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 8.12.15

THE Right:
Jeff Jarrett/EY Opening Segment: The King of the Mountain himself, Jeff Jarrett, opened the show this week with more than one thing on his mind. He began by recalling how we had arrived at this point, and by thanking TNA management for the opportunity. He talked about his Hall of Fame induction and what that meant to him, all while still reminding the fans that his TNA career is complete. However, he is the active Law tonight, in Bully Ray’s absence, and his first order of business is to announce the matches for the evening. But before he could make it to the main event, EY would show up. Young came down to the ring to rant and rave like the psycho that he is, before requesting a one on one match with Jarrett for the King of the Mountain title. A challenge that Jarrett quickly declined, saying that he wasn’t there for him or EY but for the fans. That’s why the main event was going to see a huge King of the Mountain match for the first time ever on TNA TV. Jarrett offered a spot to EY, which EY accepted, and then went to leave. But EY wasn’t about to let Jarrett just walk off, and so began a short little beating before the GFW roster came to rescue. They succeeded in running off EY, but only momentarily as a few TNA stars came out to support their promotion. The TNA wrestlers swarmed the ring and the war was on. They battled for a few minutes right into a commercial break, and when they came back the GFW roster was gathering their wits. The roster was upset that the TNA guys didn’t respect them and so forth, leading to Jarrett having to cut in. He reminds his guys that this is not an invasion but rather more of a partnership, in an attempt to calm down his roster. This was a very good opening segment! Yeah the first part was a bit long, right up until EY got out there, and then things started to pick up. And once the TNA wrestlers came out to support their brand it was just pure gold. It didn’t matter that nobody liked EY, what mattered was kicking ass for your company, and I got chills when they came out. It felt like TNA was being invaded and its stars were trying to defend it. This was great and I only wish we could’ve seen more of the brawl that went down. And also why wouldn’t Jarrett have taken away EY’s spot in the KOTM match for attacking him? Just a thought.

Lei’D Tapa vs. Awesome Kong: Before the Awesome One’s entrance, Lei’D Tapa’s manager Royal Red grabbed a mic. He shouts about how dominant the self proclaimed Queen of Rings is, and that every woman who steps in the ring with her needs to bow down. That would lead to Kong making her way to the ring for what was, in my opinion, her best performance since returning. Her and Tapa traded power moves and strikes, and Kong reminded us all that she could actually wrestle. The match would eventually spill out to the floor, and then end in a very fast double count out. The two Knockouts would continue to battle though, with Kong eventually getting the upper hand. She would plant Tapa with a scoop slam right on the stage to end the brawl. I thought this was an excellent first match, and it most definitely had the perfect ending. Neither one could really afford a clean loss, especially if this feud is going to continue, so having them get counted out while trying to kill each other was a smart move.

EC3/Matt Hardy Segment: EC3 came out to the ring this week to remind us all that he’s still the champion which means he’s better than everyone. And he goes on about how he’s so great and he’s undefeated and all the normal EC3 talk, before Matt Hardy showed up. Matt was quick to admit that he lost fair and square, in his own match no less, but no matter what he wasn’t going away. EC3 would say that in their match he gained some respect for Hardy, and he thought it’d be fitting to have the fans decide whether Matt should get another shot. Of course the fans went nuts and of course EC3 then said no. And then Tyrus would blindside Hardy and proceed to beat him down while the Entitled World Champion stood and observed the destruction. This was a good enough segment for what it was, Matt played the typical face role while Carter played the classic heel. And then the attack from Tyrus was just the cherry on the sundae.

Brian Myers & Trevor Lee vs. The Wolves: This match was a fun little tag team contest that showcased both teams nicely. Each got time to control and hit their double team moves. Myers and Lee, for being relatively unknown, looked very good in the ring against the tag champs. Eventually The Wolves would get the upper hand, and begin dishing out some of their patented moves, before ending things with the Powerbomb into a Backstabber. Pretty enjoyable match here, nothing really bad to say about it.

PJ Black vs. Chris Mordetzky vs. Lashley vs. Eric Young vs. Robbie E: This was a great closer to the show, the first ever King of the Mountain match on TNA TV, and it didn’t disappoint. Yes the secret wrestler to be revealed was a little under whelming (Robbie E? Really??) at least the wrestlers delivered. They put on a very exciting that had me wondering who was going to win all the way through. In the end it was PJ Black (formerly known as Justin Gabriel) that would ascend the ladder and grab not only the KOTM title, but a shot next week at the World Heavyweight Championship as well. I think this was a very enjoyable match, and the decision to have PJ Black walk out the victor was an interesting one. The match between him and EC3 might just be a huge surprise.

puRgatoRy:
Jessie Godderz vs. Lashley: Wow, what did Jessie do to TNA management to deserve this? Lashley came out and absolutely dominated this match, yes Jessie had some offense but lets be honest, he never ever had a chance of winning. I will say he snapped off a pretty nice Power Slam, but that’s about it. Lashley beat the snot out of Godderz for the bulk of the match before damn near crippling him with a Spear. This was quite the way to bury Godderz, but at least the wrestling was good though.

