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Wrestling’s 4Rs 4.19.13: WWE Monday Night Raw & 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…
By: Shawn S. Lealos
ROH Television 04.13.13:
QUICK RESULTS:
Bobby Fish vs. Eddie Edwards – When people talk about wrestling in Ring of Honor, this is the kind of match I envision. These two guys are tag team partners in Japan, and actually leave for a tour of Japan soon, so they know each other well. Of course, they also have history as ReDRagon beat The American Wolves at the last iPPV in a tag title match. Well, this match was fantastic. The story they told was the story of tag partners who knows each other’s moves and the entire match was full of moves and counter moves, with neither man able to take a good advantage. Eddie eventually got the advantage and started laying in chops (Bobby’s chest was blood red with a few broken blood vessels after the chip-fest). The end came when Eddie hit a moonsault onto Bobby, who was leaning against the guardrail. This caused Eddie to hurt his calf when landing on the rail. The two ended up back in the ring and Bobby reversed the crab attempt into a bridge pin for the win. Both Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly were at ring side, so the clean victory after a great match elevates it even more. Awesome, awesome match.
Roddy Strong – Holy shit, Roddy Strong cut a good promo. Basically, Mike Mondo came out as the first man introduced in the scramble match for the TV title opportunity. However, Roddy Strong came out and grabbed a mic. He said that he has been in ROH for a long time and did everything they asked of him and all he asked for in return was a chance. He then said he understood why Mark Briscoe, Cedric and Caprice and BJ Whitmer was in the match, but couldn’t figure out why Mike Mondo was in it. Mondo got in his face and Roddy backed him off and said he was not there to run him down because he appreciates his enthusiasm and energy, but no matter how hard Mondo tries to make people accept him, he just doesn’t belong. The two had to be pulled apart in the brawl that ensued. This is a STRONG Right because Roddy Strong was spot on.
NOTHING
Opening Segment with New Champion – I think opening the show by introducing the new world champion is a great idea, especially with all the wrestlers and referees surrounding the ring. However, there was a lot of things wrong with this segment. First of all, I like that Jay Briscoe puts the company ahead of himself, but I was bothered when he said he dream was never to win the world title because he was just happy to work for the best company in the world. While I understand what he is saying, to say your dream was never to win the world title was also an insult to those whose dream was to win it but failed (hello Jay Lethal). My other problem is when Adam Cole stepped forward. He shook Jay’s hand and congratulated him on the win but then seriously said that his time would be short and he would win the belt at Border Wars. Cole then walked out and Jay said he would kick his butt. It was very blah and was a horrible way to start the build to that title match. Adam Cole seemed uninspired and they never said why he was getting the first title match when they faced off. This was just poor execution.
QT Marshall and RD Evans – OK, so RD Evans wants to be a wrestler now and not just a manager. He comes to the ring in a outfit that got the fans chanting “Power Ranger” as well as a cape. It is clear that QT Marshall does not want him as a tag team partner, so this is one of those “mis-matched” tag teams. Their opponents are Alabama Attitude, an exciting smallish tag team with a lot of promise. Then RD Evans picks up the pinfall win, killing any chance Alabama Attitude has for momentum. The match was way too long and just wasn’t that good. It completely killed the momentum that the awesome opening match between Eddie Edwards and Bobby Fish gained.
Scramble Match – This match loses out because of all the great Ring of Honor scramble matches that came before it. I was really, really excited for this match and it was just a huge let-down. If they had cut the RD Evans crap match and gave this one more time, it might have helped. As it is, the entire scramble idea was kind of wasted here because the guys just seemed to come in before wrestlers hit the floor, making it look too scripted. No one really turned in an exciting performance here because no one in this match was quick enough to make good with the gimmick of the match. I didn’t mind Mark Briscoe winning to get the TV title shot, but the end just kind of suddenly happened. There was no flow, no excitement and the match was just bland for a scramble.
NOTHING
Man, after the first match (Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Fish), I thought the show was going to be awesome. That was one of the best free TV matches on ROH this year. However, a lackluster introduction to Jay Briscoe as the new world champion, no sign anywhere of Kevin Steen, a shitty match with RD Evans and a disappointing scramble match brings the score down here. It still gets a positive number thanks to Edwards and Fish, but just barely. SHOW RATING: 6.0 |
By: Tony Acero
Monday Night Raw 04.15.13:
QUICK RESULTS
– Randy Orton and Sheamus Defeated The Big Show [**]
– Kofi Kingston Defeated Antonio Cesaro to Become the NEW United States Champion [**1/2]
– Team Hell No Defeated The Primetime Players [*]
– Team Rhodes Scholars Defeated Santino Marella and The Great Khali [1/2*]
– Jack Swagger Defeated Dolph Ziggler [***]
– Nikki Bella Defeated Kaitlyn [*]
ORTON/SHOW/SHEAMUS: Last week, I said I felt they were going somewhere with this, then Mark Henry speared the shit out of Sheamus, causing me to slightly change my mind. It appears we’re going with Orton and Show, which – for some reason – is infinitely more boring than a possible triple threat between these guys. Orton as a face is tired, and I think that considering even the wants of the man, he seems unmotivated. This doesn’t bode well for television, because if the man behind the character doesn’t like the character, then it could show in his performance. Still, I can’t help but be intrigued for some reason. Seriously, I can’t figure it out, but I wanted to see this. Maybe it’s because RAW started with a match, and who doesn’t love that?
BROCK SMASH: 3MB, food for the monsters. Nothing really ground-breaking here, but I’ll pay good money to watch Heath get F-5d onto a barricade any day.
RYBACK GOES BULLY RAY ON YO ASSES: Sure, it’s a revisionists version of the history of Cena, but it worked for me. Ryback didn’t come off as a heel, exactly, and he sure as fuck didn’t come off as a face. This worked for me, and showed that Ryback isn’t all that bad on the mic – something I knew, but had no proof to back it up. I’ve said it before, but no one gets better by people telling them they suck, they get better with practice. I still see this going the only way it can go (Cena winning), but for now I’ll bite.
THAT’S WHAT HE DO!: I don’t think that many people liked the last time the two monsters known as Henry and Sheamus clashed (I don’t remember, so you readers will have to let me know), but I remember enjoying it. I think that Henry is awesome, and Sheamus knows how to properly become the “smaller” person while still being a beast of a fella.
WORLD TITLE PICTURE: They really screwed the pooch here, didn’t they? I mean, it’s only fair that Del Rio gets a rematch, but it’s so uninteresting. Then we got Swagger still involved, which essentially means there was no repercussions for his little snafu. What’s bothersome is how Dolph still seems like an afterthought. This is their chance to make Dolph a star, and to possibly even bring in some people along with him, but they opt to show that they don’t trust him. I will let this slide for now because it seems to be a minor transition phase. As I said, Del Rio does deserve his rematch in kayfabe terms, and if they’re not going to punish Swagger, they might as well use him, but if they continue to let Dolph lose, it’s not going to mean shit.
TAG TEAM DIVISION: There isn’t one.
RHODES SCHOLARS: It was there.
FANDANGOING: In true WWE fashion, they do something that gets mainstream media attention and they let us know that people are aware of who they are, thereby damaging any actual clout they may have gained from it all. It’s a shame. I don’t think Fandangoing will grow, as it’s already petering out, but them trying to MAKE it a thing only serves to prove that the WWE has no idea what to do when they have something that grows organically.
CM PUNK: This is more of a personal thing, but I really wanted more from the guy. I am sure this is something he planned, and it’s a meticulous story that will unfold in a few months, but man I wanted more.
DIVAS: Can we get some new chicks up in this biatch?
THE TRUTH: Our Intercontinental Champion loses in 3 minutes…to R-Truth….do you know what this means? It means next week, we’ll get Wade beating someone else in three minutes in some sort of repair match. It’s cyclical and it’s boring and I don’t like it.
CESARO AND KOFI: If the person who won this match was anyone but Kofi, I’d put this in puRgatory, but it’s not so it’s wRong. Ever since the return of Swagger, they have neutered the Cesaro character down to yodeling. It was only a few weeks ago, he was swinging The Miz into barricades and Neutralizing Khali. It’s a damned shame that they have minimized him to a yodeling loser, and giving Kofi the US Title isn’t going to alter anything. I don’t get it. As for Kofi “bringing it home,” did he not get the message that Cesaro is no longer the evil foreign heel? Anyways, this is just all kinds of messed up and I can only hope that it’s the first chapter of a great story…but it’s doubtful.
TEDDY AND BOOKER: General manager feud. Ugh…
NOTHING
This RAW was all over the place. On the one hand, we had some storylines develop, but on the other, none of them really seemed interesting. I am still enjoying the Shield, but it really feels like WrestleMania was the perfect opportunity to wipe the slate and create some compelling shit. Instead, they just reset and continued on their previous monotonous stories… SHOW RATING: 6.0 |
YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV) by Csonka:
TOP PPVs:
TOP PPV MATCHES:
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