WWE Superstars TV Report - 29th August 2013

A show with a tremendous match between Antonio Cesaro and Dolph Ziggler, one that saw Eva Maria as ring announcer and Justin Gabriel wearing face paint.

 

We kick off with The Usos coming out and performing the Siva Tau – an entrance that I always think really sets them up to be more entertaining than they actually turn out to be. Even the new face paint isn’t really working for these two. Joining them in 3-man tag action is Justin Gabriel who has new utterly forgettable music and even dons some face paint of his own for the occasion. Their opponents are 3MB. Slater is sporting new tattoos on both arms. They are all introduced by Eva Marie who does a horrible job as ring announcer. She seems to have died that red hair again; I don’t think I have ever seen hair this red before.

 

The Usos & Justin Gabriel v 3MB

 

Heath and Jey lock up and Jey goes to work on Slater’s left arm. He tags in Jimmy who lands a double axe handle off the top rope onto the arm. Having seen Jimmy on Total Divas I can’t really look at him in the same way anymore. He appears to be a moody teenager who goes high pitched and snarling when he argues with his fiancé, Trinity (Naomi), which is often. More than anything it shows that he would never be able to cut a good promo and so can really only go so far with this company. Gabriel is in that same boat. He is tagged in and the quick tags continue until Heath rolls out of the ring, is chased by Jey until he rolls back in and tags McIntyre. As Jey rolls back in the ring, Drew catches him with a clothesline and gets a 1 count.

 

Drew puts Jey in their corner and beats him down with kicks. The referee intervenes, allowing Mahal and Slater to work him over further. Drew tags in Jinder who hits Jey with a neckbreaker for a 2 count. He works Jey with his go-to move, the rear chin lock, until Jey counters with a German suplex. Both men stay down and then crawl to make tags at the same time. McIntyre and Gabriel are tagged in and Gabriel hits Drew with a top rope springboard plancha, a running shoulder barge and a mule kick. As McIntyre is down, Gabriel sets up a middle rope springboard moonsault. He nearly gets the 3 count but the pin is interrupted by Mahal at 2.

 

The finish sees Jinder get thrown out by Jey, Heath is thrown out by Jimmy and both hit over the top rope planchas while, in the ring, Gabriel turns a hurricanrana on McIntyre into a DDT. This allows him to climb the ropes so he can hit his 450 splash for the win in 3:45. This was a good match that was well-executed in the time they had.

 

The Raw Rebound is next – a video package putting over Punk v Heyman and Axel at Night of Champions followed by Christian v Randy Orton with Daniel Bryan’s bespoke car spray painting service.

 

Out next is Dolph Ziggler who has been relegated to Superstars for reasons unknown. It may be because of his tweets, it may be for some other reason. Either way, getting to see him on this show instantly makes it 100% better, especially when his opponent appears next with Colter and Swagger. Ziggler and Cesaro are capable of great things in the ring.

 

Dolph Ziggler v Antonio Cesaro

 

I had read that this was a 4 star match before I watched it and, although I wouldn’t go quite that far, this was a very strong match. The two lock up and out of a headlock and Irish whip Cesaro shoulder barges Dolph to the floor and follows it up with a stern, rigid and committed arm across his chest as he shouts “we the people”. It’s funny how this gimmick has no real heat anymore - especially when Zeb isn’t cutting a close-to-the-bone promo before the match. People are now joining in with it. On commentary Alex Riley notes that he had spoken to Ziggler earlier who had claimed, “this match will make the performers in the main event of last year’s WrestleMania look like they don’t belong in the company”. Ziggler clearly never said that but if he had you’d have you reason as to why he’s wound up on Superstars!

 

Dolph and Cesaro chain wrestle and then Ziggler hits a superb drop kick and gets a two count out of it. Just as he gets up and starts to do his Flair/Jeff Jarrett strut, heel Cesaro kicks him so that he stops. Ziggler then hip tosses the charging Cesaro and lands his repeated elbows that once nearly killed Jerry Lawler. Cesaro sells every single one and then kicks out of a pin at 2. Ziggler gets up and as the ref checks on Cesaro, Swagger hits the apron and smacks Dolph with a stiff clothesline. Cesaro gets up and seizes the advantage, beating Ziggler down in the corner with kicks and then picks him up deadweight and lands his delayed gutwrench suplex which is more like tossing a ragdoll when used on someone as lithe as Ziggler. A-Ry puts over that Cesaro models himself on Olympic wrestler Aleksandr Karelin as Cesaro begins a rear chin lock and we go to a break.

 

After the commercials (one of which is a Los Matadores promo video – I’ll get my pen ready to write about the rebranded Primo and Epico every week) Cesaro hits his Really European Uppercut. This is where he picks up his opponent by the hips, throws them up in the air and as they fall he hits them with his European uppercut. Out of a chin lock, Ziggler powers into the ropes and lands a cross body and then rolls Cesaro up for a 2 and then hits a facebuster for another near fall. They start to trade counters: Cesaro blocks the Zigzag, Ziggler then turns the a Really European Uppercut attempt into a DDT and gets another near fall.

 

Arguably the best spot of the match is next: Ziggler climbs the ropes but Cesaro gets to his feet and crotches him and Ziggler falls to the apron. Cesaro then climbs to the middle rope, bends down over the top rope and picks up Ziggler and hoists him up into a suplex. He holds it and holds it and the crowd are really into it because he is so strong. It looks unbelievable. This is not just any old superplex. Cesaro lands the suplex, gets a two count, Dolph reverses it and gets a 2 of his own. Ziggler then hits a tight drop kick as Cesaro gets to his feet and then as Cesaro recovers in the corner, Dolph charges at him, hitting him with a Stinger Splash, punches to the head and then a swinging neckbreaker for another near fall.

 

The finish starts with Dolph looking like his going for a hurricanrana that he somehow finishes in a sleeper hold position. As Cesaro struggles out, Swagger appears on the apron. Ziggler drops the hold and drop kicks Swagger off the apron and into the announce table. With his back to his opponent, Cesaro is able to roll Ziggler up for 2 and as they both get up Ziggler hits the Zigzag for another very close near fall. After a referee count, they both get to their feet and Cesaro hits another European uppercut, puts him the Neutraliser and pins him in 9:40. An excellent match by Superstars standards.

 

A very good edition of Superstars ends with another Los Matadores promo video and the whole of the Daniel Bryan Gauntlet match and HHH/Orton segment from Raw.

Jim Ross Review

 

Manchester, UK

26^th August 2013

 

Jim Ross is a storyteller. His accent, his tone, his pace, his pitch, his cadence - everything in his armoury - makes him a storyteller. He is not the first, and certainly not the last, in a long line of narrators from the Bible-belt who tap into the Southern Gothic style and whose attitude is honest, wholesome and loyal. His open style and welcoming sincerity is engaging and inviting. “Wrestlers provide the music, I merely add the lyrics,” he says; a moto he repeats throughout his show. As the ‘voice of wrestling’, his UK tour takes in four dates and sees him cover his life from childhood to modern day with a generous portion of his time given to answering fans’ questions.

 

Tonight in Manchester, the seasoned traveller kicks things off by picking fault with our hospitality. The establishment that he’s booked into is not accommodation that one might choose if you were of his build; as he refers to himself, “a fat ass”. But this is no surprise, we don’t do things here like they do in the US and there’s no getting away from that.

 

Ross starts at the beginning, tonight – his childhood. He was taught from a young age, that you stick by your job and you see it through no matter what. No matter whether you like it, no matter whether you’re good, bad or indifferent at it and no matter whether you hate it. He paints a picture of the only child from Oklahoma to a doting mother and stern father, who was raised on a farm living under the harsh, lonely conditions that ranch hands would face. One resounding memory that Ross says shaped him to this day, was when he left the lock off the door his dog’s cage. The dog escaped, mating with its mother, fathering inbred pups. Being his fault, Ross was asked to take the litter of 8 in a bag to the nearby disposal unit with a hammer. He remembers that it was then that he realised that you had to stick to your jobs in life and see things through or you’d pay for your deviance in the end.

 

Many stories of his life with wrestling are from his early career and are from the road. Ross tells us of his life in chronological fashion, choosing to leave topics such as the attitude era, the WWE and current storyline/creative decisions to be dissected in the QA section. This may be partly because Ross is a team player and won’t speak ill of the team unless he pressured to do so. Throughout the evening he talks of his passion for the business and his dedication to it in the early days. He did everything in his power so that he could ensure that he had a future in wrestling.

 

Working for Bill Watts is where he cut his teeth – Leroy McGuirk pulled a rib on him when travelling one time and it was Watts’ advice that saved him. McGuirk was a blind and bitter drunkard when Ross chauffeured him from gig to gig. On the road one day, McGuirk said he wanted Ross to help him shoot Ted DiBiase. McGuirk was riding with a revolver and was asking Ross to seat him in his hotel room with the door ajar so that DiBiase could come in. Swimming in Ross’ head were thoughts of prison, leaving the business, desertion and finally, when he called Watts, he had his answer: get McGuirk so drunk that he passes out when you get to the hotel, and then you won’t have an issue.

 

He remembers refereeing Hodge and Akbar and the McGuire twins – two 600+ pounders who worked stiff and couldn’t move far. One night he was told to switch the finish in the ring and had no idea what he was being asked to do. The McGuire twins were so large, they didn’t tag behind the ropes, and they were always both in the ring at the same time. Speaking of giants, he was also once asked to take a picture of Andre the Giant in the shower by a girl who was keen to see whether he gigantic all over – Ross claimed he nearly did it but he wasn’t prepared to go that far to be in the business.

 

Crockett got rid of Ross in a fairly messy contract disagreement that lead to Ross being paid off and living what he calls “a fairly aimless existence” for a few months. He was told that he was “not fit to be the voice of a national brand.” Short-sightedness that partly shaped Ross himself into a man who tried to see the good in all the talent that he would manage.

 

When Vince signed him in 1993, Ross remembers Bobby Heenan telling him to go commando because “Vince likes a bold man who is prepared to make a difference”. When he asked Gorilla Monsoon, Gorilla exclaimed “is he still pulling that one? That’s why they won’t let him work in the office!” It was, of course, Monsoon’s illness that allowed Ross to debut at WrestleMania 9 in a toga, something which he vividly remembers as being full of pressure yet totally bereft of it: on the one hand he had signed with the biggest company around and was debuting on their flagship show, on the other he was a nobody (his words) so no one would care if he wasn’t a hit.

 

By 1994 and on his 3^rd (and current) wife he was struck with Bell’s palsy, something that Ross says he refuses to let ‘define’ him. He has suffered with it ever since and apologises if he may seem stern because he is unable to smile but it led him to work in jobs off-screen and he climbed the ladder. Ross glosses over his moves from being JJ Dillon’s assistant to working in payroll to working in talent relations and how these all taught him life lessons. He is thankful for being brought back to television and says he still ready “should the call come” to work as a commentator on Raw or any other show.

 

A measured Ross is the ultimate company man throughout the evening. In the Q&A session, he is asked about Flair’s 2K14 outbursts. He didn’t bury Flair, but said that the man had been through something no one should ever go through this year, in losing a child, and he says that his actions were of a man still in the midst of the grieving process. He claimed, when asked, that the company had done the right thing with Darren Young, stating that lifestyle choice didn’t matter to him – it is down to you how you live your life and that Young was a good guy. Equally, when asked who the worst guy he’s worked with in the company was, he dodged the question – a coach works with all-comers to get the best out of them no matter what, he said.

 

Regarding in-ring action and announcing, he said that he regrets, deeply, that he wasn’t there to call Mick Foley’s title win. He said the worst match he’s ever been in was a strap match with Jonathan Coachman while the Brawl for All tournament was ‘ridiculous’ and a waste of Dr Death (who would get injured as a result). Butterbean, he said, was always going to face the winner and wasn’t a set up to beat Bart Gunn. He also said the WrestleMania 17 was a magical night to call and really strongly put over Paul Heyman. He said that Heyman has lost his parents lately and it has mellowed and matured him into a more accepting and easy-going member of the team. He said if he could call one more match it would be CM Punk v Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 but claimed that this was just ‘fantasy booking’ not an indicator of anything.

 

Ross rarely strayed from the party line. He said, when asked, that TNA would never be a challenge to WWE and companies like it were no doubt enjoyable to watch but would never matter as much as WWE.

 

Ultimately, whether you feel that his answers are political or not, Ross brings utter credibility to the stage. It was an honour to spend a few hours hearing stories from this great orator who will be remembered as the voice of this generation of professional wrestling. Condensing these remarkable stories into such a short space of time, however, is reductive and limiting. Hopefully, Ross will put pen to paper in the near future so that the ultimate storyteller can call the action on his own story in the ring.

WWE Superstars TV Report – 22nd August 2013

 

A show with Christian v Big E Langston that was of Raw quality, one that saw JTG on a WWE television show and one that recapped Summerslam and Raw.

 

We kick off with Christian coming out. Yes, Christian. On Superstars. No joke – the guy who just wrestled at Summerslam for the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio is now without a storyline. Out next is Big E Langston. This should be a good match; Big E moves extremely well for the huge guy that he is and, to say that he’s only been wrestling for 3 years, he’s tremendous in most areas.

 

Match 1 – Christian v Big E Langston

 

Alex Riley says that Big E is still a rookie. I’d agree but this guy was on the card at both WrestleMania and Summerslam this year and he’s slowly but surely doing very well. Christian and Langston lock up and Big E just straight of the bat just slings Christian out of the ring through the ropes! They go to lock up again but Big E whips Christian into the ropes and barges him to the floor. Langston takes Christian to the corner and hits him with shoulder lunges to the mid rift then slings him into the opposite corner. Christian, none too impressed by being so easily dominated, walks to the middle of the ring to face Langston and slaps him round the face. What a dick!

 

Christian, like a weasel, rolls out the ring so that Langston chases him, rolls back in and runs the ropes. Langston is quicker than Christian thinks and is already up and ready to meet Christian and uses a high knee to knock the wind out of his sails. While Christian sells on the mat, Langston picks him up and beats him down, using the bottom rope to choke him out. He then picks him for a press slam, Christian counters, wriggling out, and pulls the toe rope down so that Big E tumbles out of the ring. Christian postures to the crowd and then runs the ropes and hits Langston with a missile drop kick through the ropes.

 

Back in the ring, Christian goes to the second turnbuckle with the intention of using a jumping DDT but Langston merely pushes him off so that he lands face down on the mat. Some of these moves are reminiscent of Lesnar’s on Punk on Sunday. Big E then hits a lariat on Christian over the top rope and goes to the outside to throw Christian, shoulder first into the dasher boards. He then throws him face first into the steps as we go to a break.

 

After the commercial break, Big E is still in control. He press slams Christian, goes for a splash but Christian rolls out the way. The two get up and Christian gets up on to the second turnbuckle and hits another missile drop kick. He goes for the pin but Langston kicks out at 2. Christian then hits him with a flying back elbow but Langston gets up and hits him with a vicious clothesline for another near fall. Langston then tries a belly-to-belly followed by a splash but again comes up short with a 2 count. He then busts out of his singlet, picks up Christian and runs him into two corners before hoisting up onto his shoulders for the Big Ending. Christian wriggled out and, ludicrously, put him in the Kill Switch and pinned him at 7:53. This finish made me angry but this was a Raw quality match on Superstars for sure.

 

The Raw Rebound is next which treats us to Daniel Bryan and Steph’s segment from the start of Raw on Monday.

 

Out next is Kofi Kingston. He’s still looking very small; he’s never really regained the weight that he had before his injury and his unrepaired torn pecks make him look even smaller. JTG comes out for a rare WWE Superstars appearance – I have no idea why they keep this man in the company or why this man stays with this company.

 

Match 2 –Kofi Kingston v JTG

 

No hard cam for this one as is often the case in these pre-Raw tapings. Kingston and JTG lock up and JTG does an imitation of Kofi’s ‘booms’ ridiculing him by doing them slowly. Kofi counters by rolling him up to try and steel the quick win but JTG kicks out at 2. Kofi then stands up and does his booms properly and says “that’s how you do it”.  He takes JTG down to the mat, moves into an Irish whip and JTG gets in some offence until Kofi hits him with a clothesline and goes for a pin. JTG then uses a drop toe hold into the middle rope, grabs his hair and lands a modified German suplex into a neck breaker which looks really good.

 

After another near fall, Dawson and Alex Riley are discussing HHH’s turn while JTG chokes Kofi out on the middle rope, slides out the ring and slaps him. He postures to the crowd to a shower of boos, rolls back in the ring and Kofi rolls him up for another two count. JTG puts Kingston in a reverse chin lock – the go-to move of WWE superstars – who reverses it into a neck breaker.  Kofi then rolls outside and hits a top rope springboard clothesline on JTG followed by two quick drop kicks as he powers up for the Boom drop, which he hits.

