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Wrestling’s 4Rs 7.26.13: WWE Raw, ROH TV, NJPW and Dragon Gate iPPV 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 Pro Wrestling’s KIZUNA Road II iPPV 7.20.13
I really enjoyed the New Japan Pro Wrestling KIZUNA Road I iPPV; it was an enjoyable show that set the stage for this show well. But the company once again struck gold with the KIZUNA Road II iPPV. While the show didn’t have a big “Match of the Year” caliber effort, it has six VERY good matches that all clocked in at ***¾ and above. This show had a lot of hype, looked good on paper and the company once again delivered. The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team was a good match to have early in the show, with both teams working hard and the match getting more time than a lot of recent The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag matches have received. Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii is a case of two guys with tremendous chemistry working perfectly within a given time frame. The crowd loves Ishii as the underdog, and since he delivers consistently, he can afford to lose. The NEVER title was originally supposed to be like an NXT level title, but for some reason the reign on Tanaka has taken on a life of its own and the man is great. Masato Tanaka defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain the title. Tanaka is 40-years old, has a lot of mileage on his body between FWM and ECW, but he is using all of his experience and working even smarter these days and simply delivering. I love the fact that in 2013 Masato Tanaka is still kicking ass. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated La Sombra to regain the IWGP IC Title. Nakamura is fun to watch and the guy has been working very well with La Sombra. La Sombra is a really fun luchadore to watch, because he works his shit in, but has no problems working with Nakamura. Sombra also is a bigger luchadore, a true heavyweight lucha that seems to improve almost every time out. I was a bit disappointed that Sombra lost the title so soon, but as long as the man keeps delivering such good matches, I’ll be fine. Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata once again ended in a double KO finish. The match was good, and these guys can get away with the finish being done a second time; however, the fact that they did a finish at the Dominion PPV after the first double KO turned several people off; mainly because it felt like a way to get out of doing a finish. Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Yuji Nagata in a match that you either loved or hated. They worked an MMA style, using takedowns and guard passing like you would in a grappling bout. They did work in pro wrestling with strikes, suplexes and such, but the early work turned a lot of people off. I really liked it, and considering both guys are working hurt (Nagata with a torn pec and Sakuraba coming back early from the nasty dislocated elbow) I felt the style was smart and allowed them to maximize their strengths. Kazuchika Okada retained the IWGP heavyweight title by defeating IWGP junior heavyweight champion Prince Devitt. The match was really good and on most PPV events would be the best match. It’s unfortunate in a way that NJPW set the bar so high with the Tanahashi main events earlier in the year that some came away disappointed. Generally interference bothers me in main event matches, but with Devitt being a dick heel and scoring victories over Tanahashi with interference, it fit the story. All in all a great match, with Okada looking good in retaining and Devitt looking like he belongs in the main event. New Japan does it again, if your looking for iPPV events that flow from show to show easily and deliver on the wrestling, you will not go wrong with their product. Show Rating: 9.1 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. |
Dragon Gate KOBE Pro Wrestling Festival iPPV 7.21.13
Dragon Gate is now on worldwide iPPV, and with the KOBE show being one of the biggest of the year, I jumped in with both feet and decided to give the “mother ship” a go. I figured I do enjoy a lot of the Dragon Gate USA promotion, why not give the original some love. Super Shisa, Shachihoko Boy & Rich Swann beat Kotoka, Super Shenlong & Chihiro Tominaga in the opener, and while not an “epic six man Dragon Gate match,” it was a great selection for the opener. Rich Swann shined in this match, and continues to get so much better with these trips to Japan. Swann is a guy that should be a centerpiece of a Cruiser (if WWE had one), X (TNA) or TV Title (ROH) division; because he is a guy that could be a centerpiece in something like that. Good look, young, and he certainly has a ton of charisma (RICH SWANN STYLE). He is a great man. The Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito & Jimmy Kanda) retained their Open the Triangle Gate titles by defeating Mondai Ryu, Kzy & Uhaa Nation and Gamma, Dragon Kid & Don Fujii. This was a good match overall, but got a bit hectic with so many bodies in there, and took away a bit for me. But this was quality, and I really like getting to see The Jimmyz, Dragon Kidd and Uhaa Nation and how they keep growing as performers. This was a solid addition to the card, but I came away a bit disappointed as I was expecting more. Masato Yoshino defeated K-Ness to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title. Yoshino is still so much fun to watch, and is lightening off the ropes. Seriously, the man in insanely fast and while you wouldn’t think that was anything that special in wrestling in some ways, it really adds to him and makes him special. I hadn’t seen Yoshino in a while so this was a fun reminder and another good match. Yamato defeated Masaaki Mochizuki in a fun no DQ match. This was very different than most things on the card, lots of hard kicks, submissions and near falls. Mochizuki looked to work a judo throw, but had it countered into a choke, which was the finish. Ricochet & Naruki Doi beat Akira Tozawa & BxB Hulk to win the Open the Twin Gate tag titles in the evening’s co-main event. This was a crazy match, filled with tons of action in what ended up being an amazing match. The only criticism was that it got to that point where things almost didn’t matter from a selling aspect. I know that it is part of the charm of these sort of matches, but it just ended up being a bit too much for me. Still, it was a tremendous match and the finish came off so well as Ricochet hit a sweet jump up super belly-to-belly suplex, and then the double rotation moonsault for the win. The big story was the show was Shingo Takagi pinning CIMA to win the Open the Dream Gate Title. It was a very good main event, and a historical one because it ended the run of CIMA as champion. CIMA held the title since December 25th of 2011, and had defended the title and made it into something special. This was a very good main event, a more deliberate pace than the wild match that preceded it, but the crowd was still into the match and title change. I feel that the match could have been a bit shorter, as they seemed to be going for epic, but long doesn’t always mean that. I am all for getting my money’s worth, but dear God this PPV was a bit over five hours long. I almost tap at New Japan when they do four-hour shows, like the one above, that’s right around my limit. But this one was long and it FELT long at times, which is the bad thing. Show Rating: 8.0 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: Jack Stevenson
Raw 07.22.13:
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
THE RIGHT:
SHIELD GON GET THEIR ASS KICKED: I like Mark Henry, I like the Usos, I like the Shield, so letting them all punch each other in the face for a few weeks sounds good to me. In the Shield WWE have a group who can just cycle in and out of rivalries and, as long as they keep winning matches and retain their distinct look, will remain over with the crowd. This won’t set the world on fire or anything but it will do nicely for now.
Best Friends ForNever: When it comes to discussing CM Punk and Paul Heyman promos I run out of superlatives very, very quickly. While not as fabulous, captivating, creative, impactful, marvel… (you get the idea) as last’s week’s, this was still a very worthy addition to a white-hot rivalry. Punk is so much more of a brilliant as a pissed-off badass than he has any right to be, and Heyman antagonizes him perfectly with his snide self-satisfied demeanor. Why does this rivalry have all the best lines as well? Punk’s monster metaphor was fantastic. Barring a dismal decline in quality this is the run-away candidate for feud of the year.
Daniel Bryan vs. The World: This was a flawed masterpiece of a main event. Perhaps Swagger beating Bryan all over the ring only to lose to a flash submission wasn’t the best way for the latter to ‘prove himself,’ and perhaps the Bryan-Cesaro match was a little bloated and over the top, and perhaps by the time Ryback was powerbombing the Yes Man through a table the whole gauntlet idea had started to outstay it’s welcome. But I was just totally engrossed in this from pretty much start to finish, and I walked away thinking “wow, I don’t think I could have asked for anything more from that.” It was unique, melodramatic and intense, and if you don’t appreciate that in pro wrestling then what are you watching this shit for? All three matches were very good in their own right, but the second of the three deserves a special mention. Daniel and Antonio had a solid but decidedly unspectacular series in Ring of Honor back when they were Bryan and Claudio, so I wasn’t expecting too much from this, but you can tell that these are two wrestlers at the peak of their abilities. They provided some just jaw-dropping moments, from Cesaro’s insane power moves to his barrage of uppercuts to Bryan’s beautiful inside cradle counter to win the match. Yeah, this was just great. Fuck whoever called it a “flawed masterpiece.” Smarky idiot.
puRgatoRy:
Contract Signing:Purgatory was created for segments like this. If D-Bry loses at Summerslam then having Brad Maddox and, by proxy, Vince McMahon bury him in this segment seemed hugely unnecessary, even with John Cena and the WWE Universe as dissenting voices. If he wins, which is looking likely, then I guess this was a good idea? It wasn’t a thrilling segment or anything but was also certainly not as tortuous as some contract signings can be. Let’s give this until Summerslam.
Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio: This started slow but had turned into a decent back and forth battle by the end. It would have been better if a bigger deal had actually been made out of Sheamus’ injured leg because for much of the match it felt like the announce table were hyping an injury that didn’t actually exist, but it was still very passable. I get the feeling that these two are just kind of treading water until WWE next has a whole in their top-tier that needs to be temporarily plugged.
Several Matches That Happened!: I’m lumping Christian-O’Neill, Ziggler-Young, Rhodes-Fandango and Van Dam-Barrett together because individually there’s very little to discuss about them; they were all short, semi competitive bouts featured absolutely no main event talent in which the person you’d expect to win did (apart from Rhodes-Fandango which I guess had more of a question mark going in). After the Ziggler-Young match Dolph fended off an attack from Big E. Langston, and the Rhodes-Fandango battle featured botched interference from Sandow, both of which were incremental advancements in middling mid-card feuds. I think it is more interesting to look at the group as a whole and note that, for all intents and purposes, WWE strung four squash matches together tonight, one after the other. Sure, they weren’t total annihilations that were more suited to the 80s, but they were certainly lop-sided and very much geared to putting over only one wrestler. Now, I doubt this is going to be a permanent thing, I’m sure next week the status quo will return, but I think a subtle contributor to the prevalent WWE apathy is that there just aren’t any big matches any more without bringing in the semi-active guys; everything’s been seen for free on TV already. Cutting out the constant competitive matches would certainly harm the ratings but through my selfish eyes I think it would be worth so I could get genuinely excited for WWE main events on a regular basis. It’s not entertaining enough in it’s own right to make it into the right, but if it happened every week then I think we could see a benefit.
THE WRONG:
MizTV w/ Divas Poor Jerry Lawler! All he wanted to do was be all creepy towards women, as he has done so proficiently for the past two decades, and instead he gets a slap in the face! It’s those darned feminazis taking over! Anyway aside from the slap this was dull and didn’t exactly make Total Divas look like the thrillride I’m sure it is. Pass.
NOTHING
I doubt this will be a popular opinion, but I preferred this week’s episode to last week’s. I thought it was really good to see WWE breaking from their tired, 11 year old Raw format and try something different with the squash matches on the undercard and then an entire hour devoted to Daniel Bryan running the gauntlet. While it was far from perfect, it was definitely a hugely entertaining three hours of wrestling. I haven’t looked at the ratings for the show because I think I’d just be disappointed at how low they are, but in an ideal world this would attract an insane 9.4 and prove to WWE that not every episode of Raw has to have all the big stars in action and stay within its comfort zone, that it is good to mix things up for a change. I can’t pretend that the whole show is unmissable but the Bryan-Cesaro match very much is, and as a whole this is one of the more distinct, enjoyable episodes of Raw in quite some time. Show Rating: 8.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
By: Shawn S. Lealos
ROH Television 07.20.13:
QUICK RESULTS:
Roddy Strong vs. Adam Cole – This match was supposed to be Adam Cole vs. Will Ferrera, but luckily Roderick Strong came out and interrupted that “wonderful” matchup. I have one complaint about this segment, but you can read that in the wRong section. It was not enough to hurt this match, which was a fantastic match between the two wrestlers. This match was great and I don’t even mind the end. Basically, after a good amount of action, Steve Corino tossed a chain into the ring for Adam Cole to use. Cole never sees it and Roddy picks it up before looking at Corino. That is when Adam Cole kicks Roddy, sees the chain and flips out. He picks it up and levels Roddy with it, losing the match by disqualification. I like the end because it furthers the storyline and will set up the recently announced their Death Before Dishonor “Ringmaster’s Challenge” match, which should be fantastic. Good storytelling here, and Roddy is always strong in the ring.
Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy – It has all led up to this, as Matt Hardy has been built to challenge for the world title since he arrived in Ring of Honor. The story is that Jay has a severe shoulder injury he suffered while fighting his brother at Best in the World and Steve Corino has announced that if Matt wins, they will destroy Ring of Honor. The storytelling here was solid, as Jay played the injured warrior, hurt and hindered but always fighting back and never giving up, Hardy was the evil, arrogant villain, who did anything he needed to in order to hurt Briscoe and win. The end was an inside cradle by Jay Briscoe, beating back the challenge by Matt Hardy and giving Ring of Honor a much needed win. It was also a nice finish, because Jay was too hurt to win with an impact move and needed to use his brains to win. Very nice booking.
SCUM beatdown – That match led to one of the best beatdowns I have seen since the Four Horsemen took people out with injuries. Rhino came in and gored Jay Briscoe straight to hell and then they started their beat down. BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal all ran out, but they were stopped and zip tied to the ring ropes. That brought out Mark Briscoe to help his brother but they beat him down and then smashed a chair into his head over and over again as he lay on the mat. Then they pulled the perfect heal move and wrapped a chair around Jay’s injured arm and Hardy came off the middle rope onto it. It was the PERFECT beat down and a perfect way to write Jay Briscoe off of television. These are the beat downs I loved from the old days and really miss. It’s just too bad it won’t last.
NOTHING
Roddy Strong – When Roddy came out and interrupted Adam Cole’s match, he wanted to talk to Cole about taking the win by count out at their last match. Here is my BIG problem with this setup. Roddy wanted to tell Adam that he was disappointed in Cole not doing the honorable thing. For the last two plus years, Roddy has had Truth Martini by his side and has acted like the biggest douche bag in Ring of Honor. So, he dumps Truth and suddenly he is Mr. Respect and Honor? There is nothing in Roddy’s past that makes his opinion about someone’s honor mean shit. This is too quick of a turnaround from slime ball to honorable wrestler. The fact it was never explained hurts his character moving forward, because he just comes across as a hypocrite.
SCUM on the Street – I just thought this was poorly shot, poorly thought out and really didn’t work. I know that old school wrestling used to do stuff like this, but the fact they would cut to it through the show really took me out of the show. Plus, I really hate Steve Corino when he uses a line like “you all remember when JFK was popped in the head, you all remember when you were when that 9/11 thing happened and tonight, you will remember where you were when Matt Hardy becomes the next and final ROH World Champion.” Yeah, he is a bad guy, but this is just classless of ROH to write that shit. I don’t complain too much about stuff, but come on. I like SCUM, but this was just stupid from start to finish.
I hated the entire SCUM on the streets cutaways and the Roderick Strong expecting honor segment seemed false based on his developed character. However, both matches were fantastic, both in the wrestling and the booking. This was a great ROH episode leading into this week’s big SCUM vs. ROH battle. SHOW RATING: 8.0 |
By: Greg Demarco
Raw 07.22.13:
QUICK RESULTS:
non-title match (**3/4)
GM Brad Maddox: In all honesty, it’s working. The McMahon Family Saga is stupid, but that’s not Maddox’s fault.
Titus O’Neil vs. Christian: For a minute there it seemed like Titus might win! And that would have been fantastic.
Mark Henry Promo, and The Shield and The Usos show up: It’s a great midcard feud that I can sink my teeth into, and the simple build is working.
Cody Rhodes vs. Fandango: Nice to see Fandango settle into his role of Jobber To The (Newly Turned Face) Stars—way to get the most out of that WrestleMania win over Chris Jericho! With that out of the way, this was the way to go. You have to establish Cody as a babyface, and that was done here.
CM Punk & Paul Heyman set up SummerSlam’s The Best vs. The Beast: The best part of the Punk-Heyman split is the fact that their feud is topping their partnership. That’s rare in wrestling—just ask Marty Jannetty!
The Daniel Bryan Gauntlet: A perfectly told story. Jack Swagger was a credible first opponent, and the size advantage worked. But he couldn’t overcome The LeBell Lock, and the appetizer was over. Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro was amazing, and it proves that Cesaro is vastly underrated in the WWE, and Daniel Bryan is likely the true “Best In The World.” Ryback was a letdown, right? Nope. He was the best final opponent for D-Bry, and the finish works for me. Say Bryan goes over Cena at SummerSlam…the WWE isn’t likely to do a rematch unless Cena is going to regain. Bryan vs. Orton can be saved for a bit and we can run with Bryan-Ryback first—allowing Daniel Bryan to get a big tap out win over the monster crybaby.
Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio: And now comes the boring & predictable build to “SummerSlam, Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus: Because They Have Nothing Else To Do!” Nothing against either man, but I have no desire to see them feud.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Darren Young: I feel like Young, a comedy act, got in too much offense. Ziggler needs to be built, not “pull out” a win.
Rob Van Dam vs. Wade Barrett: If this was supposed to leave me wanting more, then it kinda worked. But it was really just a squash win for RVD, and a waste of Barrett. Good for what it was, but I don’t like “what it was.”
No Big Show and no Randy Orton: Could the WWE be holding Orton out for a big surprise cash-in? Maybe, and that’d be okay with me. Big Show is reportedly not ready to return—then why advertise it? I’m not ready to make a decision on these—let’s wait & see.
The McMahon Family Saga: Notice how I didn’t put Vickie’s name in there? It’s because she obviously doesn’t matter here—she’s a pawn in their little game, and it’s a little game that I can’t see going anywhere. At least, not anywhere good.
MizTV: This segment was better than anyone could have hoped. It should have landed in “The Ridiculous.” The nip slip actually made it worse, because it proves that IWC fans rarely see actual bare breasts.
Teddy Long & Booker T feuding over the General Manager of Smackdown position that neither of them have: The topic name says it all.
The McMahon Family Saga: The WWE stumbles upon a great act in Brad Maddox. What do they do? Fuck it up by inserting wrestling’s royalty.
The story of this show was Daniel Bryan. And that story was awesome. There were parts of the show that dragged, seemed formulaic or simply didn’t click. Brad Maddox as General Manager is off to a great start, but the McMahon Family should really leave him alone for a bit. Mark Henry taking a Sierra Hotel India Tango in his pants when The Shield showed up made me happy. But the Daniel Bryan story was told to perfection, and I think the WWE might really be all-in on the guy. Show Rating: 7.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
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