wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4Rs 8.19.13: WWE Smackdown, TNA Impact & NJPW on 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 needs 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.
Impact 8.15.13:
By: Maxwell Baumbach
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
THE RIGHT:
The Ladder Match: TNA kicked the show off right with a pay-per-view quality match. All four guys were on their A-game, and the end result was a thrilling match that never slowed down. Although the finish was a bit screwy, I can forgive it because of the great action that took place prior to it. Additionally, it furthered the angle of Roode, Daniels, and Kazarian trying to take over the BFG Series.
Magnus as a Mouthpiece: After Dixie Carter’s awkward announcement that Kurt Angle has been in rehab, The Main-Event Mafia and Ace’s and Eights cut promos on each other. However, with Angle gone, Magnus was given the chance to step up. Magnus got the crowd behind him and has a “Fonz Factor” to him. While his ring presence has improved and his matches have gotten better, allowing him to speak will give him another way for the fans to build a connection to him. I hope they let him continue on in this role for the MEM, as Sting tends to come across as tacky.
The Main-Event (excluding Tito): I have often criticized the decision to put the title on Chris Sabin because I feel that he lacks the presence and personality of a main-eventer. This week, he seemed the most “champion-like” I have ever seen him. He carried himself well and looked like he believed that he belonged. When factoring in the environment and a more interesting build-up, I thought that this match was head-and-shoulders above their previous encounter.
puRgatoRy:
Knockouts Three-Way: While ODB was on her game and had the crowd behind her, the rest of the action fell flat. The bra spot was creative, but other than that, there was nothing that stood out or made this match special. I wasn’t big on ODB getting the win since TNA has been building up the James/Sky program, and I feel that this further muddles the Knockouts Title picture.
THE WRONG:
Four-Way Tables Match: The problem with this match was that it was basically ten minutes of, “IS HE GONNA PUT HIM THROUGH A TABLE?! Nope.” Had it followed an elimination format, it could’ve been paced better and had more action. On top of that, the finish was something that we already saw a few matches earlier.
Remember the tag belts? What about the TV title?: First off, I think it’s safe to assume that the TV title is dead now. Secondly, I know that they didn’t have a ton of time on this show, but couldn’t Gunner and Storm have at least cut a promo? By having them not appear on the show, TNA is further confirming that the tag belts aren’t important.
THE RIDICULOUS:
TITO ORTIZ HAS DONE THE UNTHINKABLE (BUT ONLY IF YOU LACK ALL COGNATIVE ABILITIES): If you didn’t see this swerve coming, you should probably get your head looked at. Instead of capping of a great main-event, this took away from it. Also, a lot of people had criticized me a while back when I noted that Chris Sabin’s title win was secondary to the Ace’s and Eights/Main-Event Mafia storyline. Would anyone like to debate that point now?
This week’s episode started off hot. The main-event was good, but the ending was a letdown. TNA is making a huge mistake by focusing so much of their programming on guys who will rarely be active for them. This is tough to score, because the opener was top notch, but the bad parts were so bad. Ultimately, watch the opener and the main-event if you can deal with the finish. Show Rating: 5.5 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
Smackdown 8.16.13
By: Larry Csonka
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
THE RIGHT:
Follow the Buzzards: The Wyatt clan opened the show, and while the usual show opening promos I still feel are too much of a crutch these days, thankfully Wyatt was involved. He once again delivered another strong promo performance, and thus far his reinvention has gone well. But will he be able to back it up in the ring? That’s what we’ll find out. I tend to think he’ll be fine overall, because I thought as Husky Harris he had a ton of potential. Kane got involved, cleaned some house, but ultimately got beat down as we head to Summerslam. While the “Ring of Fire” stipulation makes no sense to start a feud with (other than a potential tool to write out Kane for his movie) this feud has been fine. Good promos by Bray, against an established star leading to a match at a major PPV. It’s pretty much all I can ask for.
