WWE Superstars TV Report – 24th October 2013

This week’s show gave us some more really strong wrestling, a reinvigorated Damien Sandow - that makes me think he’s cashing in soon - and plenty of reasons to buy the Hell in a Cell ppv this Sunday

Fandango and Summer Rae come out first as the crowd Fandango. About time they went with this guy – he can work, he’s been around with this gimmick for a long time now and has got to the point now where they need to either push him or give him a new angle. Out to face him is Justin Gabriel sporting a pony tail. I would team Gabriel up with Tyson Kidd now that he’s back and fit

Fandango v Justin Gabriel

The two lock up and immediately Gabriel super kicks Fandango and goes for a cover. He kicks out at 2¾ and so Gabriel goes for an O’Conner roll but again Fandango kicks out, this time with his wits about him. Gabriel hooks his arms and legs around Fandango’s shoulders and as he goes for a Samoan drop, Gabriel reverses it so that he pins his shoulders – again only for a two count. As Fandango takes to the corner to recover, Gabriel lets out a howl and charges at him only to be flipped over the top rope and down on to the apron.

Uh-oh, Tom Phillips has taken Tony Dawson’s horrible nickname for Gabriel, calling him the ‘Darewolf’. Why do I hate that name so much? Because it’s completely stupid.

Fandango takes to the outside of the ring and throws Gabriel into the dasher boards and runs him into the ring apron. He then rolls Gabriel back into the ring and jumps over the top rope from the apron and lands a double leg drop on to his back and covers him for two. This move looks great but is going to mean he needs replacement hips by the time he’s 40. Fandango applies a rear chin lock and eventually Gabriel powers out and hits a side suplex to break the hold.

When both men get to their feet and Gabriel gets the heat, using twisting kicks and strikes to knock Fandango down. Riley is pointing out on commentary at this point that Gabriel has been making Twitter friends with Enrique Iglesias. I do like Riley but I think he needs to be working on SmackDown occasionally so that he can hear how it’s done and have the chance to work with Cole who takes no prisoners when it comes to poor co-hosts. Meanwhile, Gabriel hits a stinger splash in the corner and uses a sitout power bomb on Fandango into a cover to get another very near fall.

Summer Rae’s facials are getting much better; she’s due a feud now I think. While Gabriel goes for a springboard, top rope moonsault, she fans herself with her hands and looks extremely concerned. She’d be good in the role of the damsel in distress. Fandango rolls out of the way and so Gabriel just lands on his chest which looks extremely painful. Fandango just gets up and kicks him.

The finish sees Fandango leg drop Gabriel from the top rope and cover him for the win in 3:45. Boy is that finisher going shorten his career.

Winner: Fandango via pinfall

The Raw Rebound is next – Triple H and Steph’s segment with Big Show and Bryan followed by the tag match between Punk & Big E and Axel & Ryback.

Out next on Superstars is R-Truth who comes out rapping. I have to say the crowd seemed to absolutely love this except the guy that they gave a close up to who looked like he was utterly baffled and was witnessing some kind occult séance. Out to face him is Damien Sandow who I think must be cashing soon. This week, he’s been on Main Event and now this and they’ve kept him off the main shows for a couple of weeks now. He is now without robe and so, instead, tucks his towel into his t-shirt! He cuts a promo saying that for “the last year and a half I’ve been trying to help you but none of you are listening so, starting tonight I’m going to start worrying about the only one who really matters - Damien Sandow.”

R-Truth v Damien Sandow

They start the match with Truth asking the crowd “what’s up” a few times which they respond to. Sandow then just shouts “silence!” I really do love his gimmick. Truth gets the early dominance in this match with kicks, clotheslines and hip tosses, getting two near falls. When he goes into the ropes with Sandow laying in position to receive his double leg drop, I laughed when Sandow sat up too early and so Truth slapped him in the face and then went for the leg drop and cover.

Sandow responds with a drop toe hold so that Truth lands with his neck on the middle ropes. He nails him from behind with punches and strikes to the back of the head and then charges at him and scissors his head. This is when Sandow is best – being stiff and looking dangerous and out of control. We go to a commercial with a close up Sandow looking furious, all because of a slap to the face.

When we return, Sandow has Truth in a rear chin lock. As Truth powers out, Sandow goes back to landing Truth with punches and stomps so that he stays down. He then uses a side Russian leg sweep to put Truth in position for the Cubito Aequet and gets a two count for his troubles. He then lands knees to Truth’s back and puts him in body scissors rest hold.

Truth punches his way out and as they get to the feet, Sandow again lands him with stiff forearms and knees to pummel him to the mat and then hits him with a side suplex for another near fall. It seems like he’s experimenting with a more aggressive style – maybe to prepare for his main event programme with Del Rio or Cena after he cashes in?

When Sandow misses a splash Truth makes a comeback. He hits Sandow with a series of moves followed by near falls – a sitout double underhook facebuster, a hip toss and a scissors kick before Sandow reverses and out of nowhere hits him with the You’re Welcome Slam for the win in 8:03.

Winner: Damien Sandow via pinfall

This was a really good match by Superstars standards. Sandow looks ready to cash in for me but it could go two ways: they’re keen to make amends for Battleground so do you cram Hell in a Cell with enough headline-makers as you can or do you wait until Survivor Series or TLC?

Another strong edition of Superstars finishes with the John Cena comeback videos and the wonderful Daniel Bryan/Shawn Michaels video package that tells the story of his training in TWA. The closes out with the final angle from Raw with Big Show turning up in a truck!