wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs 3.29.13: WWE Raw, New Japan on iPPV & ROH TV Reviewed
How the 4Rs 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. 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…
NEW JAPAN CUP 2013 iPPV Thoughts
By Larry Csonka
Quick Results, Thoughts and Match Ratings
This was a very solid show from NJPW, but not at the level of mot of their iPPV events. There was only one really good match, but the goal of the show was to up the April 5th show as well as the April 7th iPPV event; and they did that. On April 7th, Tanahashi defends against Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura defends the IC title against Davey Boy Smith Jr., who pinned Nakamura in the first round of the New Japan Cup. New NWA champion Rob Conway defends the title against Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Hirooki Goto vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata, Minoru Suzuki vs. Toru Yano, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi, El Terrible & Tama Tonga defend the CMLL tag team titles against Valiente & La Mascara, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi & Super Strong Machine & Akebono vs. Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Bob Sapp, the IWGP jr. tag team titles with Alex Shelly & Kushida defending against Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi. I really like the direction NJPW is going, and the iPPV events have been well worth the money I have spent. Show Rating: 7.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture As a reminder, this is not a basic “how good was the show” number like a TV show, as I have always felt that a PPV is very different from a regular show. I have always judged PPV on how they built to a match, the match quality, crowd reactions to matches and angles, the overall booking, how the PPV leads into the future, PPV price and so on and so forth. I have added this in here for an explanation since so many have asked, and I have previously discussed it on podcasts. I understand that this may seem different, but that is how I grade. Obviously your criteria may be different. |
By: Shawn S. Lealos
QUICK RESULTS:
Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young – I mentioned when Silas wrestled in the ROH Top Prospects tournament how impressed I was with him. He really, really reminds me of a more agile version of Dirty Dick Slater, and that is a good thing in my eyes. This was the opening match on this week’s ROH TV show and it was a great one. That might surprise people who just look at the names, but this match was a surprisingly solid opener. Elgin won, but he had to fight hard to get to that win. It also took a mistake my Silas to put him at the disadvantage where, of course, Elgin just went to town and demolished him. But he fought his butt off and this was a competitive match. Young has the talent to be a mid-card star, he just needs some kind of push in an angle.
SCUM attacks – I mention Mike Mondo down below in the wRong, but I will mention him here too. Mondo was in the ring with Veda Scott and Grizzly Redwood giving a horrible promo with a voice interrupts him from the intercom. Then, SCUM races into the ring from the crowd and attacks. They beat down Mondo and Redwood and then Cliff Compton grabs a scared Veda Scott, which I was uneasy with at first. However, when BJ Whitmer, C&C, the Briscoe Brothers and Nigel McGuinness ran out to save them, they were stopped because they had Veda as insurance. Steve Corino demanded a “SCUM show” next week, and all they wanted was matches that Nigel could book himself. Nigel agreed if they let Veda go and then made a great quite: “You make a deal with the devil, you better prepare for hell.” Nice segment to get the ROH vs. SCUM feud started on ROH TV.
Matt Hardy vs. Adam Cole – This is the best match I have personally seen Matt Hardy wrestle since v2.0 in the WWE. He actually looks like he has his feet back under him again and really turned in a great performance in the match. Adam Cole looked great as well, dishing out most of the punishment and Hardy sold EVERYTHING Cole threw at him, making Cole look very strong. The match was well over 10 minutes before SCUM ran in and then the ROH locker room cleared out to end the episode. Maybe Matt Hardy can be more than a temporary star for ROH after all.
NOTHING
Charlie Haas – This is not Charlie’s fault. I love his attitude and gimmick and think he (a) is the perfect asshole and (b) has the look of a star. The segment started off with a decent promo about why he dumped Shelton Benjamin on his head and split up WGTT, and that was decent enough. He then said that Shelton went to “higher ground” and Haas was still in ROH, which almost sounds like a slam on himself. He challenged Kevin Kelly to fight him, he challenged Nigel McGuinness to stop selling his DVD and come out of retirement to fight him (I wonder if that is what they are leading to, because that would be awesome), he challenged any member of SCUM (proving he is on his own), and then challenged any member of the ROH faithful. This is where it went bad. Grizzly Redwood answered the challenge. Now, I really think that if used right, he could be ROH’s Little Spike Dudley, but they keep letting him get his ass pounded. He got in like two moves here and the Haas made him tap out. Then, of all people, Mike Mondo ran out for the save and CHARLIE HAAS RAN! What the hell? Haas is a badass bad guy, on his own, challenging anyone, and he runs from Mike Freaking Mondo? This went from a solid segment into a ridiculous ending. This is in wRong because Haas is a great bad guy but the segment went straight to the toilet by the end.
