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Wrestling’s 4R’s 1.06.12: WWE Raw & NXT Reviewed, Special Look at ROH TV in 2011
How the 4R’s 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, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~! Of course, that may not happen much any more due to him not having as much power as he used to. 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…
– Listen to the latest edition of the 411 on Wrestling podcast! On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by co-host Andy Critchell to discuss the return of Chris Jericho to the WWE, the latest edition of WWE Monday Night Raw, the possibility of Brock Lesnar returning to WWE and a debate on his PPV drawing ability, your calls, questions and more!
You can listen to the show on the player below, or you can download the show here.
By: LARRY CSONKA
Raw 1.02.12:
QUICK RESULTS:
* Non-Title Champion vs. Champion Match: Daniel Bryan defeated Cody Rhodes via pin @ 3:20 [*]
* Wade Barrett defeated Santino Marella via pin @ 1:20 [NR]
* WWE Title Match: Dolph Ziggler defeated CM Punk © via COUNTOUT @ 13:00 [***]
* The Bellas defeated Kelly Kelly & Eve via pin @ 2:00 [NR]
* John Cena, Zack Ryder and Big Show defeated Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Kane via pin @ 6:00 [*]
So…Chris Jericho Is Back… TROLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL: So obviously the big angle on Raw was the return of Chris Jericho. What is funny to me is that in 2007 when Jericho was coming back, there was a TON of buzz. This time, not so much buzz, and oddly enough, a lot of backlash from fans that seemingly did not want him back. But the one thing I knew is that people would talk when it was all said and done, and they did. We got the wacky videos all through out the night, and finally the big reveal with the camera shake and everything. Jericho made his grand return in a vintage Jeff Jarrett light up special jacket, and made his way to the ring. I guess I can best describe it as this. He pandered to the crowd and they loved it, he continued and it felt weird, he further mugged for them and teased them and eventually got some heat as he left, not saying anything outside of directions for them to cheer. I think that Chris Jericho got exactly what he wanted from this, and I firmly believe that we will be seeing the return of heel Chris Jericho. He came, he saw, he conquered and he left the fans angry because he didn’t say a word. Now I know that there is a group of people that hated this. FOR THE MOST PART, I feel that these people either, expected too much, were angry that they did not get exactly what they wanted, or are just upset because it was unpredictable. And seriously, I do not want to hear anyone saying that they predicted this at all, because you didn’t, no one did. Jericho always says he wants to reinvent himself, and he did something very different here. But I think that Jericho explained himself well in this post appearance interview…
But seriously, I love that they didn’t give us everything a once. The Internet was buzzing, more people checked out the Raw recap than usual, podcast numbers were up, and it is because people were split on this return. What will happen next? I don’t know. Part of me hopes he returns next week and wears the suit and explains to us that we are all a bunch of troglodytes that cheered like sheep just because he came back and played the crowd. What did the promos mean? Maybe they meant noting, maybe he will explain that he did it all to fuck with us and desire his return. Again, I don’t know, but I also think that it is part of what makes this work. Now while I do not have a ton of faith in WWE booking, I have faith in Chris Jericho. He would not return for shit, and the last time he was in a he had a ton of say in the creative direction of his character and feuds. I am willing to see where they go with it next week. Episodic TV isn’t quite dead yet…
The Barrett Barrage Takes Another Victim: Following his destruction of Randy Orton, I was really hoping that the follow up for Wade Barrett would be good, and overall I was satisfied here. Wade arrived, he reminded us he took out Orton and discussed winning the Rumble. Santino did his goofy act, which is fun, and they had a match. It was short, Santino did his thing, the crowd had some fun and Wade Barrett won in a dominant fashion. This is exactly what it was supposed to be, nothing more and nothing less. Simplicity, it’s a beautiful thing.
John Laurinaitis: Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, Raw Interim General Manager, Electrifying, Exciting and Completely Awesome in His Role: Seriously, I am loving this goofy bastard and the title really says it all. RESPECT!
CM Punk vs. The Zig Zag Man MUST Continue: As was set up last week, CM Punk battled Dolph Ziggler with the WWE Title on the line on this week’s show. They had a really fun and solid TV match, a little below my expectations, but that would be remedied later. Both guys worked hard, and of course, John Laurinaitis had to get involved. He got bumped, and then “accidentally” low bridged Punk, sending him to the floor and causing a countout finish. Ziggler was great as he celebrated like he had actually won the title, and of course, Punk was PISSED. This led to him storming into Johnny’s office and wanting justice. John Laurinaitis, the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, Raw Interim General Manager, Electrifying and Exciting made Ziggler vs. Punk for the title, at the Rumble, with an honorable man as SPECIAL REFEREE, being Mr. Laurinaitis himself. I love this because the Rumble will be Ziggler’s big chance in a main event environment. This is a fun feud, and a great chance for a great young talent, and exactly the thing I have been hoping for.
Welcome to 2012 Miz, You’re a Bitch!: In some ways I suppose the Miz vs. Truth feud is working fine, but in other ways, I am just not feeling it. I do like that they have kept Truth as a fucking nut, because he is and goofy Truth is fun Truth. But again, I really feel like they are making the Miz into too much of a bitch. I feared that when they tried to make Miz into a badass a few weeks back that they would not follow up on it, and here we are. I get that Truth needs to get some revenge, but after two weeks of him kicking the shit out of Miz, I have no desire to watch them wrestle, and that shouldn’t be the case.
John Cena and His Comic Stylings Kick off 2012: John Cena and his comic stylings kicked off the first Raw of 2012, and I didn’t like it. Since I returned, some think that I am a John Cena hater. That is not entirely the case, I am not a fan of how his character is being portrayed, and this has nothing to do with his “Superman” booking. Follow me here, Kane returns and chokeslams Cena. The next week he kicks the shit out of him and tries to rip his face off. Last week Kane gives his wacky thesis on why Cena should hate humanity. So this week, what does John Cena do? Does he look for revenge? No. Is he angry with Kane? Not really. He goes out there and talks about losing his lady parts. Really dude? Come on now. I don’t need him to snap or anything super drastic, but maybe, just maybe he should be a bit upset and want to kick a little ass. Instead, we get John Cena doing a comedy routine. Sorry, but this is doing nothing for me, but then again, I suppose I am not the target audience.
Champion vs. Champion: Not That it Means Anything: The first match of the year was Daniel Bryan facing off with Cody Rhodes. First things first, for the little time they got, they had a fun little sprint, unfortunately that is the only positive thing I can say about this. Now while Daniel Bryan getting a win heading into his title match is a good thing, but what about Cody Rhodes? Why did we have to book him in this match? He also has a title defense on Friday, but instead of making him look strong, he loses in three minutes. Again, why should anyone buy into Cody Rhodes when he loses just about any important match he is involved in. Yes he is great, but why should we care? Also, we constantly discuss falling ratings and PPV buys. There are may reasons for this, constant title changes are one, and another is rushed booking. But another key element I feel is how they kill stipulations. For example, a champion vs. champion match. Call me crazy, but these should mean something. Instead, they are constantly tossed onto TV with no hype or build, an din this case, only given three minutes. Please explain to me why I am supposed to care? That’s right, they haven’t given me a reason to.
The Bellas vs. Kelly Kelly: I really hate to pick on the Divas, as I am a fan of women’s wrestling, but this, this was not good. Sure, they all looked great, but the match was not good and they had no time. I know that they generally do not care about the ladies, and that Vince only puts them on TV at least one time a show because of ratings, and if is what they want them to be, fine. But the bottom line is that I will not accept bad wrestling from anyone. These girls continue to have issues with the simplest of fundamentals (running the ropes) and continue to not be able to pull off simple things like a roll up (the finish here). I don’t give a shit that Eve did a pretty moonsault, if everything else sucked and only went two minutes, why should I care? Call me when they get some time and can actually do something worth watching.
Cena, Show and Ryder vs. Henry, Swagger and Kane Tried to Take People to Hell, or Hornswoggle’s House, Fuck it, Any Way You Explain it, it Sucked…: Ad then we came to the main event of the show, and I will be real here, I was actually excited for it. I tend to really like elimination tag matches, and also there is the fact that when WWE does six-man tags on TV, they tend to get time and they also tend to be good to great matches. Well, I was wrong. First of all Kane “refuses” to be apart of the match, throwing off the match because the faces then had the advantage. Next we have an injured Mark Henry working, which while I love mark and he has had a great year, they should have gotten him out even sooner. Show and he should have brawled from the beginning and been gone. So then we have Cena and Ryder left with Swagger and they win in an anticlimactic match that wasn’t very good. And then, then we had the Kane angle. Kane emerges from under the ring while Cena was distracted by his music and tried to grab Zack Ryder and take him to a BBQ at Hornswoggle’s house. Cena saved Ryder, and then Kane set fire to the munchkin land and the show ended. To me this just doesn’t work, I know that Kane is all wacky with powers, but just the week before Kane cuts a serious promo, which while I didn’t get into, was basically ruined by this I feel. If you’re going to go serious, go serious, don’t mix in the hocus-pocus. And what about the poor little bastard? DID NO ONE THINK OF THE LITTLE GUY?
Well this show was supposed to be the big reveal and the first huge step to the Royal Rumble, and while we got Jericho and got a title match announced, I have to say that the show wasn’t all that good. Some bad wrestling, questionable booking and burning of the same stipulations over and over again cannot be forgiven. I am very curious to see how the Chris Jericho return plays out and how he will evolve himself. I suppose if the gage of “quality” was buzz then the show was very good, but as an overall product, I just didn’t think it was that great. SHOW RATING: 5.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
By: Tony Acero
NXT 1.04.12:
QUICK RESULTS
– Alex Riley Defeated Michael McGillicutty [**1/2]
– Maxine Defeated Kaitlyn [1/2*]
– Darren Young Defeated Derrick Bateman [*1/2]
RILEY VS MCG: Aside from the fact that I had to continually shorten McG’s name to that three letter shortened version, recapping this match wasn’t too bad. In actuality, the match was pretty good all things considered. The end showed advancement on both their parts, with each evading a finisher from the other only for A-Ry to get the duke. It’s minimal, but it means they’re paying attention in Wrestling 101. Unfortunately, these guys should be passed that by now and McG’s backwards hat wearing ass hasn’t shown too much above that quite yet. Still, from what I expected from these two, the match was good.
HAWKINS VS BARETTA: Baretta is always so fun to watch, as he is one of those guys that looks good getting his ass kicked. I call it the Bourne Syndrome. He’s pretty good on the offensive side as well. As for Curt, this continues to show that with a few tweaks and a drop of a Reks, he can very well be a force. His pump/powerslam should get a name because no one else is doing it and it’s impressive. He’s got enough character and in ring menace to be something, he’s just not taking the right track.
NONE
MAXINE, THE SUBMISSION MACHINE: I think I mentioned before how they are trying to make Maxine a submission type lady who can lock it on at the drop of a hat, but it just looks so damned unconvincing, especially when she is going up against a girl who the announcers are selling as strong and nearly unbeatable. The match was the epitome of cookie-cutter and very blegh. I gave it one AJ head in the report, but upon second viewing, it doesn’t even deserve that.
BATEMAN AND YOUNG: This was described as a match between the last two rookies just before Titus was announced as coming back next week, which makes no sense to me. The match was cut short due to the idiotic love triangle between Curtis, Maxine and Derick, which hurt it a lot. But in all honesty, it had nothing going for it anyways considering we have already seen this match or some variation of it and therein lies the problem. This show has gone on for months! MONTHS! With the same small cast. Sure, there’s been a JTG here and an Aksana there, but by and large, it’s circled around Bateman, Young and O’Neil. This makes for some of the most boring and repetative viewing ever and that’s the biggest issue with NXT. I don’t know the numbers, but I’m sure they have all but dwindled into thin air due to the fact that if one were to miss a week of the show, it would really be inconsequential. That is not for good TV (or Webshow, in this case) and I don’t care if this show is so far down the alphabet that it’s considered the Y-Show, it’s still a show with money being put into it and should be treated at such.
Just the fact that this show is somehow, someway, still going on…
The love triangle is getting tiring and making little sense, considering the dialogue between the three (Maxine said Derrick and Aksana were trying something? Makes no sense). I’ve literally stopped trying to make sense of it and will simply report it. There is still the essence of a good, average match or two on this show, but tonight showed all the issues above in glaring color. I don’t want this show to die, I don’t want it to go away, I simply want it to change. SHOW RATING: 6.0 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
By: Shawn S. Lealos
ROH Television 2011 Recap:
Roddy Strong Development – I came into Ring of Honor television not sold on Roddy Strong as a television character. Yes, he could wrestle and put on great matches almost every time he stepped in the ring. However, he was bland on the mic and as a character. In the first few episodes, he started to play the cocky heel, with almost a little-man complex. He talked about his success in high school and more. I hated it. Then, somehow, he grew into his character. His promos became less annoying and he actually began to feel comfortable in the skin of his character. It moved on into his matches, where he added it to his already impressive arsenal. Now, Strong is one of the top heels in Ring of Honor and he deserves it due to his growth as an entertainer.
