wrestling / Columns

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

June 29, 2015 | Posted by Pyro Mitchell

Wrestling’s 4Rs breaks down the Right, the wRong and the 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.


 photo impact-new-logo_zps5ad4ec54.jpg
By Pyro Mitchell
Impact 6.24.15

~ Elimination Match For The Vacant X-Division Title: Tigre Uno defeated Low Ki and Grado @ 5:09 via pin to become the NEW X-Division Champion
~ Velvet Sky defeated Angelina Love @ 5:21 via pin
~ Match 4 in the Best of 5 Series For The Vacant TNA Tag Team Titles – Full Metal Mayhem: The Dirty Heels [2] defeated The Wolves [2] @ 18:07 via pin
~ Vader defeated Bram @ 3:49 via DQ
~ Eric Young defeated Chris Melendez @ 3:30 via pin
~ Non-Title Match: Champion Kurt Angle defeated Matt Hardy @ 5:50 via submission

THE Right:
Angle/EC3 Opening Segment: Kurt Angle opened the show this week, and talked about how he was going to beat EC3 next week. He said bell to bell nobody was better than him and that he would prove that next week, as well as this week. He then demands that EC3 bring out his opponent right then and there, which would to EC3 coming out to the stage. They exchanged some barbs with each other, with EC3 saying he’s the unbeatable challenger (great moment when EC3 spoke of sacrificing heroes from the ashes upon his alter of perfection) and Angle claiming he was going to make everyone tap (Oh it’s real, it’s damn real), before the mystery opponent’s music hit. I got really excited when I heard the music (IT’S JEFF!) and then Matt walked out. Don’t get me wrong Matt’s still good, and the match should be solid, but can they get him some new music? Good job by Angle and EC3 building up their match and it should be an awesome one.

Low Ki vs. Tigre Uno vs. Grado: This match was to determine the new X-Division champion. It started out rather slow, with Grado getting in too much silly offense before being eliminated. At least he was the first to go (Big time rights go to Low Ki for slapping the taste out of Grado’s mouth to start the match and then eliminating him with a nasty Warrior’s Way to the head). Now it was down to Ki and Uno, and this is where the match heats up. Both guys would exchange momentum for a short while (awesome moment came from Tigre hitting a springboard hurricanrana off the top rope) before Uno would deliver a very nice 450 splash for the victory. YES!! Tigre won! This is so great, I think he’s the one that could bring the X-Division out of the hole it’s currently in. Here’s to a nice and lengthy title run for Tigre Uno!

Jeff Jarrett Is Back! : Has hell froze over? It must have because look who’s back, with his wife in tow. Jeff revealed that TNA has offered him to come back for one more match, but not just any match, a King of the Mountain match. The match would take place at Slammiversary, the 13th anniversary of his company. He said he considered it for a while, remembering all the great times he had in TNA, before snapping back to reality. He wondered what about his company, his roster, and his wife. What would they think if he went back, which is when he handed over the mic to Karen. She said that Global Force Wrestling was their future and that TNA was in their rearview and, despite not really understanding why they were there, she supports Jeff. She said that she wants him to go out the way he wants to go out. And with that Jeff confirms that come Slammiversary he will be wrestling for a promotion he, and everybody, thought he was done with.

Bram vs. Vader: IT’S TIME, IT’S VADER TIME!! This was nostalgia at its finest. Yes Bram took a beating from the old guy, but I don’t find myself caring here. HE EVEN GOT TO HIT HIS VADER BOMB!! It’s pretty funny that Bram had to use a weapon, which would cause the DQ in a no DQ match. Bram would continue the beat down before the save was made, by Matt Morgan. Good to see Morgan back, and this is a guy that I wouldn’t mid seeing feud with Bram for a bit. I feel like they could produce some very good, and very violent, matches.

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Hardy: This was a pretty good lengthy match that featured both wrestlers prominently. Throughout the whole match both guys traded momentum and big moves. The finishing stretch was good, really exciting, with Matt Hardy looking like he actually could win. He hit The Side Effect multiple times, and even got to land The Twist of Fate. But none of those signature MH moves was enough to keep Angle down, and he eventually locked on an Ankle Lock for the tap and the win. Good match, and the excitement for Angle/EC3 is at a fever pitch. It’s gonna be good!

puRgatoRy:
Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky: Angelina Love grabbed a mic before the match to “remind” us that this is Velvet’s last chance at getting her job back. Why couldn’t they have just said that last week? Josh Matthews & Pope Dumbass Dinero couldn’t take a break from being terrible to let everybody know that this match was even happening? Or did I miss it because they’re getting harder to harder to listen to? Either way, the match got started soon after and was actually half way decent. Yes this match has been done tons of times before, but it felt fresh because of Velvet’s new attitude. She did things and wrestled in a way that the old Velvet never did. She’s even got herself a new badass finisher, I’ll call it The Velvet Stunner, which she pulled out for the win. Even though I like this new attitude from Sky, I’m curious as to how long she’s going to stick with it. Too much uncertainty, despite a good match, to put it in right.

BDC/Rising Battle: Upon coming back from a commercial break, The BDC and The Rising were doing battle backstage. They would fight all the way down to the ring, and another surprise return would occur. The Mexican Superman Hernandez came to help The BDC, taking out all of The Rising pretty much single handedly. MVP would introduce him as the newest member of The BDC before leaving the ring. This is interesting, I wonder why Hernandez is joining them. For now this goes in Purgatory.

THE wRong:
The Dirty Heels vs. The Wolves Full Metal Mayhem: This was so disappointing! Roode and Aries may be called The Dirty Heels, but I swear they don’t know how to use weapons at all! I mean when the best thing you can think to do with steel chairs is sit on them and do a sleeper hold, that’s not good. The worst damage that The Wolves took was from running into the weapons, not being hit by them. The Wolves were able to provide a few good moments, such as alternating chair shots to the gut and trash can lid shots to the head of their opponents, and the hat trick suicide dives. The finishing stretch was probably the best part of the match, with both teams getting the chance to land some big moves, and featured a few close near falls. But then the end came off a low blow? Come on! This match could’ve been so much more, but oh well. Sad to say this was Wrong.

THE Ridiculous:
Eric Young vs. Chris Melendez: This match was OK, and featured EY controlling for the most part. I CANNOT BELIEVE POPE SAID THAT THE SARGE SHOULD TAKE HIS LEG OFF TO WRESTLE, AND EVEN WENT SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT GETTING HIS LEG YANKED OFF DURING A MATCH WAS FAIR GAME. That is absolutely ridiculous, and it didn’t help this match any to have awful commentating. Melendez was eventually done in by a Piledriver, and this was the low part of the night.

The 411:

Overall this episode of Impact was not bad, but it certainly wasn’t the dynamite stuff we’ve been having lately. Angle and EC3 opened the show and talked about their match, and about how neither one of them was going to lose. Tigre Uno winning the X-Division title was the best part of the night, even if it did come after a somewhat slow match. EY/Melendez & The Wolves/Heels matches didn’t deliver quite as well as they should’ve, and it’s too bad because they both could’ve been good. Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, while having been done about a million times already, actually felt very fresh. The new Velvet attitude is intriguing, but how far will it take her. Will she be able to stay with this persona for the long haul? Or is she doomed to eventually regress to the ass shaking Velvet Sky that we all know? Tonight was also the night of the return! Matt Hardy, Vader, Hernandez, and Jeff and Karen Jarrett all showed up on the night. It felt very much like a nostalgic edition of Impact all night because of their appearances, and it really helped a rather slow show. The BDC and The Rising got to continue their feud, but who will The Rising bring in to even the odds against The BDC and their new member Hernandez? Matt Hardy and Kurt Angle had a good main event, and Angle/EC3 next week is shaping up to be priceless (both literally and figuratively). Not a bad show this week, but definitely not the dynamite that it was last week.

Show Rating: 6.8

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 6.27.15

– Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 9:58 via pin
– Alicia Fox defeated Naomi @ 3:10 via pin
– Non-Title Match: Champion Ryback defeated Kane @ 2:25 via DQ
– The Prime Time Players and Lucha Dragons defeated New Day and Bo Dallas @ 6:58 via pin
– Non-Title Match: Champion Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose @ 12:55 via pin

THE Right:
The Authority Is Back! : Seth Rollins and his cronies came to start the show this week. Rollins talked about what happened on RAW, saying that he and his crew went to Suplex City and burned it to the ground. Rollins goes on to talk about his fellow Authority members (Kane and J&J), saying that Mercury helped make the attack on Brock Lesnar possible and that Kane was forever (regardless of whether he was wearing a suit or a mask). He also mentioned that there was someone missing in Jamie Noble, because of Lesnar breaking his ribs on RAW, before handing the mic to Kane. Kane talks about The Big Show, or more importantly his absence. I didn’t realize that Show was still a part of The Authority, but Kane made that somewhat clear by calling him The Authority’s extended family. That lead to Kane asking Ryback to come down in order to explain his actions. Quite simply Ryback said that Big Show “wanted to see what I could do and The Big Guy showed him”. Rollins says that Ryback doesn’t carry himself like a champion, and that The Big Guy should take a lesson from him. Ryback answers by saying there’s a difference between a champion and a sellout, calling Rollins an overprotected child and saying that he wishes Ambrose had a better grip so that he would’ve won the title. So then Kane makes a match between himself and Ryback for, not right now, but later tonight. The Authority leaves the ring, but before they can get all the way to the back Rollins would start talking again. Clearly upset over what Ryback said about Ambrose nearly winning, Rollins says that he’ll finish the job later tonight. This was an ok opening segment for Smackdown, albeit somewhat routine.

