wrestling / Columns

Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of WWE Raw & NJPW

January 23, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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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NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 1.13.15
By Larry Csonka


OKUMURA and Angel De Oro fought to a Time Limit Draw [**½]: They worked a good opener here, under the “Lighting Match” rules, which is a 10-mnute time limit. And they went to the time limit draw. I don’t have much of an issue with that, because draws aren’t done all that often, and OKUMURA was celebrating a decade with CMLL, so they didn’t want him to lose here. The work was good, but I didn’t feel that they built to the draw that well in terms of storytelling.

Rey Cometa & Triton def. Barbaro Cavernario & Mr. Niebla [*]: This was not good. It was sloppy, disjointed and never felt as if they were reading the same book, let alone the same page. Triton got injured on a dive in a scary spot, but the match was bad before that.

Gedo & Polvora def. Jushin “Thunder” Liger & Mistico [**] : They played “try to rip off the mask” here, which was a cover for the lack of good match that they were going to have. It wasn’t bad, but never really got going for me and was very slow at times. This felt like your garden variety TV match.

Stuke Jr., Tiger Mask & Stigma def. YOSHI-HASHI, Shinsuke Nakamura & Mephisto [***]: Things finally picked up here with a good tag match. In the early show son the tour, big stars (like Nakamura) do not work too hard, which is why they are placed into six-man tags like this one. This had good work overall with the NJPW guys getting to work the lucha style a bit, and it just felt fun. It was a much-needed change of pace after the last two matches.

Tesuya Naito, Ryusuke Taguchi & La Sombra def. KUSHIDA, Captain New Japan & Mascara Dorada [***] : We go back to back for fun matches, with another six-man delivering a quality bout. Dorado and Sombra added a nice change up to what would usually feel like a run of the mill spot show tag match. We got a good mix of lucha, some high flying and even a bit of comedy.

Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Valador Jr. def. Kazuchika Okada, Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero [***¼]: This was the best match on the show, but just by a little bit. Ultimo Guerrero is wearing his mask even though he lost it, so he’s a dick. Atlantis made him tap for that, while also removing the mask; setting up their match later in the tour. Rock on dude. Tanahashi and Okada were overall limited, like Nakamura, but they were involved in the closing stretch, which was a lot of fun and the real juice of the match.

Quick Show Thoughts: There is nothing awesome on this show, or anything that you have to see; it was a perfectly fine card that was fun at times to watch. It was the early show on the tour, and to me just didn’t have that buzz or atmosphere that some of last year’s shows had. You can take a pass on this one, but if you have time to kill, it’s not a bad way to pass the time.

Score: 6.0


NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 1.18.15
By Larry Csonka

Angel de Oro, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo and Yoshi Hashi via pin [**½]: Basic opening tag match, it was entertaining overall and while I had hoped for a bit more quality wise, there was nothing wrong with it.

Cavernario Barbaro and Okumura defeated Kushida and Triton via submission [***]: This was a step up from the opener, it had more energy and I have really been enjoying watching KUCHIDA work with the luchas. There was some really fun stuff here.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Tetsuya Naito, and La Sombra defeated Captain New Japan, Mascara Don and Mascara Dorada [***]: Another fun six-man tag, which is the norm for these events. At times they feel a bit overwhelming, because it can all run together, but this card has some singles to come so that won’t be a big issue. This was another fun match, but nothing great.

NWA Welterweight Championship Match: Champion Volador Jr. defeated Gran Guerrero via pin [***]: Let me say this, and I do not say things like this without a ton of thought because I do hate to disrespect wrestlers. Gran Guerrero looked like the worst wrestler in the word here; in no way did he look good. Volador Jr. had to work around him instead of with him to make this what it was. I do not use the term loosely, but this was a complete carry job by Volador Jr.

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship: Champion Mephisto defeated Stuka Jr via pin [**½]: This match just never had a good flow for me. I now we’re talking lucha, but there is good lucha with flow and storytelling, and there is lucha that is simply a collection of moves. This came off as guys doing shit to do shit, with little to no flow at all. Sure some of the stuff they did was fun and looked cool, but they never did anything to really get me emotionally invested in the match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Stigma and Mistico defeated Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Polvora via submission [**]: This was a really weak main event, especially considering the star power involved. The match wasn’t overly long, but as previously mentioned, the big stars (Tanahashi and Okada) did not do much here, which was very disappointing. Mistico also appeared to injury his leg down the stretch, which didn’t help things and is also possibly bad for him as he’s already missed time due to a leg injury. (FYI, this is replacement Mistico, not the former Sin Cara, who now works as Myzteziz).

