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

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 the Returning Daniel Clark
Smackdown 2.05.15
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* Ryback and Dolph Ziggler def. Stardust and Goldust at 7.08 by pinfall
* Dean Ambrose def. Curtis Axel at 2.49 by pinfall
* Fandango def. Adam Rose at 2.09 by pinfall
* Roman Reigns def. The Miz at 5.47 by pinfall
* Rusev def. Erick Rowan at 2.27 by submission
* Paige def. Alicia Fox at 2.25 by submission
* Daniel Bryan def. Seth Rollins and J and J Security at 14.42 by submission

THE RIGHT:
Miz TV: The opening talky segment was pretty good, but what really made this was the facial expression that Roman Reigns had at the end of it. Having just heard that Daniel Bryan would have to face Seth Rollins and J and J Security tonight, Reigns had a smile on his face that just sold me on the way that he is playing his gimmick at the moment and how he should be coming across, and sort of hinted that he may be on the verge of turning heel. Having come out in a bad mood and started Miz TV by punching the Miz in the face, he told Bryan that he went through 29 other people at the Rumble and has no problem going through one more, before challenging him to a fight right now. Reigns is coming across as someone who just knows how good and dominant he is and can be and had that cockiness of a guy who can say these things knowing he has the ability to back it up, which is why the smile he had on his face when Bryan was booked in the handicap match was wonderful, as although he probably feels that he could beat Bryan fairly at Fast Lane, his goal is to get the Wrestlemania and doesn’t care how he gets there, so if Bryan gets destroyed tonight, so much the better for him.

The Miz vs. Roman Reigns: The Miz began the match by reminding us that he did main event and win at Wrestlemania, which is the kind of thing that makes him come across as a more impressive opponent for Reigns to beat, as well as putting himself over in his promo, and also showed his aggression by attacking Reigns before the match begun. I half expected this to just be a simple and straight forward squash match but was nicely surprised to see a fairly decent and competitive match between them, although the outcome of a Reigns victory was never in doubt (and it did get a mixed reception from the crowd.) The competitive nature of the match though is something I’m not sure is the right move. On one hand, Reigns just running through everyone and not looking vulnerable at all is the kind of thing that will get the crowd to turn on him and make him harder to like. On the other hand though, if he is going to face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania, given how strong he has been booked, Reigns needs to be made to look like a viable contender and getting involved in back and forth matches against the Miz is not the way to do that.

Paige vs. Alicia Fox: The match was nothing other than an excuse to give Paige a win, but when she is the number one contender, then she should be winning matches quickly and effectively like she did here. She pre-match promo where she said that was not like every other diva and will embarrass Nikki Bella when she wins the belt was fine as well and just sets the scene for their match at Fast Lane. There was nothing groundbreaking about this but was just solid build to a title match with a reason beyond it.

Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins and J and J Security: When Bryan and Rollins get in the ring you know that you are going to get a pretty decent match and this was no exception, with Noble and Mercury playing their part in the match well with the numbers game favouring the heel team and allowing them to be in control of the match even though Bryan is the better man. Bryan eventually managing to get the win when he gets to isolate Mercury and force him to tap out as he continues on his run to Fast Lane, while Rollins doesn’t end up looking too bad as he was not involved in the fall (although it doesn’t say a lot for his security team if they keep losing these matches). Bryan celebrates afterwards but Kane comes out, so their never-ending feud seems to be continuing, although at least with Bryan still feuding with the Authority and Kane wanting revenge after his loss last week it does make sense. Bryan is beaten down and given the chokeslam and then the curb stomp, although the interesting thing was Roman Reigns not coming out to make the save, as he continues his slighty-heelish ways. This was a decent way to end to the show.

puRgatoRy:
Goldust and Stardust vs. Ryback and Dolph Ziggler: Having been so hot and over with the crowd not that long ago, it seems that Ryback and Ziggler have just drifted away from any kind of meaningful program and are now just teaming up in a throwaway tag team, which is really disappointing to see and almost like the WWE had no intention of getting the likes of Ryback and Ziggler over as a result of their feuds with the Authority and just had no idea what to do when they did. This match itself was fine but lacked any real emotion to it and was fairly forgettable, so much so that even looking at my notes for the match I can’t recall anything significant or memorable happening. There were some more hints to the Stardust/Goldust breakup though with Stardust leaving his partner on his own and it looks as if we are going to potentially get the long awaited feud between them, but I’m not sure this is the right time to do the breakup as I can’t see them getting a match at Wrestlemania so they could become lost in the shuffle.

Curtis Axel vs. Dean Ambrose: Curtis Axel going on each week about how he should be going to Wrestlemania and would have won the Royal Rumble, only to be squashed every week if the kind of gimmick that could be quite entertaining but you just know that it will get taken too far and will kill any potential that it might have. I actually expected Ambrose to run through him a lot quicker than he did and Axel actually got in a decent amount of offence before Ambrose did get the win. His feud with BNB still doesn’t seem very organic though and it is coming across as though they are two guys who don’t fit into the shuffle anywhere else and thus have been put together rather than there being a reason why they want to face each other, as Ambrose wanting the belt has sort of come out of nowhere, and BNB saying that he is too much of a lunatic to get a title shot doesn’t help the feud massively. There is potential but it has been a bit of a slow start.

Rusev vs. Erick Rowan: How many losses does Erick Rowan need to have before it becomes 100 per cent clear that the WWE have no real plans for him other than jobbing to heels? His push always seemed as if it had come from nowhere and since he was given it, he has pretty much lost every single match that he has been in, so it was no surprise to see Rusev get the job done very quickly and effectively here. Match was really too short to amount to anything, but Rusev again looked impressive and by rolling through people quickly, he does look as if he is going to be a challenge that John Cena is going to struggle against (at least in Kayfabe terms).

THE wRong:
Adam Rose vs. Fandango: There are plenty of questions that come out of this but the first real question is who is the face in this match supposed to be? Fandango has done nothing to make him seem likeable since he made his return while Adam Rose has been acting more dickish as the weeks go on and by beating up the Rosebuds is definitely not the move of a face. The match was too short to amount to anything and it doesn’t really help either man’s future. Rose is getting some character development but getting increasingly frustrated with the Rosebuds, but unless he actually starts winning matches, it is pointless, and the Exotic Express is the thing that makes him different from everyone else.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 411:
This episode of Smackdown was all about setting the scene for the main event of Fast Lane and it did so successfully adding some extra intrigue to the Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan contest. There were plenty of subtle hints throughout the show that suggests that not only will Roman Reigns win the match (which we probably all suspect that he will do so), but he may well be turning heel in the process and could even be aligning with the Authority.

Reigns’ smile when he found out from Seth Rollins that Bryan would be involved in a handicap match, the fact he did not come out to help Bryan when he was getting his ass kicked at the end of the show, the fact he was booked to face the Miz (and didn’t run through him within seconds) all plays to the idea that he is being helped by the Authority and may well join them at Fast Lane, although I suspect this might be the backup plan if the fans do not get behind him as the WWE hope that they will do.

As it was, Reigns’ match against the Miz was fairly decent and turned into a very watchable TV match, while the main event involving Bryan and Rollins was pretty good as well, although a set down from the match that they had on Raw this week. The hook that involved these guys throughout the show from Miz TV to start it, to Reigns vs. Miz at the top of hour two, to the main event, hung the show together successfully and if done well, really is the formula that most episodes of Smackdown should stick to.

The rest of the show was fairly uneventful but was full of simple and straightforward booking. Paige got a quick and easy win over Alicia Fox to establish her as the number one contender to the Divas title, and with her promo pre-match established a reason as to why she wants the belt and why she had an issue with the Bella twins.

