Wrestling’s 4Rs 5.24.13: WWE Monday Night Raw & ROH TV Reviewed

Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe – You know, I’m not sure where they are taking Jay Briscoe’s character, but I liked how they set up the brother vs. brother match for Best in the World 2013. I like how Jay came out first and said he could whip anyone’s ass in Ring of Honor, including Michael Elgin, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. That brought out Mark, who actually cut a sane promo about how they were raised to be humble and he is tired of hearing Jay talk about whipping everyone’s asses while picking up chicken shit. It was a nice promo, a nice setup, and ROH actually made the match make sense.

Let’s rock…

By: Tony Acero

I was proposed a drinking game last week, in which fans were to drink per every mention of the WWE APP. Not literally every mention, as I counted three into one when they were referring to the same thing in succession, but just about every mention…leggo

TITUS: Bring out the warsh-rag and wipe me down cuz I thought this match was fun. It took, literally, 7 seconds to explain why this match was happening, and automatically added credence and reason behind the match. That’s all it takes, folks. An aside comment and a reason for the match. Sheamus winning wasn’t in question, but in about six and a half minutes, there were some small moments of possibility. I’m not claiming Titus deserved the six minutes, or even that it will lead to something, but it’s a match like this that will help keep a mid-card (whether it be tag, singles, what have you) at a level that we can move them up or down when need be rather than a continual tail spin with only a few short hiccups…

BIG E: Not quite sure why the Number 1 Contender just lost, but I’m also not quite sure I care. Big E is young, fast, huge, agile, and yet still has room for improvement! The match was a bit too short, but we had some good wrestling on tonight’s show, and this match can be included in that. I loved the display of power, the strength, and – of course – AJ.

AJ: Speaking of which…The match was inconsequential, and I think Layla and AJ even messed up a bit there in the beginning. But they more than made up for it with the tap out and ass grab. AJ can kiss and kill me any day.

BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD: I’ll admit it, by the time this match came on, I was well into the drinking, and I was falling asleep. This match woke me the fuck up. Dudes were on fire! And I mean all six! Kane’s house of fire segment was the fastest I’ve seen him move, and it was all so…crisp! Yes, that’s the word! Crisp! Everything in this match just worked. They got over twenty minutes, there were times we didn’t know who would win, Kofi looked reinvigorated, Daniel had the crowd in the palm of his hands, and Kane was all kinds of Big Red (full of flavor and pop!) Ambrose was siiiick, Rollins showed a lot of intensity, and Reigns continues to be one of the quicker big guys in recent history. I can’t say enough good things about this match, and I’d take 10 more minutes if it was given to me!

HEYMAN’S NEW CLIENT: Talk about under whelming. Now check it, I may go on a bit long here, but I’ll try to shorten it up. Triple H callin McG a kid, tellin him the adults are talking…meh. Triple H bitch slapping a heel to the ground. Ok…a little over the top, but still…meh. Triple H challenging him to a match then not giving the kid a real match….perhaps even a little more bothersome – and I’ll get to that – but still not the main problem.

I strongly considered this entire segment a missed opportunity for someone we hardly know – or have never seen – just like Brock, just like CM Punk (And yes, we can argue that we ALL knew who CM Punk was previously, but I’m referring to the WWE Audience), and instead, we go to someone that we have already seen…and simply were not impressed. This is not a knock on Curt’s abilities. I recapped NXT. I had to watch him on a weekly basis. He was off and on, hot and cold, intense and boring. He never found the medium, and although it was only a short time, I could see that he still hasn’t found it. So, in an effort to build a new superstar, a possible ground-breaking and top of the line man, a catapulted main eventer, a front-of-the-line – even if forced – dude that is larger than life both figuratively and perhaps literally and we get…

I know, it’s not fair to base his entire career and future on this one promo, but the thing is…there’s little to bite on here and both the crowd at home and the crowd in the arena seemed to give an exasperated sigh of “that’s it…?”

Then we get to the Triple H problem. As I said earlier, it’s not so much that he slapped the guy down. Whether we like it or not, Triple H is the face, Heyman is the heel, and Curt is the lackey. Faces get the upper hand from time to time, heels don’t. No, my issue comes with the match and WHO it was focused on, which you can read in the wRong.

ORTON V SWAGGER: This is in no way a diss on the match. I thought it was great, I thought that Orton and Swagger did more than what was asked from them, and I felt the 15 minutes plus of wrestling was just what I wanted from the two. Swagger is just solid. The end sequence was great, and I loved every second of it. I almost want to place the match in the Right and what I’m about to talk about in the wRong, but I’m lazy. We, the WWE Universe had the tough, tough decision to choose between Randy Orton…R-Truth…and The Great Khali…what did WWE truly expect to happen with those choices? I mean…really?! This app thing continues to be more of a bane and hindrance than an effective tool of entertainment. And yet…over 150,000 people voted. So who is wRong? Me? Us? Or all those kids with iPhones?!

YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV) by Csonka:
TOP PPVs:

TOP PPV MATCHES: