wrestling / Columns

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

November 11, 2015 | Posted by Pyro Mitchell

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.

By Pyro Mitchell
Impact 11.04.15

THE Right:
Madison Rayne vs. Brooke: What a good match to kick off the show. The Knockouts pulled out all the stops in this one, and they really made it seem like a win was important. Brooke’s broken finger played very heavily into the outcome of this one, as she was constantly favoring it throughout. Brooke had a few nice outbursts of offense, but it was Rayne that controlled the pace for the most part. Eventually it was Madison using a Rampaige style move, and she picks up her first points in the series. I thought this was a really good match to kick off the night, albeit a bit short. Group Knockouts is one of the most intriguing in the whole series because it really seems like any two could move on, and its going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

Rockstar Spud vs. Bram: Wow Spud was, in this match, so much better than in his last match with Grado. He put on a pretty good fight, and had Bram reeling multiple times. Although it was Bram that landed the bigger, more devastating moves, which is what would eventually lead him to a victory. Spud would get flattened by The Brighter Side Of Suffering, and Bram is successful in his rebound match after losing to Galloway. Bram gets the nice win that he needs, and now Spud may be as good as gone seeing as how his next match is with Galloway.

Mandrews vs. Manik: This was a very interesting match, especially in the way that it started out. Rather than the usual fast paced start to an X-Division bout, this one began with both guys trying to out wrestle each other. Eventually it was Mandrews who would throw it out the window and use his speed to get an advantage. Mandrews was actually able to hold the upper hand for a good amount of time, and connected with some very nice moves. But then he went for the homerun, a Shooting Star Press, and landed right on Manik’s knees. Manik would then deliver that kick to the face that he does, and all the sudden Manik sits atop the leader board of Group X-Division. This was a pretty fun match to watch, and I’m looking forward to Manik being a big piece of the next part of this series.

Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode: Roode came out on fire, and began wailing on Young right when the bell rang. He kept up the offense, and even went for an early Roode Bomb, which would end up costing him. Young would counter, and that led directly to a good while of control from EY. That was right up until Bobby Roode landed a beautiful Enziguri, which laid out EY. It was very much a stalemate from there, as neither guy could really get much offense without the other coming back with their own. It was Earl Hebner that ended up being the difference maker in this match, as EY pulled him in the way of Bobby Roode, who was coming off the top rope. The confusion there gave EY enough time take advantage, and he would spike Roode with a vicious looking Piledriver. EY gets the win he so needed and it’s going to very interesting to see what happens

puRgatoRy:
Kenny King vs. Mahabali Shera: This match began with Kenny King keeping Shera grounded and off balance, thanks to his quick and effective offense, capped off by a brilliant Corkscrew Dive to the outside. King actually managed to be very effective for the rest of the match after that, hardly allowing Shera any offense at all, right until he leapt off the second rope. Shera would catch The King of The Night in mid air, and send him crashing to the mat with a Sky High. This was an ok match, but I kinda think King should’ve won that one, just don’t think Shera was quite up to the level of King, but oh well.

THE wRong:
Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards: This match was so under whelming. What this match could’ve been, compared to what it was, is a huge difference. This could’ve been a great match between two of the most exciting performers, not just in tag team wrestling, but in wrestling in general. They are competing for a shot at the world title, they could afford to put their team aside for one night to let the better man win. But instead we got a mat-wrestling heavy match, with very few big moves, and a time limit draw. Maybe it’s just me but I really think they missed an amazing opportunity.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:
This was eerily similar to last week, it just wasn’t as hot as the first few weeks of the series were. The first match between Madison Rayne and Brooke was a nice opener, got the night off to a pretty good start. And then Spud/Bram and Mandrews/Manik got my hopes pretty high for what the rest of the night might hold. And then we got a big disappointment of a match that featured the two Wolves members. King/Shera followed that and, even though it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t that great. But the main event, I must say, did a pretty good job of salvaging that last hour of TV. Decent effort from TNA this week, but I’m still really hoping for a major return to form.

Show Rating: 7.5

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 11.05.15

THE Right:
Neville vs. Alberto Del Rio: This was the best singles match that Del Rio has been a part of since returning, excluding the Cena match. When he was wrestling R-Truth, those matches were nothing. There was never any sort of chance for Truth, where Neville is a guy that could conceivably defeat the US champ, and at times it seemed as though he would. Del Rio got off to a successful start, hitting a Back Stabber early on, but Neville would find his way back. Using high risk moves and other fast paced offense, The Man That Gravity Forgot took the upper hand away from Del Rio, culminating in a very nice Moonsault from the top rope that went to the floor. But, just as Neville looked as though he would win, would end up getting caught in the Tree of Woe. Soon enough the Double Stomp came and Neville’s lights went out. A much better singles match for Del Rio, and a nice outing from Neville as well, made for a great opening to this show. The attack from Del Rio and save from Swagger was sorta stale, but it had to happen to move that feud along.

Natalya vs. Tamina: WOW! Did Tamina really just put on an acceptable match? Natty asked for this match after what happened to her last week, but challenged the leader of Team BAD. Sasha Banks and Naomi both figured it would be them accepting the challenge, but Tamina was like “I got this”. Tamina had some nice control in this one, helped out by her teammates on the outside. But all that it took to put Tamina away was a countered Snuka Splash, which saw Tamina eat a boot. That would allow Natty to roll up her opponent and get the surprise win. This was not a bad match at all, especially for a Tamina match. Natty definitely needed a win, but Tamina doesn’t look weak for taking the loss thanks to how it ended.

puRgatoRy:
The Usos vs. The Ascension: This was hardly a match, it was more of The Uso Show. Yes, The Ascension had some nice moments in this one, and had some amounts of control. But that control never lasted, as The Usos kept their opponents way off balance with their high-octane skillset. A couple of gnarly looking Superkicks led directly into a big Splash from the top rope, and The Usos have get the win. not the most incredible match ever, but it was good to see The Usos get back on track. Too bad The Ascension are just jobbers now, as they actually looked pretty good in some spots of that match, but I guess someone has to be.

The Wyatt Family vs. The Lucha Dragons & The Prime Time Players: This was the most random Survivor Series style match ever, and it certainly felt like it too. The face teams pretty much never had control, as The Wyatt’s dominated and quickly eliminated Darren Young. That gave The Wyatt’s an early 4 on 3 advantage, and they kept it throughout. The shining light of this one was Titus O’Neal and Kalisto. Titus looked fantastic in this match, possibly his best performance yet, and it’s baffling why they don’t use him a little better. And Kalisto deserves so much better than Sin Cara as a tag team partner. The Wyatt’s never lost a single member, and look crazy dominant going towards Survivor Series.

Ryback vs. King Barrett: King Running Joke is at it again, and at full force. What must Barrett do to WWE Creative? He must piss them off so bad. He had some decent momentum going into this one, but Ryback managed to snuff it all out in the course of one match. But that’s not Ryback’s fault, there was no way that he could take a loss against Barrett ever. And what’s worse for Barrett is that this win came after he was in control for nearly the whole match, and then done in by 1 move. I expect to see him wrestling Truth, or back with Sheamus, relatively soon.

THE wRong:
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens: GRRRRAHHHHH!!! That was the collective sound of everyone when this match came to an end. This was such a good match throughout, and really had the fans rocking. But then they deliver a big kick to groin (kinda literally) of an ending, and it just ruined everything. Ambrose kicked Owens, quite clearly, in the midsection. Owens acted as though it was a low blow and, instead of the ref saying “too bad, I didn’t see it”, he throws the match out. And then sees on the replay that Owens was lying, but fails to restart the match like he has the authority to do. This was just a lazy out for this match, if they’re going to do a DQ end, have it at least be a good DQ.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:
This was a less than stellar edition of Smackdown, it had a few ups but it most definitely had its downs. The night got off to a decent start with Neville/Del Rio, which they tried to keep going with the Uso’s/Ascension match. But, instead of that one being an entertaining bout, it was more of ‘Look at The Usos’. And they lost even more momentum in the Survivor Series match that should’ve been way more exciting that it was. Not very often are those elimination matches not fun to watch, so in my opinion that kills it right there. And then we got to see the running joke of WWE get taken down another peg, this time by Ryback. But then they kinda found they’re groove again with Natty/Tamina, as they put on a nice little match. That was supposed to carry over to the main event between Ambrose and Owens, and it did, but the ending just ruined it. So, overall this week was not very successful, they certainly need to amp it up a bit ahead of one of their biggest PPV’s of the year.

Questions or comments? I love hearing them all so please do leave your comments below. Or you guys can always email me directly and I shall get back to you ASAP. Thanks for reading!

My email – [email protected]

Show Rating: 5.7

As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale…