Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition 04.16.09: WWE Smackdown and TNA Impact and ROH on HDNet Reviewed!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.14.2009

It’s the Tuesday R’s, and yeah…that’s it.

How the 4R's of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R's. The column will run TWO times a week. On Tuesdays I will discuss TNA Impact, ROH on HDNet and any PPV's, while my partner in crime Jeremy Thomas discusses WWE Smackdown. The column will run again on Friday's, covering WWE Raw, with Jeremy Thomas as well as ECW on Sci-Fi by myself. If there is a PPV that weekend, I will also run the RETRO R's of the show from the year before as well as address some comments when time permits. I will group my 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 need 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, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~! 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, my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.

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In HD where available…


By: Larry Csonka

iMpact! 04.09.09:

QUICK RESULTS:

- Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Suicide via pin @ 4:07 (**)
- Samoa Joe defeated Booker T via pin @ 1:50 (N-R)
- James Storm defeated Scott Steiner via DQ @ 4:25 (*)
- Awesome Kong defeated Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky via pin @ 1:25 (N-R)
- The Motor City Machineguns defeated Mick Foley via First Blood @ 6:25 (**)

THE RIGHT:

Sting Sits Down With Tenay: Say what you will about Sting being hurt, not working house shows and all of that, but the work he has done on the mic has been excellent overall. The sit down interview with Tenay was another example of this on Impact. Sting relating his personal relationship with Foley through the lost ear story worked very well, and the fact that, for lack of a better term, he is questioning his wrestling mortality as he steps into the ring with Foley puts over the match well. I liked this.

Foley's In Ring Interview: Much like Sting, Foley is also delivering big recently on the mic, which really should be no surprise. Foley can do things in an interview that others can't, like working in his kids and "new book", and that is because of how established he is. The way he worked the Guns into it was cool, and with the passion Foley is bringing, and the work Sting is doing, they are talking me into the match. Don't get me wrong, I still have concerns about the match and if they can deliver, but both men are doing a hell of a job hyping the bout, and that's all you can ask. I hope for their sakes that they can deliver, because at this point in their career, it would be a great thing to see.

Rough Cuts/James Storm defeated Scott Steiner/RESPECT!: Everything I said about this feud last week, it stands, just reverse the roles of the tag teams. Steiner vs. Storm wasn't bad, it was just there to set up the after match angle. Also, this is the perfect example of a match where neither guy should have lost. Steiner is headed into Lethal Lockdown and needs to look strong since Joe raped or killed him, something, back at Destination X. Storm needs to look strong heading into the tag title match, so it is a win, win here. The respect angle and new serious Beer Money is going very well as of now, and It may be my favorite feud going right now.

PURGATORY:

Opening Show Interview: Once again this week's show opening interview was good all around. Good performances, the segment also pushed the main event of the show and helped to sell the PPV. These are all good things, and I am happy that they are utilizing the interview time so well. That being said, TNA is falling into a trap, much like Smackdown did for a time with the main event interview, of constantly opening up the show the same way. It isn't a big deal to some, but it gets old when you do the same shit over, and over and over again. Would it hurt them to mix things up a bit? Pretty please?

Samoa Joe defeated Booker T via pin: This segment was a mixed bag. Joe needed the victory because he hasn't had one since he started his killing spree. Also, they needed to tie up the series of matches for the Lethal Lockdown advantage deal they are running. Plus, Joe beating down Booker and getting the win is a good thing. But it was so fast, that it wasn't even really a match. It was another example of the angle being superior to the wrestling, and while the angle is selling the PPV, in theory, I still want some damn wrestling on my show. Also, I feel that it isn't that believable since Joe and Booker feuded for the TNA title, and that they were so competitive during those matches. The quick win doesn't make that much sense to me.

Mi Pi Sexy/Saeed/Awesome Kong defeated Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky via pin: While the match wasn't anything to write home about, I felt overall that the interaction with the ladies was good this week because it was all geared towards the Knockouts Title Match at the PPV. The attack on Saeed was unexpected, and good as it continues the bad ass nature of Mi Pi Sexy as of late. It also kept Kong at a disadvantage. I could have done without the handicap match though, especially the finish. I would have done the beat down with 3 on 1, and then the Wilde run in for the save as Mi Pi Sexy losing so much hurts them. Right idea, flawed execution overall, but not bad.

Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Suicide via pin: Sheik Abdul Bashir and his new international army were in full force as Bashir challenged Suicide in a non-title match. With the X-Division Xscape match at Lockdown coming up, this was a fine idea to hype the match. They had a fine match, which was more about Bashir using his army to his advantage, which led to him picking up his second straight TV win, and giving him the momentum heading into Lockdown, which is a good thing. 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. I like Bashir getting the win, but give these guys time to work!

THE WRONG:

The Motor City Machineguns defeated Mick Foley via First Blood: So the match was set early in the show, which is a good thing as it gives people something to look forward too. And actually as a match it wasn't all bad. The Guns were on fire, they beat the hell out of Foley and he sold it very well. But I had issues. First of all it as a very poor decision to put the IWGP Jr tag titles on the line. It was a dead give away that the Guns would win, and really, how can Mick hold JR titles? Really? Come on now. Secondly, while the Guns got their fair share of beating down Foley, the match made them look weak as hell. First of all Foley drew first blood on Shelley, but made the match continue. LAME. Secondly, after all of the ass beating, it takes STING to bust Foley open FOR the Guns. Its good story telling in one sense as it builds their title match, but in all honesty, the Guns came off SO WEAK here that it drags the match into the wrong. Good action for the time given, Foley bumped great for them, and it helped the main angle build, but for the reasons I explained, I feel that it HAS to be wrong. Right idea, WRONG execution.

Cody Deaner and ODB: I had thankfully forgotten about this shit since it had been absent from the broadcasts for a more serious tone and build for the PPV. But then they brought this back. I suppose on one hand I should be glad that they didn't drop the angle as they have done in the past, but again, if there ever was an angle I wish that they would have dropped, this is one of them. Listen, I have no problem with comedy, when done right and in the proper amount it actually enhances a wrestling show, but this stuff SUCKS. It is bad, it s NOT funny, and it takes away from the tempo and more serious nature that they have employed to push the Lockdown PPV. This stuck out like a sore thumb as VERY BAD on this show.

THE RIDICULOUS:

Rhino and the Navy Guy: I know some will disagree, but I didn't dig this at all. Reportedly the guy WAS in the Navy, and the story MAY have some truth to it, but it just seems like a desperate attempt for attention on a new wrestler. Add in the bad acting on top of that, and well, we could have done without this all together.

The 411

TNA is continuing the trend coming out of the horrible Destination X PPV, and that is putting on a focused show, and that focus is what it should be, building to the next PPV. While the show is still flawed, and for me lacks the wrestling factor, they are totally geared to building the Lockdown PPV. The feud between 3D and Beer Money continues to rule, I like the build to Lethal Lockdown as well as the build to Foley and Sting. And speaking of Foley, I don't know what it is, but I am DIGGING the vibe right now. IT is like a slow decent into madness as he heads towards his title match with Sting, and it is great. Can he deliver at the PPV? We'll have to wait and see, but right now I am digging him and the build. Everything else is either good or has the right idea, and that is a good thing. This was another good show, but not great. Hopefully the increase in ratings and better shows will lead to a good Lockdown buy rate.

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

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By: Jeremy "NOT LARRY CSONKA" Thomas

WWE SmackDown 04.03.09

THE RIGHT:

MATT'S NOT DONE WITH DAY-GLO YET: SmackDown began with Matt Hardy making his way to the ring, wearing a smug look and bringing just an AWESOME amount of heat from the crowd. Seriously, the crowd just absolutely hated on Matt, and it was a lovely thing to see him achieving that level of reaction from the crowd. He started off talking about unbelievable WrestleMania moments, of which his was the best in his mind. It was a really nice touch of his to specifically single out Shawn vs. Taker and then call his the best, as it really showed his arrogance and the crowd responded in kind. Matt cut a pretty classic promo that ripped on fan-favorite Jeff and positioned him as the superior Hardy. He then brought the fans into it by saying that as long as he had those die-hard fans it would never be enough; Matt had to erase Jeff from the ‘E. He said he'd be everywhere Jeff would be to make sure that it was over, then called him down to the ring to apologize to the fans for being a disappointment, and to Matt himself for attempting to be his brother. After a nice little Jeff Hardy chant, the Day-Glo Warrior himself came down to a hell of a crowd pop and made Matt bail; this led to the new SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long coming out and making a stretcher match between them for the main event tonight. The Hardy vs. Hardy feud is clearly continuing as it needed to after Matt's ‘Mania win, and this was another great promo by Matt to further make the case that they deserve to be main event players, and set up a great idea for a main event for the show. Good stuff all around, and I approve.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE BIG SHOW: Kofi Kingston started this backstage with Eve, where he delivered a promo talking about his first WrestleMania experience, how he grew up always wanting to be a wrestler and how it inspired him for his Money in the Bank performance. The ultimate point of this was that he was far from disappointed—nor should he be, with the way he stole the show—and segued it nicely into how he would be climbing the mountain once more against the Big Show. It's not often we see Kofi getting interview time, and he's almost surely receiving it based on his spectacular performance at ‘Mania. He certainly didn't embarrass himself on the mic here, though he's got a ways to go before he becomes a player in the promo department.

Immediately after they got to the match, with Big Show making his way to the ring with a nice amount of heat, and though Kofi didn't get the same level of crowd reaction the crowd wasn't exactly dead for him. Show and Kofi started off a little weak, with some odd cartwheel kick attempts by our favorite Jamaican from Ghana, but not long after Show took control and we settled into a fairly standard little high-flyer vs. big ol' giant match. Show tossed Kofi around but he kept bouncing back with a never-say-die attitude. While in reality this was little more than an extended squash for Show, it did let Kofi get some impressive acrobatic moves in and even his trademarked leg drop. Of course, this was also the first match we heard J.R. and T-Grish call, and I have to say that they did a remarkably good job. Color commentary isn't really J.R.'s strength but he performed admirably and he's got some pretty good chemistry with the Grish. There may have been a telegraphed move here or there such as Kofi's spinning wheel kick, but this did a nice job of letting both men shine and I can't be down on that.

GAIL KIM vs. MICHELLE McCOOL: Gail came out for this match first, looking quite fetching I must say—this woman is doing wonders to help the Butterfly Division already, both in the in-ring product and the looks department. Hell, even Michelle looked better somehow as a result; I can't get over, as a side note, how much Michelle reminds me of Audrey Raines from 24. The two ladies had a fairly fast-paced match that played to both of their strengths; there were a few moments of awkwardness but by and large it worked quite well. They've recovered nicely with Gail from her lackluster debut a few weeks ago and she's looking competitive in the Butterfly Division as she should. It was nice to hear J.R. remember that Gail is a former Women's Champion, since they've not exactly made a lot of references to her first run in the ‘E. The ending was a little awkward as Gail didn't get Michelle up rolled up quite right at first, but it worked fine enough in the end and gave Gail a win to pretty much put her as the frontrunner for the Butterfly Title. It's another great example of how the division is heating up lately, and I have to credit the SmackDown ladies for trying very hard to be taken seriously; tonight was no exception, and it made for a perfectly acceptable free TV match.

THE CUTTING EDGE: Edge was out in the ring for the Cutting Edge with his special guest, the man who beat him at ‘Mania and would be facing him at Backlash John Cena. Before he brought Cena out though, Edge told us what kinds of post-‘Mania problems he's been having. He can't sleep because of his title being stolen, apparently. This brought out Cena to a huge pop, who came down to the ring and did a little bit of celebrating before he came off with his "The Champ is Here!" shtick to a nice, cheap pop. Edge was not in a celebrating mood though, and was all business as he directed Cena to his seat. Edge and Cena did a nice little back and forth promo, with Edge talking about how important the title was to him—the bit about how it "keeps [his] heart beating" was a nice little touch in a typically good opening by Rated-R. He played the wronged man, which really fits nicely into his current love life situation. Cena countered back that Edge needed to get over himself, he lost at WrestleMania. He then recounted the many years they've been chasing each other, all the times they've fought over the title, and that they reason we all love this, no matter who they're cheering is because they always raise the bar against each other, and Edge missed the opportunity to do so tonight. Unfortunately he went into a point of hyperbole by calling his long-standing feud with Edge one of the greatest in sports entertainment industries. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Edge/Cena feud and they can feud with each other all they want for all I care, but greatest in history? On a par with Rock-Austin, Hogan-Savage, Austin-McMahon and Sting/Flair? BZZZZT! Sorry, John. Try again in a few years after you two keep raising that bar. Edge came back strong though, talking about how much he hated Cena and everything he stood for, how it's shortened their careers and has to end with the Last Man Standing match at Backlash, which he would end up on top in; this did raise the bar for Cena, who came back with a sudden, vicious "NO!" Cena elevated his game in this interview from here, talking about how Last Man Standing was a punishment match, and while Edge may be the better wrestler, Cena is tougher. He challenged Edge to start it right there, which Edge almost did but then backed off to leave. I'll admit that this was, of Edge and Cena's good-to-great work against each other in the past, probably their very best work and the crowd was just eating it up like it was the greatest thing ever. Both guys really elevated their game here and it just came off beautifully; I'm certainly glad to see these guys continuing their feud onto Backlash if this is what they're going to keep doing.

THE COLONS vs. PRICELESS: This was a non-title match, and while I usually complain about non-title matches this one served a purpose by letting them build Priceless as a team by giving them a win, but didn't transfer the titles yet. I find it interesting that they're still having Primo and Carlito come down with both belts instead of just giving them new belts, or counting one of the lineages as the Unified titles. Are they keeping them this way in case they want to split the titles again? It would certainly do the Unification a disservice if that was the case. Things started off fast and stiff, with Priceless doing a good job of isolating Carlito early and controlling the match before Carlito turned the tables. All four men got some good periods of control, and there while they weren't the crispest we've seen either team there was certainly nothing bad about their work here. Both sides did some good selling for the other team and neither of them came out looking bad; much like the rest of the show J.R. and T-Grish sounded very comfortable with each other and called the match nicely; if they keep this announcing duo together after tonight, I'll have no complaints as they'll only get better in their roles. The crowd stayed hot for this throughout the match and this showed promise for a future feud between these two; for now it helped the Colons look good yet got Priceless a win to make them look stronger moving toward Backlash. Nothing remotely wrong about that.

MATT HARDY vs. JEFF HARDY: Before the match began, we had T-Grish explain the match to the crowd and to us. It was a little bit odd, but considering how long it's been since we've had a stretcher match in the ‘E I can accept that; it's not like it's an iconic match, such as a Casket Match, Ladder Match or Hell in a Cell. Jeff had a nice pop on his way out to the ring; I'm still amazed though, how much Matt's heat dwarfed Day-Glo's pops tonight. Matt had his swank ring gear on again, so it looks like a permanent thing. They started off as if Matt was about to go into a lockup, but thankfully it turned into brawling instead and quickly went to the outside. Matt and Jeff did some good brawling while bringing the stretcher into play early, and went in and out of the ring several times. Now, a stretcher match can quickly get repetitive with the constant runs up the ramp, but they didn't do so much of it that it got tiring, and as might be expected they did some nice and innovative spots to pop the crowd like Jeff surfing down the ramp on the stretcher into a leap onto Matt. The story of the match was nice; Matt wanted to end the match quickly and prove dominance over Day-Glo, who was a little more interested in just beating Matt down. It's no secret that I've been a fan of this feud and they did some great work here off of each other; anyone who was still remotely worried that this feud would turn out like their first feud should have had their last lingering doubts laid to rest by this match which hearkened back to the hardcore spotfests of the Attitude days but kept some psychology and wasn't too intense for a PG crowd. The end was Jeff falling victim to himself by missing the Swanton on Matt and smacking into the stretcher, which Matt capitalized on with a nice chair shot for the win. This really solidifies Matt in the upper mid-card and doesn't push Jeff back down, since we all know this feud is far from over.

PURGATORY:

SANTINO MARELLA vs. THE GREAT KHALI: Santino Marella—that's with an "o," not an "a' for those keeping score—made his way to the ring with a microphone before any match began. He got on the mic and talked about how the Divas were jealous that Santina was Ms. WrestleMania, including Beth Phoenix of course. Santino said that he had made an open inva-challenge to show what SmackDown might be like if he got drafted; unfortunately for him, the respondent was none other than the Punjabi Playboy Khali. Ranjin Singh said that Santino wouldn't have to face Khali if Khali got to kiss Santina. For some strange reason Santino didn't like this idea, doing another classic job with his facial expressions and even working in some cheap heat by trashing on Texas. Khali's response was to say "Wrong Answer," apparently, which led into a match. Or, I guess I should say, three moves…and that includes a failed punch by Santino. To say this was a squash is an understatement. I'll admit that the Santina stuff irritates me and my opinion of the Khali Kiss-Cam is well-known, but these worked pretty well together and if there had at least been SOME semblance of a match than I would have been totally okay with this. Instead we saw Santino buried once again for no other reason than to get Khali some face time after being off-screen for a while. There were better ways to do that, so this sticks firmly in puRgatoRy.

THE WRONG:

ORTON TALKS BACKLASH: After the match with Priceless and the Colons, Orton came out to do some talking. He brought up the match at Backlash, summarizing it and pointing out the stipulations with a little "Yes, you heard that correctly." See, even the talent thinks this is a weird-ass stipulation. Orton's done some good promo work lately, but honestly I wasn't feeling this one. Orton had the right tone and the right expressions, but it just didn't seem to have the passion that his recent work's done. And honestly, did we really need to spend most of the promo talking in slow motion about who was in the match and what was at stake? Randy did a decent job trying to sell this main event, but it just didn't seem to work right. Maybe it's just disappointment factor when I've heard his other work, but I really didn't like this one and it didn't do anything for me, nor did it advance anything or raise the stakes at all. Sometimes, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

THE RIDICULOUS:

DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.

The 411

SmackDown delivered a really good show for what was essentially a filler to hold us off until the Draft. They advanced some storylines, particular the Hardys stuff and the awesome Edge/Cena promo, and what I didn't like was kept pretty short. The end result gives us hope for what might be in a Priceless/Colons feud and Kofi's future, and Jim Ross and Todd Grisham are doing great work with each other right off the bat. Whether this will remain once the draft is over and Creative is more focused on the storylines than just entertaining is a matter of conjecture, but for now I can't complain at all.

SHOW RATING: ***¾

Comment Time with Jeremy!

There were a lot of comments regarding my placement of the Santina Marella segment within the ridiculous. Without reprinting them all, I'll comment on each of them as I did a few columns ago for the Santino/Mickie match:

Spade: Not much I can say to your comment, other than to say that in my mind, the Santina stuff was the opposite of gold. You're welcome to your opinion of it, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it; I didn't at all. To each their own, though.

CanadianCrippler: I wouldn't say that they're burying Beth, and she hasn't been hurt by most of Santino's stuff, but this match certainly didn't do them any favors. My only hope is that this is going to see Beth split off and go her own way, and with a minimum amount of jobbing to a guy in a dress (not that there's anything wrong with a guy wearing a dress). And also, I'm in complete agreement with your comment about us all being wrestling fans, but enjoying different thing. I'll never call anyone's opinion wrong, I just disagree, and it's good to see that someone gets that.

Spaz Monkey: I understand that the Attitude Era is gone. I also don't see this necessarily as a bad thing, as the ‘E has morphed many times curing its lifetime and always seems to come out okay. I don't think it means that we need Santino Marella donning a dress and wrestling women, though. It's not clever or unusual; it's merely recycling an old angle, that of Harvey Whippleman pretending to be Harvina and winning the Women's Title in 1999. The main difference I can see is that instead of Harvey's super-short drag run, they're spreading it out over at least a few weeks. I actually wouldn't mind it too much if it was kept super-short, but frankly I don't see any end in sight. Santino is absolutely entertaining, and I've praised him as such many a time, but really, this is the best they can come up with? That makes me sad.

Odin: I agree with you for the most part. I'd actually be okay with Santino being a pure comedy character, as long as he was getting a bit of a push out of it too. (And no, a potential Women's Title reign does NOT count as a push). The problem I have is that the only stuff they're doing is crap that buries him, and that's a poor move.

The Great Capt. Smooth: Santino is, admittedly, playing it off the best he can as Santina, and I don't deny he can be funny, even here. But I've been sadder at the way a talented entertainer's being treated then amused.

Hiro and Loki: I realize that in the end, everyone knows Beth lost to a man. However, this is a man who couldn't beat Mickie James not a week-plus ago. Yes, I realize that he had a hand tied behind his back there, but not only could he not beat Mickie, he got completely humiliated by Mickie. Thus, the inference can be made—by the casual fan, at least—that Beth is not at Mickie's level, which is total crap.

W. Axl Rose: I know that Santina got a big pop, so I admit that it is working as the ‘E intends it—for the short term. Long term, though, I think this is doing too much damage to Santino's credibility to be worth the quick and easy pops. We'll have to see how it goes, though.

Westen: I knew I would get one of these, the "learn to freaking enjoy yourself" style of comments. I'm always amused whenever I have Santino stuff to talk about, because no matter what I say, someone is there to say I don't know what I'm saying. When I praise his comedy work, like I did with the man-kini, people say I'm nuts and when I say it's crap, people say I don't know what it means to be a wrestling fan. The fact is this—Santino is a gifted comedic performer. Sometimes he's good enough to overcome the way their booking him—or they do something that doesn't bury him—and sometimes the bad booking is too much for him. You have your opinion, and I have mine…either way, we both enjoy the wrestling product, just in different ways. Thanks for reading!

C-GIRL: I know, it's shocking, but they are the same person. Also, there is no Easter Bunny, Santa Claus doesn't really exist (though Xanta Claus does!) and sleeping in a pumpkin patch is a bad idea unless you want to get sick from the cold.

And onto the other comments!

From The Gold Standard:
I use to be a big Kidman mark cause of the shooting star press. but after seeing guys like Morrison, Bourne, Styles, London and others perform it it makes Kidmans look like shit and the worse of em all.

You put it beautifully. I used to mark out huge for Kidman and his SSP, and I always wondered why he never got the push he did. After watching the indies and seeing a few guys hit it RIGHT, I saw the light. Sorry Billy, you just didn't get it done. You got to bang Torrie though, so there is that.

From iomis:
Dud you're crazy. Vickie is a great heel. I think she may be one of the biggest heels of all time. Putting her in the wrong, especially after the heat she got is stupid. She gets more heat than any wrestler in the business right now. And that's a great thing for a heel.

Well, first off calling her one of the biggest heels of all time is just funny. Yes, she's incredibly over as a heel, something that I've stated many a time, and I've given her many props for being able to do that. However, heat isn't the only thing that makes a great performer, and half the time she comes off as if she's reading her lines from a teleprompter without ever having seen them. Guest#9282 stated she seems natural and not like a trained actor, and I totally disagree. If she was simply coming up with her own stuff than she'd come off natural probably, but giving what sounds like a cold read of a script isn't natural at all. This is why people need to be trained a little to sound natural when performing. Vickie has potential and at times she sounds natural, but she came off poorly on Raw and it made the segment suffer as a result.


From KanyonKreist:
JT, don't you think Orton's character was two-million times more interesting before he did that 180 last week with the "I was in control the whole time" shit? Not taking responsibility for one's actions is a GREAT heel trait, and the emotional disorder gimmick was fresh and original. Now it seems they're just turning him into a carbon copy of - badass/ballsy, yet somehow still a heel - Triple H from a few years back.

I hate the precedent that Triple H seems to have set for heels who no longer need to sell or run from a fight or get booed. It is amazing, though; the impact of one wrestler's insecurities on the creative direction of the entire industry...

I do feel that Orton's character was more interesting before his change last week, but he did do an excellent job with him and the fact of the matter is that the way they'd booked him was poor, the ‘E realized it and they needed something to turn it around. I would have preferred that did it a different way, but that's the way it is. I do think that too many people try to be an ‘H in terms of his style of heeldom, but I don't want to see everyone become chicken heels either. I think it needs to be a mix, and Orton had been doing it fairly well and if they turn him back that way in his endless character swerving, will do it well again. I do, however, think that if Orton had been booked the same way he was at ‘Mania against any guy not named Triple H or John Cena, it would have gone over much better with people, and that's not really fair to those two men…but that's an argument for another time.


From Shockmaster:
THE COLONS vs. MIZ & MORRISON: Kudos to all four for another outstanding match that underscored the stupidity of cutting them from Mania. During the match I was looking at the lumberjacks and thinking "wow, you can see who should be planning their future endeavors right now", then I noticed SWAGGA was there. Shameful.

TEN-MAN WRESTLEMANIA ALL-STAR MATCH: When Steamboat tagged Punk, the crowd went almost dead and stayed that way as long as he was in there. Isn't that REALLY BAD?

ORTON vs. VINCE: Jeremy, after what Orton originally did to Vince it was played up repeatedly that he had attacked a "sixty year old man". Then Vince smacks him around like a b*tch for several minutes??? I don't like Orton and even I thought this defined the Ri-God-Damn-Diculous. What are we waiting for, to see whether they physically gang rape Randy at Backlash? Santino should be the next Legacy member, he has as much credibility today as any of them. It takes phenomenally atrocious booking to make me this mad over a guy I didn't want pushed to begin with.

Honestly, I didn't notice most of the lumberjacks, though it usually does tend to be the "Edge of Being Endeavored" crowd. That Swagger was there probably speaks something to Vince's being pissed about the way his match with Finlay went at No Way Out, or just that they needed another guy. Either way, they're not doing too many favors for him. I did see that the crowd went kind of dead for Punk, but I didn't attribute that as much to Punk himself, who is pretty well over, as the fact that it was a letdown from a crowd that was super-hot for Steamboat. Punk never loses too much from the crowd, so we'll chalk this up to anomaly for the moment.

As for Orton & Vince, they did push the sixty-year-old man thing hard, but let's face it, a few weeks of that doesn't wipe out that Vince has taken several major stars to the limit before, for whatever reason. Vince had his turn, but Orton ended up in control and about ready to finish Vince off so I can deal with it. It was far from great, but I won't call it ridiculous quite yet.


From 17:
Hey Jeremy, good write up but I think you missed something, that being the lack of McMahon reaction to Vickie's promo. Vince said Orton will never get another title shot, and then Vickie gave him one later on in the show by making the six-man a championship match. The fact there was no reaction from Vince about this really annoyed me but what annoys me more is that Vince probably won't complain about it next week either which makes no sense. It can easily be dealt with by having Triple H be egotistical (which I'm sure would be a stretch for him to act) and insist Vince keep the title on the line so he can crush Orton's title dreams again, but that would be too logical.

You make a good point, it does tweak me a wee bit that they did this. But I want to wait and see if they're going to address this at any point, because they easily could. The Chairman/GM positions have always been a little wonky in terms of power structure and I would say the most likely option would be Vince being overridden by the faceless Board of Executives. If they do totally ignore this, it would definitely irritate me though.

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By: Larry Csonka

ROH on HDNet 04.11.09:

QUICK RESULTS:

- Austin Aries defeated Kenny Omega @ 11:00 via pin [**½]
- Delirious defeated "Dirty" Ernie Osiris @ 5:00 via pin [*]
- Daizee Haze and Neveah defeated Sara Del Ray and Sassy Stephie @ 5:00 via pin [*½]
- Jerry Lynn defeated Brodie Lee @ 13:00 via pin [**½]

THE RIGHT:

Austin Aries defeated Kenny Omega @ 11:00 via pin: The opening bout of the week featured Austin Aries, one half of last week's main event, taking on RH on HDNet newcomer Kenny Omega. Aries had a shit-load of heat on his, as they were all over him for tapping out, for being an asshole and event for his stint in TNA, add in the dirty porn stash and he's a real man's heel. Omega is your typical white meat baby face, "Golly gee wiz I want to do well for you good folks…" But it worked well against the douche bag that is Aries. They had a very solid TV match, nothing special, but it was quite enjoyable or what it was. Aries got the win that he needed after last week's loss, and the match was worked so that even in loss, Omega looked really good as he went toe to toe with one of the company's top guys. That's an important thing as a squash will make him look like a joke. Omega has enough behind him to make people get behind him, and I look forward to seeing more of him down the line.

Jerry Lynn defeated Brodie Lee @ 13:00 via pin: As we headed toward the 4th TV main event, one thing was obvious, compared to the first three main events, this one didn't look all that sexy. Compared to last week it looks DOG ASS UGLY actually. The story was solid, sage smaller vet using all of the tools to counteract the bigger, stronger and athletic big guy. And it works especially well since Lynn is the new champion. He needs to win, but he also needs to show off his experience as a major tool, and a match like this did that. Lee also looked solid, I haven't seen a lot of Brodie Lee, but the guy is athletic and works hard, so I look forward to seeing more of him down the line. In the end, it was the weakest ROH main event to date. But that doesn't mean that it was bad, it was just as good as the opener I thought, a different match, but quality. I am interested to see how the shows will progress, we're nearing the end of the first 6-episodes, and I have heard good things about 7-12, so hopefully we have some great main events to look forward too.

PURGATORY:

Daizee Haze and Neveah defeated Sara Del Ray and Sassy Stephie @ 5:00 via pin: The ladies tag was a mixed bag this week, not great wrestling, but good angle. Daizee Haze is out for revenge against the big bad bitch Sara Del Rey, so she enlisted one half of the SHIMMER tag team champions Neveah as her partner. Del Rey as always was up for a challenge, and Sweeney went and got Sassy Stephie to be her partner, in what was a tryout for Sweet and Sour Inc, and I think a casting couch was involved due to Sweeney's sleazy demeanor. The story of the match was that Del Rey wanted to do things herself and show Sassy how to do it, since she was never able to please her. That's a loaded statement. Anyway, this made for some good angle, but not a great match, which is a shame. Neveah looked good, but unfortunately Sassy didn't impress me at all. Haze got the mind trip on her for the victory, which gets her a small measure of revenge. As mentioned, this was good angle wise, just not the best in ring action of the night, but I will say that it came off way better than Delirious vs. "Dirty" Ernie Osiris.

THE WRONG:

Delirious defeated "Dirty" Ernie Osiris: Delirious vs. "Dirty" Ernie Osiris was a match that was on the show to get Delirious a win, and to introduce Osiris. Now I understand that we have to slowly introduce the talent, but they really need to work to establish the TOP guys. It's like they felt Delirious lost already, so we have to get him a win right away. So we have this match, which was a 5-minute throw away match, and it just wasn't very good. This wasn't the kind of match that ROH should be showcasing on their TV. I know that the common fan likes characters and all, but ROH was founded on GREAT wrestling, with the angles and characters coming later. This just seems so forced, so SPORTZ ENTERTAINMENTZ to me. I just didn't like this who part of the show. That time would be better used for promos and video packages to establish the top names and also introduce other talent. Oh well, they all can't be winners.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

The initiation of ROH to the new fan base continued with what ended up being the weakest of the shows thus far. I agree with JD that they need to establish who is the top in certain areas. In my opinion the Delirious vs. "Dirty" Ernie Osiris was useless, as it wasn't good and I don't particularly like the Osiris character. That time would be better used for promos and video packages to establish the top names and also introduce other talent. We had a good opener, and the main event was good, but a step below the other main events we have seen. Besides those things, ROH also needs to try and show off better what made them different, and that is showing off the great wrestling. Last week's main event was good stuff, but this week just felt like a let down in comparison. Overall this was an average show, not bad at all, but it also isn't must see TV.

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: 6.5

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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}
-WWE WRESTLEMANIA {7.0}

-TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {5.5}

-TNA DESTINATION X {3.5}

2009 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
-[WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK vs. The Undertaker (*****)

-[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)

-[WRESTLEMANIA] – MONEY IN THE BANK (***¾)
-[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
-[WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK and The Undertaker – Stealing the Show

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!