Imagine the kind of things we could get out of a joint feud like this back in the attitude days. People would be beating the bloody hell out of each other, invading other shows, interfering in matches and laying people out with chairs, and other crazy things that only that kind of rating can provide. This storyline is good, but it is so heavily watered down that when HHH goes ape shit on HBK I won’t really care. I don’t think that will happen at Survivor Series, but they better start getting a little more serious if they want some of the fans to take the two main matches of a Big Four PPV seriously.

On another note, I am definitely looking forward to catching Smackdown over the weekend and watching the Undertaker and Chris Jericho going at it for the first time. Also, the triple threat tag team match on Raw this coming Monday should get these feuds over the edge. Seeing HBK and Taker in the ring together for the first time since WM25 will most likely give any wrestling fan goosebumps.

But right now it’s Thursday, which means WWE Superstars time!

A little change of pace this week with Grisham instead of Cole opening show. The main event is a shocker, but that is only because it’s from Raw for the first time in awhile. This week it will be MVP going up against Ted DiBiase.

Match #1: Matt Hardy vs David Hart Smith
Hardy gets a very nice pop from the UK crowd while Smith doesn’t receive nearly the same treatment. The bell rings and Smith goes straight to the armbar. He works over the left arm a bit before Hardy reverses into a side headlock. Both men go for the shoulder block, both stay on their feet, and Hardy gets right back to the headlock. Hardy gets a couple more punches in but gets sent chest first into the corner. Smith hits a splash in the corner and an uppercut. Neck submission hold applied. Hardy fights out, connects with a boot to the chin and follows it up with a neckbreaker. He goes up to the second rope and hits a leg drop. Two count. Both men end up fighting outside of the ring. Hardy rolls Smith in and goes to the top rope but gets distracted by Kidd on the outside. Smith takes advantage and hits a nicely executed superplex. Both men are holding the back of their necks as we head to a break.

Smith is working over the back of Hardy’s neck. Now he goes to the abdominal stretch. Hardy fights out and hits some punches to the back, but Smith gets control right back with a quick powerslam off the ropes. Two count. Smith hits a suplex and bridges out for the pin, but only gets a near fall. Smith gets up and hits another power move with a back suplex. Another two count. Smith works over the lower back some more with a submission maneuver. Smith puts Hardy on the top rope in a position to hit a big back suplex. Hardy elbows away and knocks Smith down to the canvas. Hardy goes for the moonsault and sort of connects. He overshot the mark a bit and ended up hitting a head butt to Smith’s chest. Decent spot either way and a long two count ensues. Hardy hits a flurry of strikes and a lariat for a two count. He goes to the second rope and hits an axe handle to the back of the neck. He tries for the Twist of Fate but gets tossed away. He ends up hitting the Side Effect after an exchange. Verrrry long two count there. Kidd gets up to the apron and Hardy lays him out, but he turns around and eats a gigantic boot to the chin. The ref isn’t going to put up with any crap and he sends Natalya and Kidd to the locker room. Smith tells them to get around and turns right into a small package. Hardy holds on long enough for the three count and the win.
Winner: Matt Hardy

Now that is what I call a good opening match. Both guys really brought out some high spots and good wrestling to make this match an excellent opener. I can’t help but be impressed with the way David Hart Smith works. Both him and Kidd are pure athletes and excellent wrestlers, and it is definitely translating into the squared circle of the WWE. Hardy seemed to have picked it up here, and even though he overshot the moonsault, his work rate was still more than solid. Really good stuff from both guys, just enough outside interference, and a high quality TV match. I’m a little split with just how good I want to rate this match, but I think I am going to give it a pretty good one and most likely a spot on the top ten list.
***1/4

Hey, my favorite segment of the show is just so good that I fast forward right through it.

Mr. WOOWOOWOO is on his way to the ring to face Shelton Benjamin.

Match #2: Zack Ryder vs. Shelton Benjamin
Not many people can be considered legitimate with that entrance music, but Ryder has been impressive in the ring in past couple of months. He’s brought a little eye candy too in the form of Rosa Mendes. Shelton gets a nice little pop, which he more than deserves for his always stellar in-ring work. Both men exchange clubbing blows to start things off, with Ryder getting the advantage and tossing Benjamin out of the ring. Shelton runs back in and gets the old ground-and-pound attack going. He hits a nice back suplex but ends up getting thrown to the ground after missing a splash in the corner. Neckbreaker from Ryder connects for a near fall. Neck submission hold applied. Rosa looks very seductive on the outside as Ryder gets another near fall. He goes right back to the submission hold. Shelton is in an awkward position, making him look like he’s being born on the spot. He finally gets out of the predicament but Ryder hits a leg lariat off the ropes. Two count. One more neck submission hold applied. Shelton gets to a vertical base and tosses Zack off. Shelton grabs Zack and hits a nice belly-to-belly suplex. Man the word of the week is definitely suplex. Come to think of it, that could be another feature at the end of the blog. But anyway, Shelton builds momentum with some knockdowns and a springboard crossbody from the corner. Two count. Shelton is looking for a powerbomb, but Ryder gets to the ropes and propels both of them to the outside. Ryder tries to get back in but Shelton kicks him into the security barrier. Rosa goes to check on Zack. He gets back up and is completely hypnotized by Rosa. He forgets there is even a match going on and gets counted out.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin (via count-out)

The bell wakes him up, kind of like Festus, and he freaks out a bit. He gets back into the ring and turns right into some Paydirt. Rosa looks very concerned and rushes to Zack’s side.

These two could probably have an excellent match together, but this was more of just making Zack and Rosa an item in ECW. It is a shame that Shelton will never get to see the main event picture, because he could really light it up in the ring. As for Zack, he is learning in the ring and learning quickly. ECW has some nice talent with these two on the show.
**

Promo video = Sheamus. Cole and King are in the house and they run down some of the matches on the Survivor Series card.

Josh Mathews is backstage with Rhodes and DiBiase. Josh wants to know about the happenings from the VIP lounge on Raw. Cody says they were just being honest because what defines you are your actions. He says Ted will definitely win tonight. DiBiase rips on MVP’s past a bit and talks about flashy jewelry. DiBiase says he’s the only one who is ballin since his dad is the MIllion Dollar Man. He says no one on Team Kofi impresses him. He looks forward to giving MVP a beatdown.

Match #3: Ted DiBiase vs. MVP
Main event time from the Raw side of things. DiBiase makes his way out with Cody to the wonderful chorus of boos. MVP gets a ballin pop for his entrance, and he is accompanied by the World’s Strongest Man. They really wear way too much red. Some nice mat wrestling kicks off this match. They make their way over to the corner, where DiBIase starts landing punches and kicks. MVP comes back with a clothesline for a near fall. He gets some more offense in with a backdrop. Two count. The attack continues with a scoop slam and a knee to the face. Another two count. Neck submission hold locked in. DiBiase fights out and Cody pulls him out of the ring to avoid any more damage. MVP doesn’t like it and hits a suicide dive on both of them. Commercial time.

MVP gets a quick rollup locked in for a two count. He goes for a drive-by kick in the corner but misses and gets his leg caught in the corner. DiBiase lifts him up and tosses him out of the ring. DiBiase follows him to the outside and slings MVP’s left arm into the security barrier and the ring post. They get back in the ring and Ted gets a two count on a pin attempt. He goes right to work on the arms. He connects with a boot to the face for a near fall. Submission hold applied. MVP tries to fight out but gets hit with an armbreaker. Two count. MVP is now writhing in pain from the centered assault. Cody takes advantage when the ref was distracted and sends MVP’s left arm crashing off the ring post. Two count. MVP punches away with his good arm but ends up running into a big time clothesline. Another two count. A long two count. Submission hold applied again. MVP fights out and is able to use a belly-to-belly throw to buy some valuable time. He connects with some rights, an elbow and a facebuster. MVP is feeling it now and his ballin elbow finds the mark. Now he’s looking for the Playmaker. DiBiase counters out of it but ends up walking into a big boot to the face. Longggg two count. Cody tries to get on the apron and distract MVP but Big Mark grabs him and tosses him into the ring post. MVP counters a neckbreaker attempt into a rollup and picks up the victory.
Winner: MVP

It was a big of an abrupt ending, but the match was solid nonetheless. DiBiase did a good job of focusing his attack on the left arm, and unlike some wrestlers, MVP actually sold it. Both men are good workers in the ring and both have the ability to be in the main event picture in the future. MVP should probably be there now, but that’s another story.
**3/4

Whenever Superstars only has three matches, it seems to deliver more than usual. This week’s episode was no different. The opening match between Hardy and Smith was excellent, and will find a spot on my top ten list. Shelton and Zack was done more as an angle builder between Rosa and Zack, but they could have a great match if given the time to do so. MVP and DiBiase was also very good, and on most other nights, it would be the match of the night. It seems, however, that Smackdown just cannot lose.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of A-.