 

The finish sees Kofi set up the Trouble in Paradise which JTG dodges. JTG tries to hit a running bulldog which Kofi blocks allowing him to hit the Trouble in Paradise for the pin at 4:35. A quick, decent little match. JTG isn’t too horrible in the ring and he can generate some good heat but his character isn’t over in the slightest.

 

The show ends with the Orton WWE Championship coronation from Raw in full.

WWE SummerSlam 2013 Review

WWE SummerSlam 2013 Review

Los Angeles, CA

August 18^th 2013

 

Kane v Bray Wyatt – No DQ Inferno Match

 

The last time Kane was in an inferno match was at Armageddon 2006 against MVP. There’s a reason why they shelved this gimmick. In the 2006 conception of this match it was a match to see who could set the other on fire first. Here, it was a case of surrounding the ring in fire so that the Wyatts could be kept out. And it was one of the worst ppv matches for a long time. Kane is off to shoot See No Evil 2 and they needed a way to write him of TV for a while so, the poorly executed stairs to the head shot that finished the match was the way they chose to do it.

 

The Wyatts are a HHH project and are going to get the push that The Shield would have had had they not annoyed a lot of people back stage and inured Undertaker by being too stiff on Raw after WrestleMania. Bray looked way short of match practice but his facials are great and he really lives the gimmick. His downward spiral finish is no good and needs to be changed but this match ended with nothing resolved: the Wyatts are still in the same position they were before the ppv.

 

Damien Sandow v Cody Rhodes

 

Cody coming out minus the tash is a good thing if he is ever going to get over as a babyface. Sandow is excellent at being his character and is fantastic on promos but I just can’t see him as being the World Heavyweight Champion for long if, indeed, he is ever successful at cashing in. While Del Rio is champion, this won’t happen. These two had a reasonable match but it would have been far better if the briefcase had actually been on the line – the ladder would have helped bring heat and tension to some of their spots. It was a shame that they blew this off with Cody winning clean. I’m not sure where this leaves Cody but he should be champion within the next year or so.

 

Christian v Alberto Del Rio (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship

 

This match was preceded by a fantastic video package of Christian’s career that made me question whether he was hurt and this was maybe a way to signal that his time is coming to an end at WWE. Del Rio came out looking horrendous – his face was a mess. He has a black ear, a busted nose and a huge black eye. He and Drew McIntyre had got into a fight in a bar at 3am the night before when someone picked on Drew’s girl and Del Rio stepped in and got blind-sided. That said, Del Rio put in a great performance and the finish was awesome.

 

Del Rio’s aggression is fantastic and his heel move set is great, particularly on ppv when he tries new and different things. His enzuigiris were particularly stiff on this show and his backstabber on Christian was really creative. Christian was the sympathetic babyface who couldn’t get the job done and sold his shoulder throughout. There were tons of near falls at the end of the match but the arm bar finish looked great and rounded off the story of the match neatly.

 

Natalya v Brie Bella

 

Glad that Natalya is getting to wrestle on TV and on ppv now that Total Divas is doing so well over on E! This was a nothing match but the Alabama slam into the sharpshooter finish looked pretty good.

 

CM Punk v Brock Lesnar – No DQ Match

 

As the tremendous video package aired to hype this match, my hair stood up on the back of my neck as I considered that what I might be about to see could be a 5 star match. As it started I was slightly less confident: Lesnar came out and was looking heavy. I wondered whether he’d be able to keep up with the lithe Punk, Cole stated that there was a “50 pound difference between these two men” but it has to be more like 100. Brock looked 300lbs easily while Punk barely looks 210 these days. But these two, with Paul Heyman’s help, pulled out the best match of the year.

 

Lesnar brutally killed Punk throughout the opening stages, busting his back open on the announce table monitors. He threw him around like a rag doll and didn’t seem to tire. Punk got in some good offence, using chair shots, kicks and elbow drops to knock ‘the beast’ down. More impressive was that Punk was able to get Lesnar up and hit the GTS while it was great to see Lesnar doing the 3 Amigos in tribute to Eddie Guererro who he feuded with and lost his WWE title to a decade ago.

 

The MMA spots that they did really built the finish nicely but the guillotine that Punk used was never even close to being locked in and so didn’t look real enough. Lesnar tried an F-5 but Punk grabbed Paul Heyman's tie so he couldn't do it. Punk tried the GTS but Heyman interfered since it was no DQ. Punk went after Heyman but Lesnar went for an F-5, which was turned into a DDT by Punk. Punk used the Anaconda Vice but Heyman came in with a chair and Punk blocked him. He the put Heyman in the Anaconda Vice but Lesnar cracked Punk with a chair and used a series of chair shots and an F-5 on a chair for the pin.  The crowd chanted Punk's name after it was over. These two got a standing ovation backstage after the match and Cole, JBL and Lawler were clearly impressed.

 

Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlynn v Big E Langston & A J Lee

 

Poor Dolph Ziggler. He should be World Heavyweight Champion right now. This feud is going nowhere and Ziggler as this kind of babyface doesn’t work and is totally frustrating to watch. He just needs time and a push so that he can work on his promo skills which are clearly there but just need the edges smoothing off.

 

This was an average match ending when Ziggler slipped out of the Big Ending and hit the Zig Zag for the pin. It wasn't much when the women were in, but it was in many ways positioned as the buffer match, so given what it was following, they had a tough time getting too much reaction. Kaitlynn hit a spear on AJ outside the ring when they were doing the finish inside the ring that looked absolutely great. No idea where this goes now. I really hope Dolph goes back in the title hunt.

 

John Cena (c) v Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title with HHH as guest referee

 

This was a tremendous match. It wasn’t necessarily better than Punk and Lesnar because it was a different kind of match. Daniel Bryan was so over in the building – he has actually been this hot on and off since WrestleMania 28 which shows you that fans love him and that he has some staying power at the top. They did all the near falls and near submissions with their regular moves as well as Bryan using the STF on Cena at one point. Bryan, at another point, got out of Cena's STF and had him in the Yes lock.

 

Bryan pinned him clean after a strange running knee to the face but when the three count came the finish didn’t matter anymore. The crowd were so happy and they were treated to a celebration with confetti and pyro. HHH sold it like he was delighted for Bryan, Cena shook his hand, Bryan went to the ringside camera to thank his parents. The whole thing was great after such an awesome match.

 

Randy Orton’s appearance complete with briefcase and heel facials was perfect. He teased the cash in, turned away, Hunter hit his pedigree on Bryan, turning heel so that Randy could calmly walk to the ring and pin Bryan to become champion. The whole thing was really well done and left everyone happy. The programme will now be Bryan and Orton at Night of Champions with Bryan as a babyface who is chasing the title that he was robbed of.

 

This was a great SummerSlam and, believe it or not, sows the seeds for WrestleMania storylines already: The McMahons are a united family that will feud come Mania. Orton and HHH are heels. Lesnar is still strong so that he can face Undertaker. Punk can still feud with Heyman and Curtis Axel. Cena can go and get his elbow surgery.

WWE Superstars TV Report – 16th August 2013

A show with some good in-ring action, one that saw Dolph Ziggler wrestle on WWE Superstars and a show that really put over SummerSlam.

 

We kick off with Zack Ryder coming out to face up against Heath Slater with Drew and Jinder in his corner. This was taped before Ryder took to the barbers this week to change his hair back to his spiked ‘broski’ gimmick. Poor guy. I wonder whether he’ll get any TV time now. I have a strong suspicion that I’ll be writing about his telegraphed arm drag takedowns next week as usual.

 

Match 1 –R-Truth v Drew McIntyre

 

Ryder and Slater lock up and posture to the crowd to get them going. They trade catchphrases and then Ryder reverses an arm drag to lock in an arm bar and the match is underway. As Slater tries to reach the ropes to break the hold, the crowd trades “lets go Ryder… 3MB” chants. After Slater powers out, Ryder tosses him over the top rope and hits him with a missile drop kick through them. While Slater regains composure, Mahal and McIntyre beat down Ryder. Slater rolls him back in the ring and hits a neck-breaker for a very early near fall. As Ryder recovers, rolling to the apron, Slater complains to the referee as McIntyre punches Ryder in the face and Mahal kicks him on the floor.

 

After the break, Slater is in control hitting Ryder with punches. He chokes him with the middle rope and as the ref breaks the hold with a count, Slater again complains allowing McIntyre to again punch Ryder in the face. The crowd hear it and buy it; Slater tries again for the win but gets 2. We then get the rear choke hold. Ryder fights out but is cut off with a stiff clothesline. Slater stomps on him but Ryder fights out and rolls Slater over for a near fall. An angry Slater goes back to stomping on Ryder and then goes to McIntyre and Mahal at the ropes for advice. Hilariously, McIntyre just shouts “kick him in his head” and points at Ryder who is lying on the floor.

 

Slater hits him with two stiff kicks to his head. Sound advice, Drew. He gets a near fall and then reapplies the chin lock. Ryder powers out and out of an Irish whip hits a facebuster, he uses a missile drop kick off the top rope, lines up for the Rough Ryder but Slater counters with a leg lariat for a very close near fall. In a spot that should have been the finish, Ryder counters a suplex by landing on his feet and hitting a neckbreaker and rolling him up for the pin but Slater kicks out. Instead Ryder steals a pin by reversing a sunset flip for the win in 8:41

 

Next is the Raw Rebound the Miz TV segment with Cena and Bryan and then the end of the US title #1 contender battle royal, Shield interference and Big Show return.

 

Out next is Dolph Ziggler. Crazy to see him on this show. I really wish they’d given him longer with the title and given more opportunity to cut promos and improve. His partner tonight is Kofi Kingston. These two don’t belong together – Ziggler needs to turn heel again. The Prime Time Players are next out to face them. Fitting that Darren Young should be on this show this – since this was taped at Raw on Monday, no mention is made of his coming out in the media this week.

 

Match 2 – Dolph Ziggler & Kofi Kingston v The Prime Time Players

 

Kofi and Young lock up and immediately Kofi takes Young to his corner, tags in Ziggler and the pair use some tandem offence on Young, hitting him with a double Russian leg sweep. After the move, they both sway their hips (Kofi doing his best Dolph impression) and then both leap in the air (Dolph returning the favour to impersonate Kofi) to land duel elbow drops. These two would seem to have good chemistry immediately so I seriously hope that this isn’t the direction that Creative has in mind for Dolph.

 

Ziggler goes for a pin and gets a near fall, Young runs into an elbow and from Ziggler who hits him shots in the corner and sees off interference from O’Neill only to have his legs swept by him so that Young can go for a quick cover. This match is all pace and offence from the word go. Titus gets the tag and he and Ziggler trade blows but Titus powers out and powerslams Ziggler. Young comes in off a tag and the two clothesline Dolph. After a near fall, Young puts Ziggler in a chin lock, Ziggler battles out and recovers in the corner. Dolph has just enough energy to side step charging Darren Young, who hits the ring post. Dolph is able to crawl to Kofi for the tag.

 

Kofi runs wild and hits the Boom Drop to set Young up for the Trouble in paradise. Young counters due to a distraction by O’Neill and goes for a power slam. Kofi wriggles out and hits a springboard plancha for a near fall. As the ref is distracted, again by Titus, Ziggler rolls in and hits Darren Young with the Zig Zag so that Kingston can hit Trouble in Paradise and get the pin in 3:48. A great quick tag team match; blink and you’ll miss this one.

 

A good show ends with an awesome video package to hype Punk and Lesnar for SummerSlam.

WWE Superstars TV Report August 1st 2013

A show with some pretty good wrestling, one that saw the return of Curt Hawkins to the ring on WWE Superstars and a show that really put over SummerSlam.

 

We kick off with R-Truth coming out rapping and the crowd are in to it - it’s amazing how a break from a gimmick when replaced by an even worse one (Little Jimmy) can make people appreciate it when it returns.  Out next is Drew McIntyre to his 3MB entrance music. Tony Dawson and Alex Riley kayfabe don’t know where he is and speculate that the “band may have had musical differences” when in actual fact Jinder and Heath are on the Raw tour to the Southern Hemisphere while Drew is in the final stages of getting his Green Card.

 

Match 1 –R-Truth v Drew McIntyre

 

Truth and McIntyre lock up and posture to the crowd to get them going. R-Truth’s ‘wassup!’ gets a good response from the crowd here and it sounds legit, not post-production sweetened as is often the way on this show. After a shoulder block from Truth, he uses his sitout hip toss on McIntyre and then lands his leg drop to the back of Drew’s head. Truth dominates this match from the start and he moves into wrist locks and hip toss chains. McIntyre powers out and goes to the top turn buckle to launch into an attack on Truth but he gets up and scoop powerslams him to the mat.

 

Alex Riley is good on colour commentary but every week has a few pre-planned phrases. This week he comments on McIntyre’s “AAA stamp: attitude, anger and aggression” as he reverses an Irish whip and hits Truth with a big boot. Well, he’s better than The Miz at this so I’ll leave him alone. This leads to the first near fall of the match and as Truth kicks out, McIntyre starts to beat Truth down to gain some momentum. He chokes him using the middle rope, uses a fairly sloppy suplex and then rolls Truth up for another near fall. This is followed by a backbreaker and a near fall, another big boot and a further near fall. Truth turns the tide by hitting a spinning heel kick out of nowhere and both men go down to the mat as referee, Chad Patton , starts a 10 count.

 

R-Truth is up from the count first and gets the heat, hitting McIntrye with several clotheslines, a hurricanrana and a facebuster for a very close 2 count. Drew gets to his feet and hides through the ropes so that Truth cannot get to him and the referee has to usher Truth away. When McIntyre goes for another boot, Truth ducks and hits the Lie Detector for the win at 9:13. This was a good match by Superstars standards but, as usual, there’s nothing special here. Drew could be something if they gave him a push but there are too many better than him in a similar mould at the moment.

 

Next is the Raw Rebound which is Vince and Daniel Bryan’s segment from the start of the show and then the Bryan and Kane match with the Wyatt family interference.

 

Out next is Sin Cara who is looking a little heavier around the midriff. The lights are still there everybody. His opponent took me by surprise: Curt Hawkins. He’s had a haircut and now looks like another nobody, kind of like Dolph did when he cut his hair and stopped bleaching it a few years ago. Anyway he’s on television, which is a start, and he’s playing a ‘prince of Queens’ gimmick.

 

Match 2 – Sin Cara v Curt Hawkins

 

They lock up and Hawkins uses a wrist lock takedown which Sin Cara powers out of using stiff kicks to his legs and midsection. While Hawkins is down, Sin Cara quickly climbs to the top rope and uses a cross body which when he lands he turns into a hip toss. This is a very creative match from the word go, Hawkins is a good foil for Sin Cara’s Lucha style and sells and anticipates well. Hawkins rolls to the outside and Sin Cara quickly launches himself over the top rope and hits him with a corkscrew plancha. As Sin Cara gets back up onto the apron he goes to kick Hawkins who ducks and then sweeps his legs so that he lands on his back on the apron.

 

Hawkins shows that he’s more than capable in the ring here. He’s had an odd career to date in the WWE: he was a member of the Edge’s La Familia in Edge’s title runs in 2007, then he won the tag titles with Zack Ryder in 2008 but more lately he’d been tag teaming with Tyler Reks. When Reks left to be a Dad, he was back at the bottom of the deck again. Hunter likes Hawkins and used him to help get into ring shape for his match with Undertaker at WrestleMania 28. I wonder whether there is anything for him on Raw – he could easily be in the same position as Curtis Axel right now and he’s far more competent on the mic. Here, he uses a range of moves and lands a German suplex on Sin Cara and then applies a reverse chin lock.

 

Dawson and Riley eventually get round to mention the haircut. Apparently, he had it ‘styled’ by the same stylist who does The Situation’s hair. Noteworthy indeed! Meanwhile, Sin Cara powers out of the chin lock and hits a super kick followed by a hurricanrana and his handspring back elbow as they begin to build to the finish. They exchange moves and near falls: a plancha by Sin Cara gets 2; a power slam by Hawkins gets 2 and then a small package by Sin Cara gets a very close 2. The finish sees Sin Cara going for a hurricanrana which he stops halfway in order to plant Hakwins’ head into the mat. Dawson and Riley say that they have never seen it before but I think we would call it a hurricanrana driver. Sin Cara gets the pin at 4:32 in what was a very entertaining match.

 

The show ends with the Cena and Ryback tables match from Raw.