Tomasso Ciampa is a bad ass – Man, this guy is a stud. He has some sick looking MMA moves and just totally looks dominating when he destroys his competition. Ciampa is someone I want to see in the ring with someone like Davey Richards. He has the look, he has the intensity and he just needs the right push. Put this guy in a big feud with an established star and he will explode.
Michael Elgin’s Rise to the Top – I’ll be honest. I had little clue to how good Michael Elgin was when I started watching Ring of Honor television. However, the more I watch him, the more impressed I am. He isn’t big but this guy is the best power wrestler going in wrestling today. He is just a beast and watching him fight is a lot of fun. There are a lot of guys vying for the top spots in Ring of Honor right now, but Elgin deserves a spot up there as well. He needs the TV title.
The Briscoe Brothers Win over the Crowd – Ring of Honor and Jim Cornette have done everything they can to make the Briscoe Brothers into hated bad guys. The problem is that the brothers have come out of it looking like victims who had to jump through hoops to get their title shot. Now, I hate Mark Briscoe when he talks. However, Jay is getting better and when they wrestle, there aren’t many people who are better. By the time they won the belts, the fans were on their side. That is all on the Briscoe brothers and they deserve the belts.
Kevin Steen’s Return – The Kevin Steen was a slow burn return because Ring of Honor needed to fill television time until Final Battle. However, his return was awesome. He came out against Jim Cornette and the fans flocked to him. He is the new cool bad guy that people love but he remains a bad guy anyway. That is one of my favorite characters in wrestling and I see HUGE things ahead for Steen in 2012 in Ring of Honor.
Steve Corino’s Retribution – I am not sure what I really think of this, so it goes in Purgatory. The entire first 13 episodes, Steve Corino came out and talked about how he is an evil man looking for redemption. He took Jimmy Jacobs under his arm (and he lost) and also came out and scouted other young wrestlers to see who else he could help. Then, when it finally came time for Kevin Steen to return, Corino stepped up to take on his former friend. I have heard that, with the loss to Steen at Final Battle, Corino is done with the company. If that is true, this moves to Ridiculous because why spend all that time with the redemption storyline if they just drop it with no resolution? I hate that. If he comes back and continues on, I will remain optimistic.
The Young Bucks Heel Tactics – The Young Bucks are fast and exciting, almost like a smaller version of the Hardy Boyz. And they are in Ring of Honor as heels, refusing the Code of Honor and reminding everyone that they disrespected the veterans in the locker room when they had their WWE tryouts. They are annoying and antagonistic and that is the point. I just don’t like them, and not in a bad guy heel way, but in a 2000 WWE X-Pac way. I just don’t see how they are that good. They just remind me of a low rent Motor City Machine Guns with half the talent. They might win me over in a feud with the Briscoe Brothers, but if they don’t I won’t be surprised.
Nigel McGuinness’ Future in ROH – I like Nigel McGuinness as a color commentator. He is funny and gives a lot of interesting tidbits of information during the matches. However, there are also moments where it looks like he might get involved but doesn’t. It is a tease and I hope that he makes his decision sooner or later about whether he will return to the ring or not.
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team Disappoints – I love Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. I think, when in the right circumstances, they can be one of the best tag teams in the world. 411mania agrees as we voted them one of the top tag teams of the last decade recently. However, they have been flat and uninspired in Ring of Honor and their tag team title reign has been a failure. When they finally lost their belts, the fans were cheering the Briscoe Brothers, the bad guys in the match. The big problem is that Benjamin has seemed a bit unenthusiastic and Haas is trying too hard to be a stern badass. As a result, they are boring and tarnished their legacy with this title run. They needs a major change of character in 2012 or they won’t last much longer.
Kings of Wrestling Fight on First Episode – I understand that Ring of Honor wanted to throw out what they figured would be a good match on their debut show. The problem is they put their World Tag Team Champions in a title match with the Kings of Wrestling, knowing that the Kings were leaving Ring of Honor. What they did was show the audience an awesome tag team in the Kings, and then never show that team again. Maybe this was a way to show the changing of the guard but it was not a good idea to feature two guys that were leaving the promotion on the very first show.
