seemed a complete waste to just let Henry talk.

The main event of Dean Ambrose against Cesaro was a decent match and they did well to incorporate the gimmick into it successfully, and created some fun and innovative spots, and did give Ambrose a win in a main event that he needed. But given that he is involved in feuds against Seth Rollins (which is not quite fully resolved) and Bray Wyatt (who he has started against), it did seem slightly odd that given his character and prosperity for getting into needless scraps, he didn’t seem concerned about either of them and just ignored the Bray Wyatt promo that came beforehand.

The rest of the show had potential but failed to deliver on it. It set up Los Matedores as the new challengers for the Tag Team titles, but the fact that El Torito was used so heavily in the set up for the match was distracting and not fitting of setting up a feud. Nikki Bella became the number one contender to the Divas title, but didn’t actually deserve it as she won the match by default, and with AJ not in the slightest bit interested or concerned by her, does not make you want to see that match. And also, if you are doing a personal assistant bit, which the Bellas are, you actually have to do something useful with it rather than just send her on pointless errands. Rusev and Ryback however did look very impressive in their short and effective wins.

This was such a disappointing episode of Smackdown with nothing really working out in the way that they would have hoped. It felt very much like the B-show and it was not even a good version of the B-show. An episode to avoid.

Show Rating: 2.8

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 936th edition is over…

That’s gonna hurt!