Ultimo Guerrero defeated Atlantis via pin [***¾]: Guerrero was wearing his mask again, because he’s a dick. For those that don’t know, he lost his mask vs. Atlantis at the CMLL 81st Anniversary Show, in what was a tremendous match. While not as good as that match, they had a really good outing, the best match on the two shows. Guerrero would eventually unmask and attack Atlantis, and the action spilled to the floor. This was not only a ton of fun, but had that buzz I had been looking for during both shows. Guerrero scored the win to get some revenge to close a fine event.

Quick Show Thoughts: Overall this was a better show than the first, but again it isn’t anything you have to go out of your way to see. There are some fun matches for sure, but these shows just don’t have the buzz for me that they had last year. If you have New Japan World already, and have some free time they are a good way to kill time.

Score: 6.5


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By: Jack Stevenson


Raw 1.19.15:
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* Bray Wyatt d. Daniel Bryan
* Dean Ambrose d. Bad News Barrett
* The New Day d. Cesaro & Kidd
* Paige & Natalya d. Summer Rae & Alicia Fox
* Rusev d. R-Truth
* Jey Uso d. The Miz
* John Cena d. Seth Rollins, Kane & The Big Show

THE RIGHT:
Triple Threat Tensions!: This was the obligatory 20-minute in ring segment to open Raw. It’s a drag to have pretty much every single episode of this darn program start the exact same way, but taken in isolation, the actual segments really aren’t that bad at all- a bit long, but usually pretty well delivered by charismatic, worthwhile wrestlers. If they just shook up the format a little, they’d be so much more digestible. On the whole though, I thought the sheer star power of Lesnar and Heyman and Cena and Rollins and Triple H and Stephanie helped this boggy part of the program overcome its inherent limitations, and start the show off in the right fashion. Having the lesser spotted WWE Champion storm down to the ring to open the show instantly created the feeling that what was coming next was going to be significant, and it was exciting to see him all stompy and angry and determined to beat up Seth Rollins. Wisely, Seth opted to join us and be smug via the safe medium of video screen, and then John Cena came out, and the Authority made a three on one handicap match for the main event, which would see Cena lose his title shot if he lost, and win the jobs of Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback back if he won. OK, it doesn’t sound so exciting on paper, but it had a good pace about it, and the rapid appearances of all this star power made it feel energetic and purposeful and impressive, even if maybe it wasn’t deep down. Anyway, not much is going in the right this week, so let’s be kind with this one!

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt: While nowhere near as good as their scorching bout from a year ago, this was still very enjoyable and well constructed. Bryan looked absolutely ace, like his career wasn’t in grave danger a matter of months ago, like he’s ready to make his 2015 every bit as fulfilling as his 2014 was infuriating. Wyatt put a shift in as well; in its own way, his 2014 was a massive let-down as well, partially because of his own shortcomings, so it’s promising that he’s started off the year with two stand out matches on Raw. If he can make his promos sound different from week to week, maybe he can really make some progress. The Kane interference at the end was a bit tired, but hopefully his rivalry on Bryan will wrap up on Smackdown. Predominantly, this was a great effort, smooth, timely, and exciting.

puRgatoRy:
Legends Panel: These Hall of Fame panels are an intriguing idea, but never seem to be executed as well as they could be. Getting three bonafide legends to sit down in the ring and take a serious, analytical approach to events in WWE perhaps wouldn’t be thrilling for the live crowd, but it would be a refreshing change of pace from the bland sports entertainment that clogs up the rest of the midcard, and maybe getting someone like Shawn Michaels to explain relatively eloquently why he thinks ‘promising up and comer A’ is the real deal would do said up and comer a great service. Instead, what tends to happen is three legends, two of which always seem to be Michaels and Flair, sit in the ring and exchange lame banter and offer opinions, which never have any detail or logic to them. Why bring in three former Royal Rumble winners to say who they think will win the Royal Rumble, but permit them to justify these opinions with one measly sentence? Maybe I’m over thinking this segment; it goes in purgatory anyway, because it’s always nice to see heroes of yesteryear, and The Big Show’s promo on them all was really good, and made for a relatively original conduit for Roman Reigns to look tediously unstoppable. But it seems a missed opportunity, like more could be achieved.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett: A solid meat and potatoes match that perhaps foreshadows a really great 15 minute Smackdown battle between the two in the future. Ambrose urgently needed a significant win, and since being the Intercontinental Champion doesn’t mean anything anymore, Barrett was I guess as good a choice as any. Not a match anyone will remember in a week’s time, but it served its purpose.