THE wRong:
Bobby Roode/Rockstar Spud Segment: Bobby Roode showed up in the ring to express his frustrations with Jeff Jarrett for not putting him in the KOTM match. And then for some reason he decides to take it out on Rockstar Spud, whom he would call out to the ring. Even Roode himself acknowledged that he shouldn’t be taking out his frustrations on Spud. This just made no sense and it really would’ve been better if he just stuck to being upset with Jarrett. But instead he attacks Spud for no reason, and still ends up getting skunked in the main event. This just wasn’t good.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Tigre Uno: This was just such a missed opportunity. They put on an ok little contest, but this match could’ve been something so special. The whole night I was looking forward to this match because I figured it would probably be the best of the night. But it was just a short, basically grappling, match that ended by way of rollup. Definitely missed the mark with this one.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:
Overall this week’s edition felt like the dawn of a new era in TNA. It just had that feeling of starting over, from fresh matches and rivalries to new and/or different faces in those matches, everything just felt different. All the matches told a very good story as well. In the matches leading up to the main event we saw Kong get the best of her match with Tapa, The Wolves defeat Brian Myers & Trevor Lee, and Tigre Uno defeat Sonjay Dutt. But in the main event we see GFW wrestler PJ Black atop the ladder with the KOTM title in hand and a guaranteed shot at the world champ next week. These matches told us perfectly that this is indeed still TNA’s house, but GFW has officially arrived and they’re here to stay. The couple matches and segments in between just kept the show rolling, and overall this was a really good Impact. If more episodes like this are on the horizon, then I’m all for this TNA vs. GFW thing they got going.

Show Rating: 7.9

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

Pyro Mitchell
Smackdown 8.13.15

THE Right:
Seth Rollins Opening Segment: Smackdown this week got rolling once again by Seth Rollins. He came out this week to talk about how we are all part of something incredibly special, like if Babe Ruth had hit another 1000 homeruns or if Michael Jordan had won 20 MVP’s. Rollins was talking of course about himself, even going so far as to say that when our grandkids ask what our greatest accomplishment was in our life we would say ‘I got to see Seth Rollins in his prime’. Then he talks about his rival and opponent in two weeks time, John Cena. Rollins shows how Cena answered his challenge (on Tough Enough by way of a Daniel Bryan yes chant), saying that Cena didn’t even have the guts to answer in person. Then he dares Cena to meet him face to face this coming Monday on RAW, so that he can tell Rollins to his face that he accepts. Shortly after this, The Man That Gravity Forgot would make his way to the ring. He came out to remind Rollins of all the little things that he didn’t bother to mention in all of his rants, such as despite breaking Cena’s nose, Cena still wound up winning the match. Or the fact that if it weren’t for Randy Orton, Sheamus would be the current world champ. Or the fact that Neville himself was able to hit a Red Arrow on Rollins that left him unable to kick out. Rollins then got upset and ordered Neville out of the ring, which led Neville to start talking about how Rollins just goes on and on and on only to lead to Cesaro showing his face. And he was in complete agreement with Neville about how Rollins goes on and on, but before he could get to the ring he was blindsided by Kevin Owens. Immediately after that, Neville was blindsided by Rollins and the two heel superstars proceeded to beat down their face rivals to end the segment. Yes this was the normal Rollins beginning to Smackdown, but this one was good. Rollins’ delusion knows no bounds, and his talking about being greater than Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and The Beatles was just great. And then the appearances of Neville, Cesaro, and finally Kevin Owens made it feel like Rollins was actually right all along, the future is now. Three big NXT stars and a still relatively fresh face in Cesaro got the show rolling this week and it was a great look into the future of WWE.

Naomi vs. Charlotte: This was the rematch from last week, after their match fell apart thanks to Team BAD. Naomi took an early lead and held onto it throughout most of the match. Charlotte finally started getting in some offense towards the end, eventually locking on a Figure 8 to force Naomi to tap out. This match was good enough, and I actually did enjoy it, but I think it could of been a little better. For one, Naomi should not be getting all the opportunities for her team when it comes to these matches, I think a Charlotte/Banks match or even Lynch/Banks here would’ve been excellent. But either way it was still good so it still goes in the right.

The Big Guy Is Back: Ryback came down to the ring this week to talk about the Intercontinental Championship. He recalls winning it at Elimination Chamber, saying that it was the proudest moment of his career. And then he talks about the staff infection that cost him about a month of action. He remembers defeating the infection that could’ve cost him his life, and fighting his way back to WWE. He says that while he was home he had to listen to everyone say that the IC title was cursed, and he had to listen to Big Show and The Miz say that he should vacate his most prized possession. Then he assured us that come Summerslam he would defeat them both and continue on as IC champ, before leading the raucous crowd in a very loud ‘Feed Me More’ chant. This was a fine little time killing segment here, and it was good to Ryback back on Smackdown. And I was also very glad that he got some time to come out and talk by himself, rather than have him get interrupted by somebody.

Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns: Harper and Wyatt got a mic before Reigns could make his entrance to deliver another cryptic promo. But before it could really get going, Dean Ambrose would make an appearance with nothing much to say. He was just there to watch his brother, Roman Reigns, do some talking with his fists. And with that Reigns made his way to the ring, and the match got underway. Reigns came out of the gate on fire, keeping Harper off balance and knocking him out of the ring within the first few minutes. But it wouldn’t take Harper long to bring The Roman Empire back down to earth, using both his size and strength to keep Reigns down. He would hold onto that control for a short while, before his shoulder ended up colliding with the corner ring post. This would prove to be the turning point in the match, and both guys would start to come alive. The two traded punches for a minute before Reigns was able to hit a couple of nice clotheslines. But they wouldn’t phase Harper to badly as he quickly countered Reigns as he came off the ropes, hitting him with a brilliant Dropkick for a guy his size. From there on the match was just chaos, with the action in the ring being complimented by Ambrose and Wyatt’s battle on the outside. While Wyatt got the better of Ambrose ringside, Harper and Reigns continued their battle, providing some very exciting sequences and near falls. The ending came when Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Harper and fell into a cover, only to have it broken up by Wyatt. The family vs. family battle would ensue and Reigns and Ambrose would end getting the best of the fight. This was a pretty enjoyable match, that featured some good wrestling and a good ending. Neither Reigns or Harper could really afford a loss with Summerslam just two weeks away, and the mini war that went down was a good little teaser of what’s to come.

Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins vs. Neville & Cesaro: The King of the Tag Match Smackdown lived up to its name again this week, putting on not one but two tag matches in a row. Although the first one was not all that great, the second one was actually quite good. Early on Neville and Cesaro looked great as a team and were working together perfectly, knocking their opponents out of the ring rather quickly. But Rollins and Owens would soon figure a way back into the match, and proceeded to isolate Neville from his partner. The heel team held on to this control for a good while before The Swiss Superman received the hot tag. Cesaro came in like a ball of fire and would eventually lock a Sharpshooter on Rollins, off one of the most brilliant counters I’ve ever seen. But Rollins would get saved by Owens though and, in the confusion, Cesaro would be rolled up by Rollins and the heel duo gets the surprise victory. Owens, however, was not satisfied and proceeded to lay more of a beating on Cesaro but, once taking his eyes off him to deal with Neville, Cesaro would gather his wits and land two pig power slams. That would leave Owens in prime position for Neville and, with Rollins long gone, he delivers one of the finest Red Arrow’s that he’s ever done and celebrates in the ring with Cesaro. This was a really good match, with lots of good action, dramatic near falls, and another perfect ending. Nobody was going to be able to really take a clean loss so the surprise rollup with Rollins grabbing the tights was the perfect way to go. That kept Rollins looking good ahead of his big match with John Cena at Summerslam, but it also didn’t hurt Cesaro and Neville very much going into their respective matches. I just wasn’t sure about Owens taking the beating afterward, I feel like he should’ve escaped before Cesaro could do anything major, but hopefully he gets some revenge or something next week.

puRgatoRy:
The New Day vs. The Prime Time Players: This was an alright little tag team match that served its purpose of shedding light on 4 team battle at Summerslam. The New Day looked good early but it wouldn’t take The PTP’s long to regain momentum, at which point The New Day had decided that they had had enough. But as they tried to walk out on the match they were cut off by the other two teams in the Summerslam match, Los Matadores and The Lucha Dragons. As they stood and looked at their opposition, The PTP’s would come up from behind to lay out Kofi and Big E, singling out the weakest link Xavier Woods. They would send him back into the ring just for Darren Young to hit him with a Gut Check to pick up the win. OK little tag match here that was really just there to remind everyone that there’s a match at Summerslam involving these guys. The PTP’s got the win they needed, but it couldn’t have been over Los Matadores? They had to give us The New Day losing again?

THE wRong:
NOTHING

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:
This week’s edition was of Smackdown was actually not bad, with a few good matches and good story advancement. The beginning of the show was good with all the newer faces of WWE taking up the segment. It was cool to kind of look into the crystal ball of WWE and see what the future of the company looks like. The match between Charlotte and Naomi was not bad by any means but it certainly could’ve been better. Ryback made his return to Smackdown this week, and it was good to see The Big Guy back in a WWE ring. He actually seems to be getting even more comfortable on the mic, and it was nice to see that they trusted him enough to carry a segment by himself. Harper/Reigns was definitely one of the high spots of the night as they put quite the show. The family vs. family match at Summerslam is shaping up to be a good one, here’s hoping it doesn’t disappoint. The New Day and The Prime Time Players had a little match just for shits and giggles and, surprise surprise, The New Day loses again. But The main event featuring Neville and Cesaro teaming up to go against Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins completely made up for it. These two teams put on a very good show, and saw Rollins slither away with the win. This was a pretty darn good show this week, so rare for Smackdown nowadays, with a few good matches. Summerslam is shaping up to be really good and, if they keep putting on shows like this one to hype it, it might just end up being their biggest night of the year.

Got something to say? Well I’d love to hear it so please do comment below, or feel free to email me directly and I will do my best to respond to ya. Thanks for reading!

My email – [email protected]

Show Rating: 7.4

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 1016th edition is over…