Wrestling’s 4R’s Wednesday Edition 04.22.09: ROH Caged Collision and TNA Lockdown Reviewed!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.22.2009

It’s the Wednesday R’s, and today we look at two of the four April PPV’s, Lockdown and Caged Collision!

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

ROH CAGED COLLISION 04.17.09:

QUICK RESULTS:
- Alex Payne defeated Kenny King and Silas Young @ 7:30 via pin [*½]
- Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kevin Steen @ 10:00 via pin [**¾ ]
- The Necro Butcher and Jerry Lynn defeated Brodie Lee and Delirious @ 13:00 via pin [***]
- #1 Contender's Match: Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries @ 21:00 via pin [***¾]
- ROH TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness defeated El Generico @ 17:00 via submission [***¾]
- STEELE CAGE WARFARE: Team Albright defeated Team Sweeney @ 18:00 via pin [***]

THE RIGHT:

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kevin Steen @ 10:00: I really like the work of both Claudio Castagnoli and Kevin Steen, so I was looking forward to the match. It was a good paced and hard-hitting bout, with both men looking good overall. The one thing that I keep feeling is that Claudio isn't getting over as much as they want him to as a heel. They tried hard to counter act that with the finish, which saw Sweeney distract the ref and Claudio LOW BLOW Steen, allowing the Ricolla Bomb to finish things off. The work of the match and finish didn't hurt anyone, and hopefully stuff like this helps Claudio's heel turn, because I still feel as if they want to cheer him all the time. Overall this was a good singles match, one that the crowd really seemed to enjoy. But it felt more like the "TV main events" that we've been seeing lately, well a bit below really, as it was "good" but never quite kicked into the next gear that both guys are capable of. This was a good mid-card singles bout here.

The Necro Butcher and Jerry Lynn defeated Brodie Lee and Delirious: A fun tag team match here, which allowed for good in ring action, the brawling for Lee and Butcher, good wrestling from Lynn and Delirious and of course some extra curricular activities on the floor. It was laid out well and had good flow, no complaints from me. Much like the Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kevin Steen, this was a good match that the crowd liked and were into. While this one also didn't quite kick into the high gear, the build to the finish was really good as they saved the table spot for the end, which allowed Lynn to get the pin on Delirious. This was a good mid-card tag team bout here. will discuss this a bit at the end, and of course in the R's, but this match is a perfect example of the problem with the current model of business, as far as continuity goes.

#1 Contender's Match: Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries @ 21:00 via pin: This was supposes to be a tag team match, with the winner of the fall or submission becoming the #1 contender. Bryan Danielson, a man after my own heart decided that this was bullshit for numerous reasons, and suggested a 4-way instead. Jacobs, Black and Aries agreed, and we were off. All four of these guys are good, there is no denying that, and when you have guys of that talent level working towards a common goal, you usually get a good match. This was easily the best match on the card at this point in the show, but considering all of the competitors, slightly disappointing. I don't mean that in a bad way, but they have been involved in some really awesome matches, and I was hoping for another one here. I dug the Bison Smith run in to eliminate Danielson. It was done in a way as to not directly impact the finish; it was quick and done with. This led to Black overcoming the odds and getting the pin over his former partner Jacobs. A slightly anti-climatic ending though, I don't mind roll ups, but this one was just kind of there. Still, good work by all four men.

ROH TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness defeated El Generico @ 17:00 via submission: For those that don't know, Nigel McGuinness is a great man. He continued his trend of fun commentary on the show beat down Sugar Nuts, and proclaimed death on El Generico. What's not to love? The match was really good, with the pre-match attack and Nigel's assault on the shoulder, which was the theme of the match, and as it should, played perfectly into the finish. This was real good, but likely Nigel's weakest PPV title defense. Unlike other matches where he defended the title, I just never believed that Generico had a chance, I knew the outcome, but you need to make me believe. Although I will say that they told a good story with the pre-match attack, and working towards the submission, and telling the story of Generico fighting for all he's worth. They have also had better matches, so a slight disappointment here. But don't take that as this was bad, far from it, it just lacked in the areas I described.

PURGATORY:

STEELE CAGE WARFARE: Team Albright defeated Team Sweeney @ 18:00 via pin: I will say that this wasn't a bad match, but I just never got that into it. It also felt rushed with the one-minute intervals. You know what I mean, sometimes a match just doesn't click for you, well, this was one of those ones for me. Technically it was fine, although they could have used more time in between entrants to really play up the "War Games" advantage and such. Some matches need to be booked certain ways, and a "War Games" match has to have that hook. Now, while this is a good *** match, it makes its way to Purgatory because of what I mentioned in the recap, it just didn't live up to the normal PPV main event standards. ROH has set the bar high for itself, and this match didn't live up to what they have been producing. Sometimes it's a bitch when you deliver the goods. Honestly this should be taken as a compliment. I do have to say in closing that the "Bobby Dempsey finally becomes his own man" angle to close the show was a feel good moment, and the crowd loved it. It's nice to see long-term angles pay off like that.

THE WRONG:

Alex Payne defeated Kenny King and Silas Young: Alex Payne vs. Kenny King vs. Silas Young was the opening bout, and overall it was rather disappointing. It wasn't so much bad as it was just a collection of spots. I always talk about the importance of the opener, and unless I am forgetting something, this match was the "worst" opener as far as ROH PPV goes. They seemed to be working hard, I won't say they weren't, but it was a disappointing match that when it was over, I didn't think anyone was more over than when it began. Other than Dave Prazak, as the match felt like a vehicle to get over his hate of Payne. Hey I don't like him either, but maybe we should work on getting the guys in the ring over. I will say that easily out of the three Kenny King is the only one that comes off with any star power.

CONTINUITY: I mentioned this in the recap, and I have discussed it before in the TV recaps and such, but I really feel that after watching this latest PPV that ROH has a huge issue right now, and that is continuity. And I don't mean continuity problems like WWE and or TNA dropping angles and such, I mean continuity because they now resemble a bad sci-fi show with 3-4 different time lines going on at once. At first the PPV deal was fine because they needed something to get new fans. But in all honesty, you cannot effectively sell PPV without TV. So now they got the TV, and continuity has become a clusterfuck as you have Live Events, DVDs with added stuff, TV and PPV. If you are a new fan and watch the TV show, and then tune into the PPV, you would be confused. People don't want to think, they want to watch, be entertained and enjoy. I know some have disagreed there and say that they like to think, and that is cool. But ROH HAS super hardcore fans, they need John Q. Public, the normal guy that doesn't want to get complicated, he wants to tune in, watch his show and be entertained, plain and simple, no thought needed. They really need to do something about the TV/PPV issue, and soon I would venture. But that's just one man's opinion.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

At the end of the night this was a solid show, but easily the "worst" of the ROH PPV's thus far. ROH PPV has been built on solid mid-card matches, with the last hour (or 2 matches) being very good to MUST SEE matches, and in all honesty, this PPV failed in delivering that. For the most part, this was 2-hours of good wrestling, but nothing that you have to see, and ROH has to deliver MUST SEE stuff in order to survive. Not a bad show by any means, and for $15 a solid show, but not at the level of other shows. I have to go with a MILD recommendation, with the only standouts being the four-way and title match, which were great. Certainly not the horrible PPV some billed it as, but with the high standard ROH has set for themselves, a step down.

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: 7.1

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By: Larry Csonka

TNA LOCKDOWN 04.19.09:

QUICK RESULTS:
- Suicide won the X-Division Xscape Match to retain the TNA X-Division Title @ 11:45 [***]
- ODB won the Queen of the Cage Match @ 6:10 via pin [*]
- The Motor City Machine Guns retained the IWGP Jr. Tag team Titles over LAX and No Limit @ 11:50 via pin [***½]
- Matt Morgan defeated Abyss in the Doomsday Chamber of Blood Cage Match @ 12:45 via pin [**]
- Angelina Love defeated Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde to win the TNA Knockouts Title @ 7:00 via pin [**]
- Team 3D defeated Beer Money to win the TNA Tag Team Titles in a Philadelphia Street Fight @15:00 via pin [***¾]
- Team Jarrett defeated Team Angle in Lethal Lockdown @ 23:00 via pin [***½]
- Mick Foley defeated Sting to win the TNA World Title @ 16:00 via escape [**]

THE RIGHT:

Suicide won the X-Division Xscape Match to retain the TNA X-Division Title: The opening match of the night was for the X-Division title, the old Xscape match. This would also be the first of two appearances for Christopher Daniels. With them working the new market, I felt that leading off with the X-Title match was the right call. While the names wouldn't be getting the reaction that they would in the Impact Zone, the spots would, and that's what the match is designed to do. This was a very solid opener, not great, but perfectly served its purpose. It was a match that got better as it went on because the cluster cleared with the eliminations. Lethal and Creed took out Kiyoshi, and then Bashir, who had been on a roll took both of them out, to get down to he and Suicide. They had a good one on one segment, and then the hot finish. Suicide was set to Xcape and keep his title, when Kiyoshi came out to stop him. This allowed Bashir to crawl for the door, and with no other choice, Suicide launched odd of the cage with a perfect cross body onto Kiyoshi and security to keep the title. Good opener with a great finish, and Mr. Daniels was off to a good start for the evening.

The Motor City Machine Guns retained the IWGP Jr. Tag team Titles over LAX and No Limit: Another match that I had high hopes for was the three way for the IWGP Jr Tag titles. All three teams are very good and when they get the time they deliver, it's as simple as that. This was a match that was designed for high-speed moves, fun spots and teamwork, which it delivered on. This was 12-minutes of fun, and while the conclusion wasn't in that much doubt, because LAX never had a real chance due to the titles being IWGP titles, the match delivered great spots and near falls. It was flat out fun to watch and delivered one of the night's better matches.

Team 3D defeated Beer Money to win the TNA Tag Team Titles in a Philadelphia Street Fight: Over the last few weeks the Team 3D vs. Beer Money feud has become my favorite, and honestly, right up there with the build to HBK and Taker as far as my enjoyment. It was a great build overall and I was really looking forward to the match. Beer Money is great and while some write them off, Team 3D delivers in the big matches, especially when they have the use of the gimmicks. Some will argue about the street fight addition, but with them being in Philly, I think that it made complete sense, because they wanted to fully capture the crowd environment, and they did that here. Great work by all involved, and in the end this was my match of the night. The finish was smartly booked, because it wasn't a domination by 3D, instead, beer Money finally got caught after months of screwing over other teams through various means. 3D winning the belts were a given, again due to the IWGP factor, but they delivered a great match, and while I do not want to see it, the finish sets them up to split Beer Money if they choose. But they better not because they rule.

Team Jarrett defeated Team Angle in Lethal Lockdown: So we came to Lethal Lockdown, which was a good match, but not quite as god as past versions of the match. They smartly started with Angle for his team and Daniels for the Jarrett team. God bless that man, he out on two great performances while portraying two different personas very well. Daniels is the man. I will also compliment commentary here as they played up that Jarrett should have started as the captain, and that it may be because he wants his "team" to get beat down so that he can pick the bones and join the MEM. Good work there. I thought everyone did their best, including Nash who was still limited due to the infection in his elbow. He didn't do much, but he also didn't take away from the match. One spot I really enjoyed was when Joe was supposed to enter, but didn't. he was backstage, wearing a black towel over his head and talking to someone. He then came to the ring, brawled with Nash and threw about 639 suplexes. I felt that this was a great tease for Taz, if he is indeed coming in. Things also were well done once we got to the Lethal Lockdown portion. Jarrett tried to show loyalty by handing out the weapons, AJ tried to kill himself to make the match memorable, Jarrett's allegiance was called into question when he "accidentally" hit AJ with the chair, and then he was redeemed as he addicted AJ to get the win. Overall good stuff, but as mentioned, not quite as god as past versions of the match. We also got the addition of the debut of Lashley. While the contract status is under question, and I hope that they don't make that mistake again, it was a nice surprise on the card. But if he doesn't sign, don't be surprised, since TNA has a history of this sort of thing.

PURGATORY:

Matt Morgan defeated Abyss in the Doomsday Chamber of Blood Cage Match: Ah yes, the match that promised blood. Abyss and Matt Morgan's feud has been a disappointment to be an understatement, but there has been interesting aspects introduced with the Dr. Stevie character. They had a solid bout, lots of hard-hitting action and they worked hard but again I felt that they under achieved. I really think that it falls on Morgan's behalf. Abyss is willing to do anything, while Morgan appears to not want to be involved in these matches, and that's a shame. In the end thought it fell into the same clichéd Abyss match that he works with guys that aren't great workers. The ending was also done poorly, as when Stevie came down, took the chair, chastised Abyss, and then Morgan attacked, THAT should have went right into the finish. Instead they had it go longer and no one cared at that point. In the end it was fine, but forgettable, but at least they satisfied the crowd's bloodlust.

Angelina Love defeated Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde to win the TNA Knockouts Title: The TNA Knockouts Title was on the line, as the dominating Awesome Kong defended against Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love. The Knockouts division has been under fire for some time as it has been under whelming since the departure of Gail Kim, and rightfully so. They lost the spark they had, and it has been very noticeable. But they were working hard, and they were delivering. Good work by all, Kong busted out the senton leg drop, and even the fickle crowd was getting into the match. And then it happened. Wilde went for a big cross body, Love did the leap into it for the max sell and she knocked herself the FUCK OUT. Unfortunately all anyone wants to talk about is the "bad" finish. Wilde did what she could to give her time to come around, but it just wasn't happening. They improved the finish the best they could, but it did come off poorly. That's a shame, because they were having a really good match, but you can't ignore the finish. On the other hand, I will not completely bag on the match as some have. Injuries happen, and it is unfortunate. I hope Love is all right, and that she can enjoy her title run, because she's worked hard and deserves the chance.

THE WRONG:

ODB won the Queen of the Cage Match: ODB, Daffney, SoJo and Rayne battled for the Queen of the Cage match. Now, I am a fan of the Knockouts Division, and I think that it is great when they get featured. But the facts are this, this was not a good match. What this was, simply put, was an extended Impact Knockouts match, which means, it wasn't good. It was slow, sloppy, and I never once got into it, I cringed most of the time really. Not good at all and easily the worst match on the show. And then I ask, WHAT was the purpose of the match? ODB won but WHAT did she win? Oh that's right, NOTHING. It was just to be the Queen of the Cage. Not for a title shot. Wilde and Bolt get to fight for that tomorrow night. NOT the former champion, NOT the winner of the Queen of the Cage, two women that LOST on this show. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, they all can't be winners, can they?

Mick Foley defeated Sting to win the TNA World Title: And so we came to the main event. I will say that the main reason that the match falls into the wrong is because it was not main event quality. The main event has to deliver, and unfortunately while this match was built up very well, it jus couldn't deliver. They tried, they had a plan, and they worked smart enough to cover up their limitations. And while it started decently, it got s.l…o…….w. I was hyped for the match, I was happy at the beginning, unfortunately they just didn't have it in them, physically, to pull off a good match. Honestly it was kind of sad to see them struggling like they did, but age is a bitch. I will say that while most hate it, it isn't a horrible more. It's a lateral move, from "one legend to another" so to speak. Sure it would have been great to see Sting's reign end with him losing to a younger guy to get the rub, but they apparently went in another direction. For those of you saying, "Well, this isn't 1999 anymore, fuck TNA" take a look around. HHH and Jerry Lynn are "world champions" right now, it isn't exactly something not being done. It does present some interesting booking going forward, and I figure that Foley drops the title at Slammiversary in the KING OF THE MOUNTAN match.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

I know that the main event didn't please most, but I think that the match really hurt the overall perception of the PPV. The X-Title, Jr. Tag Title, Tag Title for Tag Title, and Lethal Lockdown matches all delivered rather well, and made the PPV an overall enjoyable one. The debut of Lashley was unexpected, and the tease of Taz was also well done. While the PPV didn't deliver as most wanted it too, and I will admit that, there was a lot to enjoy here. Not a blow away show, but a solid effort. In the end the shame was the crowd, which was obviously not a "TNA" crowd. You could tell that they didn't follow the TV show, as they only really responded to the big stars or big spots, and that's a shame, because these buys were working very hard. This completed a weekend of good, but under achieving shows.

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: 7.2

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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 LOCKDOWN {7.2}
-ROH CAGED COLLISION {7.1}
-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)
-[CAGED COLLISION] #1 CONTENDERS MATCH – Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (***¾)
-[CAGED COLLISION] ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH – Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico (***¾)
-[TNA LOCKDOWN] – PHILLY STREET FIGHT: IWGP vs. TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH – Team 3D vs. Beer Money (***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
-[ROH CAGED COLLISION] – Nigel McGuinness – Better Than You Sugar Nuts
-[TNA LOCKDOWN] - Christopher Daniels – Pulling Double Duty

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

-Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}
-Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison - (ECW: 04.14.09) {****}
-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}
-Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy - (Smackdown: 04.10.09) {***½}

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And I'm out of here!



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