Mike Bennett Sucks – A commenter asked me to be nicer to Mike Bennett and stop ripping on him. Therefore, instead of making him Ridiculous, I will just make him Wrong. He is good on the mic but he sucks in the ring when it comes to putting on an entertaining match. He might match up well with bigger, slower wrestlers, but good wrestlers run circles around him.
Jay Letha’s TV title reign – I like Jay Lethal. I have always liked Jay Lethal and I remember how much promise he showed when he first showed up in Ring of Honor many years ago. Giving him the TV title allowed the promotion to introduce the title with someone fans might recognize. However, since winning it from El Generico, things have not gone well. I don’t mind the time limit draws since that led into the storyline at Final Battle. The problem is that, during these draws, the matches were all boring until the last five minutes. They have done nothing to show off what Lethal can do when wrestling the Ring of Honor style matches. Much like WGGT, this title reign has been underwhelming.
Developing Characters – T.J. Perkins is an amazing athlete and someone that a lot of wrestling fans know about. In his first ROH TV match, he fought Mike Mondo (Spirit Squad) and didn’t use any of his signature moves. Mike Mondo himself tried to build himself up as a Giant killer, but never fought a giant. Kyle O’Reilly is one of Davey Richard’s students and takes a beating with the best of them, but other than that, he is a blank slate of personality. There are some wrestlers that ROH is trying to develop as characters but there are many that are more forgettable than the WWF jobbers of the ‘80s. And what is up with Jimmy Jacobs? He used to be the most interesting character in ROH.
Davey Richards Promos Leading to Final Battle – Davey Richards is supposed to be a bad ass. He is supposed to be someone who will kick your head in, and like it. He is also the World Champion and a face and should act like it. However, the promos and lead-in for Final Battle was horribly written and plotted. Eddie Edwards decided to go train with Dan Severn and it made Richards mad. See, Richards wanted to train with Severn and then Eddie did it instead. So, Richards painted Eddie out to be untrustworthy and unreliable because he trained with someone other than Davey, who he was about to fight. The entire time that Davey was complaining about not knowing if he could trust Eddie, Davey looked like a whiney bitch. That isn’t what ROH was going for and that means all the promos and interviews he did were a colossal failure. Davey came out looking really bad here.
Audio and Video Problems – When the show started, and Ring of Honor was trying to pick up fans, they suffered through some bad growing pains with horrible audio and video problems. I don’t understand why things were so tough since they had a show before this, just not a national one. The video problems fixed themselves by the second television tapings and the audio slowly got better. At the beginning, it sounded like they were using a microphone to record the arena speakers. It sounded that bad. Now, it is much improved but I still want to hear the theme music better. One of the most exciting things is when someone’s theme music kicks in and it is so low, you can barely tell on the TV show.
The All Night Express Look Like Jokes – Ring of Honor took the All Night Express and made them about as worthless of a tag team challenger as the Bravado Brothers. Rhett Titus is horrible on the mic and comes across as really cheesy and they ended 2011 as a team you couldn’t take seriously. Hopefully, when Titus comes back from his injury, they can do some damage control to regain the heat this team lost when the television show kicked off.
The Kevin Steen and his Attorney’s Press Conference – This is the main example I am using but there are other samples as well. The camera should be used to record the action, the promos and the interviews taking place. This is not a movie and the camera should not play a role as a character. During the Kevin Steen press conference where he threatened to sue Ring of Honor, the camera switched to his lawyer, smirking like a bad guy. That immediately took me out of the moment. They do it a lot in ROH and need to stop. Let us notice the Hidden Highlights and stop using the camera to point them out to us.
The ROH TV Director – I have never seen a professional wrestling show with a director as ill suited to direct a show as Ring of Honor. I believe he does not watch the wrestlers when they are rehearsing for the show because he makes the dumbest cuts you could ever hope for. He misses out on big moves on almost every show. The guy sucks at his job and they need to improve the directing on the show for 2012.
Ring of Honor finally went nationwide in 2012 and ended up with 13 shows in the can by the end of the year. There were highs and lows but, overall, it provided another fun hour of wrestling for fans to enjoy. That is all that the company can be at this time and I, as a professional wrestling fan, am happy to see a new alternative on my TV. SHOW RATING: N/A |
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