The New Day & Bo Dallas vs. The Prime Time Players & The Lucha Dragons: This was brought on because of an earlier backstage segment, in which Bo Dallas told The New Day to team up with him to take on The PTP’s and whoever they could find. The PTP’s took control early, before the almost useless Sin Cara gave the control away. I say almost useless because it seems like he’s always the one getting beat up, and Kalisto’s always the guy to save to him, but at least he’s able to do cool things once in a while. Kalisto getting the hot tag lead to the pace quickening, and the match completely breaking down. All the participants would get involved, doing all their signature moves, before leaving Kalisto and Woods alone in the ring. Woods attempted a roll up, but to no avail as Kalisto would kick out. Kalisto would get the upper hand and, following a nice springboard 450 Splash, score the win. Good match here, and I’m glad to see Bo Dallas get involved in something. He should be on his own but for now this was totally acceptable (I do wish he could’ve gotten a win but oh well). And this just added extra attention to Battleground’s tag title match. Couldn’t find it in me to put in Purgatory.

Roman Reigns/Bray Wyatt: After a small conversation backstage with Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns found a screwed up picture of himself from Bray Wyatt that had the caption “Anyone But You”. This pissed Roman off and he went searching for Wyatt all through the backstage area. He crossed the line when harassing a backstage worker, which led to Kane ejecting him from the building. Reigns tells Kane if he finds Wyatt it’s going down, and leaves the building. This feud with Wyatt is getting better and better, and its nice to see a feud get good build on Smackdown for once. Like I said this feud has the potential to be great, and hopefully they don’t screw this one up.

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose: This was a non title match that Rollins wanted to prove he could beat Ambrose. Early on Ambrose looked good, before a commercial break provided enough time for Rollins to take control. Rollins took a very methodical approach in keeping Ambrose down, before a huge belly to belly off the top rope changed the flow of the match. The Lunatic Fringe was able to keep Rollins off balance and off his feet by way of his unorthodox offense, before Rollins would land a big Super Kick. From there Rollins and Ambrose would exchange momentum, with brief interruptions from The Authority, and have some exciting near falls. A big clothesline from Ambrose made it look as though he might win but, after a distraction from Mercury, he would succumb to the Pedigree from Seth Rollins. That led to the win for him, and The Authority stands tall tonight. Good match that was very competitive, and it didn’t hurt Ambrose at all because of the way it ended. Good job on this match, I do believe this one was fight of the night.

puRgatoRy:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus: This match was just alright. Rusev came out early to yell at Lana some more in an attempt to distract Ziggler. But this would not work out, however, and the match would go on. The two traded momentum and big moves for a while, with Sheamus getting the better of most of the match. Sheamus would land a devastating Brogue Kick to Ziggler’s mush, while The Showoff was caught up in the ropes, for the pin. Alright little match here but nothing special, Purg it goes.

Naomi vs. Alicia Fox: This match was the meaning of a filler match. Naomi had early control of the match, keeping Fox off balance with quick moves, before Alicia could spear her out of the ring. This would lead to Tamina super kicking the crap out of both The Bella’s, before Alicia got control of the match. Alicia landed a head scissor armbar style takedown, that planted Naomi’s face in the mat, for the victory. Quick match where not much happened, but it’s hard to like anything with Tamina or Alicia Fox involved.

THE wRong:
Kane vs. Ryback: This match got underway after a monumental beating at the hands of Big Show. Ryback wouldn’t go down easy though, and fought Kane with everything he had. Kane managed to completely blow Big Show’s attack and lose all the momentum. Big Show had to get involved in the match, causing a DQ, so that Ryback wouldn’t lose. And then Ryback took another beating capped off by 2 Big Show Chokeslam’s. Big message sent by The Big Show, but I really hope he loses to The Big Guy. Ryback’s reign should go on, and he should be the one to continue to reestablish the Intercontinental Championship.

THE Ridiculous:
Jimmy Uso On Commentating: Don’t tell me its becoming a trend to have incoherent commentators on the wrestling show. First Pope and now Uso? This needs to stop.

The 411:

This was an alright episode of Smackdown that had it’s highs and lows. Rollins and the rest of his so called “family” opened the show, and had a pretty good reunion segment. Ziggler/Sheamus was like the only match that provided a good amount of time, and good wrestling, that wasn’t the main event. But even this match was not all that great, which is not a good sign. Naomi/Alicia Fox didn’t even need to be there, as nothing really happened in the match and both sides ended up getting their asses kicked. Kane/Ryback was not even really a match and just featured Ryback getting his ass beat. One of the two biggest highs was The PTP’s & The Lucha Dragons/The New Day & Bo Dallas match. It was just really fun and, on a slow night, this kind of match is very welcomed. Roman Reigns & Bray Wyatt got to continue their feud this week, even without Wyatt ever being on TV. I do believe that this one could be really good, and hopefully WWE doesn’t let the air out it. The second high of the night was, surprise surprise, Rollins/Ambrose. These two just put on good matches, they can’t really do anything else. No matter what the stipulation is, or who gets involved, its always entertaining. And it didn’t disappoint tonight as it made for the fight of the night once again. Not a bad edition this week, but certainly not the best.

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 1002nd edition is over…

 photo lulz_zpsf4m1lgup.gif