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Wrestling’s 4R’s 2.10.12: WWE Raw, NXT & ROH on Sinclair Reviewed
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…
By: Shawn S. Lealos
ROH Television 02.04.12:
QUICK RESULTS:
– TV Championship: Jay Lethal def. Mike Bennett
– Tag Team Championship: Briscoe Brothers def. WGTT by DQ
Production Values Best Ever – This episode had the best production values of any ROH TV show to date. It looked fantastic. I like how the sets since they returned from the break have been unique in their looks. This week, the audio problems from last week were fixed. Not only that but the lighting was incredible. It only took 16 weeks but Ring of Honor finally has this figured out and put out the most professional looking episode left.
Maria – My God, I always loved Maria from the WWE but to see her dressing like this in Ring of Honor is amazing. She looks fantastic and is welcome on my TV any time she wants to be there.
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team – Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team are amazing bad guys. Charlie Haas sucks so bad as a face (see Davey Richards) but he is perfect as a bad guy. Shelton has always been great and these two guys are a good bet to help Ring of Honor come across better with their bad guy promo skills and experience.
Jay Lethal beats Mike Bennett – Jay Lethal beat Mike Bennett in a match with no time limit. First of all, the match was pretty good and Bennett actually looked better than he has in a while. Second, Lethal won which was what needed to happen and now they need to find him a new contender for the belt. However, there was one big problem I had with the match. They made it a no-time limit match because of all the time limit draws that happens in TV title matches. However, from my count, they didn’t even make it to the normal 15 minute time limit, making the stipulation worthless. I do like how Maria accidentally caused Bennett to lose, meaning he can continue to pretend like it wasn’t his fault. However, if that means we get more Bennett vs. Lethal matches, this is an immediate wrong.
Eddie Edwards and Kyle O’Reilly – In the middle of an Eddie Edwards locker room interview, he talked about how Kyle O’Reilly finally got what he wanted by being Davey Richards BFF. Then O’Reilly busted into the interview and told Eddie to say it to his face and challenged him to a match. I like the direction of this feud but the promo itself was lame.
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Briscoe Brothers – WGGT refused to fight anyone until they got their rematch against the Briscoe Brothers. Jim Cornett came out and tried to make excuses for why they shouldn’t get it. They refused to leave the ring until they got the match so the Briscoe Brothers came out and we got the title match. It ended when Shelton hit Mark with a chair shot for the DQ. Why would WGTT blow their chance to win the title on purpose in their one rematch?
Kevin Steen Returns – I have been waiting for this moment for a long time but Kevin Steen’s return was very underwhelming. He came out and said what he has been saying in pre-recorded promos for the last month, with nothing new added. Then Jim Cornette comes out and makes fun of Steen’s weight, claiming that is one of the reasons he doesn’t like him. This entire thing came off bad and was just a crappy live introduction for Steen.
Isn’t Davey Richards a Good Guy? – First we have the entire Davey Richards whining for a month about Eddie Edwards actually wanting to win the world title. Then we get him being manipulated by Kyle O’Reilly. Now, this week he is interviewed about an upcoming World Championship match with Jay Lethal. He gave his response to Lethal saying that the TV title is a gateway title to the world title. Richards said the TV title is a gateway to Lethal getting his head kicked off. I like that Richards is confident but he really needs to be a bad guy because he sucks as a face.
Jim Cornette Bans the Piledriver – Jim Cornette banned the pilderiver so Kevin Steen can’t hurt anyone else with it. His exact words is that the piledriver is banned in any form (that would include Undertaker’s tombstone, which makes Taker’s finishing move bad in Cornette’s eyes I guess). I don’t like how Cornette namedropped Steve Austin and said Owen Hart felt bad about it. I mean, it’s true but I don’t like ROH namedropping other federations right now. And I don’t like the banning of an old school move. It is just silly.
Briscoe Brothers Talk – On Inside Ring of Honor, there was a setup for next week’s match between the Briscoe Brothers and The House of Truth. We started off with a great promo by Truth Martini, Roddy Strong and Michael Elgin. The finish was brilliant when Elgin said one sentence and Strong told him he talks too much. Then we got to hear from Jay and Mark Briscoe. After a couple of months of Jay delivering great promos, this was a train wreck. Jay was rambling about the eight man match they lost that led up to this match while Mark was manically talking about peacocks strutting around the locker room. WTF? Someone needs valium.
Young Bucks – If you hate Roddy Strong’s promos, the Young Bucks are a thousand times worse.
| The 411 This was an off-show. While the production values were incredible, there just was not enough action. The opening match lasted about 15 minutes while the main event was under five minutes. That is it. Kevin Steen’s debut was underwhelming as well. SHOW RATING: 5.0 |
By: LARRY CSONKA
Raw 2.06.12:
QUICK RESULTS:
– The Big Show defeated Daniel Bryan @ 7:30 via count out [**]
– Sheamus defeated David Otunga @ 2:00 via pin [NR]
– The Great Khali and Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes via pin @ 3:43 [*]
– Tamina, Eve, Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly defeated Natalya, Beth Phoenix and The Bellas @ 1:45 via pin
– Six Pack Challenge: Chris Jericho defeated Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and R Truth @ 12:30 via pin [**½]
REMINDER: I do not rate matches under three minutes long
Triple H Tries to be Respectful, But This Shit Ain’t Done Yet: Triple H kicked off Raw this past week, and while he started out discussing Johnny Ace, talk quickly turned to The Undertaker. He explained that the DONG hit and that normally he would get that special feeling, and that he used to feel humbled by his presence. But there was no excitement, no rush, no awe and no nothing…
“I looked the Undertaker in the eye, and I felt sorry.”
He felt SORRY for the Undertaker because of what he did to his last year, and stated that he wanted to remember the Undertaker in a special way. After a cool video package, putting Taker over, Triple H again repeated that this is how he wanted to remember the Deadman, not the man that got carted out last year. After another video, showing Taker being carted off, he explained that out of respect, he was declining the match because he didn’t want to cross a line and do what he would have to do in the rematch. As he started to leave, we got the DONG of the Undertaker. Taker was sitting in the Batcave, re-watching the Wm match over and over again with clipping and images of the match everywhere, he is obsessed. And then he spoke…
“My victory over you means nothing. Give me what is mine. Vengeance. And I will give you one more chance at immortality. This is not over…”
I know some of you have no interest in the match, and therefore would consider this a wrong and that is completely fine. But I absolutely loved this. It is no secret that I have no real issue with the rematch, and I thought that not only was this an excellent follow up from last week, but was simply an outstanding piece of business and I am officially hyped for the match.
Daniel Bryan, The Big Show And AJ: These Are The Days of Our Lives: Once again, I continue to be a big fan of the Daniel Bryan heel turn and the angle involving AJ and The Big Show. This week our Vegan world champion made an appearance on Raw, and his once again battled the Big Show. While not a classic, this was a good TV match and again, they are building a very good chemistry, working better each time they are in the ring together. But besides the match, the angle continues well this week, as Daniel Bryan continues to be a sneaky heel and also continues to use his relationship with AJ to his advantage. The way he basically left her to get killed by Show, and then acted concerned while admonishing Show as he took AJ away was a pure dick move, and was spectacular. So far, so good with the feud, which I have enjoyed.
Chris Jericho is a Troll, CM Punk Says “…”: When Chris Jericho returned the main thoughts and rumors were that he would be back to feud with CM Punk, and after last week we knew that to be true. This week we got the promo we had all been waiting for, the big explanation. Jericho explained that he was back to right the wrongs that have happened while he was gone. He blamed everyone and their mom for stealing things he did first, and while in some cases (THE MIZ) he is dead on, the spirit of this was great. Why? Because every great heel when it comes time to explain himself comes off as if he fully believed what he is saying. And since there is some truth to the whole thing, this worked big time. Punk of course made his appearance, and Jericho wanted nothing more than for the champion to explain himself. Instead, Punk mocked him by coming to the ring, saying nothing, turning his back to show off his brand new “Best in the World” shirt and left. This pissed off Jericho off to no end, and I liked the segment overall as a good starting point promo wise.
Sheamus vs. Otunga: With the way WWE is booking to WrestleMania this year, Sheamus is in a dangerous place. With him not involved in the Elimination Chamber matches, and with their being no PPV in March, WWE has to work very hard to keep him relevant. They had him on Raw this week, but I wasn’t particularly thrilled with how they used him. He came out and had a short match with Otunga, which he won, but I feel that they cold have done this better. At this point, and we all know WWE booking can change, he won the Rumble and has a title shot at WrestleMania. Otunga is nothing more than a lackey, a backstage goof who drinks coffee and wears sweaters from the Cosby collection. Sheamus should have come to the ring and destroyed him, no offense by Otunga, nothing. Just destruction from Sheamus. It obviously wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but they should be making Sheamus the baddest dude on the roster, and killing undercard geeks with no effort should be a part of that.
The Six Pack Challenge: The main event of Raw, in my opinion, was a bit disappointing quality wise in my opinion. When you have those six names in the match, I expected more, but it wasn’t bad. The beginning felt a bit disjointed, and the injury to Truth didn’t help the flow at all, but they did recover and we god a solid main event. The story was all about who would get #6 in the Chamber, and with the promo earlier in the evening helping to set Jericho’s motivation, he was the right guy to win the match. But once again, I have a problem with who ate the pin. They spent so much time building Ziggler, but at the Rumble, the night after and now on Raw, he eats the pin again and is looking like a giant goof. I just feel that they have throw away a lot of the good that they have been doing, but that is just me.