I really am not biased towards Smackdown…the show just tends to kick ass every week!

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 17
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison      06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy      06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk      10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox      08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill      09/17/09
6. Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith      11/12/09
7. John Morrison vs Kane      07/23/09
8. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox      08/06/09
9. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith      08/13/09
10. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty      10/08/09

Who got the boot: CM Punk vs. Edge from the episode airing 07/02/09

Later.

Match #1: Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero
We get this episode started off with the always entertaining Santino Marella, who maybe one day will be seen as an actual wrestler. Maybe one day in the distant future. Surprisingly, Chavo has been elevated to face Santino after all of the encounters with Hornswoggle. Santino starts with a little cobra intimidation but gets bitchslapped. Santino connects with a couple of arm drags and gives Chavo the cobra sign once again. Santino reverses Chavo and slams his head into the turnbuckle. Chavo tries a suplex but Santino blocks it and connects with one of his own. Chavo gains control with an elbow to the face and starts stomping away. Two count. Back suplex connects for another near fall. Santino counters a back drop with a back slide for a two count. Chavo quickly hits a nicely executed standing dropkick for another near fall. Side headlock applied. He bitch slaps Santino again. Headlock applied again. Santino seems to be losing consciousness. The ref raises Santino’s arm for the three. His arm drops twice but stays up on the third attempt. Santino punches his way out, connects with the cobra and follows up with a hip toss. A big splash misses as Chavo avoids it. Chavo wants to drag Santino in position for the frog splash. Santino counters with a small package and pulls out the three count and the victory.
Winner: Santino Marella

Well Chavo’s struggles to win a match against anyone continue. Hey, remember when this guy had some great cruiserweight matches against the like of Rey Mysterio? Now he is so desperate to stay on camera that he loses to Hornswoggle for four months and now Santino. Chavo deserves better. Santino is very entertaining and funny, but Chavo shouldn’t be the guy that has to pay for it.
*1/2

Rosa Mendes wants you to go out with two guys at once. Naughty much??

The main event, once again from Smackdown, will be Finlay vs. Chris Jericho.

Jack Swagger vs. Primo
Hey it’s a good thing this match didn’t start the show because I might have passed this off as a repeat! Primo and Swagger will go at it for the second time in as many weeks and the third time on WWE Superstars. Primo uses his quickness with a drop toe hold and a headbutt for a swift one count. Swagger fights out or an armbar with a scoop slam but misses with a follow-up elbow. Primo hits a hurricarana and tries for more offense, but Swagger catches him and throws him into the corner back first. The ref has to pull Swagger away from the corner because of his aggressive punches. Swagger hits a big splash in the corner and is feeling pumped up. Abdominal submission hold applied. Primo tries to mount some offense but gets caught in a belly-to-belly suplex. Swagger mocks Primo by doing pushups in the ring. Primo is able to counter with a rollup for a two count. He hits an axe handle from the top rope and a crossbody for a near fall. Primo looks like he is going to get another hurricarana in but Swagger stops it and connects with the gutwrench powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Jack Swagger

This match was way too short, and while these two were paired up just last week, they can work well together. Eventually, Swagger is going to have to move his undefeated streak off of Superstars and onto Raw if it really wants to gain some credibility. Although Primo’s work rate is nothing to snuff at, his pops just haven’t been the same since he became a singles wrestler.
**

Raw Rebound which had a taste of the Prince of Darkness.

Match #3: Paul Burchill vs. Tyler Reks
ECW time on the show with the Burchills and the surfer dude. Reks seems to be getting a few more fans behind him in his recent outings. Tyler knocks Burchill down with a hard right and goes right to the side headlock. One count for Tyler off the shoulder block. He goes to the second rope but Burchill pulls him off the turnbuckle and down hard on the canvas. Two count. Burchill hits a mean clothesline and some hard strikes against the ropes. Neckbreaker connects for a near fall. Headlock applied. Tyler fights back with an elbow to the face and a dropkick. He barely gets Burchill up for an inverted suplex. Two count. Burchill is able to recover and hit the Danger Buster, a finisher reminiscent of Goldberg’s Jackhammer, for the three count.
Winner: Paul Burchill

So this match was barely three minutes long, which really makes it tough to give any analysis on. So I won’t even try. I’m not even going to rate this one since it didn’t even get to five minutes in length.
n/a

Promo video time for a new superstar on ECW by the name of Yoshi Tatsu. That’s followed by another looking at the new Batista-Mysterio feud.

Match #4: Chris Jericho vs. Finlay
For the last time, someone please change Finlay’s music! He needs some tougher stuff to enter with. Jericho got a bunch of cheers when his music hit. The match starts and Jericho quickly slithers out of the ring. The lock up with no one getting the upper hand. They exchange shoves and Jericho quickly gets back between the ropes. Jericho finally comes back and gets the advantage with strikes in the corner. Finlay fights back with an uppercut and an elbow to the face for a one count. Chris locks in a chokehold. Finlay punches his way out and connects with a clothesline. A knee to the face gets a near fall. Another uppercut sends Jericho crashing down to the canvas. Jericho tries locking in the Walls but Finlay uses his legs to power out. Finlay charges but Jericho avoids it and throws Finlay to the outside. Jericho tries a springboard to the outside but Finlay gets him caught in the ring apron. Jericho is stuck out there as we head to a commercial.

Neck submission hold applied by Jericho in the center of the ring. Finlay gets to his feet and attempts a rollup which garners a two count. Jericho hits a swift enseguri to regain control. Two count. He mocks Finlay and slaps his head repeatedly. Finlay tries fighting back but gets hit with a standing dropkick. Two count. Jericho works on the neck, propelling Finlay into the bottom rope. Finlay works his way up and stops the momentum with a clothesline. Two count. An elbow from Finlay misses its mark and Jericho takes advantage with a kick to the chest. Chris hits another splash on the chest for a near fall. Neck submission hold applied. Jericho charges at Finlay but misses and goes shoulder first into the ring post. Finlay tries another rollup and gets a long two count. Finlay builds momentum with some strikes and rolling thunder. Two count. He tries to follow it up with a sit-down splash but Jericho counters into the Walls. Finlay is able to crawl to the ropes and break the hold. Finlay tries for the Celtic Cross but Jericho grabs the ropes and avoids it. Out of nowhere, Jericho hits the Codebreaker and ends the match.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Finlay and Jericho are both veterans that know what they are doing out there, so a solid match was expected and delivered. Obviously Jericho gets the win here with his impending WHC match at Survivor Series in two weeks. Once again, Smackdown main events and Smackdown dominates.
**3/4

The match of the night was Smackdown’s Chris Jericho vs. Finlay and this week’s edition of WWE Superstars gets a grade of C-.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 16
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison      06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy      06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk      10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox      08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill      09//17/09
6. John Morrison vs Kane      07/23/09
7. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox      08/06/09
8. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith      08/13/09
9. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty      10/08/09
10. CM Punk vs. Edge      07/02/09

Later.

