A show with some pedestrian but decent wrestling, a show that pushed Extreme Rules and a show that marked the in-ring return of Sin Cara.
The show now has new music. 'New Day Coming' by CFO$ feat. Todd Clark. The chorus is about it being ‘the dawn of a new day’ and ‘getting back up’ when you’ve been knocked down. It’s harmless enough – the previous music had been used since the show debuted in 2009 so a change is fine. Interestingly, CFO$ are also providing the music to the new E! show, Total Divas.
Sin Cara comes out to kick off the show. He’s injury free according to Tony Dawson and Sin Cara’s twitter feed and he’s moving well but looks a little heavier than before. Following him is Michael McGillicutty out for a second consecutive week on Superstars. Still sporting the Gregory Helms beanie hat from circa 2006 but Dawson tries to put him over as some kind of Chris Benoit figure, commenting on his ‘wild-eyed intensity’ and claiming that he cuts a ‘terrifying sight’! That’s a stretch, to say the least.
Match 1 – Sin Cara v Michael McGillicutty
Sin Cara pins Michael McGillicutty in 3:57. For the second week running, Striker tries to put over McGillicutty as ‘Big Country’. Never going to take off. Inexplicably, they’re still working under Sin Cara’s blue ring lighting. Sin Cara and McGillicutty aren’t really suited opponents from the word go here. Sin Cara tries a hurricanrana on McGillicutty who only responds to it late and so makes the move look sloppy. Sin Cara reacts with a fairly stiff drop kick and then they settle into a slightly better tempo.
Matt Striker continues to push the moniker ‘Big Country’ saying that McGillicutty is a tough guy from Minnesota and “when you think of Minnesota, you think of Road Warriors, Bob Backland, Verne Gagne and Ric Flair”. Well maybe you do, but this man has very little in common with any of those Hall of Famers.
Sin Cara puts together some beautiful high flying manoeuvres: a sprinboard armdrag, a handspring back elbow which sets up for his senton bomb for the pin. This was OK and Sin Cara looked fine as did his knee but he looks like his cardio will need some work.
After the break it is Raw Rebound with Jericho and Fandango’s dance off and the ensuing brawl. Then through another break we get an Extreme Rules video package pushing the Lesnar and HHH cage match. They rehash the 6 man tag team elimination match between Cena, Hell No and The Shield.
Alex Riley comes out next smiling like a geek and Cody Rhodes is his opponent. Striker tries to put over Riley since he’s an athlete, “a former walk-on at Boston College” but it’s been a while since he’s wrestled on internet TV let alone WWE programming proper.
Match 2 – Alex Riley v Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes pins Alex Riley in 8:23. This is the second consecutive week for Cody on Superstars which is certainly a worry if you’re Cody Rhodes but again he works a good match that brings some credibility to this show.
Striker and Dawson discuss how Cody was at the top of the list of the WWE.com’s recent underrated superstars poll and I would agree – he’s under-used, a great worker and needs a push a singles star. As the match starts Riley goes for pin falls from a double-leg takedown with a bridge and a roll-up. Riley works over Cody’s left arm and gets a good babyface reaction from the crowd but Cody counters from a shoulder block and then keeps him down with headlocks.
Riley gets some heat with a drop kick and then clotheslines Rhodes over the top rope. He uses the steps to launch a blow to the back of the head before rolling Cody back in to the ring. Riley then sets up for a vertical suplex back to the floor, but breaks at the referees count and the Cody kicks out his leg so that Riley’s head hits the apron.
After the commercials Rhodes has Riley in a head scissors and uses a half-nelson submission to pin his shoulders to get a 2 count. Riley then counters during a running bulldog, hits Rhodes with a flying lariat, a hip toss and then hits a signature spine buster. His fireman's carry cutter (called the Final Score) follows but Cody kicks out at 2. This looks good, Striker and Dawson call it well and the crowd are into it. Cody then counters out of a drop off the ropes by Riley, hits his disaster kick and pins Riley for the win. A good finish to a decent bout but nowhere near as strong as Rhodes and Gabriel from last week.
The show ends with the Raw segment with Brock and HHH in a cage.
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