Wrestling’s 4R’s 06.13.11: NXT, Superstars, Impact and Smackdown Reviewed!

In HD where available…

By: Jeremy Thomas

NXT 06.21.11:

QUICK RESULTS:
Yoshi Tatsu, Conor O’Brian and Vladimir Kozlov def. Chavo Guerrero, Darren Young and JTG [** ¼]
Zack Ryder def. Titus O’Neil [** ½]

SIX-MAN TAG: Our first match was a six-man competition WITH Yoshi, Conor O’Brian and Koz taking on Chavo, Darren Young and JTG. The match started off kind of slow but it picked up nicely and both O’Brian and Young came off looking like they belonged in there with the Pros. In fact, I felt that Young and Young looked better than Koz and JTG in terms of their in-ring work in this match. Hey, remember when Kozlov was in the World Title picture? That just worked out great, didn’t it? Both of the Rookies looked motivated and sold well when it was their time to; the psychology of the match with the leg-working on O’Brian was pretty decent as well. This match probably could have been a lot more exciting and the crowd was dead in spots, but it stayed fairly engaging throughout. I could certainly ask for more out of a match like this but I’ll take what I can get and it certainly served its purpose. It would have been nice if O’Brian had gotten the pinfall instead of Yoshi, but otherwise this was decent stuff.

TITUS O’NEIL vs. ZACK RYDER: This was our main event and had a good eight and a half minutes. Now, I like Ryder well enough; I’m not as entertained by him as some people are, but he’s put on some very good matches on Superstars and I think he does deserve a bit better than he’s gotten. That being said, he did a very solid job here working with his former Rookie. It’s not often that we get to see Ryder looking strong on offense (again, unless you’re watching Superstars) but he looked good controlling the match here and he worked the crowd effectively as a heel. In the other corner Titus did really well also and frankly, this was a very nice little match. The announcers put both Ryder and O’Neil over, the competitors worked impressively and there was a bare minimum of Horny shenanigans. That’s all I ask.

OPENING SEGMENT WACKINESS: NXT started off with Hornswoggle and Titus O’Neil heading to the ring together. Of course this was a comedy segment, with Horny babbling in his incoherent leprechaun talk which apparently meant that he wanted to talk to Maryse. That brought NXT’s hottest talent out to the ring so that she could be babbled at by little Lucky. The whole thing led to a Ring Pop gift so that Maryse could bash the little guy. Maryse calling Horny a fat troll was a nice touch, but otherwise this whole thing seemed to have no purpose.

Of course, we weren’t done yet; Zack Ryder came out to knock Titus’ work in Season Two and trash Hornswoggle. This led to a match being set up for the two as the main event of the show. The rocket-riding by Titus continues, and while that’s great to see I didn’t particularly get into this segment. It set up the show okay and it continued to get Maryse over as a heel in the closing weeks on NXT to make up for her being sort of a tweener throughout the season, so it stays out of the wRong but I won’t give it a Right.

QUICK CUTS: Our Quick Cut this week has Tyson Kidd on the phone with Lucky Cannon before he walked into the backstage area and nearly screwed with Yoshi’s little shrine. Dude, don’t people ever learn? NEVER mess with a man’s locker room shrine.

Anyway, this ended up being a cheap pop moment where Yoshi was venerating a Hershey’s bar in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was a cute but very pointless time-waster, and that’s about all I can say about it.

NADA

NOTHING

By: Jeremy Thomas

iMpact! 06.23.11:

QUICK RESULTS:
Bully Ray def. Scott Steiner [** ¼]
Jackie Moore and ODB def. Velvet Sky & Miss Tessmacher [* ¼]
Matt Morgan & Crimson def. Beer Money [** ¾]
Zema Ion def. Darren Darsow & Frederico Palacios [** ½]
Winter def. Mickie James [** ¼]
Abyss def. Sting by DQ [**]

BULLY RAY vs. SCOTT STEINER: This was a Bound for Glory series match and saw the two jaw a bit before going into a good, solid brawl. I have to admit that I’m confused at this point about what side Steiner’s on; he was treated as the face here against Bully but he’s been working a pretty complete heel against Morgan. It’s a gripe, but I’m willing to overlook it because as much as I don’t like Scott’s act these days he can play heel and face well so we’ll give him a lopsided tweener benefit of the doubt. The crowd was really into this and it was booked very well around the strengths of the two. Steiner got his share of offense, but in the end the ref bump was too much and bully got the cheap win like he should. One of these two is doing great main event work, and that’s not Steiner. This could have been a bit longer, but I had no other qualms.

BEER MONEY vs. MATT MORGAN & CRIMSON: We learned early in the show that Roode still isn’t cleared to wrestle from his shoulder injury but that he wanted to give it a shot so they would have a chance to pick up points in the BFG Series. I was hopeful for this match, but a little concerned too. Beer Money is of course great, but if Roode is selling the arm then it would limit the match and I like Morgan but am not sold on Crimson. As it turned out, this match was just fine. Roode sold the arm realistically without letting the in-ring work suffer and Crimson was kept in limited use here. The match was booked well and involved the big men working well as a team to isolate Storm. Roode got the hot tag and went for the arm bar, selling the weakness in his arm subtly and well there, but they were too much and Morgan and Crimson got the win. This was a really good match that played out well.

AJ’s ANNOUNCEMENT: AJ came out in the second hour and put over Destination X and how everyone wanted to be a part of it. He said that he was going to be a part of the X-Division and that they should bring back the six-sided ring, which got the crowd nicely pumped up. This was a great little promo by Styles, who put over a lot of the old X-Division greats. That brought Joe down and into the ring to put over what he and AJ both did in establishing the division. Joe was about to ask for a match when Daniels came into the ring and said to give the fans what they wanted, demanding AJ vs. Daniels one-on-one. SWERVE! They agreed to the match and Joe was all sorts of pissed. I don’t like that they swerved this for one simple reason: Joe vs. AJ vs. Daniels is the best match TNA’s ever seen. Bringing it up in comparison makes Daniels vs. AJ seem weaker. Not that it is weak at all, but it’s not quite the three-way. Anyway, it was good work by all involved and it squeaks into the Right, but just barely.

ZEMA ION vs. FREDERICO PALACIOS vs. DAKOTA DARSIOW: For the next X-Division Showcase match, we had three complete newcomers to TNA in these three guys. They spent a few moments letting us get to know each of them, which was a wise move. This wasn’t as good a match as last week, probably because they were trying to throw it all on the line to make a good impression and nerves were getting in the way. Those problems aside this was a fast-paced, exciting match that exemplified what people love about the X-Division. What we saw of each man was impressive and I would like to think that it will be a huge boost to the careers of all three men. Ion has a chance to make a name for himself on a national level and he has the skills, it seems, to possibly do it.

STING vs. ABYSS: This was our main event of the evening, set up in the opening promo. When these two are on they have a great chemistry to them. Sting’s in-ring work may be limited these days but with people like Abyss that he works well with he can still pull out a solid match, especially from a TV match standpoint. The ring work here wasn’t great, predictably, but it had intensity and some fun storytelling in it. I wasn’t big on Abyss going to randomly read Sun-Tzu, but it was brief enough. The barbed-wire wrapped glove was interesting, and Sting using it was just a way to further his character which was fine. Abyss is a guy who can take something like this and still be over as a monster heel—he really has become TNA’s Kane. So I liked the way this played out, even if the match wasn’t great.

WACKY STING TACKLES THE BISCH: Impact kicked off with Jeff Jarrett demanding to get into the Bound for Glory series, but Bisch said that he couldn’t because he’s supposed to be in Mexico. He reasoned with Double J by telling him that they need to expand and thus, they need to control Mexico. I get what he was trying to say—that Jarrett getting recognition in Mexico would get them better ratings in a major market which would give Immortal more political power in TNA and thus would put them in control, but it was really poorly worded here. Eric told Jeff to “do what he did up here” in Mexico and thus, Jeff was shuttled off to another country. Hey, whatever gets him a break, I guess.

Afterward Bisch hit the ring and called out Sting, the “ungrateful son of a bitch.” Sting’s face paint was a bit off…almost a bit Hardy-esque. Someone drug test that man. Bisch had a good little pissed-off promo about how he knew everything and that he was done cutting Sting slack. Sting then went into a manic promo where he channeled something between Jim Carrey and Ralph Kramden. Whatever it was, it was WAY over the top and while it started off good, it started to go off the rails. This is only a couple episodes in, and it’s already getting into surreal territory. It’s entertaining on a strange, bizarre level, like what I would imagine watching Killer Clowns from Outer Space would be like if I was on acid and wasn’t caulrophobic. Anyway, this specific segment did have a purpose, which is to set up the main event of Sting vs. Abyss. Whatever Sting’s smoking, the fans seem to be buying it and I’ll give him credit for that, but the whole thing was just too weird for words. We’ll leave this in puRgatoRy until we see more.

MICKIE JAMES vs. WINTER: This street fight was joined in progress, which you all know I hate because of how jarring it makes the match opening feel. I love Mickie and I love Winter so you know I was looking forward to this and once it got to the ring it picked up very nicely. This wasn’t as good as say, Mickie vs. Tara but they had some good chemistry until Zombelina came in and got involved. The match suffered by being too short once it hit the ring area, and that’s what keeps it out of the Right.

VELVET SKY & MISS TESSMACHER vs. JACKIE MOORE & ODB: So this was building off last week where Velvet was attacked by Jackie and ODB. Velvet cut a decent promo to explain how the “non-contracted” ladies were allowed to be in the match. It was No Holds Barred, but being done by the book. Um…okay? Anyway, this was not a particularly good match. Velvet’s consistently improving as I’ve said and ODB is usually great, both of them seemed uninspired this week while Tessmacher still can’t do much and Jackie looks to have lost a step. This largely fell into Diva wrestling territory with a little extra intensity, which unfortunately meant sloppier wrestling. I didn’t dig this at all.

NOT A THING

By: Tony Acero

Superstars 6.23.11:

QUICK RESULTS
Natalya, AJ and Kaitlyn Defeated Alicia Fox, Tamina and Rosa Mendez [*1/2]
Gail Kim Defeated Melina [*1/2]
Nexus Defeated Santino and Kozlov [*1/2]

NOTHING

DIVA TAG TEAM ACTION: AJ Acero was in the match which automatically gives it a huge push towards the Right, and there were some bright spots but honestly, not enough to move this anywhere other than puRgatoRy. Natalya started off strong with a nice crucifix into a roll up and a pretty looking delayed suplex onto Rosa Mendez, but the quality of the match fell when Kaitlyn was in the ring. One moment in particular was when Kaitlyn had a reaction as if Tamina hit her when it was very obvious that nothing of the sort happened. Kaitlyn hasn’t learned to roll with the punches (or in this case, lack thereof) and it showed there. AJ must get credit for bringing the match up a bit with her time, especially with that nice tilt-a-whirl into a body press that just looked pretty.

GAIL vs. MELINA: This match really didn’t have much going for it in-ring. As I’ve said before, it’s nice to see storyline progression on Superstars, but I still don’t have much to care about here. The match was pretty sloppy for the most part even with the creative finishing touch of Melina getting into the splits and Gail turning it into a crucifix pin.

SANTINO/KOZLOV vs. NEXUS: I was bored here. The swinging neckbreaker that McGillicutty hit was pretty sweet, but other than that this match was Santino’s comedy mixed with the joke that is Otunga. McGillicutty seems to be getting better match by match, so that’s a plus. I won’t put this in the wRong because they really didn’t do anything bad, it just wasn’t all that great, either.

RAW RECAP: It’s been a long time since they have used Superstars as a recap show so I won’t be too abrasive with this, but what was the point of repeating the entire match on RAW? Even if it was cut up a tad, it still took a large section of the show away simply to recap a match that either a)people have seen or b) people could have simply looked up themselves if they wanted to see it. Considering Superstars is an online show, I doubt anyone watching HASN’T seen RAW because only big fans of the WWE are watching Superstars, I’m assuming.

NOTHING

By: Tony Acero

Smackdown! 6.24.11:

QUICK RESULTS
Sin Cara Defeated Ted DiBiase [**1/2]
Cody Rhodes Defeated Daniel Bryan [***1/2]
Ezekiel Jackson Defeated Wade Barrett [***]
Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater Defeated The Usos [**]
Christian vs. Kane [**]
Christian/Mark Henry Defeated Kane/Randy Orton [**1/2]

SIN CARA vs. TED DiBIASE This match was too short, but not so short that it was pointless. The more Sin Cara wrestles with and against Rhodes, DiBiase and Bryan, the better he is going to get. He also shows yet another new finisher that looked great and is seemingly easier to pull off than the C4 Exploder. There was really nothing that went wrong here, which is something that is almost an assurance as of late with Sin Cara and I feel given another two minutes or so, we’ve got a killer match.

RHODES vs. BRYAN: Holy Shit Balls, this was nice! Commenters, I’m telling you now that this match needs to be watched. This opinion may be subject to some biased, but one cannot deny the fact that both of these guys know what they are doing and continue to keep things fresh while keeping in tune with their characters. One such example is when Bryan was going for his arm drags. He hit the first, then the second, then Rhodes stepped back while Bryan went for the third, completely telegraphing the move.

USO!!: Similar to the Maori people of the New Zealand area, a nice little battle cry to scare their opponents was used by the Uso’s before their match. It was small, but unique enough to give the once floundering Uso’s a bit more character and depth. And it was pretty bad ass. The match itself was pretty sweet as well and I hope it relates to continued use of the Usos as they have been impressive continually and look like they have tons of fun in the ring.

BARRETT vs. BIG ZEKE: Did these two just have a good match?! Much better than their PPV match and Zeke actually held his own. Great job from both men.

MAIN EVENT(S): With Christian and Orton, I expect nothing short of spectacular. With Kane and Henry, I expect just above average. Because of this, we got a good Main Event tag match with the four. Henry is so interchangeable but believable when he is in the upper card. There is a mixing of storylines here that also gave the match importance. Giving Henry the fall was interesting and gave him more credibility, especially considering it was on the champ.

MARK HENRY IS TRIPPIN’: I find Mark Henry one of the more underrated men on the mic and he’s showing that once again with everything that comes out of his mouth. With that being said, he looked rather foolish tripping over the fallen pipes while trying to be bad ass.

CUTTING MUSTARD: This just didn’t do it for me. Chip on his shoulder, spilt milk, now cutting mustard…I love puns and ironic promos but this is just begging for a reaction. I just don’t see them getting the reaction that they are looking for.

JINDER MAHAL vs. YOSHI TATSU: Jinder doesn’t interest me and I don’t like his dress or his veiny ass arms. It also sucks for Yoshi that he’s got to be the one getting squashed over the last couple of weeks. They should get Chavo to—wait, never mind. I did find Nunzio’s calm reaction to what was going on kind of funny.

HEATH SLATER: I don’t like you.

NOTHING

Until Friday, keep on kickin’ it!

…and remember to stay grounded!