The Miz def. John Morrison
With another five or ten minutes, these two could have done wonders. Unfortunately, they were given barely over ten minutes, but the performance was still very good. This is the only prediction I got wrong, and if I had thought about it a little bit longer, I would have definitely picked the Miz. Between the two of them, Morrison seems like he will become a big star while Miz might just float around the upper mid card. For that reason, the Miz needed this win more. Morrison does not need this win to become a main event talent in the near future. Good opener from two young stars.
***1/2

Smackdown Divas (Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool, & Natalya) def. Raw Divas (Gail Kim, Melina, & Kelly Kelly)
It’s good news and bad news time. Good news: This was one of the best divas matches I’ve seen in the past few months. Bad news: That isn’t saying much. In the world of WWE women, this was a success, but in the world of my five-star rating system, they scratched and clawed for two stars. Maybe one day we might see a turnaround in the women’s division.
**

WHC Match: The Undertaker def. Batista, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio
I liked the pace that this match started at, and although it ended up as a decent fatal four-way match, I thought things got somewhat awkward at the end. The guys didn’t work as well together as they did at the beginning. The main focus of this match, however, was the Batista heel turn afterwards. I have good and bad thoughts about that. The way it was done was pretty horrible; I mean, why have Josh Mathews come out and interview? That made things so obvious. Why not have Batista or Rey grab the mic and start talking? Batista didn’t sound that great, but he gave a good beatdown and made it look believable. Also, a heel turn is the best thing for him, since most fans like myself are extremely bored with him now. Hopefully this will have some effect on his wrestling style and maybe even the quality of his promos. But besides that, it was a decent little title match that might have left CM Punk back in the mid card level.
***

Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, The Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy, R-Truth, & Finlay) def. Team Raw (DX, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Mark Henry)
Well the Big Show turn might have seemed a bit obvious, but I am a bit intrigued at the direction this turn is going. It originally seemed that Show did it to spite DX and that they would get into a feud for the tag titles; instead, he revealed that his turn was in fact to get a shot at the WHC. Personally, I would rather see DX vs. Jeri-Show than both teams in different heavyweight title hunts. I was feeling really optimistic that a new guy on Raw would get a huge push and a title shot. Instead, they must have decided no one was ready and just stuck DX in there. Creative had a great opportunity to make a new star or two, and they let it pass by. As for the match itself, it wasn’t too messy, but there’s only so much that can happen with fourteen guys in one ring. Too many people for me, but okay nonetheless.
***

John Cena def. Randy Orton (Iron Man Match)
The whole Cena leaving Raw stipulation in essence gave away the outcome of the match. Did I think this was a good match? Yes. Would I want to see them do it again? Never in a million years. The whole anything goes idea worked out very well, since I think without that, it would have been a disaster. There wasn’t exactly too much wrestling involved, but it was entertaining. I really liked the whole pyro scenario. But the best thing about the match was the BLOOD. Yes, I sound like a savage, but wasn’t it really refreshing to see a guy bleed on WWE TV? And the fact that Cena refused treatment and kept bleeding for close to ten minutes was definitely a breath of fresh air. Compared to the other Iron Man matches I have watched (Angle/Lesnar, HHH/Rock, Hart/HBK), this ranks fourth. Those matches, however, were absolutely excellent, so matching up to them was a tall task. Credit these two for being out there for an hour and giving us an entertaining main event with only a few really slow spots.
****

Except for the first match, I got all my predictions right. Now it’s on to Survivor Series, where members of the top two tag teams in the business will be involved in both heavyweight title matches. The thing I’m looking forward to the most is Kofi vs. Orton. It might be done as a traditional Survivor series match, but seeing Kofi drop the accent and get into a feud with a top guy like Orton is really awesome. Now all Orton needs to do is put him over, and we have a legitimate main eventer on our hands! Hopefully he can remember what the Undertaker did for his career back in 2004.

Time to change things up. I am thrilled at the fact that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are going to TNA. This is a definite turning point in the company. These two are really going to change things up and give it a run at the WWE. If there is one thing I have learned by being a student in the business school, it’s that competition brings productivity. Hogan and Bischoff have the potential to make TNA big if they handle things correctly. For Hogan, that would require running things and not stepping into the ring more than twice a year. One would hope that Bischoff learned from his WCW mistakes and will not do them again. If TNA can pick up some steam, it will make both them and the WWE better in every way. Advertising will be a big deal, Monday Night Wars II could possibly happen, higher quality matches will happen more often, and more young studs will be elevated and pushed. This is the type of thing that could really get wrestling front and center in the next couple of years. As long as they don’t screw things up, fun times are ahead.

I wanted to mention this last week but it completely slipped my mind since I was in a bit of a rush with all the work that had to be done. While I’ve only been writing on this website for about five months and I’m still the rookie blogger on the staff, I had been a fan of WNW for over a year. I know that I would always find time on Tuesday or Wednesday to read Luke’s Raw blog. He gives readers exactly what you would want from a blogger: a unique opinion that gets questions asked and debates started. Without that, most of these blogs wouldn’t be very interesting if they just repeated facts over and over. Luke does a great job of sharing his honest opinions about the product while throwing in plenty of humor as well. I know that whoever blogs Raw next year, whether it is a current member of the WNW staff or someone new, they will have some pretty big shoes to fill. To write about this stuff for over three years is quite a feat. So Luke, as a reader, I want to thank you for your dedication to wrestling, WNW, and all of us for sharing your opinions and providing quality blogs week in and week out.

Well I have been rambling more than ever this week, but all this stuff needed to be said. So FINALLY, it’s time for the show of all shows on Thursday night (minus FlashForward), WWE Superstars!!

Match #1: Jack Swagger vs. Primo
We start things off with Swagger ready to put his undefeated streak on the line, which has gotten bigger than Undertaker’s 17-0! Uh….well maybe not that big. Cole tells us the main event is R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty. One would think that Drew McIntyre should be in this instead of Knox, but I guess Truth is moving in to bigger and hairier things. Primo gets an okay pop on his way out, which is basically the best pop he has gotten in a long time. Swagger shows off his big time amateur wrestling background at the beginning of this contest. Swagger mocks Primo, who fights back with a strike and a toss. He hits four punches in the corner and a kick to the knees, followed up by another to the side of the face. Two count on Swagger. Armbar applied. A rollup gets a two count, but Primo keeps on the offensive with an arm drag and another armbar. Swagger powers out and gains control with a power slam combo into the turnbuckle and then in the center of the ring. He connects with his big running splash in the corner for a near fall. Neck submission hold locked in. He hits an elbow to the back of the neck and a leg drop on the front for another near fall. Another submission hold applied as the crowd tries to get behind Primo. He fights out but is brought right back down with a bog clothesline to the back of the neck. Two count. A big leg drop misses and finds canvas. Primo starts his offense with a springboard elbow. He keeps it up with another elbow, a clothesline, and a dropkick. Two count. He tries a springboard body but is caught. Primo, however, is able to squirm away and try a rollup, but only gets two. Swagger puts Primo prone on the canvas with a big boot to the jaw. It’s gutwrench powerbomb time. He connects and the match is over.
Winner: Jack Swagger

I would definitely have liked to see this match go a few extra minutes. They had a match on Superstars a few weeks back and worked well together, and while this wasn’t given as much time as their previous encounter, it was still a nice little opener. Swagger going over was the absolute right choice, since having him declare an undefeated streak and then lose three weeks later would be terribly pointless.
**1/4

So now they’re doing some segment about divas getting asked questions??? Interesting…

Match #2: Kelly Kelly vs. Alicia Fox
Kelly gets a better pop than usual, presumably because this is being taped in or around her hometown. Alicia has looked okay in the last couple of months, but seeing her here doesn’t bode well for her future. Alicia goes straight to work on Kelly’s left arm. Kelly uses some acrobatics to get out of the predicament. Dropkick by Kelly connects for a one count. Alicia turns the tide with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Two count. Another cover and another two count. Submission applied. Kelly reverses a scoop slam attempt into a rollup for a two count. Alicia gets right back up and locks in another submission. Alicia tries to throw Kelly to the outside, who wants to skim the cat. As she does, Alicia connects with a right to the gut and Kelly is now laying on the apron. Kelly gets a rollup over the ropes but only has a two count. Kelly hits her spinning and screaming hurricarana. She hits two clothesline and another hurricarana for a near fall. Kelly tries her running handstand elbow on Alicia but she gets her knees up and knocks Kelly down. Alicia connects with the scissors kick and that’s the end of it.
Winner: Alicia Fox

I feel like I say this with every divas match, but that was another typical divas bout. Although there was nothing terribly off about the match, it just didn’t look as good as it could be. The WWE should look at the tag match from Bragging Rights and try to build off that decent performance.
*1/2

Match #3: Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Reks
My day just got much better when I saw that Zack Ryder is making his in-ring return to WWE Superstars tonight. WGN America is bringing back the WOOWOOWOO. ECW has a new announcer and his name is Byron Saxton. Let’s see how he does in this match. Ryder will be taking on the surfer dude Tyler Reks. Early edge goes to Reks with a shoulder block. Tyler targets the left arm and shoulder of Ryder. Zack tries to fight back with a couple of strikes but a dropkick propels him out of the ring. Tyler tries a sliding dropkick, but Ryder avoids it and hits a kick to the face. He pounds away at Tyler on the outside. Zack continues the assault back in the ring. Zack kicks the crap out of Tyler in the corner but only gets a two count. Neck submission hold applied. Tyler counters with a back suplex. Reks builds momentum with a clothesline, a couple of elbows and a very nice chest-first suplex. Two count. Tyler throws Zack face first into the canvas and tries to get the crowd fired up. He hits what I would guess is a surfer-like elbow and gets a long two count. Saxton is calling it a wavy elbow, so I’ll go with him. Ryder hits a boot in the corner and goes right for the Zack Attack, which finds its mark. One..two..three.
Winner: Zack Ryder

Here is another quick match that could have been very good if allotted a proper amount of time. Reks looks much better in the ring since I last saw him, and he seemed to be getting over with the fans a bit more. Ryder looked pretty good too, and even Saxton wasn’t so bad on the mic.
**

Josh talks about Halloween week on WWE.com, which of course leads right into a video about the Big Show. It’s followed by another video recapping the seven-on-seven tag match at Bragging Rights.

Match #4: R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty
R-Truth is out first to a nice pop, rapping his way down to the ring. Commercial time immediately follows.

Cryme Tyme is first out after the break, and they get a very good crowd reaction as well. The Hart Dynasty is out now, with Mike Knox trailing behind, feeling a bit sad that his music wasn’t included in these intros. Kidd and JTG are going to start things off as Grisham tries to go all gangsta on us on the mic. JTG start off with a headlock, but Kidd counters out and mocks JTG with about a 4-second scream. Kidd goes to work with blows to the back. JTG fights back with a couple of strikes and an innovative backbreaker. One count. Kidd escapes from another headlock and tags in big bad Mike Knox. Knox tosses him around in the headlock position. JTG gets out of it and tags in Shad. He hits a flurry of strikes on the hot tag. A shoulder block doesn’t knock Knox down. Shad tries again but runs into a boot to the gut. Knox hits some more knees and strikes to the back. Submission hold applied. Shad tries to get out of it but gets tossed to the outside. Natalya gets far away from Shad as we go to another break.

Shad has Knox in an armbar in the center of the ring. Knox pushes Shad over to the heel corner and David Hart Smith tags in. Him and Knox utilize the fill five count to dish out some pain. Shad tries to fight back and take out the whole team, but he ends up getting hit with a kick to the back of the neck from Kidd and a back suplex from Smith. Two count. Submission applied. Smith continues the assault with numerous strikes to the forehead. Kidd is tagged in and they do some double team jawbreaker-big kick combo. Knox is immediately tagged in after that and continues the assault on the back. Big splash on the lower back connects for a near fall. The deadly bear hug is locked in. Knox takes out JTG but walks into a back suplex from Shad. Kidd and R-Truth are both tagged in. Truth hits a few strikes, does a shimmy, and hits one more big one. He connects with a hip toss but eats a massive boot from Knox. Knox disposes of Shad on the outside but JTG comes from behind and tosses him out as well. JTG is looking for a suicide dive but ends up being blindsided by Smith. He charges at Truth, who pulls the top rope down to send him flying to the outside. Kidd and Truth are the only ones left. Both try rollups and both get near falls. Truth is able to connect with the Lie Detector and pick up the win for his team.
Winners: R-Truth and Cryme Tyme

While Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty have worked together in a number of matches, they still were able to put on a good bout and keep things fresh. Cryme Tyme gets the win here and gets revenge for the Hart Dynasty replacing them in the Bragging Rights match. Once again, they have helped give Smackdown the match of the night, which seems to be a consistent trend throughout the whole year. Both of these tag teams are worthy of getting shots at the tag titles, although it looks like they’re out of luck for the next PPV.
**3/4

While I am a much bigger fan of having three matches on the show instead of four, all of the matches in this episode were decent. Swagger/Primo and Reks/Ryder could have been much better if they were given that extra few minutes to develop. Once again, Smackdown had the main event and they showed up with the best match. At this point, there’s no possible way that any brand can catch up to Smackdown. In my mind, the amount of quality matches shows me that Smackdown is the best wrestling brand on TV. And I didn’t need a whole PPV to figure that out.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of B.

Ah Smackdown, how dominant you are.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 15
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison 06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy 06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk 10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox 08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill 09//17/09
6. John Morrison vs Kane 07/23/09
7. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox 08/06/09
8. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith 08/13/09
9. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty 10/08/09
10. CM Punk vs. Edge 07/02/09

Later.

I don’t want to go off the edge and call this an excellent PPV, but it was very good. Some of the matches were excellent while some other things really stopped it from getting to that level of excellent. The Ultimate X and Tag Team matches were well done, and Morgan Angle was definitely the best of the night. The Knockouts matches were forgettable, and I can tolerate that. But there are two things really bugging me about the PPV.
#1: Abyss kicked out at 4 and a half in that match. I couldn’t stop laughing. They were having a decently gruesome hardcore match until that. It doesn’t matter what kind of match they were putting on; a botch like that will ruin anything. It reminds me of Backlash, when the retard working the bell rang it on a long two count. Although that was a really good tag team match, it is remembered for that botch. This Foley-Abyss match is going to be remembered as the match Abyss kicked out at four.
#2: WTF was with that ending to the Sting-Styles match?? The bout was absolutely awesome until Sting got pinned for three on a springboard crossbody. Really? Doesn’t he deserve at least a 450 splash or something? They should have given the match ten minutes of extra time and it would have been a classic. Sting pulled out all the stops and the ending turned out to be shocking, but in a very bad way. Everyone was shocked that it was over so quickly.

The PPV was good, but an even better sign is the main event for Turning Point. It’s ironic that the next PPV is called that, because I feel like BFG is a turning point in the organization. Daniels vs. Joe vs. Styles produced one of the best matches in TNA history a couple of years back, and to see these three headlining a PPV is amazingly refreshing. Hopefully TNA will continue to push their younger talent to produce better quality shows.

Okay, Bragging Rights Prediction time. Once again, ECW dominates the card!

Raw Divas (Melina, Kelly Kelly, & Gail Kim) vs. Smackdown Divas (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, & Natalya)
If you add up the number of letters in the names of the Raw divas, you would get a grand total of 23. Do the same for the Smackdown divas, and the result is 32. By that expert deduction, the Smackdown divas will win. And oh yea, I miss you Mickie.
My Prediction: Smackdown Divas

IC Champ John Morrison vs. US Champ The Miz
If you didn’t catch their Dirt Sheet segment on last Friday’s Smackdown, I suggest you check it out. Considering that the match was added without really letting anyone know, this went a long way in building the match. It’s always a breath of fresh air to see two young guys go at it, and since Cena-Orton is going for 33% of the PPV, fresh is not going to be very easy to come by. Hopefully this doesn’t get caught up in the other matches and be deprived of enough time to develop. Give them that, and watch them deliver. I like Morrison going over here for the sole reason that the IC title feels much more important than the US title.
My Prediction: John Morrison

Bragging Rights Tag Team Match: Team Raw (DX, Big Show, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, & Kofi Kingston) vs. Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, R-Truth, The Hart Dynasty & Finlay)
Does Team Smackdown look different to you? Well that could be because I just spoiled part of Smackdown for you! If you feel hurt and would like a warning next time, by all means let me know. So we’ve got a few combustible elements here. Show and Jericho are split up, which begins the demise of that tag team. Rhodes is probably going to try and screw things up. Team Smackdown has gotten an extreme makeover because of how weak they originally were. And most of all, KOFI HAS DROPPED THE ACCENT. That’s right folks, he got rid of it like a bad habit. I look at that as a good thing, since his original look would never have gotten him to the main event. But anyway, so who’s going to win? Well since DX is probably going to win the tag titles at Survivor Series and Jericho has been losing at a rapid pace as of late, I give Smackdown the nod.
My Prediction: Team Smackdown

WHC Fatal Four Way Match: The Undertaker(c) vs. Batista vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
So why are there four people in this match? It’s because our champion is not at full health. I’m a firm believer in the champion being the hardest worker and a good wrestler. The Undertaker is both, but he can’t do that in his current state. But after all that, I still think he’s going to retain the title. I would be better off is Batista never held the title, and while giving it to Mysterio would be nice, he just seems thrown into this whole scenario. Punk just lost it, so getting it back three weeks later would just be pointless. But then again, the WWE has been doing way too much of that lately.
My Prediction: The Undertaker

WWE Championship Iron Man Match: Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena
In my opinion, their previous three PPV matches have gotten a little better each time. Does that mean I want to see them for an hour on Sunday? Absolutely not. I think it’s time for Orton and Cena to go back and look at some of their old matches. They better start reviving some old moves they haven’t used in a couple of years to make this a bit interesting. Thirty minutes of stomping and staring from Randy Orton is not going to get a good reaction. The key factor here is Ted DiBiase. I definitely think the reason he’s not in the big tag team match is because he has a role in this main event. Look for DiBiase to screw Orton over and help Cena win back the title.
My Prediction: John Cena

Bragging Rights could be a yawn-fest if Orton and Cena don’t start learning new things to do quick. Other matches, however, have been built fairly well, and I’m looking forward to a few quality matches on Sunday.

Now it’s time for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars!!

The show starts off with a nice video about the career of Captain Lou Albano, who will definitely be missed.

Match #1: Kelly Kelly vs. Gail Kim
Once again, Raw will start out the show, presenting us with some of their smart, sexy, and powerful divas. Kelly Kelly gets a nice pop from the home crowd. Gail starts off the match with a side headlock. Kelly reverses with a head scissors. Both try quick pins but only get a one count. Gail knocks Kelly down with a shoulder block and gets another one count. Gail wrenches at the left arm, but Kelly spins out and tosses her away. Gail tries a rollup in the corner but only gets a near fall. Kelly does some acrobatics, yells at the crowd to fire her up, and then gets thrown to the ground in the corner. Another rollup from Gail gets another two count. Headlock applied. Kelly elbows out and rams Gail into the corner. Gail puts Kelly up top and tries a head scissors but Kelly hangs on. Kelly tries a victory roll and gets a near fall. Double clothesline and both are down for the count. They exchange strikes until Kelly finally gets the advantage with a couple of clotheslines and a hurricarana. Another rollup and another two count. Gail misses with a crossbody from the second rope. Apparently Kelly’s finisher is called the Kelly Killer, since I’m actually listening to Cole for once. Well she hits that and the match is over.
Winner: Kelly Kelly

After the match, Kelly helps Gail to her feet and they share a hug.

Nowadays, it takes a lot of effort to get excited for a divas match. Things have been on the downswing for so long that expectations aren’t very high. This match wasn’t great, but it was okay for what it’s worth. Gail seemed to be carrying the match a bit seeing as most of Kelly’s big offense were Gail’s failed attempts at her own big offense. Hopefully the tag match on Sunday will be halfway decent.
*1/2

The main event for the night is announced, and it will be Matt Hardy and R-Truth taking on Drew McIntyre and Eric Escobar.

A promo video showcases the Cena-Orton rivalry. And no Michael Cole, it is not one of the greatest rivalries of all time. Hell, it’s not even the best rivalry this year.

Match #2: Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov vs. Tommy Dreamer & Goldust
The big bad men of ECW are out first in their cute matching outfits. Dreamer has his left elbow wrapped up this week. Goldust and Jackson are going to start off the festivities. Jackson shoves Goldust around and mocks him. Goldust hits a couple of strikes and tags in Dreamer. A crossbody from Tommy knocks the big man down but only gets a one count. Goldust is in and starts getting pummeled in the corner with some big strikes. Jackson misses a charge and Goldust wrenches at the left arm. Dreamer is in and he hits a flying clothesline for a near fall. Jackson powers away with a scoop slam and in comes Kozlov. He misses an elbow and Goldust is back in the game. Dreamer is immediately tagged back in and some double team offense occurs with a drop toe hold followed by an elbow. Two count. Kozlov rams Dreamer into his own corner and tags in Jackson. They exchange strikes until Zeke hits a big splash in the corner. He keeps the attack on in the corner. Kozlov in. Belly-to-belly suplex connects for a one count. Abdominal submission hold applied. Dreamer tries to fight out but ends up getting hit with a scoop slam. Zeke is back in. He rams away at the lower back of Tommy. He hits a massive clothesline in the corner. Two count. Another submission hold applied. Dreamer gets out of it and bashes Zeke’s head into the turnbuckle. Goldust and Kozlov are both tagged in. Goldust hits a few strikes and a bulldog. He tries for the pin but Zeke pulls him off. Kozlov tries his finisher but Dreamer intervenes and stops that. Goldust takes advantage and faceplants Kozlov, and that’s enough for the three count!
Winners: Tommy Dreamer & Goldust

After the match, Zeke cleans house. They start hitting their finishers on both men.

Well considering that these men are supposed to be the dominant force on ECW, Kozlov got pinned pretty easily. Remember his glory days, which were about a year ago, when he was undefeated? Look at how the times have changed. Nothing to write home about in this match, since it seemed like they were in a time crunch to make something happen within five minutes. Now that is a result of too many promo videos.
**

The Bragging Rights card is run down, probably because of the SvR 2010 promotion they have on this PPV.

Surprisingly, a promo video is shown about the Miz-Morrison feud. While I’m not liking the amount of videos this week, this one comes as a breath of fresh air, which is exactly what the feud is.

Match #3: Matt Hardy & R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre & Eric Escobar (w/Vickie Guerrero)
Cole and King are out to announce this match with JR and Grisham both out this week. I love how they say McIntyre weighs 19 stone. McIntyre and Truth are going to start up the main event. Drew isn’t having it and he tags in Escobar before anything even goes down. Escobar fights out of a side headlock and connects with a powerful shoulder block. A nice exchange leads to a hip toss from Truth. Truth keeps it going with a hurricarana. He does his splits and what not and connects with a heel kick. One count. Hardy is tagged in, and he gets a nice pop for seeing his first action. Escobar rams Hardy’s head into the turnbuckle and tags in McIntyre. He works on the left arm while the crowd has a big Hardy chant going. Drew is brought over to the faces’ corner and in comes Truth. Both men dispose of McIntyre to the outside. While Escobar goes to check on him, Hardy and Truth hit a double dropkick through the ropes to knock the both of them down. Commercial time.

Escobar connects with multiple strikes in the corner on Truth. McIntyre get involved, and although Truth takes him down with a right hand, Escobar capitalizes to hit an armbreaker. Work continues on the left arm. Drew is in and he goes right to the same spot. (Enter generic left arm attack here.) Submission hold applied. He throws Truth back to the ground and tags in Escobar. Another left arm submission locked in. Truth counters out with a jawbreaker. Truth fails at a rollup and the left arm attack is back in full force. Third submission hold applied in the past two minutes. McIntyre is tagged back in. Truth tries to fight out but is brought to the ground. You can guess what happens next. A rollup from Truth gets a two count, and a double clothesline brings both men down. Hardy finally gets the hot tag. He hits the usual, with a few elbows thrown in. He hits a clothesline in the corner and a nice bulldog in the center of the ring. Two count. Hardy is looking Side Effect, but McIntyre elbows out. He runs into a big boot in the corner and is knocked down. Hardy goes to the second rope and hits an elbow to the back of the neck. Matt goes to the top and connects with a moonsault. Escobar has to jump in to break up the pinning attempt. Truth gets in and throws Escobar to the outside. He tries a suicide dive but misses and hits his shoulder on the floor. Escobar gets back into the ring. Hardy sees him and knocks him down with a strike. He tries a rollup on McIntyre but only gets two. Hardy wants the Twist of Fate but McIntyre pushes him away. Escobar is on the apron and gets a cheap shot in on Hardy. That allows McIntyre to hit his finisher and get the three count.
Winners: Drew McIntyre & Eric Escobar

Once again, nothing to write home about, but at this point in time McIntyre and Escobar got the win to help build their team at Bragging Rights. Of course now we know that won’t happen, but in that case it doesn’t help out Truth and Hardy, who haven’t exactly been winning lately. Things picked up a bit at the end and made the match somewhat better, but the very dull submission holds in between didn’t help things. Not a very good tag match, but compared to the other bouts tonight, it was the best.
**1/4

Superstars was just not that great this week. It was really bogged down by way too many videos about various things relating to Bragging Rights. The matches weren’t given enough time to develop and that is never a good thing. The occasional video can be just fine, but no one is going to enjoy an overload like that.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s Matt Hardy & R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre & Eric Escobar and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of C.

Smackdown is dominating, and all of the other brands are just laying at their feet!

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown               14
2. ECW                              4
3. Raw                               3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison      06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy      06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk      10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox      08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill      09//17/09
6. John Morrison vs Kane      07/23/09
7. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox      08/06/09
8. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith      08/13/09
9. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty      10/08/09
10. CM Punk vs. Edge      07/02/09

Later.

On another note, I’m actually looking forward to watching BFG on Sunday. Usually I don’t watch the TNA PPVs live; I’ll either catch the results on this website or watch some of the show the next day. This time around, I will do my best to watch it live. Going over the card, there are a number of matches I’m looking forward to: AJ vs. Sting, Lashley vs. Joe, Foley vs. Abyss, and the Tag title match (minus Steiner and Booker) are some I can think of. I guess the Abyss vs. Foley match is just me getting a lack of blood from WWE. Yea it sounds evil or what not but blood is my main motive for watching that match. Even if it’s crappy, the blood will flow.