The Great Khali and Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes: And this is some of the booking that I was talking about last week. As a refresher, I said the following…
“But here is my fear, and that is the booking of matches like this, which we have seen way too many times. We are building to the Chamber match, and again I have issues with HOW these men have been booked prior to the announcement, but I fear that it will only get worse. Get ready for a few weeks of the Elimination Chamber guys trading wins and vying for he title of biggest loser before heading into the big match. Tag team matches, singles matches, triple threats and more, mark my words, these guys will beat each other over and over again, and none of them will be any better off for it, they will just try to be the guy that loses the least.”
That was me last week, and it once again applies. The back and forth booking, the fact that the match wasn’t that good, add onto that the fact that it is painful to try and watch Khali walk let alone wrestle and this is easily a wrong. Also, the fact that Cody Rhodes, the Intercontinental Champion, is back to losing in any match that seems important and I was not a fan of this. Well, Khali taking an RKO was amusing.
Tamina, Eve, Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly defeated Natalya, Beth Phoenix and The Bellas: And here we come to the match on WWE TV that constantly annoys me, the multiple-Diva tag team match that gets basically no time. I wouldn’t complain so much if it wasn’t for the fact that it happens ALL THE TIME. They go out there, they have too many women involved, it falls into a mess and no one ends up caring about the Divas. No one cares about these ladies because we aren’t given a reason to care. No one cares that Tamina is the flavor of the month for an apparent title shot, and unfortunately no one cares that Beth clotheslined Eve’s nose off of her face. It was way too short, it was sloppy and reckless and again, people do not care because they haven’t been given a reason to care.
PROTECT YOUR OPPONENT Jesus Christ…
Yeah, Miz is to blame for that, stop trying to defend him.
| The 411 This was a show that started out strong, and then started to lose steam as it struggled to get to its end. Overall the show was what I would consider average, and I thought that last week’s show was a much better offering. Still, Taker vs. Triple H is going along very well, Jericho finally cuts the big promo on Punk and gets the final spot in the Elimination Chamber, while the Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show feud continues to be performed well. SHOW RATING: 6.5 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
By: Tony Acero
WWE NXT 2.8.12:
QUICK RESULTS
– Heath Slater Defeated Derrick Bateman [*1/2]
– Percy Watson Defeated Darren Young [**]
– Tyson Kidd Defeated Trent Baretta [***]
– Maxine Defeated Kaitlyn [*]
– Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks Defeated The Usos [**]
KIDD VS BARETTA: These guys never disappoint, and this was no different. In fact, it was better. MUCH better, then even I expected. I think this was roughly five minutes or less and it was just….damn. Great back and forth action, amazing chemistry and really just a great match. Honestly, the only mistake was Trent’s corckscrew moonsault to the mat, in which it was more Tyson’s fault than Trent’s. If you haven’t watched NXT in a long time, or ever, watch this match and petition for them to get five more minutes, at least! Also, with the little segment later in the show, they may very well be a tag team in the future. If these two are going to face the likes of Primo and Epico, sign me the fuck up.
USO vs. HAWKINS/REKS: I’ve made it known that Reks gets no love from me. That’s really not too much different here, but I’ll give credit where it’s due. At the very least, they look like a team. I think Hawkins is a whole lot more talented than Reks, but if they’re going to stick them together, then so be it. At least they are showing some unity with the tag team moves and matching outfits. Usos continue to impress, but only barely. I’m not sure what’s missing, but I hope they find it soon. The strike to Striker was an interesting addition to their heelish ways, and I’m interested to see how it turns out.
WATSON VS YOUNG: I find very little to like in Young, and I’m not talking about “disliking a heel.” I find him boring and average in the ring. I don’t care how many moves he does on the apron, it’s just not gettin over with me. Percy, on the other hand, is all kinds of exciting! When he is on, he’s on, and tonight he was on! Good shit from Percy, and I’m glad he got the win.
HEATH SLATER VS DERRICK BATEMAN: Slater rears his ugly little red head once again, and stinks up a match that probably could have used someone better to help elevate the floundering Bateman. Bateman is another wrestler who at one point was pretty exciting and VERY funny, then he came to the vacuum that is this season of NXT and it all went away. He’s still got some mobility and talent in the ring, but when he’s up against Heath, it doesn’t look all that good. True, I’ve seen worse, but still..it’s Heath.
CURTIS THE CREEP: I get what they’re trying to do with Johnny’s character, but it’s just uninteresting. I don’t care how many times he licks his lips, or his necessity to not wear a shirt. It’s bothersome and not in the good way.
5 MATCHES: You just can’t do this on a one hour show. It makes for short matches that no one cares about, and that’s exactly what happened tonight, with the exception being the great Tyson vs. Trent match.
MAXINE VS KAITLYN: One would think that with this show going on for as long as it has that there would be growth within these two women and what they can do with each other. There isn’t. It’s still the same clunky match with different mistakes. This week, they couldn’t even properly get a crucifix pin down right. My little brothers do this move for fun…
NOTHING
| The 411 A one match show if there ever was one. The last match on wasn’t too bad, but if you’re going to watch, watch it for Kidd and Baretta. SHOW RATING: 6.0 |
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