The New Day vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd: There are little things to enjoy even in the mire of this interminable, lazily booked tag team skirmish. I liked the New Day’s little pre match promo, where Woods said that if The New Day weren’t so positive, they’d end up putting the whole WWE roster in the locker room; it hints at an intriguing darkness somewhere beneath their cheery exteriors, that maybe Kofi Kingston is actually Patrick Bateman with dreadlocks. If next week he’s proudly brandishing a classy business card, remember who predicted it first! Meanwhile, Kidd and Cesaro are putting admirable, futile effort into making their tag teamwork. Futile because if they’re given no personality to work with they’ll never get anywhere, but admirable because some of their double teams were proper cool. Everyone involved is working too hard to be saddled with these kind of five-minute misery matches.

Rusev vs. R-Truth: Guess what happened here! Go on, guess. What’s that, you say? R-Truth won in convincing fashion? No! Of course not! You’re such a fucking idiot sometimes, it’s like you don’t ever pay attention. Rusev won of course. He won quickly.

Jey Uso vs. The Miz: This feud was quite interesting two months ago. Now it’s all just darn purgatory matches.

John Cena vs. The Authority: This was an adequate main event, although most of the action was rather uninspiring since there was no way Cena’s title shot was in jeopardy, and the prospect of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan returning to our screens isn’t so enthralling when you consider they’ve only been gone for two weeks. It’s also more than a little grating to see Cena beat the odds yet again, but at least he didn’t do completely single handedly, and at least the person who helped him was pretty much the most exciting and momentous person who could have done. Monday Night Raw finished this week with Sting, live in the arena, distracting the Authority’s henchman and allowing Cena to sneak a win off a roll-up. The segment got markedly better from his appearance onward, as Triple H raged around ringside to the glee of the crowd, and Brock Lesnar made an appearance to get a pre-Rumble F5 in on Rollins. Still, the bulk of the match was a bit too indifferent for the whole segment to get in the right. It was an invigorating end to a stale program though, and Sting’s Raw debut finally ties up the last remaining loose thread of the Monday Night War.

THE wRong:
The Ascension vs. The World: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac came out for an NWO reunion, and then the Ascension were all “we’re really good!” and then the New Age Outlaws and the APA were like “no you are not!” and they all beat the new guys up in a silly, counter productive example of nostalgia gone mad. Maybe the Ascension will beat the New Age Outlaws at the Rumble, which would be a little redemptive, but rumor has it the Outlaws are sticking around and could well win the match on Sunday, which is baffling considering how their last semi-permanent WWE run entirely derailed a hugely promising tag division. The Ascension look stupid, and unless something changes quickly their chance of stardom has evaporated in less than a month.

Paige & Natalya vs. Summer Rae & Alicia Fox: Some weeks I get properly annoyed about how catastrophically WWE waste their genuinely talented women’s roster with random booking decisions out of a poorly programmed video game, and shove them in perpetual, deathly three minute matches that ruin the career prospects of any female who wants to step foot in the ring. This is one of those weeks!

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:

A pretty lacklustre Raw that tried to coast by on nostalgia alone and didn’t really manage it. Aside from Sting the legends weren’t utilized effectively, leaving the heavy lifting to be done by a John Cena/Authority storyline that was too predictable to live up to its potential. Plus, there was the usual heavy dose of meandering midcard matches that are nigh on impossible to get into. Sting’s appearance was genuinely great and is worth a few points on its own, but that’s the only thing anyone will remember about this show, and even that was hampered by the flat main event it followed. Not a worthwhile outing.

Show Rating: 5.0

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

The 958th edition is over…

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Always be complimentary of your opponents.