puRgatoRy:
Christian defeated Sandow: Christian defeated Sandow in the opening match of the night. Christian delivers well as always, and Sandow, even in a shorter match, continues to prove that he can hang just fine with the upper-tier talent. This was another good win for Christian s he heads into a world title match at Summerslam. Unfortunately not all of the booking was as good. First of all, Sandow lost twice this week. Not only is he a MITB guy, but he also has a match at Summerslam. But it is a match that no one gives a fuck about because of how he and Cody have been booked. The crowd reactions to these guys are depressing. And why are they that way? And that is because Team Rhodes Scholars were booked as a JTTS team, nothing more and nothing less. They are good, we know they are good, but they get beat like a drum. And now Sandow is in the regular “win MITB and lose a ton more because we think the MTB case will wipe the slate clean.” And I once again say that this is bullshit. Here is an idea, have Sandow face and beat Miz, and have Christian face and beat Swagger. We get rid of the shit match that had no place on the show, and we give both guys momentum heading into the second biggest PPV of the year. That’s not fantasy booking, this is putting both guys over and giving them momentum; leading to people caring about them, that is pretty important shit in wrestling.
RVD, Mark Henry and Big Show defeated The Shield: RVD, Mark Henry and Big Show defeated The Shield when RVD hit a frog splash on Ambrose to score the pin. It was a seven-minute match and was energetic and had a fun pace. The win by RVD gives him big momentum heading into his Summerslam Pre-show match with The Shield. With that being said, I still feel that the Shield has been downgraded and has lost their luster. They were at one time, not all that long ago, the hottest act in the company and the big talk was, “what super team of faces will be the ones to beat them at Summerslam?” Now, now the heat is gone, and they are three guys with belts, a cool entrance and none of them is “officially” on the Summerslam PPV. I am writing this on Friday night; so they may be added to the show if rumors are true, but the fact that there was not an established angle for these guys heading in show how far they have fallen. It is a shame, because when you have a hot angle, you should ride it as far as you can and get as much out of it as possible. Now, they are nothing special, they are just guys.
Non-Title Match: Curtis Axel © defeated Zack Ryder: IC Champion Curtis Axel defeated Zack Ryder in a short, but perfectly acceptable match. Axel won, as he should have, but I just didn’t feel it did a whole lot for him. he debuted as Heyman’s new guy, was basically insulted on TV by Vince, got “wins” over Cena and Triple H via countouts and no none cared. As Champion, he has not done anything memorable or remarkable, he is just a guy with a belt that no one cares about because the champion is never booked so that people will care. Here he faced a guy that is almost never on TV these days because he dared to get over on his own, got beat down and they won in a very unspectacular manner. Sometimes a guy needs to beat another guy and not give him a lot because they are on different tiers. Axel should have simply beaten Ryder easily with little resistance and moved on, because if he did that from time to time, people may actually care about him. Go big or go home, don’t go halfway.
NO DQ Match: Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett: All right, so the good news here is that this was a good match between Barrett and Bryan and it was also good because Bryan won. A good match and victory a few days prior to main evening Summerslam is good tuff. That was all good stuff. But I did have issues, not enough to completely ruin it, but enough to not make it a right in my book. First of all, this mini-feud with Barrett has been bland and repetitive. Three matches in seven days from these guys, if they were awesome would have been good, but they were just solid to good. But the REAL issue I do have here is the fact that once again, the focus does not come across as on Bryan. Some people will try and talk themselves into the fact that by adding in the Vince vs. Triple H angle that the main event is more important. But it doesn’t because it takes away from the main event of the second biggest show, which just happens to be a match for the WWE title, the champion that has been THE GUY (BROTHER) forever, and the hottest commodity on the company right now. Like I said on Monday, Vince and Triple H feel shoehorned in, it feels forced and they feel as if they are taking away from the actual main event. And that was the case here. Vince and his suit come out, they steal the attention, Triple H comes out and steals the attention, and then the end is Triple H doing the “YES” chants with Bryan to Vince. Remember when a big PPV, a world champion defending his title against well-developed/booked challenger were good enough to sell a show?
THE WRONG:
AJ Lee and Layla defeated Kaitlyn and Natalya: This was fine in that it got the ladies on the show prior to Summerslam. But between the booking on Monday and here, it generally feels like the matches that will involve these ladies is a fight so see who loses the least. Not a whole lot to break down here, so moving on.
The Miz defeated Jack Swagger:There was no need for this match, there was no rhyme, no reason and no substance here. But hey, you have to keep the HOST OF SUMMERSLAM looking strong. What an epic three-minute battle of former world champions.
