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

January 17, 2017 | Posted by Dylan Diot
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Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of WWE Smackdown  

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.


SMACKDOWN 1.03.17
– Baron Corbin d. Dolph Ziggler ***1/4
– Becky Lynch d. La Luchadora *
– Carmella d. Aliyah ÂĽ*
– American Alpha d. Breezango SQUASH
– WWE Intercontinental Championship- Dean Ambrose d. The Miz © to win the championship ***1/2


THE Right:
WWE Intercontinental Championship- The Miz © vs. Dean Ambrose: Throughout the evening, The Miz had been attempting to play mindgames with Dean Ambrose, constantly bringing up his girlfriend Renee Young, culminating in Maryse slapping her backstage prior to the main event. Ambrose went on the attack right at the opening bell, hamming away on Miz and tossing him all over the ringside area. Ambrose caught Miz with a series of near falls and attempted to leap off the top rope but Miz caught him on the way down and hit the Skull Crushing Finale for a close 2 count. Ambrose fired back but Maryse slapped him, attempting to draw a DQ. Ambrose stopped the ref from calling for the bell and begged for Maryse to be tossed instead, which she was. The distraction allowing Miz to nail him with the championship for another close 2 count. Ambrose was able to counter the Skull Crushing Finale into the Dirty Deeds for 3 to become the NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion. I really enjoyed the entire package of the match. Ambrose was in no mood to put up with Miz’ typical bullshit, being the aggressor right from the opening bell and outside of a few moments really controlled the duration of the match. The brawling at the start felt intense and they gave off the vibe that Ambrose was out to hurt Miz and teach him a lesson. We withstood the expected Miz interference and shenanigans and won the championship clean as a sheet. This was simple storytelling and they had an intense, physical contest that didn’t have to rely heavily on false finishes, so this ended up being a great main event and well executed title change.

Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler/ Ziggler Snap: In a rematch from two weeks ago, Baron Corbin went one on one with Dolph Ziggler. Much like that encounter, Corbin dominated the early portion of the match, using his power to keep Ziggler grounded and taking away his speed. Ziggler waited for Corbin to screw up to land the Fammer and gain a few near falls but Corbin with cut him off with a lariat or other vicious maneuvers. Ziggler caught Corbin with a big Zig Zag for a close 2 count but walked right into the End of Days for 3, continuing Corbin’s hot streak in singles matches. It was another pretty good outing from these two. It lacked some of the heat from a few weeks ago but the final stretch got the crowd red hot and buying into Ziggler’s near falls, so they did a great job getting the fans invested in the final stretch. After the match, Corbin went to attack with a chair but Kalisto came out to save. Ziggler, in frustration, laid out Kalisto with a super kick. Backstage, he was confronted by Apollo Crews about this attack but Ziggler went after him as well. This was a nice surprise turn for Ziggler, who showed good intensity in his frustration with his losing streak and I think a heel turn is long overdue for him, so I’m curious to see where he goes from here.

AJ Styles vs. John Cena Contract Signing: AJ Styles and John Cena held their contract signing for their match at the Royal Rumble. Styles expressed his frustration with working night after night but Cena shows off after taking time off and immedatly gets a championship opportunity. Daniel Bryan explained that last week, Smackdown beat Raw in the ratings and to keep the momentum going, he wants to put on the biggest match possible which is Styles vs. Cena. Styles found various ways to call Cena over the hill and like Cena pales in comparison to the Hollywood career of The Rock, he can’t touch Styles in the ring. Cena declared that Styles pissed him off and lost all of his respect, saying Styles was nothing more than a little punk bitch. Cena listed off the ways he has shown his passion for wrestling and that while everyone would have left for Hollywood if they were in his shoes, Cena kept coming back. Cena tells Styles’ he can bring his A game at the Royal Rumble but Cena will still kick ass. Baron Corbin came out to declare his entry into the Royal Rumble Match and said it didn’t matter if he challenged Styles or Cena at WrestleMania. Cena looked for a fight with Corbin but Styles took the opportunity to lay out Cena from being with the enzuigiri. Corbin ends things by telling a down Cena that his time is up. This was a fantastic segment in which Cena stole the show. I believed every word he said when he talked about passion and his desire to kick Styles’ ass. His delivery was fantastic, as he played things calm and cool but you can tell by the tone of his voice and by the look on his face he wanted to tear Styles apart. Styles’ also did a great job in his role, tearing into Cena and just acting like a troll to get into his head. This got my super hyped for their upcoming match, so this segment was a total winner.

