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Wrestling’s 4R’s 12.30.11: WWE Raw & NXT Reviewed
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO 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 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 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~! Of course, that may not happen much any more due to him not having as much power as he used to. 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.
Let’s rock…
By: LARRY CSONKA
Raw 12.26.11:
QUICK RESULTS:
* Non-Title Match: Booker T defeated Cody Rhodes © via pin @ 12:00 [**½]
* Zack Ryder & Eve defeated Tyson Kidd & Natalya via pin @ 3:00 [*]
* John Cena defeated the Miz via Count Out @ 2:00 [NR]
* The Big Show defeated David Otunga via DQ @ 2:00 [NR]
* Non-Title Gauntlet Match: CM Punk © defeated Jack Swagger via pin @ 3:25, Dolph Ziggler defeated CM Punk © via pin @ 7:25 to earn a shot at the WWE Title [*** for the whole thing]
John Laurinaitis: Mr. Excitement & Buzzkill: I liked the opening segment of Raw for a few reasons. First of all, while I do not think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I am enjoying the feud between Punk and Laurinaitis. The smart-ass attitude of Punk along with the straight man routine that Laurinaitis does works for me and delivers solid humor, but not too much. But this was Laurinaitis’ big day to get back. Punk has constantly made fun of him, he made the silly video and this worked as Laurinaitis basically told Chicago to “fuck off” as he mocked Punk’s entrance, including the shirt over top of the suit. This was likely the most charisma that Laurinaitis has shown during his WWE tenure, and that’s a good thing. The fact that Chicago was so pumped to see Punk, the huge pop and then the deflation when Laurinaitis was the one to walk out was just perfect. Punk of course came out to save the day, they had their back and forth, Punk dropped an “All Japan” reference in there for Laurinaitis, and this all led to Laurinaitis booking Punk in a gauntlet match (against Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and Mark Henry). While I will admit that I get sick of the show opening promo, this one worked fine as it continued the issues between Punk & Laurinaitis, as well as set up the gantlet for later in the evening.
Big Show vs. David Otunga: Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry Make Cameos: This whole thing was far from spectacular, but I felt that it made sense and fit together nicely. If we Tarintino back, Big Show knocked the bow tie off of Otunga on Smackdown. They gave us a backstage segment, where David Otunga, Brown-Noser Extraordinaire, was with Johnny Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis was upset at the actions of Big Show, and of course, Otunga was ready to sue. But Big Show made the cardinal sin of stating that he could defeat Otunga, “with one arm tied behind his back,” and so the match with that stipulation was made for later in the show. The match wasn’t much, Otunga running away, Big Show head butting him, and then a DQ when Mark Henry came to the ring. And again, I loved this for the fact that it made sense. Henry wanted revenge, saw Show was in the ring with one hand tied behind his back and he took his opportunity. Nothing was about to distract this man, well accept for Daniel Bryan, the guy with the belt that Henry wants back. Show ended up getting his hand out, standing tall and that was that. . Again it is far from spectacular television, in the sense that it wasn’t something I was really excited for, but it made sense and I appreciate that.
ALBERTO DEL RIO IN A WHEEL CHAIR: And not just ANY wheelchair. A leopard print, GOLD COATED WHEEL CHAIR! I know that there is a growing contingent that doesn’t like Del Rio al of the sudden. People loved him when he debuted and was new, but now that he had success, the tides have turned. And so is life. I for one like Alberto, and while it sucks that he got hurt, I enjoyed the segment for what it was. Ricardo pushing out the wheel chair, wearing the neck brace and tie over it, announcing with a scratchy voice to sell his injuries, I appreciated that. And then Alberto, all over the top with his injury, “the worst injury a man can suffer” made me laugh. And of course, he was met with NO sympathy, which is what they wanted. While it sucks that he got injured, little segments like this can be fun if done correctly. Simple and effective, it almost always works.
Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T: As far as the things I enjoyed on this show, this also followed a similar theme, simple yet effective. The Booker T vs. Cody Rhodes feud has progressed slowly, but again effectively. We had the back and forth on the shows, the PPV where Cody attacked Booker twice before their match and then Booker costing Cody his match on Smackdown. Sure Booker singing like a goof was stupid, but it got the job done. And this led to a match on Raw, which overall was a good match. Booker hasn’t worked a ton, but is in great shape and seems to have little ring rust. So they had a really solid match, the crowd seemed into Booker and he came away with the win in the non-title match, evening up the old series at 1-1. The good news is that they will face off once again, for the IC Title, which will be revealed on Smackdown. Normally I wouldn’t give out spoilers, but the booking all but said they would face again, so that’s not a “real big” spoiler.
ZIGGLER WINS! ZIGGLER WINS! ZIGGLER WINS!: And then we came to the gauntlet match, featuring CM Punk looking to defeat three men in order to get a shot at John Laurinaitis. Of course, if one of the men defeated Punk, they would get a WWE Title shot. I liked that because usually there is nothing for the others to fight for, but they had true motivation in this match. First out was Jack Swagger, and as expected it was short, but solid for what it was. Once Swagger was defeated, he attacked Punk in order to soften him up for Dolph Ziggler. Also as expected, Ziggler and Punk had a very good match. Ziggler has been on, and so has Punk, and this just worked. The heels tried to cheat, and that brought out Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis worked to get the ref and Punk’s attention, to let them know that cheating was involved, and that he would not stand for this. Of course in theory he does the right thing by bouncing Vickie and Swagger, but also intentionally distracts the ref and Punk, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zig-Zag and get the pin. Punk gets screwed, Laurinaitis looks like a dick and Ziggler gets the title match for next week’s show. In my opinion, this all worked out very well and we get what could possibly be a great match next week. Give these two guys 15-20 minutes and I think that we’ll all be happy.
Zack Ryder & Eve Torres vs. Natalya & Tyson Kidd: This match didn’t last long, and it was one of those “this is a match” kind of matches, but I thought the good news is that it was a continued presence on WWE TV for Zack Ryder. Right now Ryder is coming off of his title victory, and unfortunately does not have a feud at this point as Ziggler is occupied. So while that is not a good thing, what was good is that he was on TV and winning a match. Again, I hope that they give him something to do, defending the title and all, but again, being on TV is not a bad thing for now considering that the company is in a holding pattern.
Cena Wants Kane, Miz Says REALLY, R-Truth Returns & The Crowd Goes Mild: Following his segment with Zack Ryder, John Cena headed to the ring because he had business with Kane. But you don’t always get what you want, and we got the Miz instead. Of course that was following a Cena promo that saw him gargle the balls of Chicago, trying to get their support in a very annoying manner. Shut up dude, just get down to business, we don’t need to hear you discuss your history with Chicago as the city tea bags you and you enjoy it. Miz crowed about beating Cena at WM, but then admitted that there were shenanigans involved, and wanted to end the year with a victory. I wasn’t feeling this, because the booking of the Miz has been so back and forth for so long, I have no emotional investment in him. He is just a guy to me, a guy they try to make a bad ass one week, and then forget about it and have him lose in three minutes to Sheamus on Smackdown. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Sheamus, but how am I supposed to take Miz seriously against Cena following that? Of course, that just may be me. They had about 2-minutes of a match, but Miz took a powder, claimed he already beat him and we got a count out. This all led to the return of R-Truth, which was met with a mild reaction at best. R Truth kicked the shit out of Miz, which I suppose is fine, but again they made Miz look like a complete bitch. I felt that they rushed that. Have Truth come out, get some payback but have Miz escape. Instead, the beating lasted forever and all I thought was, “well, Miz is a bitch and this is over.”
Kane Shares His Theory On The John Cena Paradox: You know, I was really interested to see what they were going to do here, but at the end of the day, I have to say that I didn’t like this. First of all, Kane’s return makes absolutely no sense, for the simple fact that he has never gone after Mark Henry. Call me crazy, but if I am a big, nasty insane monster and someone busted up my leg with a steel chair, I’d be out for revenge. But no, see Kane apparently doesn’t want anything to do with Henry due to the fact that he took his time off in stride and penned a thesis on the John Cena paradox. I know that Cena needs a feud to tide him over until the Rock comes in for the build to WrestleMania, but Kane’s lack of effort to kill Mark Henry makes no sense at all to me. And then there is the promo itself. On that I hated that it ended the show, because these guys are not the big program in the company. The angle with Punk should have ended the show, but I could have let that go. Kane’s execution here was actually really good, which saves this from an al out ridiculous, but I just do not buy this. I think that they hoped that since they were in Chicago that the fans would be so into Punk as their hero, and that Kane would be able to get the crowd fully against Cena. Instead, we got he same, “Lets go Cena, Cena Sucks!” chant that we have gotten for years. They tossed out the bait, they didn’t get what they wanted, and Cena stood there looking like a sad puppy dog, well trying to look like one, for all of his hard work out of the ring, the guy is a shit actor. But yeah, I am not feeling this feud at all and if they want my interest I hope they do something interesting and soon.
This week’s Raw was a solid if unspectacular show. It is obvious that the company is in a holding pattern until next week, when they “reveal 1.02.12,” and officially start the build to the Royal Rumble. And honestly that is not a bad thing. They are slowly advancing a few things, some of the younger guns are getting TV time and they are booking simply and effectively. It wasn’t a show that will set the world on fire, but it was a fine effort to round out the year and set the table for next weeks show, and the beginning of 2012. SHOW RATING: 6.5 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
By: Tony Acero
NXT 12.28.11:
QUICK RESULTS
* Justin Gabriel Defeated Heath Slater [**1/2]
* Tyson Kidd Defeated Percy Watson [**]
* Derrick Bateman Defeated Johnny Curtis [**]
GABRIEL VS HEATH: In a nice little call back to the past, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater joined the show. While this is in the right, the entirety of the segment nearly went into puRgatory. Both of the guys showed that when it comes to mic time, neither has grown. They stepped over each other’s lines and were trying too hard to ad lib. It just didn’t work. The match, for what it was, was good. Although, it did seem like they were trying to hard. The first half of the match, Gabriel worked the arm of Heath only for Heath to no sell it throughout the entirety. With all that being said, the match picked up in the second half and did what it had to do in terms of quality. In terms of these two, Gabriel is pretty dry but Heath is just…not interesting and is near Michael Cole annoying.
KIDD VS. PERCY II: Short and to the point…if the point is that Darren Young is interrupting Percy and Titus’ matches. I’m ok with it, because it all continues with a storyline, regardless of how boring I find D. Young. The match itself was a little firecracker of a match, as is usual considering Kidd is involved. The boy gets minimal love, but he’s young so it’s quite alright. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat myself here, I see big things for Percy and can’t wait to watch him grow.
BATEMAN VS. CURTIS: Removing the fact that storyline between these two is atrocious and cheesy, the match left something to be desired as well. The two men are supposed to hate each other, and that showed…in the first minute or so of the match, then it kind of went away. Sure, there were some illegal moves on both sides of the ring, but they were boring. Bateman had such promise during his first NXT stint and Curtis has showed glimpses of charisma, but there’s just something not clicking here.
INSERT AKSANA: Can this storyline get any more convoluted? From a marriage proposal to a denial to a love triangle, to this. Aksana has Teddy’s phone which has an e mail from Derrick (which will probably be proven to be Curtis and Aksana working together) saying that Maxine should stay on NXT. Did we really need another fold in this crappily crafted storyline? Just stop it, damn you! Stop it!
Nothing other than the fact that this show is STILL going on…
The first match of the show had a tremendous effort, and I give them props for trying. With some ironing out, it could have been great. Tyson Kidd deserves better, but I’d rather have him helping the rooks than losing on the big shows so that’s good. The love triangle needs to leave ASAP, because Maxine is looking all different kinds of slutty and that doesn’t translate well in a PG era. All in all, this show is right in the middle. And yeah, 6.0 is middle to me… SHOW RATING: 6.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
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