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 7.08.15
– Handicap Match: The Dirty Heels defeated Matt Hardy @ 5:01 via pin
~ Handicap Match: Drew Galloway defeated Abyss, Manik and Khoya @ 2:18 via pin
– Mr. Anderson defeated Bram @ 2:58 via DQ
– Street Fight: Jessie Godderz defeated Robbie E @ 8:30 via pin
– World Title Match: Champion Ethan Carter III defeated Norv Fernum @ 0:45 via pin
– World Title Match: Champion Ethan Carter III defeated Shark Boy @ 0:54 via pin
– Lashley defeated Tyrus @ 4:46 via pin
– Velvet Sky defeated Madison Rayne @ 3:40 via pin
– World Title Match: Kurt Angle defeated Champion Ethan Carter III @ 3:26 via DQ

THE Right:
EC3 Opening Segment: Does he have your attention now? EC3 kicked off the show tonight to tell us all how great he is, and about how he is the best wrestler alive today. He mentions that Dixie Carter, who was making her very unknown return to Impact this week, had given him control of the show for the night and that he was going to make some “great” matches. Then he would state his intentions of defending his belt on this week’s show, but not just once or twice. As he put it, he would be defending his belt a history making EC3 times. Right then Matt Hardy would make his way to the ring, in order to possibly throw his name in the hat of contenders for the nights title matches. He said exactly what I and many others believe, and that is that he is ready for the world title picture. EC3, however, would turn down the elder Hardy brother, besides Matt was “already scheduled” for a different match. EC3 informed him that he would be competing in a tag team match, but since Jeff wasn’t there it would now be a 2 on 1 handicap match. And it was against the team that had tried and failed to get the tag team titles last week, The Dirty Heels. This opening was alright as it really spotlighted the new TNA champ. Matt Hardy getting to have multiple exchanges with the world title contenders is awesome, and hopefully this means that Matt will finally get a chance to compete in the main event scene for a while. Good job of getting everyone prepped for a rather mediocre night.

Mr. Anderson vs. Bram: This match was put together after Anderson attempted to coax EC3 into letting him challenge for the world title, in one of the 3 title matches scheduled for the evening. The match itself was rather short, with Bram getting in the bulk of the offense. The end came when Bram caused a DQ by way of a chair shot to the gut of Anderson. But Bram, of course, was not satisfied with just one chair shot, and so began a vicious beating. Bram would kick Anderson’s ass from ringside all the way to the stage, and then even began beating him with his own drop-down microphone. Multiple times Anderson got cracked in the melon with that mic, getting busted open over his left eye in the process. The match itself wasn’t really long enough to critique, but the beating that followed was fantastic. Bram is being built as this monstrous, alumni killing, force, and that should be huge for him when his inevitable time in the main event scene comes. As a matter of fact, this feud could be the perfect way to catapult The Hardcore Superstar to even the title picture, as Anderson definitely has it in him to be just as crazy and ruthless as Bram and has great name value. This feud should easily surpass Bram/Magnus, and I can picture multiple match of the night candidates between the 2. But hopefully this was not a one off thing, like Bram/Matt Morgan.

Tyrus vs. Lashley: This was another match made by EC3, after Lashley had requested a shot at the champ earlier in the night. I actually enjoyed this match quite a bit, chiefly because there aren’t many people that are bigger than Lashley on the TNA roster. This match saw Lashley having to work around the size and strength of Tyrus, with him even applying Rear Naked Chokes multiple times throughout. In was good to see that Lashley doesn’t always have to rely on just his strength, and to see him change it up a bit. But in the end it would be Lashley’s incredible power that would help him prevail, delivering a devastating Electric Chair Drop to the massive Tyrus (Tyurs’ face while on Lashley’s face was totally priceless!). That would lead to a big Spear, the 1 2 3, and another big win for The Dominator. This match was just fun to watch, nothing amazing and nothing great, with some good wrestling. Lashley getting the clean win was the right move as well, so as to keep him at the top of the list of contenders for the new champ.

Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne: Madison Rayne grabbed a microphone before the match began to tell Velvet how much she doesn’t belong in the TNA ring anymore. This would be met by a kick to the gut from Velvet, and the match was now officially underway. Both women would exchange momentum and moves throughout the whole match, with Madison being the Queen Bee of the ring that she is and Velvet showing off her new skill set. Eventually, though, the match had to come to an end, and Velvet would provide that ending with The Number 1 Stunner (I guess that’s what we’re calling it now). This was a decent match actually, that had the right person walking away the victor. Can’t really find anything wrong with this one.

Dixie’s Return: The President of TNA made her grand return to The Impact Zone this week, presumably to endorse her nephew EC3 as the new World Heavyweight Champion. But that was not to be, however, as she met EC3 in the ring. She said that since Bully Ray put her through that table she has changed her way of thinking, saying that she now understood that the company should belong to the fans. She says that what EC3 did this week was embarrassing, and ends the interview by saying that someone is needed to make all the on air decisions on a week-to-week basis. The catch is that it wasn’t going to be her or Ethan, but we will have to wait until next week to get more information. This was an alright ending to the show, and it was way nice to see the old Dixie Carter stand up once again.

puRgatoRy:
The Rising Says Goodbye: Drew Galloway, Eli Drake, and Micah came down to the ring this week to talk about the disbanding of their faction, The Rising. Galloway said that this idea was started because there was a need for someone to stand up to the people that manipulate the system for their own gain, such as MVP and The BDC. Eli Drake told everyone he was sorry, and that one day he would repay Galloway for getting his foot in the door of TNA. Galloway would then close by saying that he would continue his quest to bring down The BDC and that this was not the end, but rather this was just the beginning. But before he could leave the ring, EC3 would grab a mic. Apparently he had stayed ringside after the Hardy/Heels match, and he would proceed to inform Galloway of his match for the evening. He said it was a shame that The Rising was disbanding because he had already made a 3 on 3 match for the evening, so obviously Galloway would have to go it alone. This was an alright sendoff for The Rising, but why didn’t Micah get to say anything? He gets eliminated first last week, after doing next to nothing in the match, and then doesn’t say a word when his faction is ripped apart. Didn’t make much sense to me, and EC3 making another handicap match is again lazy.

Jessie Godderz vs. Robbie E: This was a street fight between the former BroMans that was brought about after an untelevised attack from Jessie on Robbie last week. The match was actually quite good, with both getting to inflict some major punishment on each other, but that is what kind of shoots this one in the foot. When has Robbie E ever ever EVER looked that good in a match? He has always been an absolute joke, but now all of a sudden he’s capable of having a crazy intense street fight? Hell he took a Powerbomb through two chairs and still kicked out! Pope said that move would’ve put most guys away, and Matthews answered by saying most guys aren’t Robbie E. When was the last time you heard someone say that about him? Chances are there isn’t a last time. And then the Boston Crab that Jessie applied at the end of the match was gnarly, and would’ve been totally acceptable to tap out to, but he stayed in it until he passed out. That’s not a Robbie E trait at all. This was a good match but I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.

Jeff Jarrett Interview: Jeff Jarrett’s exclusive interview continued this week and, even though we got to see a lot more than last week, he didn’t really say anything different. He talked about the partnership between TNA and GFW but didn’t really elaborate on what the deal entails. He spoke about the King of the Mountain Championship and about how he wants it to be front and center in multiple promotions, but again wasn’t really clear about what how that was going to happen. And then he reminisced the good ol days of TNA with Mike Tenay to end the interview. A few interesting things but nothing really concrete, so Purgatory it goes.

THE wRong:
The Dirty Heels vs. Matt Hardy: This match was set up by EC3, after Matt requested a spot in the night’s world title matches. The Heels would get the quick jump on Hardy before Matt would actually take control. For much of the match Matt was able to keep The Heels at bay, and the only time The Heels got control was when they were double-teaming. Hardy even got to hit his patented moves, such as The Side Effect and The Twist of Fate, before the end of the match would come. Matt attempted a suplex off the apron into the ring, but would get tripped by Bobby Roode. The trip would cause Aries to fall right on top of Hardy in prime position for a pin, while Roode held Hardy’s foot so he couldn’t kick out. So The Dirty Heels couldn’t beat one guy without cheating? Maybe they should just go back to singles competition, but oh wait THEY CAN’T!! I say they should go back to singles competition because they can’t win without cheating or weapons. The first two matches with The Wolves they lost and they lost clean. They picked up their two wins in the series by cheating and using weapons, and in the final bout they lost in a 30-minute iron match even with an attempted cheat. Now they can’t even beat a single person without cheating? That’s not the sign of a top-flight tag team, which is exactly how they are being billed right now. But they can’t disband because then there would really be no challengers for The Wolves. They’re pretty stuck right now, and it’s really beginning to show. Yes it was nice to see Matt get to control a match against 2 other wrestlers, and it was very good for him, but this match was lazily booked and The Heels just made it even worse.

Kurt Angle vs. EC3: This match happened because of what Kurt Angle revealed earlier in the night. After EC3’s first two “title defenses” Angle came out to tell Ethan that he had a contract for a rematch any time he wanted, and that time would be tonight. I thought this match was going to save the night, but it did the absolute opposite. The first match was epic, no question, but this one was nothing. EC3 spent the first few minutes running away, and then got put in an Ankle Lock rather quickly. EC3’s way of getting out of the hold was by hitting the referee square in the jaw, which would lead to another ref coming out to disqualify him for doing so. Yet another lazily booked match on an incredibly lazy show, and this is such a disappointment. Hopefully they quit giving letting EC3 have these dumb title defenses, or else all the work that they spent building up that title as something special will have been for nothing.

THE Ridiculous:
The Revolution vs. Drew Galloway: This wasn’t even a tag team match, it was more like a backstage brawl that happened in the ring. Not a single tag happened in the match, and all three members of The Revolution were allowed in the ring at all times (referee Stiffler, AKA the worst referee in the history of wrestling, didn’t even try to get them out of the ring). Oddest of all were the sudden problems that began to brew within The Revolution. At one point Khoya planted Galloway with a Sky High and then went for a pin, but Abyss would break up the pin. They would start arguing, allowing Galloway to fight back into the match. That would lead to a monstrous big boot from Galloway to Manik, and the former leader of The Rising picks up a win in a 3 ON 1 HANDICAP MATCH!! This match could, and probably should, be the final nail in the coffin for The Revolution, as they seem even weaker than The Heels did earlier. Galloway getting the win was huge for him, but the match should have never taken place and The Revolution probably shouldn’t have taken a CLEAN LOSS!

EC3 vs. Norv Fernum; EC3 vs. Shark Boy: Yes I like EC3 being champ, yes I usually enjoy his heel antics, but this week was too much. First we have to sit through 2 handicap matches in a row and then this? First of all EC3 didn’t even get Fernum’s name right, calling him Norv Fernman, and then he beat him with literally 2 moves (1 of them being a kick to the gut). And did he really say Norv is his illegitimate child?? He couldn’t get his own kid’s name right?? Lol. Anyway, then it was time for Shark Boy’s “opportunity”, and he actually got in a couple hits! But then, thanks to Shark Boy’s showboating, EC3 would hit him with the 1 Percenter for his second win in a row. Yeah I get EC3 is a heel, but I was looking forward to him defending against some good challengers (even if he won all 3 by DQ or something). Anything would’ve been better than having to see Norv Fernum again. I’m pretty sure nobody was pining for EC3/Fernum II.

The 411:
This week’s edition of Impact was just so mediocre and so lazy. EC3 getting to be “in charge” was not needed, and the matches that he “put together” were mostly incredibly un-thought out. The first being The Dirty Heels/Matt Hardy match. Yes it was good to see Matt get time in the spotlight, but The Heels really had to cheat to beat him? And then The Revolution/Drew Galloway match was even worse. Galloway beat, clean mind you, a team of 3 people by himself. And it was thanks to a previously unknown heat between Khoya and Abyss. Mr. Anderson and Bram seemed to have begun a new feud, and the TV time spent on those two made for one of the higher points of the evening. Jessie Godderz and Robbie E had a very nice street fight this week, but ultimately it was doomed from the beginning. Because how all of a sudden can Robbie E be so much more durable than he ever has been in the past? EC3’s antics went a bit far for my taste this week in the matches with Fernum and Shark Boy, and then the incredibly under whelming 2nd clash with Angle. Tyrus and Lashley had a decent match this week and hopefully Lashley will be getting a shot at EC3 sometime soon. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne had a pretty good match as well, with Velvet getting the win. Velvet’s new attitude could certainly take her far, and here’s hoping they don’t drop the ball on her again. The Jeff Jarrett interviews were interesting but didn’t really shed light on anything, and they were really just big time killers. And the return of Dixie Carter happened as well, which was actually pretty well done. But it wasn’t enough to save this show. Very mediocre edition this week, and one that just felt very uninspired.

Show Rating: 5.0

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 7.09.15
– Dean Ambrose defeated Bo Dallas @ 7:40 via pin
– Rusev defeated Fandango @ 3:23 via pin
– Roman Reigns defeated Big Show @ 4:08 via DQ
– Titus O’Neil defeated Big E @ 2:50 via pin
– Brie Bella and Alicia Fox defeated Tamina and Naomi @ 2:55 via pin
– Non-Title Match: IC Champion Ryback defeated World Champion Seth Rollins @ 10:22 via count out

THE Right:
Dean Ambrose vs. Bo Dallas: Bo Dallas would make his way to the ring with a microphone, talking about his recent encounter with The Rock. He says that thanks to him The Rock is now a megastar with an HBO series, and that he could help Ambrose as well if he just Bolieved. The match got underway after that and The Unstable One took an early lead but, after 3 run ins with the corner ring posts, Bo Dallas would quickly take control. He was able to maintain the control for most of the match, with Ambrose having brief flashes of offense. Eventually, though, it was The Lunatic Fringe that would get the last laugh, hitting Dirty Deeds for the win. This was a perfectly acceptable match, and it was nice to see Dallas actually have some good TV time in singles competition. Ambrose getting the win was a no brainer, but hopefully this leads to more matches, and more wins, for Bo in the near future.