NOTHING
This week’s matches were not as good as last weeks, but the story lines moved forward nicely, both SCUM and the Charlie Haas stuff. The ROH shows are getting better when it comes to moving angles forward, so that is a good thing, and the matches are getting really good on a regular basis. SHOW RATING: 7.0 |
By: Larry Csonka
NOTE: Tony had some travel issues, and could not turn in the Rs of Raw by the posting deadline. I would like to apologize for the inconvenience. Due to that, in its place, I will be rerunning my review of Raw from Monday. I appreciate you understanding.
Tonight’s edition of the show comes to you live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.
CM Punk, Paul Heyman and an Urn Walk Into a Wrestling Ring: With Paul Heyman back at his side, and the urn still in his possession, CM Punk kicked off the show this week. He noted that Undertaker should have skipped off into the sunset with HHH and HBK last year to make a perfect ending. He also said that he was not afraid of the dark or The Undertaker’s magical WrestleMania streak. The Undertaker is a man, and he doesn’t want the streak, he simply wants to break it. The stealing of the urn wasn’t about disrespecting Paul Bearer, it was again taking what belonged to the Undertaker. Punk noted that he is not another man, and no one is better than he is, smarter than he is and he goes into the match with a psychological advantage. He promised to be the “1” in 20-1. He then stated that he was waiting for the lights to drop and the chill to fill the air, and added that the streak and Undertaker will rest in peace. The lights dropped, and then came back on and Taker was there to put the ass beating on Punk. Unfortunately for Undertaker, Punk managed to escape, along with Heyman and the urn. The crowd seemed to like it, and while not overly great, it was a fine start to the show.
Rating (1-10): 7.0
Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler: Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler was scheduled for later tonight, but since Jericho busted up Fandango’s party, they sent out Ziggler and we had our match. As you would expect, they had a good match. Ziggler is great, Jericho is still great, and they have some good chemistry. But I will say that, in my opinion, this is the kind of match that you shouldn’t be booking. Ziggler and Langston are challenging for the tag titles, and just got momentum, so Ziggler losing here (and having Langston so easily dispatched) does them no good. Obviously if Jericho is going to be used to get Fandango over, he shouldn’t lose. This is a case of a non-finish (DQ likely) would have been for the best. Then you could have done the Langston attack followed by the Fandango attack. I am still not sure if Fandango is getting good heat, or go away heat; but while I do not like him, the beat down was good and there was some heat, which is always better than no reaction at all. To me this came off fine, but again, it didn’t do Ziggler many favors. The point is that WWE has full control over what matches and finishes are booked, as this close to WM, they should be mindful of protecting guys. But considering that they don’t worry about that the rest of the year, it comes as no surprise to me.
Rating (1-10): 6.0
Mark Henry vs. The Usos: The Usos got to hit all of their shit on Mark, that was a really bad idea because it simply pissed him off. He dispatched them rather quickly, because, “that’s what he do.” After he pinned the first Uso, Henry decided that the second Uso needed some more beating, and made sure to share the pain. But he wasn’t done and delivered more punishment as he yelled, “ALL DAY!” You’re building a monster vs. monster match, there is going to be carnage, and that is not a bad thing. The best part was Henry dropping the big splash on the Uso that hit the top rope splash, and yelling “Nobody splashes me!” I liked it, it was simple, and while I know Ryback vs. Henry will be no classic, they are making me want to see it because the booking is clean. I would expect to see Ryback in a similar match on Smackdown as they try to one up each other.
Rating (1-10): 7.5
Champion vs. who gives a fuck…: Antonio Cesaro battled Alberto Del Rio. I remember this match when they ran it on the March 11th edition of Smackdown. Yes, they ran this same match that recently. And that is why Champion vs. Champion matches mean jack and shit, that is why 99% of stipulation matches mean jack and shit, and that is why most of them do not draw anymore. Because they are either overused or the stipulation gets broken, hence it means nothing to the people that paid for it. The action, while it lasted was fine, and the good news is that Cesaro didn’t lose. The bad news is that he became Del Rio’s bitch after the bell. Some asked in my Smackdown review, “why am I surprised that the US Champion is booked this way since the title doesn’t matter.” Well, that’s kind of the point; I am not surprised at all. The point is that the US Champion should be booked better, not like a jobber. The US Champion should have a match on the biggest show of the year, not used to build up others on the road to WrestleMania. I am sorry if you’re cool with mediocrity, but I am not. Back to the match, with crowd reactions lacking, they have slightly switched gears to use Ricardo for sympathy so the crowds will support Del Rio. That seemed to work rather well tonight with Dutch distracting Del Rio and Swagger attacking Ricardo. Del Rio beat down Swagger and ran him off, but Ricardo was once again hurt due to Swagger’s attack on the ankle. It was fine, but I don’t feel a lot of excitement for the match.
Rating (1-10): 5.0
Non-Title Match: Team Hell No © vs. The Prime Time Players: Ziggler, AJ and Big E. made their way out to scout their WrestleMania opponents. The action was fine, but I have a hard time taking the PTPs seriously after Cena dispatched with them so easily last week. Kane ended up winning with the choke slam after a bit of back and forth. The champions stood united, challenging Ziggler and Langston to come to the ring. Some small advancement for the WrestleMania match, it was fine, but I think it would have come off better if Ziggler didn’t tap like a bitch earlier in the night.
Rating (1-10): 6.0
Talkies With Triple H: Triple H, the guy that basically retired after Summerslam on his own, came out to discuss his WrestleMania match, where if he loses, he will have to retire. Yup. He put over Lesnar as a destroyer, and that he could end anyone’s career at anytime. But then he warned Lesnar that it might be his end; because he was coming to kick his ass. I liked that Triple H is keeping the promos shorter and more to the point as opposed to years past. It was also enough to keep the build moving, but not blowing the wad too soon, which is also good. I was in love with this for the most part, and then, then they had to do something stupid. Wade Barrett’s music hit, he motioned for Triple H to hit the bricks, and Triple H kicked him in the balls. That’s right kids, remember, THE SECONDARY CHAMPIONS MEAN NOTHING AND ARE NOT BIG STARS. This is the kind of thing that simply pisses me off, and added NOTHING to the show other than to make Barrett look like shit. And he needed no help there, because creative has been doing a perfect job of that without Triple H kicking him in the balls. Or is it cutting off his balls? It’s the same thing in this instance. It wasn’t needed at all, unless the goal was to inflate Triple H’s ego, because that is what that was all about.
Rating (1-10): 1.0
Non-Title Match: Wade Barrett © vs. The Miz: So minutes after Triple H roshambos Wade Barrett, I am supposed to care about him in a match with the Miz? That might be asking a lot. No might about it, it was a lot to ask. I honestly couldn’t get into this match due to that segment, and the fact that commentary constantly mentioned it and it was a poor excuse for the match’s psychology. Miz won, he’ll get a title shot at WrestleMania, their mom’s will be proud.
Rating (1-10): 4.0
Great Khali, Zach Ryder and Justin Gabriel vs. The Shield: The Shield defeated Great Khali, Zach Ryder and Justin Gabriel quite easily. You see, now this is how you do things. Great Khali, Zach Ryder and Justin Gabriel are not doing anything, they are jobbers, and the Shield destroyed them, and looked good. They powerbombed Khali after the match, because they could, and stood tall like they were the shit. But then their opponents, who were out for revenge due to the attack earlier tonight, came out. They played the Shield’s game, they took the advantage and cornered them, and they got to send them packing. The faces stood tall, but they didn’t humiliate their opponents, they didn’t get the full revenge. People still want to see that, and that is what they want at WrestleMania. This was short, sweet, simple and to the point. And that’s why it works.
Rating (1-10): 8.0
Team Rhodes Scholars w/The Bellas vs. Dance Dance Revolution: This was essentially the same thing that we watched on Smackdown on Friday night, but instead of the match ending with the ladies brawl, it was a distraction with the Rhodes Scholars getting the win. This again looks like they are building to the eight-person tag that had been rumored, either for the pre-show or for the actual WrestleMania show. It was fine.
Rating (1-10): 6.0
Ryback vs. 3MB: This was similar to the Henry match, where the opponents got a little run on the guy, but ultimately lost to the monster. Ryback then one-upped Henry, but using Shell Shock on two men. Again, it was simple, clean, and built well to the battle of the monsters. I may have saved it for Smackdown, simply to not have two handicap matches on the show, but that is a minor point. This is also leading to a weight lifting competition on Smackdown between Ryback and Henry.
Rating (1-10): 7.5
Non-Title Match: Kaitlyn vs. AJ: They did some stuff, Kaitlyn missed a spear on the floor and was counted out. AJ celebrated, and that is likely your build to a WrestleMania match.
Rating (1-10): 4.0
Main Event Interview: Jerry Lawler is the moderator, and to ask questions to John Cena and the Rock, we have Booker T, Mick Foley, The American Dream Dusty Rhodes and Bret Hart. Flair was supposed to be there, but was sent home due to health issues. I tend not to be a fan of “debate” style segments, but for the most part I liked the promos here. It was seriously it was about winning and losing, and I felt the Hall of Fame guys added nicely to the segment. I am really glad that they dropped a lot of the comedy stuff and went with the serious tone for the feud, because that is what it needed. I liked Cena getting pissed when Rock discussed beating him, noting that he had Rock beat and only lost because he did something stupid. That played into the end, where Rock called out Cena, and left him laying with the Rock Bottom. The only real downside to the segment was that it felt really long, and that is not a good feeling. Overall a good segment, and it was the right direction, but it didn’t blow me away.
Rating (1-10): 7.5
I know a lot of people feel that WWE hits their creative best on the Road to WrestleMania, but I am not feeling it. The booking is fine one moment, some weeks even great, but then they do so many questionable things. Like telling us in one segment to not care about a performer, and they expecting us to care the next time we see them. WrestleMania is in 13 days, and I am not feeling it. Tonight was a show, it didn’t feel important, and it did nothing to make me want to buy WrestleMania. They did some things that were fine, but again, it felt like a show that if you missed it, you missed nothing because to me it felt like nothing really happened. And it just isn’t me, I had this sent to me on Twitter during the show…
I will say that the closing segment was pretty good, but again, it just didn’t have that big time feel that you’d expect from the main angle at WrestleMania, which is unfortunately a theme thus far this year. I just hope that they have been saving up for next week and will deliver a huge go home show, because at this point, I feel they need it. Show Rating: 6.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV) by Csonka:
TOP PPVs:
TOP PPV MATCHES:
Have you checked out the Csonka Podcasting Network? If you haven’t, you should We run anywhere from 15-20 shows a month, discussing pro wrestling, the world of MMA, the NBA, general sports, popular TV series of the past, bad movies, battle rap, interviews, MMA & Wrestling conference calls and more! Around 10 different personalities take part in the various shows, which all have a different feel; so you’ll likely find something you like. All of the broadcasts are free, so go ahead and give a show a try and share the link with your friends on the Twitter Machine and other social media outlets! Running since May of 2011, there are currently over 270 shows in the archive for you to listen to.
Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it…TO CSONKA’S TWITTER!
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma
More Trending Stories
- AEW Dynamite Drops Below 750,000 Viewers This Week, Draws Lowest Rating in Almost Four Years
- Roman Reigns on Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso, Discusses Jey Uso Walking Away From The Bloodline
- Becky Lynch Explains Seth Rollins’ Reaction to the CM Punk Return at WWE Survivor Series
- Eric Bischoff On Ronda Rousey’s Slams Of Vince McMahon, Doesn’t Think She Wanted To Be In WWE