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 9.23.15

THE Right:
TNA! TNA! TNA!: The way that Impact began was pretty much perfect following what went down last week. The 5 winning members of Team TNA were in the ring with Dixie Carter, and the entire locker room surrounded them on the floor. Dixie was quick to thank Team TNA for fighting for her, and she gladly gave all 5 members a very big reward. They would all compete in a match against each other, later on in the evening, to determine who would be challenging EC3 for his world title at Bound For Glory. Then she goes on to call out the one person that is not a part of Team TNA, the turncoat Eric Young. EY makes his way to the ring and Dixie says that she now has a big decision to make. But EY says that he has an iron clad contract (haven’t heard that one since Big Show) and, even though he put all his chips on GFW, that contract is still valid. So Dixie answers that by saying that she won’t do anything about it, but she can’t exactly speak for the TNA locker room that was itching to get a piece of him. And right at the front of that line was, of course, Sergeant Chris Melendez. Dixie would grant him his rematch with Eric Young and that match would begin immediately, with the entire locker room surrounding them. This was a terrific way to open the show this week, after TNA’s great triumph inside Lethal Lockdown.

Chris Melendez vs. Eric Young: WOW!! Finally Melendez had a decent match with Eric Young. He actually got to show off his wrestling skills, and they impressed the hell out of me. If I didn’t know any better I would think that was a different one legged man, and that is fantastic. The ending sequence came after EY managed a cheap shot, hitting Sarge with his own leg. But instead of going for the Piledriver, he instead picked up Melendez and placed him on the top rope. Melendez would fight Young off and then hit a brilliant Mule Kick off the top rope that flattened him, leading to The Sarge’s first win over EY. The locker room would flood the ring to congratulate the war hero, lifting him high on their shoulders. This match was the one I was waiting, and wanting, to see between these two. After multiple matches between them I thought that maybe Sarge just was’t capable of delivering that sort of entertaining match. But I was proven wrong in this one and I’m so glad I was, Sarge looked very very much improved. If this was the last match between them, as it should be, then this was THE way to end their feud.

The Destruction of The Revolution: James Storm came out this week, with his two remaining Revolution members flanking him. He was still upset with Mahabali Shera, not to mention with his own partners for their continued failing of him. But as he spoke, Abyss snatched the mic away with something clearly on his mind. Abyss reminded everyone that he is a TNA original, and that he helped build this place. He told Storm that he would no longer stand in his shadow, and stormed off without a look back. Storm then turned his attention back to ‘Khoya’, before Manik would speak up. Manik tells Storm that his name is Mahabali Shera, much to the dismay of The Revolution leader. He begins shoving around Manik, telling him he gave him his mask and name (maybe his mask, but I’m pretty sure Hulk Hogan was the one that introduced Suicide as Manik). That was the final straw for Manik, it would appear, as he took off his mask and exited the ring. Shera would then hit the ring, looking for a fight with his former mentor. But Storm had other plans, saying that they would fight on his terms. This was pretty entertaining for a Revolution segment, and it was nice to see the real Abyss and Manik stand up. It’s going to be very interesting to see what they do now that they’re on their own, hopefully they don’t sink down the card too far.

Bram vs. Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards vs. Drew Galloway: This was a 5 way elimination match, with the winner being granted a world title shot at Bound For Glory. Throughout the match, it was The Wolves teaming up together to take out their opposition. Early on they went after Bram and, after a short while of back and forth between them, their double team moves proved to be too much for him. Then, following Bram’s very early elimination, the match picked up even more. Big moments were made like when Lashley had that Vertical Suplex, took two kicks to the gut, and still held on to it. Or another one was The Wolves locking in a Boston Crab and a Texas Cloverleaf simultaneously, making it look as though they would be the final two remaining. But instead of holding on to their submissions, like any other sensible wrestler would, they let them go in order to do battle amongst themselves. Why in the world would they let their submissions go just to fight each other? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to first eliminate the other two guys and then have a true one on one match? Well, needless to say, their strategy failed them in the end, and they ended up both getting pinned at the same time. Now it was down to Lashley and Galloway. These two monsters pulled out everything they had and, off a big collision with the turnbuckle, Lashley would run right into a Flying Boot from Galloway which signaled the end. Drew Galloway picks up the win, and he will challenge EC3 at Bound For Glory for The World Heavyweight Championship. This match was just really good. I can’t find anything, besides The Wolves ending their partnership prematurely, to really complain about. It was just a very entertaining, dramatic match that was fun to watch.