puRgatoRy:
Becky Lynch vs. La Luchadora: Becky Lynch faced off with the mysterious La Luchadora in revenge for being screwed out of the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship last week. Lynch controlled the entire match, forcing Luchadora to bail and go under the ring. She popped back out and went on the attack, but she missed a corkscrew press of the top, allowing Lynch to catch her in the Disarmer for the tap out. Lynch took off the mask and it was revealed to by Alexa Bliss. However, another La Luchadora appeared and attacked Lynch from behind, showing that they switched places when the original La Luchadora hid under the ring early in the match. The match was a one sided affair but it was booked well, with Lynch overcoming the twin magic of the Luchadoras and she made Bliss tap out, which pretty much sets up Lynch getting one more crack at the championship. I have no interest in another Bliss/Lynch match, but the way they set it up here was smart. There wasn’t much to this segment but there is a fun element to trying to figure out the identity of La Luchadora.

Nikki Bella/Natalya Face Off: Nikki Bella and Natayla had a verbal face off in the ring. Nikki told Natalya that she didn’t despite her despite their problems, claiming she actually felt bad for Natalya. She and Brie worked hard to build the Bella name while Natalya lived off the Hart name her entire career. Natalya countered that Nikki was manipulative, showing a tweet that her uncle Bret Hart put out that featured him in a photo with Nikki and wondering what Nikki did to get Bret to take that picture. She warns Nikki that when her beauty fades, John will leave her and she will die alone. This line broke Nikki, who drilled Natalya with a hard forearm, knocking her out. This was essentially a placeholder segment as they continue to build this feud. The back and forth here was decent and I like how it got progressively nastier as it went along, culminating in Natalya going one step too far and causing Nikki to drill her. The personal/shoot vibe of this feud is working and you get the vibe there is deep seeded hatred between the two. This didn’t light my world on fire but it turned out to be an effective segment to keep the feud hot.

American Alpha vs. Breezango: American Alpha took on Breezango in their first match since winning the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships. Gable caught Breeze with an exploder suplex right at the start of the match and Jordan speared him into the corner before they hit Grand Amplitude for the quick victory. The Wyatt Family appeared on the screen after the match and promised to reclaim the belts next week. This was short and sweet. American Alpha won in totally dominating fashion and look ready to go when they face the Wyatts in a rematch. This was a fine squash that made the champs look good, simple yet effective.

THE wRong:
Carmella vs. Aliya: Carmella also got a squash match opportunity this week, facing Aliya and she had James Ellsworht in her corner. Carmella controlled the major of the match until Aliyah caught her with an exploder suplex for 2. She went up but Ellsworth grabber her leg to bring her down, allowing Carmella to hit a super kick and lock in the Code of Silence for the tap out win. This match was pretty ugly; Carmella should really be staying in the ring with the likes of Nikki, Natalya & Becky trying to develop her in-ring skills. She still looked incredibly green and did not look like any time of legitimate threat or force in the women’s division coming out of this match. Also, the Carmella/Ellsworth unit has zero chemistry. As characters they are on totally different planets so they just don’t fit at all together as an act. I get what they’re going for with Carmella manipulating Ellsworth to do her bidding, but it just doesn’t come across organically at all. The more segments they are in together, the quicker the Ellsworth charm dies a painful death.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