Well that’s enough of that. Now, it’s time for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars!!

Cole and King welcome us to the show and set up the main event of the show: John Morrison vs. CM Punk. Now there is something I’m looking forward to!

Match #1: Mark Henry vs. Chris Masters
Speaking of main events, remember when these two had the main event of Superstars a few weeks back? Now think a little harder. What do you remember? Well when I think back, the only thing I can remember is how damn boring it was. Oh well. They’re back at it again, and this time it’s a Bragging Rights qualifying match. The winner becomes the 7th member of Team Raw. They lock up, which is less convincing than two walruses going at it. Masters poses, and Henry shows him why he is the WSM. Shoulder block knocks Masters to the ground. Another shoulder block finds its mark and Masters slides out. He gets back in the ring and starts firing punches. He tries to whip Henry into the corner but ends up getting clotheslined. One count. Henry applies a nerve hold. Masters is able to slide over and get his foot on the ropes. Masters tries a rollup on the big man but ends up getting sit on. At this point, the Masterpiece has about three total brain cells. Henry steps on Masters, using the ropes for more leverage. Masters is out of the ring again, and Henry follows him. He tries a powerslam, but Masters slithers out and pushes Mark into the ring post. Henry is hurting on the outside as we go to commercial.

Masters is stuck in a bear hug in the middle of the ring. Masters gets out of it and hits a dropkick on the taped up left knee of Henry. He hits an axe handle from the second rope and a chop block. Two count. Chris wants the Masterlock. Please, someone tell him that won’t work. Oh damn, it’s too late. He finally gives up and goes back to kicking away at the left knee. Submission hold applied. He pulls Henry over towards the ropes and jumps on the left knee. He wants to try the Figure Four but gets shoved away. Henry builds momentum with a couple of clotheslines and a headbutt. He tries for the World’s Strongest Slam but can’t do it. Masters goes off the ropes for a crossbody but gets caught. Henry connects with the WSS on the second attempt and gets the victory.
Winner: Mark Henry

In order to enjoy this match, you must go into it with very low expectations. I definitely did not enjoy it and will not enjoy any encounter these two have. I have never been impressed with the work of Masters; he is just so boring and formulaic in his move set. Henry can work decent as a big man, but it doesn’t work with a guy like Masters.
*1/2

Uh oh, it’s Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson making their way to the ring for our next contest.

Match #2: Vladimir Kozlov vs. Tommy Dreamer
So around this time last year, Kozlov was in contention for the WWE Title. What a joke! Dreamer gets a nice pop from the crowd, and the new announcer for ECW isn’t too bad either. Kozlov gets the early upper hand and does a little yelling in Russian. They push towards the corner, and while the ref breaks things up, Dreamer pushes Kozlov away. Big bad Vladimir doesn’t like that. Dreamer connects with some punches and an elbow but runs into a Kozlov shoulder block. Dreamer hits a kick and a crossbody for a one count. Kozlov charges but goes over the top rope and to the outside. Tommy connects with a sliding dropkick. He goes for an axe handle from the apron, but he ends up hitting the announcer’s table after Kozlov avoids the jump. They’re back in the ring and Kozlov starts the attack on Tommy’s left arm, which was injured on the attempted axe handle. Submission hold applied. Striker’s going on about fluid in the elbow or something. I’m glad that he’s explaining stuff, but honestly, classes just ended for me for the week so I’m not in a thinking mood. Inside cradle from Dreamer gets two. Kozlov regains control by targeting the arm once again. More submission holds to torture Dreamer. Scoop slam connects, but big elbow doesn’t. Kozlov goes shoulder first into the ring post as Striker’s voice cracks like a 14-year old boy. Dreamer hits a running knee and a flying clothesline from the second rope. Dropkick to the face connects and gets a two count. Tommy hits a neckbreaker off the ropes. He tries to go to the top rope but Ezekiel Jackson injures the arm some more. Kozlov connects with a headlock and his Rock Bottom like finisher for the three.
Winner: Vladimir Kozlov

After the match, Ezekiel gets in the ring and hits his own finisher.

Kozlov seems to have gotten a little better in the ring, but the attack on the left elbow was a dull and boring. Dreamer did what he could to make the match a little more fast paced. He did look legitimately hurt with that left elbow though.
**1/4

A promo video is shown for Batista’s upcoming DVD, and another is shown about Jack Swagger.

Another video is shown recapping the Cena/Orton feud and looking at their upcoming Iron Man match.

Match #3: John Morrison vs. CM Punk
JR is not joining Grisham on commentary this week, so it seems the Miz will be taking his place. He is sure to be very interested in this match and John Morrison especially. The two of them should have a very good match at Bragging Rights. The Miz continues to run down Morrison as we go to commercial.

Punk is out after the break to a chorus of boos. Morrison gains the early advantage with a side headlock. He knocks down Punk with a shoulder block and goes right back to the headlock. Miz is talking about facing John Cena, but he’s failing to mention that he got completely buried. Punk gains control with a knee and a kick to the gut but runs into a flapjack. He hits the standing SSP for a two count. Morrison goes right back to the headlock. Punk gets out of it with a back suplex. Two count. He hits some elbows and locks in a neck submission hold. Morrison connects with a boot but runs into a big time snap powerslam. Two count. Punk tosses Morrison to the outside. Commercial time.

Punk is in control with a submission hold in the middle of the ring. A replay is shown of Punk connecting with a painful chest-first suplex on the steel steps. Morrison elbows out. He tries a big elbow but Punk gets his knees up. Two count. He tries again and gets another two count. Punk drops Morrison chest first to the canvas and dropkicks him to the outside. Punk tries a suplex but Morrison counters with a rollup that gets a two count. Punk regains momentum with a knee. Another near fall. Abdominal stretch locked in. Morrison fights out with a hip toss. Punk charges and goes shoulder-first into the ring post. Morrison hits a flurry of punches to build momentum. He hits a clothesline and a heelkick. Near fall. Wow, Morrison avoids a kick by hitting a standing heelkick in one motion. Much of the crowd didn’t see that because of the view but that was an insane spot. It gets another two count. Morrison tries a suplex, but Punk counters into a faceplant suplex. Another great spot! And another near fall. Punk hits the running knee in the corner but Morrison throws Punk off before he can connect with the bulldog. Morrison hits a big knee to the seated Punk and gets a long two count. He hits a scoop slam to set up for Starship Pain. Punk gets up and counters it, and now Morrison is seated on the top turnbuckle. He tries a back suplex but Morrison is able to fight out and knock Punk back to the ground. The Miz, however, gets in the ring and attacks the prone Punk.
Winner: CM Punk (via outside interference)

After the match, Morrison hits the Flying Chuck on Punk with the Miz looking on from the ramp. Now the Miz looks a bit worried.

Going into this match, it was pretty obvious that there would not be a clean ending. With Morrison being the IC champ and Punk being involved in the WHC title hunt, a loss for either of them would have completely killed momentum. Knowing this, the match was just excellent, one of the best I’ve seen on the show. It seems like Morrison is always involved in the better matches of the show. He is definitely on the right path to becoming a world champion. Punk is now established as one of the top workers in the company and he showed why here. A couple of the spots in this match were just great and the bout as a whole was excellent. This is something I would like to cover every single week
***1/4

Basically this week’s show consisted of one excellent match and two below average ones. Mark Henry and Chris Masters will never be able to put a decent match together, and I think the WWE should stop trying. Kozlov and Dreamer was okay, as Dreamer tried to speed things up. However, spots in the bout were just too slow. Morrison and Punk was obviously going to be a good match, and they were able to deliver and incorporate some innovative spots. It’s one of those combos that I would never get tired of watching.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s John Morrison vs. CM Punk and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of B+.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 13
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison      06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy       06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk      10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox      08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill      09//17/09
6. John Morrison vs Kane      07/23/09
7. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox      08/06/09
8. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith      08/13/09
9. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty      10/08/09
10. CM Punk vs. Edge      07/02/09

Later.

