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 10.21.17
– Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable d. The New Day [**1/2]
– Sin Cara d. Baron Corbin by DQ [*]
– AJ Styles d. Sunil Singh [SQUASH]
– Becky Lynch d. Carmella, Tamina, Naomi & Charlotte Flair [**1/2]
– Randy Orton d. Sami Zayn [***1/4]
THE Right:
Shane McMahon Returns/Addresses Survivor Series: Shane McMahon made his first SD appearance since Hell in the Cell and in the wake of the siege of Raw. Shane said that Kurt Angle asking for AJ Styles to compete at TLC set the wheels in motion for the siege of Raw. Shane said he was ready for a potential Raw retaliation tonight but Sami Zayn interrupted, dancing for joy right in Shane’s face. Zayn wanted to know if there were no hard feeling between them but Shane said that clearly there were. Zayn said that he would destroy Shane the in-ring competitor but he’s the commissioner tonight and he made it clear that he and Kevin Owens would like to lead SD Live to victory at Survivor Series because he knows SD needs them. Shane said that he really doesn’t want them but he’ll give them a chance to join the team, setting up Sami Zayn against Randy Orton for a spot on the team. This was a good start to the show. Sami Zayn continues to kill it in his role, acting like a complete douche that has now completely embraced Kevin Owens’ philosophies. The Zayn/Shane confrontation left the door open to go back to that program while keeping the focus on the build for the Survivor Series tag, so it was good work all around.
The New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable: Both teams feel each other out early and Kofi caught Benjamin with a dropkick to the leg, allowing the New Day to double team Benjamin, leading to a second rope elbow drop from Woods for a near fall. Kofi caught Benjamin with a DDT and Woods got the tag and cleaned house. Gable blocked Woods’ Tornado DDT with a Capo Kick and he and Benjamin hit a double hip toss into a suplex for a near fall. Everyone laid each other out and Gable shoved Woods into a kick to the back from Benjamin, giving Gable the victory. A solid first time match between the two teams. The finish came off just a little bit flat considering how hot action was going into finish but the slightly dirty win set the stage for a heel turn for Benjamin/Gable so it worked in that regard. Gable and Benjamin’s victory made them look strong as they’re built up as the new challengers for the Usos, so I thought the booking of the match was strong.
Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton: They feel each other out to start and Zayn messed around too much, pissing Orton off and causing him to wire away with some hard uppercuts. Zayn caught Orton with a moonsault off the barricade and back in, he cut off a comeback attempt with a leg lariat. Orton hit a gordbuster into the ropes and he began to fire back on Zayn. Orton hit a back suplex onto the announce table and back in, Zayn caught Orton with a cross body off the top for a near fall. Zayn went up top but Orton followed and hit a superplex for a near fall. Zayn hit the through the ropes Tornado DDT on the floor and he went for the Helluva Kick but Orton moved and hit the drapping DDT. Kevin Owens came out and Orton went after him, which allowed Zayn to roll him up for a near fall. Owens complained to the ref, which allowed Orton to go low on Sami and he hit the RKO while staring directly at Owens for the win. A good callback to finish last week, as Orton the crafty veteran used Zayn and Owens’ strategy against them to secure his victory. The story looks to be Owens & Zayn losing their single matches over the next two weeks and probably setting up them beating Orton & Nakamura in a tag rematch to get them on the SD Survivor Series team. That story makes Sami losing here more reasonable; as it is a little concerning that he lost so quickly after his heel turn that was finally building him back up. They worked stiff and hard in this match, as Orton worked like he wanted vengeance for the loss and Zayn had more of a edge to him in-ring wise. It was a good main event that will hopefully set up a fun three story as the SD Survivor Series team begins to take shape.
puRgatoRy:
Jinder Mahal Responds to Paul Heyman/Samil Singh vs. AJ Styles: Jinder Mahal came out and claimed that all of Paul Heyman’s words about him on Raw were a lie. He earned everything he’s gotten to this point and he said that he is Brock Lesnar’s worst nightmare. Prior to the match, the ref threw out Jinder Mahal. Styles nailed Sunil with a hard forearm right at the bell and he rolled him into the Calf Crusher for the quick submission. This was one of Mahal’s better promos, as he portrayed the idea that his ego makes him believe he’s on the same level of Brock Lesnar and that he can soundly defeat him. As for the match, it was a quick squash win for AJ as they’ve going to feed him the Singhs to build him up for Jinder, which is fine booking to build that program while keeping the focus on Lesnar/Mahal at Survivor Series.
Carmella vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair: The winner earned the right to be the captain of the Smackdown Women’s Team at Survivor Series. Tamina hit a double suplex on Naomi and Lynch and then drilled Flair with a super kick. She hit a Samoan Drop on Carmella and was the dominant force heading into the break. When they came back, Charlotte ran wild on the floor. Naomi went for a hurricanrana on her but Charlotte blocked and swung her into the barricade. Charlotte went after Lana, which allowed Tamina to catch her with another super kick. In the ring, Carmella super kicked Lynch for a near fall. Lynch caught her in the Disarmer and Carmella tapped, making her captain of the SD team. I thought this was a fun little match. It was very chaotic in a good way and everyone in the match got some shine. The clean finish made Lynch look like a worthy leader of the team and the SD women’s teams individual parts all looked strong in some capacity. My only complaint is the same I’ve been having for weeks which is the repetitive nature of these matches. It’s the same combination of these five or six and they keep using the multi-person forma to get them all on the show. The division could really use two more bodies to freshen things up, we can have more than one women’s match a show easily if they add some more pieces to the roster.
THE wRong:
Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara: Corbin went right on the attack but Cara came back with a springboard back elbow knocking Corbin to the floor. Cara followed up with a series of suicide dives and back in; he hit a missile dropkick for a near fall. Corbin fired away on Cara but wouldn’t stop his assault so the ref DQed him. Corbin laid him out with the End of Days on the floor after the match. At least last week the count-out finish helped Cara look like a potential challenge for the US Championship. This week he got destroyed at the finish and in the post match, so he’s back to being no threat despite the DQ win. The final encounter when Corbin finally beats them will have no heat or meaning to it based on the booking the last two weeks. The booking of this little feud has been atrocious and I could care less about seeing them wrestle again next week, championship match or not.
THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING
