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Wrestling’s 4Rs 4.26.13: 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 04.20.13:
QUICK RESULTS:
SCUM Turns on Kevin Steen – The episode opened with Kevin Steen coming to the ring to address the entire SCUM situation. However, just like he has over the last two months, Steve Corino came out and interrupted him. Corino said he understands that losing the title hurts Steen’s ego, but maybe it is time for someone else to run with the belt. Steen started to tell Corino that he doesn’t agree that Ring of Honor needs to die anymore because it was Jim Cornette he had a problem with, and now it is fine. Steen said he would follow Corino to hell but he would not work with “that mother fucker” and pointed at Matt Hardy. That caused Corino to lose it and he said it was time they went their separate ways. He said he wouldn’t let Steen walk away so Steen attacked Hardy and then SCUM beat him down and left him lying to end the segment. It is nice to see how the story is progressing and Steen can now lead Ring of Honor back. This has been impressive booking by Ring of Honor.
SCUM faces down Nigel McGuinness – Lately, Steve Corino has started to get annoying on the microphone which sucks because that is where he is best these days. However, from the Steen attack earlier to this confrontation, Corino was gold. He pushed the right buttons without being annoying and set up the match at Border Wars between Michael Elgin & Jay Lethal against two members of SCUM. If SCUM wins, Corino gets the color commentator job and Matt Hardy gets a world title match. I’ll also be honest here – as much as Hardy is not what he used to be, I like him being the “JESUS” of this group that Corino is the “GOD” of. It makes them even more hated. This storyline is really starting to take form, which is shocking for Ring of Honor. Getting rid of Jim Cornette was the best thing they could have done.
ACH vs. Matt Taven – ACH turned in some amazing moves here and Matt Taven is getting better as he goes. The problem here is that the match was nothing super special. I did enjoy Mark Briscoe on commentary, especially when he talks about the young whippersnappers and about diseases that Truth Martini probably spreads. The end came when Truth and his Hottie distracted the ref and Taven got in a cheap shot for the win. It just wasn’t a title worthy match and was no showcase for what ACH can do.
Roddy Strong vs. Mike Bennett – This was a decent match for what it was, but honestly the booking was a mess and totally ruined the match. Basically, Strong is still playing a semi-face, although he is more of a loner who only cares about himself and just gives fans a lot more face time. However, the entire focus of the match was on Mike Mondo on commentary, which overshadowed the entire match. At the end when Mondo ran in and beat down Roddy and Bennett, it was just ridiculous. I don’t mind Mondo wrestling, because he is innovative, but damn if he isn’t so annoying on the mic.
Jorge Santi vs. Tadarius Thomas – I understand wanting to have a small, meaningless match that SCUM can interrupt. The problem is that Thomas is too good for this shit and Santi was a bad matchup for Thomas. The match sucked and SCUM interrupting it was actually a good thing. Tadarius deserves better than this.
This was a great show for building the SCUM vs. ROH feud and moving Kevin Steen into the next phase, but for wrestling it pretty much sucked and that is not Ring of Honor. Tough week, because two good matches with this angle building could have been a fantastic show. SHOW RATING: 5.0 |
By: Tony Acero
Monday Night Raw 04.22.13:
QUICK RESULTS
– R Truth Defeated Antonio Cesaro [1/2*]
– Damien Sandow Defeated Brodus Clay [1/2*]
– Dolph Ziggler Defeated Chris Jericho [***]
– Tensai Defeated Cody Rhodes [*]
– Big E Langston Defeated Zack Ryder [NR]
– The Shield Defeated The Undertaker, Kane, and Daniel Bryan [****]
– Fandango Defeated William Regal [NR]
– AJ Lee Defeated Layla, Tamina, Naomi, and Aksana [*****]
HEYMAN OPENS: It’s been almost so natural to get a Heyman promo that we forget how impossible this once was. I recall a time when people were clamoring for Heyman to come back to the WWE. Anyways, he showed why with his effective promo here. I thought that it might have gone on a bit too long with the video inter-spersments, but Triple H of all people came out to shorten the entire thing. It was short, made sense, and allowed the match that had no one impressed at Mania seem more important. Also, the way Heyman sells a cage match is just damned good.
THE SHIELD IN A CHOPPER: Just pure bad assery right here. I LOVED it!
SCHOLARS VS BALLERS: Although I’d much rather see Cody and Damien tearing up the tag team division, we have to realize there isn’t really one and I’d rather have them doing this than losing to some main-eventers as they were once doing. It’s the fun part of wrestling, and I can’t knock that too much…even if a tights roll up is severely unbelievable on a person like Brodus Clay. Tensai and Cody had a bit more time together, and it was a solid affair. The win was more believable, but everything I said previously is essentially echoed here in that I don’t mind the feud, and it’s nice to see eight folks do their thing.
ZIGGLER VS JERICHO: Would this go anywhere else? I thought they started off a bit slow, but considering we got over 15 minutes of wrestling, I was very happy and acceptant with the build. Big E and AJ made their presence known and I don’t think it weakens Ziggler as a Champion in the least. I love the story they told with Jericho being resilient to the utmost, and Jericho is still a name to make this win mean something for Ziggler. Another thing they did well was integrating the feud with Fandango, who – at least with this crowd – still has some support. Jericho enhanced both Ziggler and Fandango’s star power here and I applaud and appreciate it immensely.
THE UNDERTAKER ON RAW: First of all, the backstage promo with Kane and Bryan was hilarious. The Shield attack, after the promo, wasn’t really needed but that’s minor, and it lead to what they would attempt to do during the beginning of the match. The Undertaker coming back is just great to see. He’s one of the few who I know should probably hang him up, but I can’t help but enjoy watching when he is in the ring. I liked the attack first on Taker just before Team Hell No came out, and of course…giving The Shield the win is just…man, I love the trust, you know?
AJ: AJ took that Superkick like a champ! And my beloved looked great while sleeping. 😀
CESARO-EEE-WHOOO: This is just…ugh. I won’t belittle it too much, however, because Truth is looking good in the ring. My issues start with it not being believable considering Truth’s booking since…well, ever. I enjoyed the match, though even though it was short, and really hope this Cesaro thing is only temporary. The dude can go, and I don’t think any of us fans are denying that. Another negative here is Cole calling the Ole chants “football chants.” We know what they are Cole; I’d much rather have him not mention it than try to call it something else. I’m fully aware of how famous the chant is in soccer, but this is wrestling and we all know why the crowd was chanting it. Generico deserves those chants, and even though you can’t mention him, you have to appreciate it…
MICK FOLEY: Although I love Foley, and I love what he has done, this is one of those times that seemed like a forceful entry, using him to enhance a feud. There are times when adding Foley to any feud, it’s a nice piece of intensity, but in this case it’s just not needed. Partly because Foley comes out so often (notice, it’s usually in a Cena feud…which is a bit of a tell in trust of the build) that it’s not as effective as they assume it to be.
BIG E KILLS A ZACK: Wasn’t good, wasn’t bad. Par for the course. It seems they may be going somewhere with him though, such as allowing him to come out to his own music and just destroy Ryder.
FANDANGO: He beat the evil Brit! Eh, another short match that amounts to little. But anytime you see Regal on TV (and he DANCES) is awesome, and the crowd was very into it. Ten points to King calling William Regal, Steve…lol. Also, I know Summer is a wrestler, but her lack of skills in the dance department is definitely noticeable. (HORRIBLE CAMERA PLACEMENT!!)
NOTHING
NOTHING
A pretty solid show. We got two matches over 15 minutes, some nice continuity, and AJ in the main event match. The complaints that I had were minor, and the wrestling was solid. For the first time in a while, it didn’t feel like a three-hour show. SHOW RATING: 8.5 |
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