WHC HIAC Match: The Undertaker def. CM Punk
I figured that the show would start off with a HIAC match, but I figured it would be DX vs. Legacy. I was really hoping this would go last and be given plenty of time. I’m giving this a much higher rating than most people might expect. That is because Punk and Taker did an awesome job given the circumstances. They were asked to go out and deliver a decent HIAC match, in the PG era, with only 12 minutes or so to do it in. Honestly, you will be hard pressed to find something that will deliver under those same circumstances. These two did all they could in 11 minutes and that was pretty damn good. I wish Punk would have won to really build him up, but beating the Undertaker in his home is something that Punk will have to wait another day for.
****

IC Title: John Morrison def. Dolph Ziggler
The only knock I have on this match is the slow pace it started with. It would have been better if that lasted 2 or 3 minutes, not 6. But after that, the buildup was great and the match was more than solid. It was hard for the crowd to get into it because of the slow start, but once things really picked up, so did the fans. Ziggler is so damn close to getting that title and I think in another showdown with Morrison in the near future it will happen.
***3/4

Divas Championship: Mickie James def. Alicia Fox
That DDT must have hurt like hell.
*

Unified Tag Team Titles: Jeri-Show def. Batista & Rey Mysterio
Now this was a really fun match. From beginning to end, the work rate in this one was above par. Mysterio and Jericho are always golden in the ring, and the slap Big Show delivered to Rey on the top row was VICIOUS. I could hear it loud and clear from the upper deck! The spear on the outside from Batista was pretty cool, and the ending was really well done. It looks like Jeri-Show is moving on to face DX, but I would love to see these two teams go at it again.
***3/4

WWE Championship HIAC Match: Randy Orton def. John Cena
I watched this match the day after for a couple of reasons. 1) I wanted to see if the crowd succeeded in giving Cena a majority of boos, and I gotta say we did pretty well. 2) I just needed to see it again to formulate a proper opinion about it. One knock I have about this match is that they used the cell barely twice. This was basically just a glorified no DQ match. I’m also starting not to like Orton’s methodical style, since now he takes about 2 minutes in between each move. However, I do think they put on a solid match with a surprising ending. I thought it was over at the first AA, but Orton kicked out of that. And then the choke out and punt at the end got a big reaction from the crowd. Out of their past 3 PPV matches, this has been the best. Does that mean I want to see them go at it for 60 minutes at Bragging Rights? I wouldn’t want to see them in the ring for 30, much less double that.
***1/2

Drew McIntyre def. R-Truth
Yawn.
*1/2

U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston def. Jack Swagger & The Miz
This match should have been given a couple more minutes to develop. While it seemed a bit awkward at times, there a couple of cool spots that made for a nice little match. The spot where Swagger tried to get Kofi’s foot on the ropes was a bit botched, but still an interesting idea. I was surprised Kofi won, and even more surprised that he lost the title the next day.
**1/2

Tag Team HIAC Match: DX def. The Legacy
This is another match that I watched the day before, and watching it on TV and being able to hear everything that was going on made it that much better. In my opinion, this was the match of the night, as it told a great story. I expected HHH to do something a little more dramatic, like pop out from under the ring or something. But still, it was as brutal as a HIAC match is going to get these days, and HBK got the ever-living shit kicked out of him. Even in defeat, Legacy came out of it looking very strong, and the crowd was sent home on a good note.
****1/4

I feel like this past PPV was one of the more solid efforts WWE has put forth in recent months. The show definitely suffered from a lack of blood, but in this new PG era, that was a pretty good three hours.

Now it’s time for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars!!

Cole and King welcome us to the show and immediately hype the main event, which sees Cryme Tyme taking on The Hart Dynasty. This feud has been centered on only Thursday nights lately and should be a solid match.

Match #1: Ted DiBiase vs. Evan Bourne
Ted is out first sporting a wonderful looking black eye. The crowd boos the hell out of him as he gets in the ring with a mic. He says he’s dedicating this match to Cody. He wants the crowd to join him in a moment of silence, but they’re not buying it. Evan Bourne is out to face him after Ted thanks the crowd for basically nothing. Ted starts off the match by punching and stomping away at Evan in the corner. The ref backs him up and gives him an earful. He doesn’t really care, as he gets right back on the attack. Ted hits an elbow and Evan sells it like he just got hit with a Tombstone. Evan tries a crucifix pin but ends up getting slammed down. Two count. Evan hits some kicks to the legs and another to the face to knock DiBiase to the outside. Bourne connects with a splash from the top rope. Evan tries a hurricarana from the apron, but DiBiase catches him and slams him into the security wall. Bourne is out cold on the outside as we go to commercial.

Bourne is stuck in a neck submission hold in the middle of the ring. Ted beats down on Evan in the corner again. Evan tries a hip toss but DiBiase throws him down and kicks him in the face. He hits another punch to the face and Borne is being pummeled. A hard Irish whip brings Bourne to his knees again. Ted hits a flurry of elbows as he has been showing a more aggressive side in this match. DiBiase slowly gets Evan to his feet and hits a standing dropkick. Bourne tries to build some offense with his feet but ends up running into a ridiculous clothesline which flipped him onto his chest. Bourne kicks out at two and a half. Neck submission hold applied. Evan fights out and hits a spinning kick from the second rope. Bourne has momentum now, hitting some strikes and a hurricarana. He hits a clothesline and tries pulling Ted into position for the SSP. Ted stops him but Bourne hits a knee to the face. He goes for another kick but DiBiase ducks and counters with Dream Street for the three count.

Winner: Ted DiBiase

This was a very good opening match that showed two young stars go at it. There was some pretty nice offense thrown in, from the splash on the outside to the ridiculous clothesline. DiBiase showed his aggressive side after the vicious match with DX and the loss of Cody for the time being. Evan had trouble building offense, but when he did, he was able to use his kicks and high flying style well. Expect to see these two go at it again in the future.
**3/4

Why do I even mention the Ask the Divas segments anymore? Oh well.

Shelton Benjamin is shown making his way to the ring, sporting some tape on his left shoulder to sell the beating he took from Sheamus.

Match #2: Sheamus vs. Shelton Benjamin
The Celtic Warrior makes his way down to the ring first. This should be a decent match from this feud over on ECW. A video is shown of the sneak attack on Shelton. He makes his way down to the ring, hardly taking his eyes off of Sheamus. He tries to right to work on Shelton’s injured shoulder but they immediately break apart. Sheamus is able to gain early control and start wrenching at the shoulder. Shelton fights out and hits an elbow in the corner. Sheamus rolls out and Shelton follows him. Sheamus is able to ram Shelton’s injured shoulder against the ring post. They get back in the ring and Shelton goes shoulder first into the ring post for the second time. And a third time. Two count. Sheamus now can focus his attack, stomping away at the shoulder. Sheamus hits an elbow and applies an armbar type submission hold. Shelton fights out and tries a t-bone suplex, but ends up eating an armbar DDT. Sheamus rips the tape off of Shelton’s shoulder. He uses the ropes to further the pain. Sheamus punches away at a defenseless Shelton. Another submission hold applied. Shelton is able to reach the ropes. Sheamus continues to pummel the shoulder while Shelton is still at the ropes. It’s the ref’s time of the month, so he counts to five pretty quickly and calls for the bell.

Winner: Shelton Benjamin (via DQ)

After the match Shelton gets the customary ass whipping.

Most of this match focused on the left shoulder, and while the DQ continues their feud, it was done in a really stupid way. Whatever happened to hitting a guy with a chair? How about have Sheamus grab the chair and beat the holy hell out of Shelton’s shoulder with it. Now that would be a legit DQ.
**

Josh Mathews is backstage with the Hart Dynasty, asking them their thoughts on facing Cryme Tyme. Natalya talks first and says that their family is defined by their heart (get it, heart, hart, haha hysterical stuff). David Hart Smith does a wonderful impersonation of Cryme Tyme, breaking out the yo yo yos. Kidd wants to know wtf is up with Smith. He talks about the dungeon and says they’re the best because of it. Kidd says they have the will to survive, and Cryme Tyme needs to be executed. Natalya wants the Dynasty to prove they are better than the Hart Foundation.

Match #3: Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty
Shad and JTG are out first, accompanied by the lovely Eve. The Hart Dynasty makes its stoic entrance and it’s main event time on WWE Superstars. JTG and Kidd will start things off. Kidd gets early control with a side headlock. He does a little mocking of JTG, who isn’t impressed. JTG connects with a hip toss and an arm drag, which leads right into the armbar. Shad is tagged in, but Kidd scrambles away to tag in Smith. Shad hits a flurry of strikes but runs into knees in the corner from Smith. He takes control with a facebuster and some kicks to the gut. Kidd is tagged in and they try some double team offense. Shad looks for a double clothesline but only connects on Smith. Kidd tries to take advantage but ends up getting tossed to the outside. Shad goes to the apron and this time he connects with a double clothesline to the outside. Shad is pumped up as we head to commercial.

