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

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 Pyro Mitchell
Impact 7.29.15

THE Right:
Austin Aries Opening Segment: The Greatest Man That Ever Lived opened up the show this week to express some of his frustrations with TNA, specifically how Bully Ray is running things. He lets everyone know that there is no one who cares more about wrestling than him, and that he’s the very best in the world. And yet, when there was a title shot on the line, Austin Aries didn’t a get an opportunity. This did not sit well with A Double as he told Bully Ray that he hasn’t made a very good first impression. The new Law would make his way to the ring after hearing this, in order to explain exactly why Aries got passed over. Bully says that, despite Aries being a very good wrestler, he did just lose to Kurt Angle, which is why Bully couldn’t justify giving him another shot. And he and Roode can’t challenge for the tag team belts either for the same reason, leading Bully to offer Aries a shot at a title he has won countless times before, The X-Division Championship. A Double laughs off the offer saying that the X-Division is for guys like Rockstar Spud that’ll never make to the main event, prompting The Ultimate Underdog to come on down. Spud says that he’s not there to get in Aries’ face, but rather to express his disappointments. Spud tells Aries that he looks up to him and that it really hurts to hear Aries say those things about him and The X-Division. Spud says that when he looks at Aries he sees the guy that created Option C and gave an opportunity to guys like Spud, the guys that were never supposed to be the main event, and made them believe that they potentially be world champion. Aries says that he didn’t create Option C for guys like Spud, he created it for himself, before saying that Spud should’ve never accepted the match with Angle. He says that Spud never had a chance of winning and now he has nothing to show for all his work. But, since Bully wasn’t willing to give him what he wanted, Aries said he’ll give Spud the chance to hang with him in the ring. Spud says that not only can he hang with Aries, he can beat him. Aries says no way and that if he can’t beat Spud he doesn’t belong in a TNA ring. Bully makes that official but not without consequence for Spud, if he loses he will also lose his “Rockstar” name so Aries would be called Rockstar Austin Aries. I enjoyed this segment, if only because Austin Aries was a part of it (just give him a mic and watch the magic). If Spud can pull off a win it’ll be massive for him and it’s also a smart way to write Aries off TV for the time being. Perfectly acceptable opening segment.

Matt’s Choice: EC3 came down to the ring mid-show to talk about his upcoming opponent, Matt Hardy. He expressed his disinterest in wrestling the guy that is Stronger Than Death, saying that Matt Hardy is not world title material. That would prove to be the signal of The Creatures as Jeff Hardy would make his long awaited return to the Impact Zone. But it was not to wrestle, as his leg is not quite ready for it yet, but rather simply to support his brother who would then make his way to the ring. Matt comes on down and doesn’t waste much time in showing us all what kind of match he wanted to have, as he pulled out from under the ring a table, a ladder, and a chair. Full Metal Mayhem will be the stipulation and, per the order of The Law, nobody is allowed ringside. This is going to be good! Can EC3 finally prove he’s able to get things done on his own? Or will Matt Hardy finally be able to hoist The World Heavyweight Championship high above his head in victory? This was a fine little segment that showed us what kind of a match these two will be having and just put a little extra attention on it.

Jeff Jarrett’s Hall Of Fame Induction: This was a fine induction for the man that brought us TNA in the first place. It was nice to see all the wrestlers from the back, good and bad, out there showing respect to The King Of The Mountain. Definitely a deserving induction this year and an ok way to end the show.

puRgatoRy:
Chris Melendez vs. Eric Young: The Sarge was looking for another ounce of revenge this week, as Melendez got his rematch against TNA’s resident psycho Eric Young. The match was not very long or competitive and basically centered around EY absolutely picking apart The War Hero. Melendez got in next to no offense and eventually got spiked yet again by a big Piledriver, and EY walks away with another win. Unless Sarge starts getting some wins over EY, maybe they should start thinking its time to wrap this feud up.

THE wRong:
Marti Belle vs. Brooke: This match made no sense (why did Marti deserve a title shot but Aries didn’t?) and featured Marti beating Brooke’s ass way more than I would’ve liked. Gail Kim would pump fake the hell out of The Dollhouse, which led to Marti running right into a Butterface Maker (really? Ok) from Brooke for the win and her very first successful title defense. Yes I agreed with Brooke getting the title but not like this, she can’t win without help. I’m pretty sure that every win Brooke’s gotten lately has had some kind of controversy surrounding it. They are missing the mark with this title reign and with Gail Kim’s return as well.

THE Ridiculous:
James Storm & Serena vs. Magnus & Mickie James: Wow this match was bad. Magnus got his ass BEAT the whole match and did pretty much nothing to give even the slightest impression that Storm might be in trouble. If it wasn’t for Khoya, Magnus never would’ve hit the Powerbomb that began the end. And the only reason Mickie James hit Serena with that DDT is because Magnus had just got done rag-dolling her right over his shoulder. And then Mickie went and hit Storm with a DDT too just cause, while Magnus again sat behind her and watched (because he’s just so upset with Storm!). So many missteps and so little time.