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SMACKDOWN 1.10.17
– Natalya vs. Nikki Bella never started NR
– Kalisto d. Dolph Ziggler **1/2
– WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships- American Alpha © d. The Wyatt Family ***1/4
– Carmella d. CJ Lunde SQUASH
– John Cena d. Baron Corbin **1/2


THE Right:
Natalya vs. Nikki Bella: Natalya and Nikki Bella were set to go one on one for the first time since it was revealed that Natayla attacked Nikki from behind at Survivor Series. Nikki attacked Natalya before the bell even rang and they headed to the floor where Nikki speared Natalya onto the ramp. They proceeded to beat the living crap out of one another, throwing some STIFF shots at each other. Officials came out to try and separate them which gave Natalya an opening to chop block the leg of Nikki and lock her in the Sharpshoopter on the floor. Officials finally got them separated and there ended up being no official match. This was a really well executed brawl. Both women beat the tar out of each other, some of the shots were really hard and it got across the idea that the two of them could not be kept in the confines of a normal match. You felt the hatred between the two and I liked that they held back on doing the match right away, as you can built toward some sort of stipulation match where they can let loose and really beat on one another. This feud continues to exceed my expectations and this ended up being another strong chapter.

puRgatoRy:
Ambrose Asylum: Dean Ambrose opened the show with an edition of the Ambrose Asylum. He had an Alligator head with him which he named Maryse and he declared his entry into the Royal Rumble. He introduced his guest, the man he beat for the WWE Intercontinental Championship last week, The Miz. Miz announced he was entering the Rumble as well and claimed that the match last week should have ended due to outside interference, so he ordered Ambrose to do the right thing and relinquish the IC Championship back to him. Ambrose instead returned the Miz Participation award he received a few weeks ago in a nice callback, which set Miz off as he attacked Ambrose. Maryse went to slap Ambrose but missed and hit Miz, allowing Ambrose to lay him out with the Dirty Deeds. This segment was fine, it was harmless if unspectacular. Ambrose seemed to go back into his wacky mode which was annoying since he was actually doing a good job in the role of vengeful boyfriend the last few weeks. They kept this simple with a basic verbal back and forth and a ending brawl where Ambrose continued to get the upper hand, so you know Miz will have something dirty up his sleeves to turn the tide in his favor.

Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler: last week. Ziggler spent the majority of the match cutting off Kalisto’s attempt to use his speed and arial tactics, trying to kept the match ground based. Ziggler caught Kalisto with a hard dropkick for 2 and Kalisto used the kick out to catch Ziggler with a crucifix for the upset 3. Ziggler snapped again after the match, laying out Kalisto with a lariat and then repeatedly nailing him with a chair. Apollo Crews came out to brawl with Ziggler but he also got met with an assault with the steel chair from Ziggler. The match itself was decent but considering some of the quality matches these two have put on over the past few months, this was kind of a disappointment. I’m also annoyed with Ziggler losing again even after his heel turn last week. I’m assuming they want to have Ziggler continue to lose so he goes to a darker place but it’s going to be incredibly hard to buy Ziggler as a threat if he continues to lose on a weekly basis, no matter how many vicious post match attacks he performs after matches. The beat down of Crews & Kalisto after the match was well done but they have to start giving Ziggler some wins to back up these beat downs.

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships- American Alpha © vs. The Wyatt Family: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton represented the Wyatts in this championship match. American Alpha try to control the match early with chain wrestling and keeping the Wyatts on the mat. Wyatt cut off Gable with a back elbow to gain control and Orton hit some repeated back suplexes onto the barricade. Orton methodically worked over Gable but he fought back and Jordan got the hot tag. He proceeded to clean house until Luke Harper distracted him, allowing Wyatt to attack from behind and regain control. Jordan fought his way back and tagged Gable who proceeded to run while for a bit. Orton cut him off and went for the hanging DDT but he aggressive in setting up the move, knocking Harper off the apron by mistake. Harper and Orton had a stare down, which allowed Gable to catch Orton with the O’Connor roll for the 3 count. Orton and Harper argued after the match but Wyatt tried to get them separated. Harper went for a super kick but missed Orton and hit Wyatt by mistake, causing Wyatt to walk out on them. This was a solid match. The first half was strong with another good face in peril performance from Gable but the final stretch came off flat, as it seemed everyone was running out of steam and Gable’s stuff wasn’t as crisp as it was in the early portion of the match. I thought the finish was really lame, it didn’t get over American Alpha as strong champions at all and it’s aggravating that they are going with the dissension route now with the Wyatt just as they were starting to really click as a unit. It looks like it’s going to be another case of breaking up a good thing too soon.

Baron Corbin vs. John Cena: AJ Styles was on commentary for this match. Corbin dominated the majority of the match, cutting off multiple Cena comeback opportunity and just pounding Cena into the mat with physical blows to the midsection and back. He tried to wear down Cena but Cena eventually made a quick comeback and finished off Corbin with the Attitude Adjustment for his first victory since his return. This was a good win for Cena, as they have been protecting Corbin for the past few months, so he came into this match looking like an unstoppable monster. He dominated the match but Cena withstood and took care of business in his usual fashion, showing to both Corbin and Styles that he still had plenty left in the tank. The match was decent but kind of dull in points, as Corbin worked an old school heel style of just pounding away with hard shots and trying to squeeze the life out of Cena with a bear hug. It was probably his weakest in-ring effort in a few weeks and Cena looked like he still had some rust to wear off. Still, the Corbin lost really didn’t bother me and this served the purpose of giving Cena a strong win to build to his title shot, so it ended up being an effective main event segment.

THE wRong:
NOTHING

THE Ridiculous:
Carmella vs. CJ Lunde: For the second week in a row, Carmella was given a squash match, this week against CJ Lunde who dressed and looked an 80s WWF female worker. Carmella threw her down to the mat a few times but Lunde came back with some of the worst looking corner back elbows you will see. James Ellsworth interfered once again, grabbing the leg of Lunde allowing Carmella to hit a hard forearm. She botched a flatliner and made Lunde tap to the Code of Silence. This was as bad a squash match as you will ever see. The match had zero heat, the crowd could have cared less. Lunde looked and worked like she was coming out of the 80s, showing zero imagination in anything she did and she didn’t even do a good job of taking a beating for Carmella which was her role. Carmella looked worse than her, screwing stuff up all over the place, culminating in the worse looking flatliner in the history of wrestling. She was her worst performance to date and I can live without ever seeing her in a squash match again. I hate the Carmella/Ellsworth duo and it’s easily the worst thing going on Smackdown right now. This was an embarrassment and should have never been put on TV. This will hard to top as the worst match and segment of the year for Smackdown.

The 1135th edition is over…

6.5
The final score: review Average
The 411
1.03.17: I thought this was another quality outing from Smackdown, keeping the streak going strong. The Miz/Ambrose and Corbin/Ziggler matches were both pretty good in their own ways and the outcomes of both matches led to some big shakeups for the brand. The Styles/Cena segment was fantastic as the build to their big match at the Royal Rumble is really picking up some steam. With the exception of the Carmella squash, every match and segment on this show did a good job of building up upcoming feuds and matches, so coming out of this show there is a lot to look forward to. Smackdown continues to keep things simple by putting on some decent angles and having solid wrestling across the show, making this yet another week where I can easily recommend sitting down and checking out the episode. 7.5

1.10.17: This was the weakest episode of Smackdown in a few weeks. Outside of the Natalya/Nikki Bella brawl, this was a paint by the numbers show that was unimaginative and lacked some of the strong feud building and angles that we’ve gotten over the past few weeks. The tag title match was the only worthwhile match on the show but both teams have done better and it was marred by a lame, lazy finish. This just felt like an off week with no one really putting their best foot forward in the ring and there was no creativity in the various segments on the show. Take a pass this week and hopefully they will pick things back up next week. 5.5

legend

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Smackdown, Wrestling's 4Rs, WWE, Dylan Diot