THE RIDICULOUS:
NONE
The WWE product is so confusing to me right now. Yes Daniel Bryan is getting a great push, and sure Bray Wyatt is cutting good promos, but the product has major issues. Constant repetition, trading wins all the time, people that need wins losing (like Sandow) before the PPV and matches that do not need to happen happening instead of protecting the guys that need it. What sucks is that guys that felt like stars have lost their luster, and when the booking becomes so lazy and counter productive, it feels like you have a roster of mid-carders. Add in he focus being placed onto HHH vs. Vince, and that they have done so to the point that it feels as if the main event has been hijacked, this did not feel like an effective final show before a huge PPV event. Show Rating: 5.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Climax Semi-Final iPPV (8.10.13)
SEMIFINALS iPPV: The semi final iPPV was a tale of two shows, as the first half felt very slow and sluggish. The opening tag did nothing for me, nor did the Shelton Benjamin match. Benjamin has his moments, but he either has to be really motivated or in there with someone spectacular for you to get anything worth while. Lance Archer continues to be completely fine, even pretty good at times, and generally does nothing to piss me off. Karl Anderson’s match was disappointing; mainly due to how great he has been as of late, but not horrible. Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Prince Devitt was good, but I was hoping for more. The win for Smith is huge though, which is a positive. At this point it was just a show, but thankfully we still had four matches to go. These four matches completely took this from a bad event to something worth paying for. Makabe vs. Ishii and Suzuki vs. Ibushi both delivered very well, and could have been placed as a main event on any show this year and anyone with a brain wouldn’t have complained. Naito vs. Nakamura was just a level below, but another strong addition to a card that started off weak. Tanahashi vs. Okada was once again an awesome match, and I had no issue with the draw. It added to their history of great matches, it caused a cluster in the rankings that had to be sorted out, and without a winner, you’re keeping it a bit fresh for later on because fans will want to see one man or the other finally dominate. Tanahashi vs. Okada is hading into some Flair vs. Steamboat territory here for me as a fan; I can watch the matches repeatedly and still comeback for more. This was a show with a rough beginning that thankfully turned around, but never had a big time feel to it outside of the main event. FINALS iPPV: The finals iPPV was an amazing show from New Japan, with FOUR matches rating **** or over, and the usual suspects (Tanahashi, Okada and Anderson) rocking as always. Tanahashi worked two times, nearly 40-total minutes, and delivered two top notch matches, solidifying for me that he is currently the best wrestler in the world at this time. At the level he has delivered at this year, it is a shame that more people will not seek out NJPW and see what he is offering. Naito vs. Tanahashi was one of the best finals I have seen (I have not watched them all) and while Tanahashi is reportedly very injured right now, the fact that he delivered so well and as able to have such a tremendous finals match speaks to his greatness. The Naito win is interesting, as he and Okada do not have the buzz that many expect for the big show in January, but they also have time to build. Naito stating that he wants the NEVER Openweight Title first may be a good way to go, as he and Tanaka could work very well. I am not sure how many of the shows I will get to, but the finals were a must see show for me. Reports are that this was the best G1, in terms of match quality, ever. Having not seen the whole run of shows yet, I can’t say that, but from what I saw these were pretty awesome shows in a short time. If you have the chance to see the show, this is a MUST SEE event. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom had some great matches, and a huge atmosphere, WrestleMania like for a US comparison. This show was more like a Summerslam/Rumble level event, but in all honesty, was a better overall show, and right up there with the great PPVs. Such good wrestling, good pacing and I felt as if I was watching something special as the show went on. Go out of your way to see the show, mortgage your house and or sell your brother’s child; the show felt big time, paid off the tournament well and delivered in regards to wrestling big time. Worth every bit of the money I spent. Semifinals iPPV Rating: 7.8 Finals iPPV Rating: 10.0 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. |
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
- Becky Lynch On Her Reaction Backstage After Nia Jax Punch, Jax Apologizing
- Note On Why First Swerve Strickland Promo As World Champ Was Saved For Collision
- Tony Khan Reportedly Wearing Neck Brace Backstage After AEW Dynamite Attack
- WWE Announces Draft Rules & Talent Pools, Champions on Each Brand Are Now Protected
