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Wrestling’s 4Rs 8.26.13: WWE Smackdown & TNA Impact – Plus the Updated 2013 PPV Match Rankings
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: Larry Csonka
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
THE RIGHT:
The Extraordinaire Gentleman’s Organization Kick Off The Show: Roode, Daniels and Kazarian kicked off the show. The new faction, known as the Extraordinaire Gentleman’s Organization (E.G.O.) started things off to discuss their take over of the Bound for Glory Series and the points that they earned last week. With so much focus on Bully Ray and the title and the Main Event Mafia vs. Aces and 8s war, it was nice to see the BFG Series (and new faction) get the spotlight to kick off the show. As they were making a play to add Austin Aries to the group, Storm and Gunner came out. Storm and Roode rehashed their hated through Storm saying that Roode would turn on Kaz and Daniels, which led to a brawl and set up a non-title tag match. The other good thing was that I got the tag champions on TV. The tag straps have been largely forgotten about since Gunner and Storm won them, hopefully this is a way to get them back in the mix on TV as we build to Bound for Glory.
And That Led Directly…: Into a match, making the opening promo more tolerable. I also liked that they went right into the match with the guys in their street clothes. Sure wrestling is predetermined and scripted out to an insane degree, but we do not want it always to FEEL that way. We want some spontaneous stuff to happen, and this had that fun feeling. The match was good, the Extraordinaire Gentleman’s Organization (E.G.O.) are assholes and Bobby Roode continues to torture James Storm by still cheating to beat him in matches long after the fall of beer Money. I could see this being a starting point for Storm and Gunner defending the titles against Bad Influence at BFG. This was a good start to the show.
Manik vs. Sonjay Dutt: Manik vs. Sonjay Dutt was a solid match that served a few purposes. First of all it got the X-Division champion on TV, so that we don’t forget about the damn title. Secondly, it got the champion a win in a fun and competitive match. Dutt is always a welcomed addition to a show as he works hard and has no issues putting people over and making them look good. Finally, this was here so that the announcers could explain that the stupid triple threat X-Division rule was gone and dead. Mission accomplished on all fronts as far as I am concerned.
Austin Aries is Awesome: Not that I had to tell anyone this, but as much as I like the whole Extraordinaire Gentleman’s Organization, I also like Aries breaking away from Roode and still being himself. Aries is a guy that can bounce between face and heel and not change a damn thing; and that is why it works. It is organic, the crowd is dictating what happens and they are rolling with it. I especially liked his run in during the street fight and follow up promo. Aries has a new direction, and it is a fun one. Plus anytime he gets more in ring and or promo time is always a plus.
Loser of the Fall Leaves TNA – Welcome Back AJ Styles: The main event of the show was a big tag match between Aces and 8s and the Main Event Mafia, and the loser of the fall was to be done with TNA. With Kurt Angle out of action, which they noted last week, the match was set to be five on four, with the faces at the disadvantage. Kennedy rubbed it in and said one of them could lay down and leave to save themselves from the beating. The Mafia of course refused and were ready to fight, and then AJ Styles appeared. AJ came out, but then the music stopped, the old “get ready to fly” jam him and AJ was back to being the old AJ, hit the ring and the match was on. Now, usually I would be upset about the company dropping a gimmick with no hype or build to the moment, but this time I’m not. First of all, the “new AJ” wasn’t working, it got off to a bad start and never had the legs they wanted it to have. Also, with Angle beign out, they needed to deliver something that the fans could get behind. When AJ flipped the hoodie back and got all fired up, the crowd LOVED it and was into AJ being back to his old ways. It simply worked, we dropped what wasn’t working and got a great reaction, so I am fine with it. While I do hate dropping angles, you have to drop stuff when it doesn’t work. The match itself was good, not great, mainly due to the at times sloppy brawl stuff they did. But the crowd loved it, AJ got the win and sent Devon packing for a big baby face win. As for the guy that lost, from a storyline aspect TNA not only winning against the Aces and 8s, but also taking Bully’s “brother Devon ” out at the same time is essentially a double victory. But there are two negatives, not many people may actually believe it due to last year’s contract stuff and his return, and also because it means that Wes Brisco still has a job. The Ghost of Buddy Rogers knows what I’m saying there.
Brooke Tessmacher is Back: Yeah…
That’s an upgrade.
puRgatoRy:
Gail Kim vs. ODB: Following the build over the last few weeks, I expected a good bit from the match, but to me it just came across as flat, and considering ODB was in the match, that’s saying something. No? Nothing? Ok, moving on. It technically wasn’t bad, but it felt as if it lasted forever, which is never a good feeling. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.
THE WRONG:
BFG Street Fight: While I liked the Austin Aries angle in this match, the match as a whole was not good. God bless Christopher Daniels, he is awesome, but not even he is entertaining enough to make a 12-minute match with Joe Park, Jay Bradley and Hernandez entertaining. Sorry, the Park gimmick is long past its expiration date, TNA hired the wrong guy in Bradley (Cage would have been so much better) and Hernandez lacks motivation as of late. The booking failed the match, because Joe Park, Jay Bradley and Hernandez should not have been placed into the same match. Remember, the booking should help the match, not take away from it.
Chris Sabin’s Kind of a Bitch: I did not like the little Chris Sabin promo which was recorded last week after he lost the title. The man got screwed out of the title, and instead of being full of piss, vinegar and fire; he came off as “woe as me, I lost.” Don’t make the guy a bitch, you used him as a transitional champion and never really invested in his story. He should be vowing revenge on Tito Ortiz, Aces and 8, Bully Ray, God, Jesus and Dixie Carter because he lost the company’s top prize via interference. I didn’t like the vibe of this at all.
THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING
I felt that tonight’s show was a good, but not great one for TNA. I had some issues with the pacing of the second hour, and the street fight was a big down point, but the show felt as if it had a purpose and that the things they were doing mattered. While far from great, most weeks TNA feels like an easy show to watch. Hopefully they can keep things rolling as they head to No Surrender and then Bound For Glory. Show Rating: 7.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
Smackdown 8.23.13
By: Jack Stevenson
QUICK MATCH RESULTS:
THE RIGHT:
Randy Orton is Very Pretty: For whatever reason, with the biggest match of his life looming, Daniel Bryan’s promo ability seemed to falter somewhat. I mean, he was fine, he was no Jeff Farmer or anything, but he never seemed to have anything all that important to say beyond “AIN’T NO STOPPIN’ ME NOOOOOOOW,” and his delivery seemed to be stuck on either “normal” or “LOUD AND ANGRY!” It was good, then, to see him back on the right track with a highly entertaining verbal spar with Randy Orton; his sarcastic, repeated testaments to Orton’s beauty were really funny, especially when he appeared to have changed the subject and then had to stop to once again remark about how pretty Randy was. The serious side of his promo was also good, and it made Daniel Bryan: main eventer seem like the most natural thing in the world. Orton was on solid form as well, and I like the way he’s switched from fan-favorite to dastardly heel without really changing his character. This was a strong opening segment that certainly strengthened my belief that Orton and Bryan can carry the main event scene during Cena’s absence.
Heyman Talks and Predictably It’s Great: Paul Heyman is the man. Arguably outside of his time as leader of the Dangerous Alliance, he is doing the best work of his career right now; not a show goes by that he doesn’t absolutely light up by being the most tremendously delusional little coward. Even tonight, when he had little to do beyond reflecting on the events of Monday night and building to CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel on Raw, he was still terrific, and his insistence on responding to Axel’s rhetorical questions really made me smile. Yay Heyman!
Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio: It’s Christian, it’s Alberto Del Rio, you know the good times are going to roll. This was for me the best of their Smackdown series at least, tight and snappy with no unnecessarily long stretches of near falls. It’s nice to see Del Rio getting some consistent, clean victories as well.
Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett: While Christian-Del Rio provided strong competition, I felt this was the match of the night. The Bryan-Barrett rivalry doesn’t feel as tired as you might expect considering the amount of times they’ve wrestled in the last few weeks, partially because it’s very much been a B-story compared to Cena-Bryan, and partly because each of their matches has brought something different to the table. The cage didn’t feature hugely into this but the intensity was a step higher than their previous outings. Bryan’s new knee-strike finisher will prove a useful addition down the line. While it’s been fun up to now, I don’t think this mini-feud needs to continue; hopefully it has been able to finish in impressive finish.
puRgatoRy:
Cody Rhodes vs. Curtis Axel: I know ‘the state of WWE’s tag division’ is one of the more tired and futile wrestling discussion topics on the internet, but do indulge me for a moment. I wish the promotion didn’t have such a bizarre obsession in splitting teams up for no apparent reason. It very rarely does them any good, and the Rhodes Scholars have not been an exception. Together, they were one of the more consistently reliable and entertaining acts in WWE- apart, they’ve had a lifeless rivalry, and now Cody Rhodes is jobbing to the most unremarkable man in the world, Curtis Axel, the man who in ten years time will be remembered as “that middle-aged lawyer with the ponytail who was in ECW and feuded with CM Punk.” Sandow, meanwhile, looks the least dangerous Money in the Bank holder in history, including CM Punk’s 2008 reign where for a while it looked like he’d cash it in on the ECW Championship and still lose somehow. Seriously, WWE should just quietly retcon the last couple of months and shove Rhodes Scholars back together. Then, do the same with all the other needlessly divorced tag teams of the past decade, and we could have a really good division… oh, yeah, the match was pretty good (Axel’s a damn fine wrestler, for all my criticisms of him) but I didn’t like the finish.
Darren Young vs. Antonio Cesaro: I know I’m horrendously late to the party but yaaaaaaaay Darren Young! What a guy. I am all in favor of his brave decision to come out being rewarded with a nice little push, especially since he and Titus have been rather enjoyable as the Prime Time Players, but does it have to come at the expense of Antonio Cesaro? He’s too good to be so far down the card. Nothing match, but inoffensive.
THE WRONG:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E. Langston: If the intention of this rivalry was to make me never want to see Dolph Ziggler, Big E. Langston, Kaitlyn or AJ ever again on television, it sure has succeeded. It’s made the latter three looks like varying degrees of jokes, and Ziggler an obnoxious frat-boy from a cool, cocky championship contender. Ziggler and Langston wrestled again, Ziggler won, mercifully it was short. The rumor mill suggests Ziggler at least will move on soon. I really do hope so.
Big Show & Mark Henry Team Up: I have my doubts about Show and Henry as a tag team- I don’t see how they compliment each other really, and it solidifies Henry as a relatively docile fan-favorite (he almost smiled at one point in this episode) instead of the ass kicking, wig-splitting rule-breaker that inspired his career renaissance. The squash was OK, I guess, but not all that great.
THE RIDICULOUS:
NOTHING
Smackdown’s been on a nice little roll recently, but this episode was quite flat. There’s two good matches in Christian-Del Rio and Bryan-Barrett, but there have been better bouts on recent episodes, and while Paul Heyman was as great as ever, he’s so relentlessly great that you won’t miss a comparatively small batch of greatness when there’s much more on the way. Otherwise, Smackdown rather fell into the trap of providing matches and interviews that exist in their own bubble and won’t mean anything by Monday. Hopefully it doesn’t fall back into its deathly dull lull it went through earlier in the summer. Show Rating: 5.5 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture |
CSONKA’s TOP PPV MATCHES of 2013:
Even Ziggler thought that was a bit much…
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