puRgatoRy:
Tigre Uno vs. Kenny King: This match was pretty good, actually one of the better matches on the card, but there was a problem with this title mach as well. For as good as it was, Kenny King (much like Jade) didn’t really do anything to earn a title shot. And King and Uno aren’t really feuding right now either, so it makes giving King a title shot a bit of a mystery. But either way it was good, and the right guy walked away with the win. Tigre Uno is probably the most underrated wrestler, and champion, on TNA’s whole roster. When he won The X-Division Championship, I thought for sure that he would get a sizeable spotlight. But shortly after that, Donald Trump went on his rant so Uno started making videos geared toward him. Those never really went anywhere and really only succeeded in keeping him out of the ring. And then Jeff Jarrett came back and stole all the spotlight away from everyone, and Uno became a sort of afterthought. Now that GFW is gone, and the focus is back on the TNA roster, it’s Uno’s time to shine. I still think he can put The X-Division back on the map, and singles matches like this one really help. They just need to build some credible challengers, instead of just giving whoever a title shot. It seems as though the upcoming Ultimate X match will provide that, and I’m looking forward to some exciting qualifying matches in the coming weeks.

EC3 vs. Rockstar Spud: This was another fine match between these two, as always, but this one had the same problem that all the night’s other title matches had; Spud didn’t earn that title shot. I’m a big fan of Rockstar Spud, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him win the world title at all, but he should at least have to earn the shot. Especially a World Heavyweight Championship shot, you can’t just give that out to whoever. That being said, it was a very good match and Spud gave EC3 all he could handle. Eventually Spud would succumb to the 1 Percenter, and The Entitled One has another successful title defense. After the match, Carter would order Tyrus to heart punch Spud and then ‘assume the position’. Then Carter would turn to his personal assistant, Jeff Hardy. He tells Jeff to end Spud’s career, by doing a Twist of Fate. Didn’t really know that was a career ending move but OK. Jeff refuses and out comes older brother Matt. The elder Hardy tries valiantly to fight Tyrus, but the big man proves to be too much. He then ‘assumes the position’ again, this time with Matt Hardy. But Hardy would prove to be a bit harder to contain than Spud, low blowing FunkaTyrus. I thought for a minute that the big guy was having a heart attack or something because of the way he just fell over, I didn’t even see the low blow at first. Then Jeff Hardy strikes EC3 right in the melon, and the brothers Hardy stand tall in the ring. This whole little segment with Hardy and Carter was great, and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens after Hardy quit a little later on in the night.

THE wRong:
Gail Kim vs. Jade: Ok this match was actually good, which is just another reason why this was so bad. First of all, what on earth did Jade do to earn a title shot? Yes they’re feuding right now but, hell, when was the last time Jade even won a match? This should’ve been Brooke’s rematch, but instead we got Jade. And to make things worse, she gave Gail a pretty hard time. But wasn’t it Gail who just recently beat both her and Marti by herself, inside a steel cage? And beat them handily I might add. She had more trouble with just Jade in this normal match than she had with both of them inside a cage? And then instead of Jade’s Dollhouse sisters preventing her from losing, they let her get her ass kicked, and beaten, before storming the ring. Just so many bad decisions here.

THE Ridiculous:
Nothing

The 411:
This edition of Impact, much like this week’s Smackdown, was a bit slower than the other shows that they’ve been putting on lately. But this one also had one recurring problem with it, the challengers for the champions. The opening segment was spot on, with Dixie thanking her team for fighting for her. The match that she ends up making, between Sarge and EY, was the best match that those two have ever put on. I was so glad to see that Sarge actually does have some skill in that ring, and EY was just as good as he always is. The Knockouts match just never should’ve happened, as it was just filled with bad decisions. Kenny King/Tigre Uno was a pretty good match, but once again was hindered by the things that were wrong with it. EC3/Spud is also in that boat, having had a nice match despite it being so wrong. The problems within the ranks of The Revolution came to a head this week, with Abyss and Manik both walking out on their now former mentor. And the 5 way main event, that would determine the #1 contender for the world title, was just awesome. Yeah The Wolves randomly stopped working together to fight each other, but so what? The rest of the match was just too much fun to be upset with it. Now to talk about the recurring problem that I mentioned earlier. Champions cannot have successful runs if they are defending against people who haven’t even earned that opportunity. How are we supposed to believe that these challengers actually have even the slightest chance of winning, when they did nothing to get to that spot in the first place. Did anybody actually think Jade could beat Gail? Especially after the way that Gail rag dolled both her AND Marti, by herself, INSIDE A CAGE? Why would anyone think that Kenny King or Rockstar Spud had a shot in their respective title matches? King’s last two matches, he lost, and Spud hasn’t been in very many matches at all lately. If they want us to get excited about a title match, they should do what they did in the main event. Galloway had a very hard fought match, outlasted 4 other guys, and is now a very credible #1 contender that actually looks as though he could dethrone the champ. This is the way that TNA should be approaching their title matches from now on.

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 9.24.15

THE Right:
Kane/Seth Rollins Opening Segment: Smackdown opened up this week with The Director of Operations Kane resuming his on screen duties. He would make two big matches (Kevin Owens & Rusev vs. Ryback & Dolph Ziggler, Roman Reigns vs. Luke Harper)before being interrupted by Seth Rollins, who was wanting some answers. Rollins wanted to know why Kane attacked him at both Night of Champions and RAW. Kane acted as if he had no idea what Rollins was talking about, even saying that during Night of Champions he was at sitting at home. Then, after Rollins refused to come down to the ring and said that Kane needed serious help, The Devil’s Favorite Demon made the main event for the night official. It would feature The WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins once again doing battle with his former brother from The Shield, Dean Ambrose. This opening segment was actually really entertaining, and for once Kane is actually involved in something remotely interesting. The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing that Kane’s doing right now is good and I’m hoping that they don’t totally ruin this storyline. I think this is one that could really get the fans behind Kane again and, if done correctly, can legitimately get him in the main event scene as well. And seeing as how Kane is still a part of The Authority this storyline could potentially lead to a huge implosion within their ranks, as Triple H has already shown signs of being fed up with both Kane and Rollins. Hopefully this is the storyline that starts the shakeup that WWE has been teasing.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins: Whenever these two get meet in the ring, you know that you can expect a great showing. This time was no different as they put another very good match. Ambrose got a nice start to the match, but Seth Rollins would fight his way back into the match. Upon returning from a commercial break, Rollins had full control, which he mostly held on to for the rest of the match. Ambrose had a few nice little outbursts, but it just seemed like Rollins had an answer for everything that The Lunatic Fringe attempted. But Ambrose would find his stride, however, with his jab/chop combos and a big suplex of the top rope. From that moment it was back and forth the rest of the way, with both guys hitting big moves and providing exciting near falls. Then Rollins hit his signature Powerbomb into the corner, which is where the match took a very big turn. Kane’s pyro goes off and the entire arena goes red, as Rollins frantically looks around the ring for The Big Red Machine. In the confusion Ambrose manages to roll up Rollins quickly, and The Unstable One has a big win. Irate, Rollins grabs a mic after the match and yells at the nonexistent Kane. He promises Kane that, if he continues to mess with him, he will suffer the same fate as Sting because he is The WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This match was very good, as were all their past meetings, and the continued mind games from Kane was a smart way to end the match. It didn’t end in DQ or count out or a no finish, but it still didn’t really hurt Rollins all that much. In my opinion this was the perfect way to do this match.

puRgatoRy:
The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons & Neville: This was an incredibly random match and, for what it was, it wasn’t bad. The New Day spent plenty of time being in control, giving Xavier Woods loads of reason to play that trombone of his (even while he was actually a part of the match. The wrong person got the hot tag from the face team, with Sin Cara getting it over Neville, but it did manage to change the flow of the match. Shortly after that came an awesome moment when Neville pulled out a suicide dive in perfect unison with The Lucha Dragons, who were both Moonsaulting off opposite corners. But in the confusion Xavier Woods would take advantage, hitting a running kick on Sin Cara to get the pin. It was a fine match, but it meant absolutely nothing so…

Cesaro vs. Bo Dallas: Can’t they put Dallas on TV with a purpose for once? He is pure TV gold and I can’t understand why he isn’t more involved in storylines. Are you telling me he can’t generate heat? Cuz that’s bull. Are you telling me he can’t deliver a good match? That’s bull too, he delivers good matches even as a jobber. Are you telling me he’s not good enough on the mic? That’s most definitely bull! This week he did it again in a very good with Cesaro. He didn’t go out there and get absolutely destroyed, instead having a lot of time to control, and then got beaten by the damndest roll up I’ve ever seen. Nice match, good much needed win for Cesaro, but I hope they start doing something, SOMETHING with Dallas (besides jobbing him out) soon.

Kevin Owens & Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler & Ryback: Rusev and Ziggler got things going in this one, and Rusev would take the early lead. Ziggler would then spend a whole hell of a long time getting stomped right into the ground, before Ryback could get the hot tag. Ryback gets it and comes in just to get dropped by a Rusev Spin Kick. Shortly after that he would eat a big Superkick from Rusev, and then Owens just decided to up and leave. With Owens gone, Rusev would succumb to the numbers. He gets cracked with a Superkick courtesy of Ziggler, and then Ryback hits Shell-shocked to pick up the win. This was an alright tag team match, but why did Owens walk off like that? I would understand if they were getting beat and he decided to leave, expect it even, but they were winning. Hands down they had control and it just doesn’t make any sense that Owens would decide to walk away. But other than that it was ok, not amazing but not terrible either.

THE wRong:
Roman Reigns vs. Luke Harper: This was a true one on one match per the order of Kane, who said earlier that Ambrose, Wyatt, and Strowman were all banned from ringside. With that I thought for sure that this match would be a barn burner, easily a candidate for match of the night. What we got was a short little match, that didn’t even get to see a commercial break and made Harper look like nothing. The big Wyatt Family member got off to a slow start, getting dominated by Roman Reigns early on. Harper got in a few nice moves, but soon enough Reigns would hit a big Spear. That Spear was enough to keep Harper on the mat, like flat on the mat, and this one was just so disappointing. No it wasn’t terrible, but for what it could’ve been it was just very under whelming.

THE Ridiculous:
Charlotte/Paige Segment: Charlotte came out this week to talk about her title winning performance this past Sunday, and to talk about The Divas Revolution in general. But she wouldn’t get very far into it before her former Team PCB partner, Paige, would make her way to the ring. She comes out just to cap on Becky Lynch some more, and then to suggest that maybe Charlotte is not woman enough to be Divas Champion. She continues, talking about how she was the one who started the revolution in the first place. Then, out of nowhere, Natalya comes on down to reinforce the idea that this is the best the Divas Division has ever looked (a fact that nobody ever really questioned). Paige takes that as the cue to start capping on Natty, saying that the revolution passed her by and now she’s just doing anything she can to regain relevance. Then Paige slaps the taste (and fight apparently) right out of Natty’s mouth and leaves the ring. Why Natty came out in the first place hardly makes sense, and then why she didn’t Spear Paige’s ass and start wailing on her is completely beyond me. She got slapped right in the middle of the ring, and Paige stood right in front of her for a good while after. But instead of doing what she’s in the WWE to do, she nearly breaks down in tears and watches Paige leave. Boy, Paige oughta be scared now.

The 411:
This week’s Smackdown was a bit slower than their recent shows, but it was still acceptable. The opening segment kinda served as a precursor for how the night was going to go, slow but still good, and Kane and Rollins so far are making the best of this storyline. The first match, while under whelming, was still a decent affair. Would’ve liked to see Harper maybe be a little more effective, but at least the right guy walked away with the win. The 6 man tag match was pretty random, but the wrestlers in this one said ‘To hell with it’ and put on a good show anyway. Cesaro/Dallas was not bad, Cesaro definitely needed the win, but they need to find something else for Dallas. Surely there has to be some better way to use him other than just mid card jobber. The continued deterioration of Team PCB was on full display as well, but they added Natalya to the mix for some reason. And it seems as though that reason, at least this week, was to get slapped all the way back to Kindergarten by Paige. I don’t see a need for Natty in this angle at all, but maybe they’ll make it work somehow. The big tag team match saw Ziggler do what he does best, which is take a beating and keep on ticking, and Owens do what he does best. Owens walked out on yet another match, this time one that he was actually winning. And finally Rollins/Ambrose, the match that just can’t disappoint. And it didn’t as they delivered another very good match. The shenanigans from Kane at the end of the match was classic, giving Ambrose a very big win without hurting Rollins very much at all. Though it wasn’t the best show, it was a pretty good effort from the blue brand this week. I’d be lying though if I said I wasn’t hoping for a return to the red hot shows that they were putting on as recently as last week.

Comments or questions or anything else? I love hearing (or reading) it all so please do comment below! And if you want to hear back from me you can always email me directly and I shall get back to you right away.

My email – [email protected]

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

The 1028th edition is over…

Sell the leg brother…