puRgatoRy:
Seth Rollins Opening Segment: Seth Rollins kicked off the show once again this week, to talk about how great he is and how much of a coward Brock Lesnar is. He says that, rather than meeting him eye to eye in the ring, Lesnar showed how much of a man he was by destroying J&J’s car. He goes on to say that he that he will beat and humiliate The Beast come Battleground, before a flat bed truck carrying the remains of J&J’s car backed into the arena. This would be followed by Paul Heyman strolling out to the stage to trade barbs with The Architect. Both guys would stake their claim as to why their side would be emerging victorious, with Rollins getting to have the last word. Ok opening here but pretty routine, and not much new or interesting was said.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show: This was a pretty quick match, that ended in a DQ thanks to Bray Wyatt. Big Show started very strong, hitting Roman with various power moves. But, thanks to Show literally launching his own head right into a ring post, Roman would soon take the momentum. Shortly thereafter Reigns would look to set up a Superman Punch, but Bray Wyatt would interfere. Another fake Bray came out on the stage while the real one crept up behind Reigns, but Roman was not fooled. He hit Wyatt with the punch he had been saving for Show, and then fired off another two Superman Punches The Giant to set him up for a Spear. But Wyatt would interfere again, pulling Roman’s legs out from under him, to cause the DQ. Soon after a big Chokeslam from Show, Bray would hit Sister Abigail on Reigns. The match wasn’t all that great, but the attack from Wyatt was good. This feud has been really fun to watch develop, and the match between these two at Battleground should be fantastic.

Titus O’Neil vs. Big E: This was the definition of a filler match. It featured two big strong guys in a slow and clumsy match that Titus won by way of a Clash of the Titus, but it just didn’t need to happen. Yes it added more attention to the upcoming tag team title match at Battleground, but they could’ve used this time better.

Brie Bella & Alicia Fox vs. Naomi & Tamina: This tag team match was yet another chance for Team Bella to shine. The match was ok, pretty back n forth, before a silly ending led to another win for The Bella’s. When was the time Naomi even had a chance of winning a match? This Bella thing is getting old, and getting old fast.

Ryback vs. Seth Rollins: This was good match throughout, which is why its so lame to see it end the way it did. Both guys got ample time to shine and hit big moves, before Ryback got control back late in the match. That’s where this one takes a turn to ridiculous, as Rollins continually ran away from Ryback. I realize that neither guy could really afford a loss, by Rollins couldn’t have gotten himself DQ’ed? Then Ryback could’ve laid a short beating on him, prompting Big Show to come help, and the show could’ve ended the exact same way. But instead we got to see Rollins be the coward that he so adamantly said that Lesnar was. A pretty under whelming end to an under whelming show.

THE wRong:
Rusev vs. Fandango: This was the return match for Rusev, after being out of action for about a month. A squash match would’ve been just fine, and Fandango is the perfect guy to have that squash match against. But instead it was actually competitive, and Fandango even got to control for a short while, before The Accolade would signal the end of the match. I don’t think this was the best way for Rusev to make his return, getting into a competitive match with someone like Fandango. After this there is no reason to believe he could compete with someone like a John Cena anymore, and it seems like he’ll be a mid to undercard monster for the foreseeable future (especially with Dolph Ziggler now out indefinitely).

THE Ridiculous:
Randy Orton Promo/Fight: Randy Orton this week made a rare appearance on Smackdown to talk about how much he dislikes Sheamus. He says over the years he’s made plenty of enemies, but none have ever gotten under his skin the way Sheamus has. Really? Not Cena? Not Rollins? Sheamus is the worst because he asks people if they’re entertained? He says that he’s going to make Sheamus entertaining by ripping his Mohawk off and shoving it up his ass to end the promo. But before he could leave the ring, who’s music would hit? The Ascension of course. Apparently it was time for their match and they wanted Orton to leave. Naturally he chose to stay, and proceeded to lay beating on both members of The Ascension. One of the biggest tag teams on the roster, in terms of size, couldn’t even hold their own against one guy? Just so many things went wrong in this one segment.

The 411:
Smackdown this week was every bit as routine and humdrum as it normally is. Ambrose and Dallas easily had the match of the night, and from there it was very slow. Pretty much every other match, besides Ryback/Rollins, was short little filler matches that meant nothing. Very disappointing edition this week, and hopefully they right that ship next week as it will be the final show before Battleground.

Show Rating: 4.5

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

The 1006th edition is over…