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

How the 4Rs of wRestling Work! (WWE Smackdown Edition)
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. I will group my feelings on the show 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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SMACKDOWN 12.05.17
– Rusev & Aiden English d. The New Day [**3/4 ]
– The Bludgeoning Brothers d. Adam James & Josh Carr [SQUASH]
– Bobby Roode d. Baron Corbin by DQ [*1/2]
– Charlotte Flair d. Tamina [*]
– Randy Orton d. Sami Zayn [**1/2]

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THE Right:
Rusev & Aiden English vs. The New Day: Kofi and Big E were the New Day reps. Aiden English tried to overpower Big E but it had no effect and Kofi cleaned house on him. Rusev and English cut off Kofi’s tag attempts, with Rusev hitting the spinning heel kick for a near fall. Kofi caught Rusev with a standing double stomp and tagged Big E who cleaned house. Kofi hit the suicide cannonball to Rusev on the floor and back in, he attempted to springboard in but Rusev cut him off and hit the super kick for the win. This was another fun tag match in the series of them for the New Day recently. Kofi’s quickness and athleticism and Big E’s raw strength were a huge problem for Rusev & English but one little slip up on Kofi’s part cost them the match and gave Rusev & English their biggest win as a team to date. I’m not as excited about the prospects of a four way tag as I was about the three way a week ago, but again at least the chain of events give them a good reason to throw Rusev & English into the match.

The Bludgeoning Brothers vs. Adam James & Josh Carr: Harper & Rowan destroy the jobbers’ right at the opening bell, with Rowan hitting a spinning powerslam on Jamses. T-Bomb on James gibes them the quick victory. This was exactly what it needed to be. I love me some jobber destruction to help put over an act and boy did Harper and Rowan cream these poor guys. They continue to look like a destructive force and I wouldn’t mind another week or two of these squashes to set them up for whoever the champs are coming out of Clash of Champions.

puRgatoRy:
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Open the Show!: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn came out to kick off the show and said went over the history of people that were at the end of a McMahon vendetta but they claimed to be better than any of them since they were still standing. Owens said last week, he showed everyone that he is not scared of Randy Orton or of Shane McMahon’s vendetta. Zayn breakdowns the difference between the ringside area and the entrance way, which proved he didn’t violate Shane’s stipulation where he was banned from ringside. As he and Owens bragged about their victory last week, Orton snuck in and hit the RKO on Owens. Shane McMahon then came out and told Zayn that at Clash of Champions, he and Owens would face Randy Orton & a partner of his choosing. He then booked Zayn vs. Orton for the main event with Kevin Owens handcuffed to the ring. This was a generic and bland opening to the show. Owens & Zayn basically provided a recap of last week’s events and outside of Zayn’s great mannerisms during his explanation; there was nothing that really needed to explain that we already saw with our own eyes the previous week. The only fresh part of this was that Shane McMahon came out at the end of the segment, but it was the typical boring opening promo to set the main event that we get almost every single week.

Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Roode: Roode hit a dropkick to the leg followed by a basement dropkick forcing Corbin to the floor. They clothesline each other which brought in Dolph Ziggler who was on commentary who hit a Zig Zag on Roode for the DQ. He hit one on Corbin as well and left both men lying. The story they were getting across on commentary was whether Ziggler deserved to be in the triple threat match at Clash of Champions and I guess that’s their way of validating putting him in the first place. The match itself was going along fine until the finish, but the finish gave no one reason to care about Ziggler being thrown into the match at Clash of Champions. It just feels out of place; especially since he’s done nothing since the Roode feud, so it’s going to take more than just one post match beat down to make us remotely think Ziggler should be involved in the US Championship match.

THE wRong:
Tamina vs. Charlotte Flair: Charlotte hit a series of strikes to start but Tamina repeatedly rammed her into the corner to cut her off. Carolette rolled her up for a 1 count and she hit the big boot on Tamina. Figure-8 by Charlotte and Tamins quickly tapped. After the match, Natalya gave Charlotte a warning about Clash of Champions, only to be interrupted by the Riot Squad. They confront the ladies at ringside, triggering a brawl with Charlotte watching from the entrance way. The match was pretty bad. There were not on the same page at all, their timing was way off and the finish felt sudden and rushed. The post match brawl was flat too. I loved the idea of the Riott Squad being these silent killers like they have been the past two weeks but between the backstage segments and the post match here, they came across as just three regular members of the roster instead of a force to be reckoned with. They really took away the mystique of the Riott Squad and I have no interest in the lumberjack story they’re going with at the PPV, this was a miss on all accounts.

Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton: Kevin Owens is handcuffed to the ring for the match. Orton went on the attack to start, tossing Zayn across the announce table and hitting back suplex onto the barricade. Orton stalked Owens, allowing Zayn to hit a baseball slide on Orton. Zayn blocked the draping DDT, allowing him the chance to grab some bolt cutters to try and rescue Owens. Orton stopped him and he attacked Owens while he was stilled handcuffed. Orton hit a superplex on Zayn while Owens finally broke free of the handcuffs. Orton knocked Owens off the apron and Orton hit a draping DDT on Zayn. Orton went for the DDT on Owens but Zayn rolled him up for a near fall. Orton countered the Helluva Kick into a roll-up of his own for the win. Owens & Zayn attacked Orton after the match but Shinsuke Nakamura made the save, helping Orton take out Owens & Zayn and confirming Orton’s tag team partner at Clash of Champions. The wrestling in this match meant absolutely nothing since the story revolved around how Owens would eventually get the handcuffs off. If that is what they’re going for, then at the very least Owens finally escaping should have cost Orton the victory. Instead, Orton still fought them off and got the victory and won the post-match battle with the help of Shinsuke Nakamura. The booking here was atrocious, Owens & Zayn already got their comeuppance tonight so why would I want to see this tag match now after the fact. The Shane punishing Owens & Zayn stuff is not working and is fells like all the momentum and buzz the act had after Hell in the Cell is gone now and it really is a shame.

THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING

The 1176th edition is over…