Rusev got another dominant and quick win and at this stage he is in kayfabe terms one of the hottest talents around and has been built up to a level where you can believe that he has a chance of beating John Cena, although Erick Rowan, who since being a part of Team Cena at Survivor Series, has lost pretty much every match he has been involved in and has lost any momentum that he may have had from that and is just drifting aimlessly to the midcard.

The same fate sort of is facing Ryback and Dolph Ziggler who have gone from being the hottest acts in the company to teaming in random tag matches in the space of a month or so, and even though they won their match, the main story to take from it was not their victory but another step on the long-awaited Goldust/Stardust feud, and it seems a shame that they have not capitalized on their popularity like they could have done so and instead stuck to their plans.

Overall though this was a pretty decent show, which was predicated on the success of the Bryan/Reigns/Rollins/Miz stuff that ran through the show (with the Miz holding his own giving him hope that he can continue to stay relevant after the Mizdow breakup happens), with the rest of the show just being solid and effective. Perhaps there were too many short matches but at least the right people went over in all of them.

Show Rating: 7.6

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

By Jericho Ricardi
Impact 2.06.15
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
* The Revolution def. The Hardy Men at 14:00 via pin (Last Call Superkick to Jeff Hardy)
* Awesome Kong def. Havok at 6:00 via pin (Big Splash)
* Bobby Roode def. Eric Young at 8:00 via pin (Roode Bomb on a chair)
* Tyrus def. Mandrews and Rockstar Spud at 5:00 via pin (Heart Punch to Spud)
* Team Angle def. The Beat Down Clan in Lethal Lockdown at 20:00 via pin (Lashley spears MVP)

THE RIGHT:
Addressing the Beautiful People situation: I talked last week about how they were selling the women short by not addressing how Angelina felt about Velvet getting fired. Well, they did that this week via a “two weeks ago” backstage clip. Well done, and we can strike that complaint from the record. They also single-handedly set up a feud for Velvet if she comes back. The Beautiful People Explode II: Electric Boogaloo.

Lethal Lockdown: These matches are always fun, if predictable – one team dominates, then the other, repeat. In this case we had a compelling backstage storyline leading up to the match (too bad the live crowd missed most of this, since with the lack of video screens at the Manhattan Center, they can’t see backstage developments). The crowd didn’t pop for Lashley saving the day the way I expected, and seemed pretty tired for this match in general. They were chanting for Lashley much earlier in the night, but when he made the big save, no reaction. Regardless, it was a fun little gang war, with Gunner looking particularly good afterwards for holding off two foes with one arm.

Revolution Vs. Hardys: Very ECW-like match here with Jeff Hardy taking several insane bumps that’ll probably write him off TV for a while. Everyone here performed well, though I still worry that the Revolution has been shunted down the card in favor of the BDC. Notice how James Storm isn’t even on the company’s Top 5 Contenders list, despite winning nearly everything he has been involved with lately; MVP meanwhile is near the top of the list, despite getting pinned several times in the past month.

Roode Vs. EY: Good, hard-hitting match here. It could have been great, given more time – why a blood feud match like this only got a few minutes is beyond me – but for what it was, it was good. It almost felt like an unofficial #1 contender match, especially with Roode’s post-match comments about going after the title next. This felt like a feud-ending match, and much like Kong/Havok, it needed more time if that was the case. This could have easily been a classic, the MOTN that made people go “You need to check out Lockdown” to their friends. With NXT putting on a special next week, this week was TNA’s opportunity to show that they can put on a show with several wrestling clinics as well. They missed the boat with this match… and yet, it lands in the Right, because the match was still probably the MOTN (aside from the opener) even if it didn’t reach its potential. The ending of this match was legit great, with Roode screaming at EY that they were brothers before Roode Bombing him into oblivion. I just wish the lead up to that had more time to build, but this was still fine.

The Robbie E / Brooke Stuff: I’m probably alone on this, but I thought this was a fun little clip series. Glad they didn’t show the full segment, which would have dragged on and likely been pretty bad. Luckily, this show doesn’t have to artificially fill three hours, so we got the abridged version. The company has something with both Robbie and Brooke (who are, incidentally, a couple in real life). Robbie is very talented and over with the live crowds, while Brooke is debatably the hottest woman in wrestling and a brilliant heel when allowed to be. Yes, brilliant. I haven’t said that about a female heel since Trish Stratus a decade ago, though Mickie James in TNA was pretty darn good as a heel too. Wow, was Trish’s heel run a decade ago? My God. Where did the time go? In any case, as far as Robbie and Brooke go I really hope the company starts using these two more to their potential. Having them in race segments isn’t it, but the fact that they made this fun is a testament to their talents. I’d also like to mention that when Brooke hurricanrana’d Robbie, I found myself wishing I were Robbie E for the first time ever.

puRgatoRy:
Havok Vs. Kong: First of all, “Empress of Annihilation” is an amazing nickname for Havok; they should keep using that. As for the match, this needed more than six minutes, and it had WAY too clear of a winner. Kong put Havok away decisively, feud over I guess. If this was the blowoff match, it should have gone on longer and given us the classic it had the potential to be. If it wasn’t the blowoff match, it should have gone to a no contest or a draw or something to be continued later. As things stood, this was a match, and stuff happened. The crowd was hugely into it, and that alone was reason to give it more time.

THE wRong:
Tyrus Vs. Spud and Spud’s Homie: What was the point of this? Seriously? Having Tyrus beat these two guys in a handicap match does nothing for anybody involved. Tyrus just owned a couple of guys who weigh less than he does combined. Spud once again came up short in his war with EC3. I’d much rather have seen Spud Vs. Tyrus one-on-one, with Spud getting the shocking upset after a classic David Vs. Goliath confrontation; after beating Tyrus he could then move on to EC3 just in time for the UK shows. How did they mess this up?

Match Lengths: Some of these matches were too short to really develop. In particular, Eric Young and Bobby Roode needed twice the time it got to really become a classic match. Same goes for Kong/Havok. Both were too short to reach their potential at all, and they both had HUGE potential so this makes me sad.

Cutting away so fast during the Borash chase: DID BORASH GET AWAY?

THE Ridiculous:
The Lighting Still Sucks: I know that there were 1200 people in the MC for Lockdown, but it looks like an Empty Arena Match and that’s how my brain is processing it. Darken the show if you have to (if the show isn’t sold out or whatever), but if the place is packed with people, as it has been for these latest NYC shows, DON’T. I know it’s a stylistic choice, but it isn’t a good one in the modern era, as I’ve said before. Pretty much the one negative thing that everyone is saying about this current run of shows is that the lighting sucks all the energy out of the shows (or, if they hate TNA, they’re saying that “no one is in the crowd”). Either way, it’s a negative. In the 80’s, this kind of lighting was normal (watch most of WWF’s big shows from the early-to-mid 80s, you can only see the area around the ring). Unfortunately, with them taping so far in advance, there isn’t much they can do to fix this. Really hope it isn’t a practice that they continue with after the existing tapings, though.

The 411:
Good show tonight, everyone tried hard and we got a solid special event out of the company. Some of the matches needed more time and the crowd was oddly lame for the most part later on. Given how lively they’ve been for other recent NYC shows, and how this one was completely sold out, it’s peculiar. I can only conclude that this was the end of a long taping night, and those can really wear people out.

I say good, but there was something missing throughout. Not sure if it’s the lighting, or the way the crowd died by the main event, or the lack of time given to Roode/EY and Kong/Havok, but nothing felt as classic as it could have been. Tyrus/Spud should have been Spud defeating Goro to move on to the final boss, but even that felt like it lacked focus.

…I say all this while still enjoying the show and thinking it was above average. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by NXT specials, but for a TV special I was hoping for more out of this.

Cheap plug time, support this site and this column by sharing it with your homies. Also, support my site Coronajumper.com by reading my musings on video games, including TNA Impact for the PS2/PS3. Featuring gratuitous Rebel.

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

The 962nd edition is over…

“Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm right square in the eye and he says, “Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it.” ”