wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of WWE Smackdown
Loading...How the 4Rs of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO-THREE 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.
SMACKDOWN 9.19.17
– Randy Orton defeated Aiden English [**]
– Rusev defeated Randy Orton [NR]
– The New Day defeated The Hype Bros [**]
– #1 Contender’s Match- Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch, Naomi & Tamina [***]
THE Right:
The New Day vs. The Hype Bros: The Hype Bros double teamed Kofi coming out of the commercial break but Mojo missed a charge in the corner, allowing Big E to run wild. Ryder came back with a second rope dropkick followed by the Broski Boot for a near fall as Kofi saved. Kofi hit a Trust Fall plancha to take out Mojo and they hit the Midnight Hour on Ryder for the win. For the tiny amount of time they had here, they made the most of it. The dynamic of both teams would make for a hell of a tag program after the New Day/Usos feud is finished, as the flashiness of Kofi and the hybrid of Ryder mixed with the brute strength of Big E and Mojo make for action packed and diverse tag sprints such as this.
Shane McMahon/Kevin Owens Continuation: Shane opened Smackdown by asking Kevin Owens how he would have felt if he was watching someone attack someone you loved and you were powerless to do anything. He condemned Owens to a beating unlike anything he had ever felt before at Hell in a Cell. Later in the show, Kevin Owens appeared via satellite and apologized for his actions but Shane was at fault for this. Owens said he destroyed his father because at that moment, he was thinking of destroying Shane. Owens issued one final apology for the viewers of Hell in a Cell for what Owens was going to do to Shane in that match. Owens declared that people like him don’t go to hell for their actions, they go to heaven. This feud continues to rule. They made things short and sweet this week, Shane did a quick promo discussing his anger and how it was going to fuel his actions at Hell in the Cell while Owens shifted the blame to Shane and played the innocent victim who desired to destroy his enemy. We have two weeks for these two to confront each other and have a crazy brawl, so I appreciate the more toned down nature in the aftermath of the huge angle last week.
Charlotte Flair Returns/ Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Tamina: Charlotte thanked the crowd for the thoughts and prayers in regards to her father Ric and she said he was making a miraculous comeback. In the wake of this tragedy, she said she was going to make every moment count. Natalya came out and decided to host the WWE’s first Celebration of Women. Natalya said that tonight they would celebrate a woman who has accomplished the impossible and revealed a giant photo of herself. Charlotte declared her intentions to challenge Natalya for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Becky Lynch, Naomi & Tamina all followed suit in making a claim to a title shot so Daniel Bryan made a Fatal Four Way #1 Contender’s Match for the main event. In the main event, Tamina dominated at the start, clearing the ring of her opponents. Charlotte began to chop Tamina down, allowing all three women to get a shot in on her. Naomi fired some kicks at Charlotte and hit her with a wheelbarrow jawbreaker for a near fall. Lynch caught Naomi in the Disarmer but Tamina broke it up. Charlotte caught her with a Spear and she hit a moonsault on both her and Naomi for a near fall. Charlotte grabbed the Figure 4 on Naomi but Lynch broke it up with a top rope leg drop. Tamina hit a Samoan Drop on Becky and followed up with the Superfly Splash on Lynch for a near fall as Naomi saved. Lana distracted Naomi, allowing Tamina to knock her off the apron with a super kick. She walked right into a big boot by Charlotte for the victory. The talking segment amounted to nothing as it was the typical everyone talks setting up the main event segment we constantly see. The only difference was that it was in the middle of the show instead of the opening segment. The main event was pretty good, lots of action with a good early story of Tamina dominating but once the other three got the opening to knock her down a peg it became an open race to the finish with Charlotte finding her moment to steal the win. It was certainly the standout match on a very lackluster show and did come across as a solid main event.
puRgatoRy:
Aiden English vs. Randy Orton: English attacked at the start of the match but Orton fired back, dropping English onto the barricade with a back suplex. English returned fire, doing the same but this time onto the announce table. English wore Orton down with a series of knees and a dropkick and he leaped off the second rope but Orton caught him with the RKO for the win. After the match, Rusev wanted revenge for SummerSlam and challenged Orton immediately to a match and Orton accepted. English tried to distract Orton on the apron so Orton knocked him off, allowing Rusev to super kick him for the win. I liked the English/Orton match but hated the post match big time. English got to dominate the majority of the match and Orton waited to pick his spot to take out English and secure a win. The layout and finish made English look good against a top competitor and was probably his best showcase since he got the new singing gimmick. The post match stuff was stupid, we saw the short match/distraction finish a few weeks before with Baron Corbin’s cash in and this did nothing to get Rusev’s heat back after the SummerSlam squash. I have zero desire to watch Rusev/Orton again coming out of this.
WWE US Championship- AJ Styles © vs. Baron Corbin: Prior to the match, Styles ran down the list of Baron Corbin’s failures and said ultimately he’ll fail in a match against him. Corbin attacked Styles from behind during the introductions but Tye Dillinger came out and went on the attack on Corbin. Corbin seemed to have hurt his knee during the attack and declared he couldn’t compete. Styles attacked Corbin and locked in the Calf Crusher. This segment was just a mess. Corbin not being able to compete was a cheap copout to hold off on doing this until Hell in a Cell but what did it really accomplish? Corbin kind of came off as the victim in the post match assault and the only heel tactic he did was a sneak attack, so it wasn’t a total act of comeuppance for Styles. Keeping Dillinger in the mix is an interesting plot point thought, so at least adding a mystery layer to this makes what is for the most part a generic feud a bit more interesting.
THE wRong:
Jinder Mahal Mocks Shinsuke Nakamura Again: Jinder Mahal came out and continued to mock Shinsuke Nakamura’s face and culture, saying the prejudice people will turn on him the same way they turned on Mahal. Mahal called Nakamura Mr. Miyagi before speaking in Punjabi. The idea is that Jinder Mahal is a hypocrite who preaches prejudice and bigotry while being equally prejudice against Shinsuke Nakamura. It’s a good idea in theory but the execution here was incredibly poor. Some of the lines were in bad taste and the “jokes” that he’s telling are just falling flat. The storytelling is actually a unique and clever one but Mahal just doesn’t have the capability to deliver strong enough promos to create the emotional attachment that Nakamura should be getting out of this. This segment ended up getting some big time backlash in the aftermath and rightfully so, they could have accomplished the same overall message without the “Rook” and “Mr. Miyagi” lines. In the moment, this was a disaster but if Nakamura ends up destroying Jinder Mahal at Hell in a Cell, then this will end up looking better in retrospective.
Dolph Ziggler Does More Entrances: Dolph Ziggler once again came out and complained about how he’s one of the best superstars in WWE history but is still rejected by the fans. He first came out as Triple H, then as Shawn Michaels and then to the DX Theme. Ziggler is pissed about the fact that the people could care less about him and what he does in the ring, so he doesn’t care about the fans. This entrance thing has run its’ course. It sucks, it’s not over, and it’s burying the overall message that Ziggler’s character and promos are trying to convey. I’m hoping they just get right the Bobby Roode portion of this next week because this gimmick is now just a total annoyance.
THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING
