Wrestling’s 4R’s Monday Edition 04.06.09: TNA Impact and ROH on HDNet Reviewed!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.06.2009

It’s the rare Monday Edition of the 4R’s, and you’re going to have to wait another day for WrestleMania talk!

MONDAY!?!
I know, it's Monday and you're wondering what the hell the column is doing here. Well, there are two reasons. First of all, depending on how wordy I get, the WrestleMania R's can run long. And adding that in with ROH, TNA and SD can make for a very long read. Secondly, 411's Andy Clark was in Houston for the WrestleMania festivities, and was not going to be able to bring "The Shimmy" to you fine readers today. So with that stuff being considered, I split the column to kill two birds with one stone. Today I will cover TNA and ROH, and tomorrow Jeremy will cover Smackdown and I will have WrestleMania. It's been a hell of a busy past few weeks, I need a vacation. Enjoy and I'll be back tomorrow.



In HD where available…


By: Larry Csonka

iMpact! 04.02.09:

QUICK RESULTS:

- Sheik Abdul Bashir, Kiyoshi and No Limit defeated Lethal Consequences and LAX @ 4:15 via pin (*½)
- Team 3D defeated MEM Security @ 4:00 via pin (½*)
- Taylor Wilde defeated Madison Rayne @ 3:00 via pin (*)
- Scott Steiner defeated AJ Styles @ 9:00 via pin (**)
- Sting defeated Samoa Joe @ 2:00 via DQ (N-R)

THE RIGHT:

OPENING TALKY BIT: While the show opening interviews can be tiresome, I enjoyed this week's because it was designed to set up the main event as well as help build for the lethal lockdown match. Came out and said he had a plan to build to the match, but that it all got thrown out the window as Kurt already named his team and also because Joe refused to captain the team. With that being the case, he thought about it, and named AJ Styles, the first Grand Slam TNA Champion, as the new captain. AJ came out, thanked Jarrett for standing by him, Joe and guys like Christopher Daniels, but didn't quite feel that he was qualified for the position. Scott Steiner then appeared, and tried to get Jarrett to join the MEM by bringing up their past as friends, and Jeff's late wife Jill. While we can argue all day if it is right for him to use his late wife in angles, the segment was good as Steiner talked as a normal dude, instead of in character. This led to AJ vs. Steiner being signed for later in the show, as part of the set of matches to see who gets the advantage. So they hyped the PPV, the main angle and a match for later in the show. Win.

TENAY TALKS TO FOLEY: While many, including myself have legit concerns about Foley delivering in the ring at Lockdown, there is simply no denying that the man can still deliver on the mic when it comes to building up a match. The sit down was a good one, as Foley discussed that he had no desire to go after the title when he came, but now, why not? The mic work keeps painting Foley in a tweener role, as sometimes he is jolly Foley, but other times blasting Sting in a way to make you hate him. It is interesting thus far, and while I think that the match could be a disaster, I am enjoying the build. I hope I am wrong and that they deliver a good match.

TEAM 3D TALKS WITH CORNETTE/ROUGH CUTS/TEAM 3D vs. MEM SECURITY/BEER MONEY RULEZ THE WORLD: Right now everything Beer Money and team 3D are doing is awesome, seriously I love it! The Rough Cuts as always are done well and add to the feuds, and I love how they have been using them as of late. Overall, this feud has been great so far, and right now, they are doing things the right way. First of all, I liked that they are trying to use proper continuity with Cornette bringing up that he owes Team 3D for keeping the MEM and their security away when he asked for help. Just as we were about to find out what 3D wanted in return, in lumbered the MEM security. THEY WANTED TO GET THEIR WAR ON, to which 3D laughed, and rightfully so. The match was set, and Beer Money were the interested observers at ringside. They didn't want to cause trouble, and were respectful during commentary. The match was what it was, the MEM got some heat, 3D made the comeback, and got the clean win on their way to the title match. Afterwards MEM security attacked, and Beer Money hit the ring. When everyone thought that they would join in on the beating, they helped 3D and cleared the ring, handing then their IWGP Titles back. I really like the new serious version of Beer Money, and the respect angle is working well as they build to the all or nothing match. The other thing I am enjoying is something similar to the HBK vs. Taker build. They are setting up, but they aren't constantly fighting, they don't have matches against each other and they are letting the talking do the build. This may be my favorite feud in TNA right now.

SCOTT STEINER vs. AJ STYLES: I freely admit that this wasn't a great match. Steiner tries when he is in there with AJ and others, and also sells for them well, but also it was very clear that AJ was working overtime in order to make sure this didn't suck. But I dug this because of the angle implications it held. First of all it was stated that this was part of a series of matches that would lead to one of the lethal lockdown teams gaining the man advantage. Also, the way the match played out was an excellent play off of the opening promo, where Steiner was attempting to get Jarrett to side with the MEM. With him "accidentally" costing AJ the match, the seed of doubt is planted, something which they will goon and pay off of. Overall this worked well and I liked it.

PURGATORY:

Sheik Abdul Bashir, Kiyoshi and No Limit defeated Lethal Consequences and LAX: They finally decided to get back on the angle of Bashir being at odds with TNA. Management was generous enough to give 15-seconds of airtime, which he felt was patronizing. All he said was that his army was growing, and Kiyoshi along with No Limit joined him as they headed to the ring. Their opponents were Lethal Consequences and LAX, and they have a good match, for the time given, which was about 4-minutes. HOW in the hell do they expect to have quality matches when they give no time and WHY should anyone care about TNA Title matches on TV when they get no time? Huh? ENLIGHTEN ME! It is just stuff for the sake of doing stuff and it helps no one. I am so sick of writing about guys having "the best match possible in 4-minutes" each week. This was a set of guys that could have torn the house down if given some time, but that wasn't the case, and that is a shame. Bashir got a win that he really needed, but this felt like a throw away angle this week. Hopefully it gets better.

DR. STEVIE MEETS WITH ABYSS AND DAFFNEY: The adventures of Dr. Stevie continued this week, and it was a mixed bag, but not horrible. First of all we got Daffney out of the horrible Governor gimmick, and to me that is a great thing. The Governor thing was fine of they would have kept it as a very short-term thing for the gag, but they just kept it out of laziness, and that sucked. But now, after the attack by The Beautiful People, Daffney is alive and well. She explained to Dr. Stevie that she was deemed to wild for wrestling, sent to an asylum, so she went to LA to do some odd jobs and the like, which hey, at least they tried for a solid explanation there. And that is how she got into the angle as the Governor, as a job. I appreciated the background and way they tried to tie it together. And then there was the meeting with Abyss. Abyss discussed that he accepted a match with Morgan for the PPV, a Doomsday Cage match. Dr. Stevie was upset because he had told Abyss not to use weapons. He closed his office door and PIMP SLAPPED the fuck out of Abyss all the while yelling at him. That was great. But I am not sure where we're going. If they brought Stevie in to do goofy doctor skits and nothing else, this is a fail. But if he ends up being a megalomania that leads the misfits, then this could be pretty cool. He's a good talker, he could wrestle when need be and it would be different. Overall this is in the middle, it is a bit goofy, but it did set up a PPV match and get Daffney re-introduced to the world.

JOE vs. STING/IS JOE GONNA RAPE SHARMELL?: The main event went about how I thought it would, which is both good and bad. Joe has made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing more than revenge on the MEM, not wins. He wants revenge for what they have done to him and TNA. So the fact that Joe dominated, beat the shit out of some refs and then continued the beat down on Sting not only made sense, but also is the right way to do things. He whoops some referee ass, places the choke on Sting, and it's all working because not only is his quest for vengeance being achieved, but Foley is laughing his ass off as Sting gets beat down. Booker makes the save, Sting is ok and then they shit on it. Joe abducts Sharmell, he kidnaps her and the crowd is chanting, "TNA, TNA, TNA!" I bet Russo and the crowd got a big kick out of the Lindbergh's situation. But I digress, couldn't he have just beaten downBooker or taken him? I don't know, I just think there is a better way toi do this shit. Hopefully Sharmell returns with a funky mask ala Scot Steiner, because she'l be fine one week after that because Samoa Joe's slingblade only has powers to hurt you for 7-10 days.

ANGLE APOLOGIZES/NASH IS DATING JENNA FOR CASH: While I appreciate TNA being solid in booking towards Lockdown, I had issues with the "apology" segment from Angle. It was too much been there and done that, I am sick of Angle and Sting and all of their talking. I did enjoy Foley's bit as he got reacquainted to "barby" and the fact that he is fucking with Sting by making his face Joe, there was good stuff here. The main problem with the Angle/Sting/Foley bit is that by this point in the show, I felt as if the MEM/Foley were just dominating the show "too much". I am all for building the angles and such, but you have to make sure that the show isn't so unbalanced that people get sick of certain acts, because eventually they will turn the channel, and they may not come back if they find something else more interesting. I'll also throw in the Nash/Jenna shit into here. I get that they need to give Nash something to do while hearing, and that they have spent money on Jenna and need to give her something to do, but the lameness of Nash trying to be pimp and get her to invest her money in the MEM and not TNA just feels lame, and is some more time that they are giving the MEM, that could be used other places. For example, on TNAwrestling.com, they announced The Motor City Machine Guns vs. No Limit vs. LAX for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles, but didn't mention it at ALL on the show. Throw those guys a bone for fucks sake.

THE WRONG:

RAYNE vs. WILDE: Madison Rayne face doff with Taylor Wilde again this week. Between the few singles matches and the tag, I think I have seen enough of the ladies facing each other for now. It was the same as always. They got a couple minute, it was ok, and Rayne LOST AGAIN! Seriously, is anyone more of a loser in TNA than here? Well, maybe Kiyoshi, but really, we're supposed to believe that Sky and Love will keep her around is she keeps losing like this? Is they are dead set on doing the hair gimmick, they either need to cheat like hell or just be willing to take the DQ wins and then do the massive beat downs and THEN cut the hair, but ONLY is this is going to lead to an angle where Sky, Rayne, Love or all three get the big scalp job. I love the new intensity of the BP, I love that Kip is gone, but they need to fix some things.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

Another very solid week from TNA. After some shitty shows, they look to have a very focused vision on how they want to get to Lockdown, and almost every thing is geared to hyping that PPV. And that's how you do it. Right now things are going well, I am interested, and the shows don't piss me off, other than the lack of wrestling on them, but that has almost always been a complaint. But at the very least they have the right idea building for a PPV, and they need to take these new viewers and turn them into PPV buyers. A solid show that helped build to the PPV, and that is a good thing.

As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale. Also, PPV rankings can and will likely change through out the year:

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

SHOW RATING: 7.5 of 10

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By: Larry Csonka

ROH on HDNet 04.04.09:

QUICK RESULTS:

- Erick Stevens defeated Sterling James Keenan @ 6:50 via pin (*¾)
- The Dark City Fight defeated Up In Smoke @ 2:45 via pin (*)
- "The Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero defeated The Necro Butcher @ 8:21 via pin (*½ )
- Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries @ 14:30 via submission (***¾)

THE RIGHT:

The Dark City Fight defeated Up In Smoke: While Danielson vs. Aries was awesome and just a very good pro wrestling match, the squash here between The Dark City Fight Club and Up in Smoke may have been my favorite part of the show. It was simple really, they took a team with good size that they want to push, they found a smaller team that the ROH audience knew, and put them together. They laid out a match where the big guys dominated, the little guys got some hope before they were finally disposed of. This is what a squash is supposed to be. Not long, the losers didn't get too much in, and the guys that won looked like beasts. When the match was over, I had the feeling that The Dark City Fight club were guys I need to pay attention too, that they were the real deal. The Dark City Street Cutter is a sweet finish, and seeing it here with the toss was so awesome. I look forward to seeing more of The Dark City Fight Club. It doesn't hurt that I am a part of that rare breed that still loves good tag team wrestling.

Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries @ 14:30 via submission: Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries is always a good match to have on a show. They have worked so many times against each other and with each other in tag teams, that they have an excellent chemistry. Prazak did a really good job on commentary putting that fact over early in the match, and we had a lot of counters to counters as one man tried to gain a strong advantage. Hogewood was also helpful at times, and when he isn't YELLING FOR NO REASON and telling us about SLAPPING THE PORPOISE, he can be useful, but those times are few and far between. This was simply a very good match that saw two of the company's best go out and show that they are the best. The funny thing is that I agree with Dunn that due to it being a toned down TV match, it was one of their "worst" outings. Danielson is the PERFECT guy to have on the ROH TV show, due to the amount of MMA that the network shows. ROH being the more "athletic" style of wrestling with little to no drama suits the demographics of the channel perfectly. Also, with Danielson's style, he will be someone that MMA fans would be drawn too. Add in subtle stuff like Prazak discussing Danielson raining with Xtreme Couture and you have some excellent cross over there. The main event was full of win this week, not that the others were bad, but they just never got to the level of this one. This match was more of what the "real" ROH is about, but they still aren't there in fully showing that.

PURGATORY:

Erick Stevens defeated Sterling James Keenan @ 6:50 via pin: The opening match for the week was Erick Stevens vs. Sterling James Keenan. First of all I didn't dig Keenan's new look, it just screamed "generic." That turned me off right away. The match had its moments, which were late in the match for me as the majority was just "stuff" to get to "stuff." It wasn't a spotfest or anything, but it just lacked flow for me. The finish combo is always sweet fro Stevens, and he scored the all important win. It was ok, but nothing I will remember a few hours after the show. Stevens is good when he is in a wild environment with a guy like Strong, or as JD mentioned, in FIP he seems to fit in great as a top single guy, but in ROH, I just don't dig him in that single spot. But I am all for him forming a tag team, because he is very useful. Keenan came off like a generic job guy in look, but showed some flashed of goodness in the ring, but he needs to change the look back to something else.

Continuity…: After this episode, one thing I worry about is the continuity of the shows. It is one thing for the PPVs to be so behind, but with the addition of the TV shows, which are taped 6-weeks at a time, we have a whole new issue, and I worry about it. On tonight's show, taped weeks ago, and then the production work in the studio was done after that, they opened the show with BREAKING NEWS that Jerry Lynn had won the title in Houston. While I felt that it was a nice addition to the show, the continuity monster appears. On next week's show, Lynn faces Brodie Lee, and of course he won't have the title. In week six, Nigel appears and will still have the title. In between that we have the Caged Collision PPV, which airs on April 17th. That PPV features an ROH Title match between Nigel McGuinness and El Generico, which will be billed as a title match because Nigel was champion at the time. Meanwhile on that show, The Necro Butcher and Jerry Lynn will face Brodie Lee and Delirious. I bring this up because people that follow ROH won't mind this, and in part I don't mind it. But when you are trying to build a new fan base and bring in these new people, you want a product that will NOT confuse them. The casual wrestling fan doesn't want to have to think. They want to turn on the show and they want to be entertained, but this whole continuity issue could really hurt the company. Unfortunately, they have no choice right now, as this is the deal that they have.

THE WRONG:

"The Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero defeated The Necro Butcher: When I saw this match in the lineup I figured I would like it and that it would at the very least be good. But I wasn't digging the match or the outcome at all. The match to me lacked a good sense of flow. They were obviously working for Hero using his wrestling to keep the wild man down, but I just didn't get into it like I thought I would, and I like both guys. What I thought would be solid was a very sub par effort that gave me no reason to care, and that's a shame. I think the biggest issue here is the fact that they played up Butcher as a part of The Wrestler, and then he loses. Sure he was fucked, but why not book a match to put him over and play off of the rub from the movie? Also, while they have tried to make Hero a bit more serious, while still having part of the wackiness that made him fun, he just seems lost right now, and a guy with that talent being lost is a shame.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

Once again this was another good wrestling show. Danielson vs. Aries was a great match, one of the best TV matches of the year and certainly the best ROH TV match thus far. The Dark City Fight Club had a strong debut and looked like killers in a squash that was booked the right way. Stevens vs. Keenan was an all right opener, and Necro and Hero I actually didn't care for all that much. I talked the continuity issue a lot above and I think that this is a legit concern for the company. They really can't do anything about it, but I hope that after their 6-months are up that they get a new deal, one that fixed some of this. Overall the show was a good, good to great wrestling and they continue to introduce new talent to the viewers. But I could have done with another video package on the company or for some of the guys. Good show.

As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale. Also, PPV rankings can and will likely change through out the year:

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

SHOW RATING: 7.0 of 10

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2009 PPV Rankings:
-ROH RISING ABOVE {8.0}
-WWE NO WAY OUT {8.0}

-WWE ROYAL RUMBLE {7.3}
-TNA GENESIS {7.2}

-TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {5.5}

-TNA DESTINATION X {3.5}

2009 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] - ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Bryan Danielson (****½)
-[NO WAY OUT] – THE SMACKDOWN ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****½)

-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – I QUIT MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Austin Aries (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - X-Division Title Match: Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin (****¼)
-[NO WAY OUT] – THE RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****¼)


-[TNA DESTINATION X] - X-Division Title Ultimate X Match: Suicide defeated Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal (***¾)
-[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – THE ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH (***¾)
-[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – WWE TITLE MATCH: Edge defeated Jeff Hardy (***¾)

2009 PPV MVP AWARDS:
Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.

-[TNA GENESIS] Sabin, Shelley, Angle and Jarrett – Rocking The House
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – Danielson and McGuinness - Defining the ROH World Title
-[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – RVD – The Joke Pays Off
-[NO WAY OUT] – EDGE – The Ultimate Opportunist

2009 TOP TV Match Rankings:
I will update as often as needed.

-Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}
-Christian vs. Jack Swagger - (ECW: 02.24.09) {****}

-Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – (ROH on HDNet: 04.04.09) {***¾}
-Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles – (Impact: 01.22.09) {***¾}
-Beer Money vs. Team Canada – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***¾}

-Lethal Consequences vs. Motor City Machine Guns – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***½}
-Edge vs. John Cena - (Raw: 03.02.09) {***½}
-Primo vs. The Miz - (ECW: 03.10.09) {***½}
-Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin - (Smackdown: 01.09.09) {***½}

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And I'm out of here!