wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs: The Right, Wrong and Ridiculous of WWE Smackdown
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.
Jack McGee
Smackdown 1.07.16
– Non-Title Match: Kalisto defeated US Champion Alberto Del Rio @ 8:05 via pin
– Dolph Ziggler, Goldust, R-Truth and Neville defeated The New Day and The Miz 9:50 via pin
– Divas Title Match: Champion Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch @ 14:15 via pin
– IC Title Match: Champion Dean Ambrose fought Kevin Owens to a double countout @ 17:20
THE Right:
Mauro Ranallo: I’m not sure how long it will last and it may just be putting a fresh coat of paint on the outhouse, but I felt that Mauro Ranallo did an excellent job on his debut episode of Smackdown. I know that Ranallo is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I am a huge fan of his; from boxing to MMA to NJPW on AXS TV he has been excellent and one of the best commentators in the world for years. If they want to revamp the show, which they haven’t yet, Ranallo is a great guy to start with. It was a good first night for his as they let him be himself, and he added an air of legitimacy to the show since he wasn’t concerned with jokes and bickering with the rest of the team. I hope this continue to be the norm and not an exception to the rule,
Divas Title Match: I really enjoyed the Divas Title match between Charlotte and Becky Lynch on this week’s show. I felt that they did a solid build up to the match and was pleased to see the match as a featured part of the show. They got the time, but as we have seen in the past, time doesn’t always equal quality. I will actually go as far to say that this was the best main roster performance from both ladies; Charlotte actually felt natural in her heel role here and not forced or a complete parody of Ric as she had in the past. Lynch was a great babyface, and the match layout favored both ladies. The finish was also well done to keep the feud alive, as Lynch had the match won when Charlotte tapped, Ric pulled Charlotte to the ropes. Charlotte then won with the feet on the ropes, further solidifying her heel status and willingness to do anything to win, while Lynch was obviously robbed. I really enjoyed this.
IC Title Match: The IC Title main evented the show, which is exactly the position that it should be in, featured on Smackdown. Owens and Ambrose have a good chemistry and have really set the stage for what could be a great overall feud with their physical encounters both inside and outside of the ring. They got a lot of time and made very good use of it, proving that they deserved the featured spot this week. I appreciate the intensity between the two and the fact that both come across as desperate to hold the title, making it feel important. Prior to the double countout finish they had some great back and forth leading to near falls, which I felt elevated the match. The post match brawl was also well done, while I feel that they need to be careful with the non-finishes on Smackdown, it did make sense here, Owens and Ambrose worked hard to deliver a quality main event and this feud will also continue, as nothing was settled on this night.
puRgatoRy:
Cena Speaks and Kalisto Wins – Still All About Cena: John Cena came out to kick off the USA Debut on Smackdown, but due to the fact that he was injured and about to have surgery, he did not wrestle. We got story time with John, as he tried to get Alberto Del Rio out to the ring to defend the US Title. Del Rio wasn’t about to fall for that bullshit again, but did agree to wrestle anyone but John Cena in a non-title match. With Sin Cara hurt, WWE still hoping to create a Rey Mysterio like star and Cena about to be out, Kalisto got the call. Cena played cheerleader as Del Rio and Kalisto had a perfectly fine, but unspectacular match. The problem becomes that creative made this more about John Cena than about Kalisto picking up a big win. Del Rio was constantly mocking Cena, Cena was constantly shown cheerleading, and at the end Del Rio’s obsession with mocking Cena is the only reason that Kalisto won. If they really wanted to give Kalisto a chance, Cena wouldn’t have been at ringside and Kalisto would have picked up the win to be the focus. Instead is celebrated with Cena and came off as the little brother instead of a potential star.
Dolph Ziggler, Goldust, R-Truth and Neville defeated The New Day and The Miz: While I was not a fan of Miz TV this week (see below) I did like that this match played off of the segment to give the show a sense of flow and connectivity. This was a fine mid-card tag, entertaining at times, but also a bit slow and disjointed. I generally enjoyed the match, which was won by Ziggler’s team. Post match Ziggler took out Truth and Goldust to add some hype to the Rumble match. It’s that time of the year kids and two things are for sure, TNA will write Jeff Hardy out of TV because he can’t go to the UK and WWE will make ineffectual attempts to make you care about the mid-card guys that have been largely buried all year. The thing I hates most was that after Ziggler does his attacks, he has to repeatedly apologize and say that he’s sorry and that its all about the Rumble and every man for himself. I hated that. All Ziggler needed to do was the damage and then stare down with Goldust as Ranallo says, “Jeez King, these guys were working like a well oiled machine, I wonder what happened?” And then Lawler replies with, “The Royal Rumble happened Mauro, it’s not only every man for himself, but the WWE World Title is on the line, I’d toss out my own grandmother to win that!” And yes that sounds half stupid, but this is Lawler commentary was discussing. My point is that the wrestlers do not need to spell everything out, that is what the commentary is for.
THE wRong:
MIZ TV SUCKS: Outside of the fact that they seemingly want to limit his in ring time as much as possible, I have no ides why Miz TV still exists. Miz is not good at his job, he banters around and tries to be funny or act as if he matters, but he is not good at his job. Nothing ever happens on Miz TV. They have people come out, it breaks down into arguing or a brawl and none of it is ever seemingly good. Hell some of the worst segments on WWE TV last year were on Miz TV. This week they AGAIN did the revolving door, where a bunch of guys come out and nothing really gets accomplished. They talk, they make bad jokes, they are running the R-Truth gimmick of coming out for the wrong segment into the ground and none of it matters. I have no time for the Miz or his shitty attempt at a talk show; it’s a bad segment and even worst, it’s a bad wrestling talk show. But thank Christ he’s around because we all need to see The Marine 5 or Santa’s Little Helper 2. The worst part of all of this is that Miz was actually really fucking entertaining leading p to and during his title run a few years back. Not even New Day could save this shit..
THE Ridiculous:
NOTHING
Overall Smackdown was a good show this week, delivering two quality title matches and a fresh voice on commentary, which all added to my overall enjoyment of the show. Unfortunately this felt exactly like the show does every other time they claim some sort of “new era” for Smackdown. Hopefully I am wrong and this marks the beginning of something new and fresh, but I’m not holding my breath.
Show Rating: 7.2
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
~SWOON~