The 411:
This week’s Impact was just OK, not bad but not really good either. The opening segment with Aries and Spud was good and at least it makes an iota of sense as to why they’re fighting, plus it’s the perfect way to write Aries off TV. All 3 matches on the night were all kinda short, filler matches that didn’t mean too much. Melendez/EY is looking like its already on its last legs, and they may want to consider wrapping this one up. Marti Belle/Brooke was a match that 0 sense, and was there really to continue the return/antics of Gail Kim. And then Storm & Serena/Magnus & Mickie was just not good. I’m so glad that they’re done with each other (hopefully!!!) because it has been torture dealing with this feud. Matt’s choice of Full Metal Mayhem for his match with EC3 was well done, and I’m so excited to see EC3 without Funka-Tyrus on the outside getting involved every 3 minutes. And finally comes Jeff Jarrett’s HOF induction, which was just fine. It had to be done and they did it good. Like I said earlier, not the best but not the worst either this week, but hopefully it picks up next week.

Show Rating: 6.3

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

Pyro Mitchell
Smackdown 7.30.15

THE Right:
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger: Wow! Not only did Swagger get to have a match this week, but he actually got to have people watching on TV see his entrance! And he got to have a good match for once!! The match between these two was actually not bad, it could possibly be the best one they’ve had yet. Swagger actually had a lot of time in control, and even looked like he could pull off the upset at times. But soon enough Rusev would lock up The Accolade and, despite doing the best he could to continue to fight off of the adrenaline of his hometown crowd, he would have to tap out. Rusev would attempt a post match attack but Swagger would sidestep him, and actually lock on a brief Patriot Lock to run off The Bulgarian Brute. This match was actually pretty good, much better than their usual effort, and it’s good to see Swagger finally getting back on TV. It’ll be interesting to see if they do anything with him.

Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro & Dean Ambrose: This main event tag match was brought on after what went down earlier in the night, when Rollins and Owens attacked Cesaro. The Authority would make the match, giving Cesaro the opportunity to pick his own partner. Cesaro came down to the ring and looked as though he would go it alone but then, never being one to miss a fight, Dean Ambrose’s music would hit. The two got a quick advantage over Rollins and Owens, but it wouldn’t take them long to get that control back. They would sustain that momentum throughout much of the match, with Ambrose having a few flashes of offense for his team. The Unstable One would eventually make the hot tag to Cesaro and he came in like a bat right out of hell, and proceeded to clear house of both Rollins and Owens. The ending came when Owens went for a Popup Powerbomb on Ambrose; When he popped Ambrose up, Cesaro came from behind and shoved him out from under Ambrose, which then led to a rollup victory for The Swiss Superman. Very enjoyable match here and a good way to close the show.

puRgatoRy:
Seth Rollins Opening Segment/Rollins vs. Cesaro: Smackdown got rolling this week with the world champ Seth Rollins yelling at us about all of his accomplishments, including breaking John Cena’s nose on RAW. The delusion of Rollins is fantastic, with him talking about how he turned Cena’s face into a Picasso painting. But we wouldn’t have very long to enjoy his ranting as Cesaro would make his way down to the ring. The Swiss Superman wasted no time in bringing up the fact that Rollins tapped out to Cena on RAW. The two exchange a few more words and before you know it we’ve got a match that was going to be the main event starting right now. Very routine Rollins opening segment, but it was nice to see him interacting with a guy that’s on the fringe of the main event scene (rather than a guy that’s already a proven main eventer) for once. The match that followed was good but was interrupted by Kevin Owens. I think they should’ve just let this match play out, and then the main event later could’ve been Owens and Ambrose one on one.

THE wRong:
R-Truth vs. Stardust: This was a relatively short, slightly competitive, match that saw Stardust walk away the winner. R-Truth had about a minute of good offense before The Cross Rhodes would signal the end. And then he would (I guess) call out Neville, before attempting to put some weird mask on Truth (like a calling card I guess but why the hell is it gold?) Neville would come down to the ring to make the save, and quickly ran off the younger Rhodes brother. Short match that meant next to nothing and didn’t really need to be there.

THE Ridiculous:
Los Matadores & The Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension & The New Day: This match just screamed WHY??!! Why would The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores want to tag together just days after their battle? Why wouldn’t those two teams be at least a little weird toward each other? Why does that damn Bull get to do whatever he wants during these matches? Why (or how?) did Sin Cara get to single handedly take out both members of The Ascension with that Springboard Elbow thing? Why did Darren Young look like Santa Claus, complete with his reading glasses and his naughty/nice list? And perhaps the biggest why of all – Why did this match even have to take place?

The 411:
Smackdown this week was a very average feeling edition, maybe even a little below average. Nothing really big or exciting happened, and most of the matches were filler. The opening segment/match between Rollins and Cesaro was ok but I wish Owens hadn’t got involved. Even though that ended up giving us a decent main event for the night, I would’ve rather seen two really good singles matches. The 8 man tag match was so unnecessary as was Truth/Stardust, and those two made for two of the lowest spots of the show. Rusev/Swagger was probably match of the night, and it was provided by a guy that sees less TV time than Fandango. And then finally the main event which, of course, was a tag team match because apparently that’s all that Smackdown main events are allowed to be anymore. But at least it was good, and the way it ended (with a rollup pin) didn’t hurt anyone involved so there’s that. Overall not impressed this week, but I suppose it could’ve been worse. Thoughts, questions, disagreements, or opinions? I do love to hear em’ and I encourage you guys to keep commenting down below. Or if you want me to respond just shoot me an email and I shall get back to you! Thanks everybody for reading!! My email – [email protected]

Show Rating: 5.9

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 1012th edition is over…