JTG and Kidd are going at it on the other side of the commercial. Smith is tagged in and he stomps away at JTG, gaining momentum. JTG fights back with a dropkick in the corner. He hits a shoulder block through the ropes, and with the ref distracted, Kidd dropkicks JTG into the ring post. Smith goes to the outside and rams JTG’s back into the side of the ring. They get back in the ring and Smith powers JTG back first into the turnbuckle. The attack on JTG’s back continues with a submission hold. JTG tries to fight out but ends up getting squash with an excellently executed belly-to-belly suplex. Smith is looking for a piledriver or a powerbomb but ends up getting backdropped. JTG tries to get to Shad but can’t, and he ends up hitting a very nice clothesline. Kidd is tagged in and so is Shad. He hits a couple of clotheslines and a big time shoulder block. Back suplex facebuster connects for a two count. Kidd is trying a crucifix pin but can’t pull the big man down. Smith connects with a big boot to Shad’s face and knocks him down for the pin. Two count. Smith is tagged in. They try a some double teaming, but Kidd is pulled to the outside. Kidd and JTG connect with a double clothesline on the outside while Shad is planted by a spinebuster from Smith in the ring. Natalya is on the apron getting into it with the ref while Smith tries to lock in the sharpshooter. Shad pushes him off. Smith tries a move off the ropes but Eve grabs his leg. Shad capitalizes on the distraction and hits Thugnificent for the victory.

Winners: Cryme Tyme

There is a reason that these two teams have a pretty long feud going; they continue to put on quality match after quality match. They proved again tonight that they can do just that. Although we’ve seen them go at it a few times, both teams were able to incorporate some new and innovative offense into their strategies. Many of the spots in this match were planned out very well, and Cryme Tyme was able to pick up the win with a bit of help.
***

Two very good matches and one okay bout are enough to make this week’s episode a good one. I was impressed with the opening match between DiBiase and Bourne, as Ted showed a more aggressive side while Evan was able to get some high flying offense in. I wish Sheamus and Shelton could have had more time and had a legit ending, as I am sure they could put on great matches when given the opportunity. The main event was a very good tag team match between two teams with plenty of history.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of A-.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 12
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison          06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy          06/25/09
3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox          08/27/09
4. Christian vs. Paul Burchill          09/17/09
5. John Morrison vs. Kane          07/23/09
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox          08/06/09
7. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith          08/13/09
8. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty          10/08/09
9. CM Punk vs. Edge          07/02/09
10. Christian, Carlito & Primo vs. The Hart Dynasty & Jack Swagger          06/18/09

Later.

Divas Championship: Mickie James(c) vs. Alicia Fox
Alicia has looked impressive in her outings over on Raw for the past couple of months, and creative has picked up on that fact. With Mickie’s screw-up against Gail Kim back a few weeks ago, I figured it was a very short time before she lost the title. However, she took Beth Phoenix down on Raw a week later and continues to hold the title. While Alicia has made plenty of progress in a short period of time, but I see Mickie retaining the title and possibly continuing this program for the next few weeks.
My Prediction: Mickie James

U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston(c) vs. Jack Swagger vs. The Miz
I am somewhat on the fence about the way this feud has been played out with the trading off of the belt recently. The big question here is: How long can Kofi continue to win matches that are stacked against him? He’s been winning triple-threats, fatal four-ways and even a six pack challenge. On Sunday, his reign will come to an end. Who is going to be the guy to beat him? I say it’ll be The Miz, although his finisher is kinda retarded.
My Prediction: The Miz

Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
This is another match on the card with two up and coming stars that should prove to be a solid bout. You can’t help but be impressed with Morrison, especially after his WHC match against Hardy and his acquisition of the IC title from Mysterio. Ziggler has also worked very well with Rey and has been on the brink of this title for a long time. I say he finally wins it, since I feel that the reason this match did not happen at Breaking Point was because they did not want to take the belt off of Morrison too soon. Just like I see a change in the U.S. title picture, I see one here too.
My Prediction: Dolph Ziggler

Unified Tag Team Titles: Jeri-Show(c) vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio
A good thing about having Batista in this match is that he isn’t in the WHC picture. At the moment. Although Mysterio was just suspended, he is still one of the top faces in the company and somebody that WWE really wants to push at the top of Smackdown. Jericho and Big Show have been putting on quality matches at every PPV and helping to bring back the tag team division. I see them continuing with these belts for the foreseeable future, since I still see them losing the titles to DX in a couple of months. Look for limited action from Batista, since the company doesn’t want to lose him so quickly again.
My Prediction: Jeri-Show

Tag Team HIAC Match: DX vs. Legacy
This match would be the answer to the question: What is the best feud on Raw right now? Putting Legacy over at Breaking Point has really given this feud some steam and it has been done awfully well. Now it is a question of whether or not DX will take the next step and lose to Legacy inside the cell. I had a hard time seeing them lose at Breaking Point, but I went with my gut feeling in Legacy and got it correct. This time I’m even more doubtful of a Legacy victory. With this being the apparent end of the feud and with all the history that HHH and HBK have in the cell, I see a DX victory in an excellent match.
My Prediction: DX

WWE Championship HIAC Match: John Cena(c) vs. Randy Orton
I’m going to this PPV with my two little brothers; one is 13 and the other is 7. My 13-year old brother and I have been giving the 7-year old plenty of crap about John Cena, since both of us would love to see him be thrown off the top of the cell or something. My 7-year old bro is a prime example of the fan base that Cena thrives off of. With the PG ratings these days, it seems that nothing will stop him from overcoming the odds. This is Cena’s first HIAC match. So what? He will still retain.
My Prediction: John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship HIAC Match: CM Punk(c) vs. The Undertaker
Surprisingly, the build for this feud hasn’t been as great as it could be. The whole kidnapping of Teddy Long was just something that didn’t go over well. McMahon keeps popping up on Smackdown and making it seem like he is behind the whole Screwjob issue. I’m not too thrilled with the prospect of that either. The good part about this feud is the promo ability of both superstars. When these two talk, you listen. If Undertaker puts someone over in HIAC, you know they’re going to be a big deal. I see Punk going over on Sunday.
My Prediction: CM Punk

So there you have it, my predictions for this Sunday’s PPV. Now, it’s time for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars!!

Match #1: Shad vs. Tyson Kidd

The pyros explode and deafen most in the arena as the Smackdown announce team welcomes us to this week’s edition of WWE Superstars. Cryme Tyme plus Eve is out first, drawing more boos than cheers. I guess that’s just what happens when you go to Boston and say you are from Brooklyn. They do their usual dancing around and what not until the Hart Dynasty makes its appearance. Kidd wants to use his agility to offset the power of Shad. Kidd starts the match by avoiding a couple of strikes and getting in some quick kicks, but quickly finds his way towards the ropes when Shad makes any kind of advance. Shad finally gets to him and throws Tyson off from a headlock. He hits a shoulder block and tosses Kidd 75% of the way across the ring. He connects with a clothesline in the corner and throws Kidd chest first to the ground, which looked more like a slam dunk. Near fall. Kidd avoids a charge in the corner and takes Shad down by the knee. He then tries going to work on Shad’s left leg. Action spills to the outside. Shad throws Kidd’s head onto the side of the apron. He tries a big boot but ends up kicking the steel post when Tyson gets out of the way. Kidd found his advantage and starts a vicious assault on the left leg/knee. He stomps away and locks in some submission holds with the steel post, making Shad scream like a sissy girl. JTG and David Hart Smith start getting into it on the outside after a shove from Kidd. They stare down and argue with each other as we go to commercial.

We’re back with Kidd still going to town on Shad’s left knee. Shad is selling harder than Evan Bourne right now. Shad uses his leg strength to propel Kidd out of the ring. Kidd slides back in and hits a dropkick to the knee. Shad is able to get up and hit a big clothesline to buy some time. He hits two more clotheslines and a backdrop. He slams Kidd down on his chest again. Kidd gets his foot on the rope before the three count. Tyson slingshots Shad’s neck off the top rope. He tries a springboard but gets caught in Shad’s finisher, which I think Grisham said is called Thugnificent, for the three count.

Winner: Shad

This was a decent opener between two tag teams that have been feuding for awhile. I felt like Shad really oversold his knee during the course of the assault by Kidd. There were some innovative moves from both wrestlers, but for the most part it was a decent formulaic match.
**

Ask the Divas segment still equals a fast forward for me. If you’re offended in any way and want me to review this, leave a comment or something and I SWEAR I’ll watch it.

Sheamus is shown backstage strolling confidently to the ring.

Match #2: Sheamus vs. Tyler Reks

The Celtic Warrior got about a ten times better reaction than Tyler did. That’s a bit pathetic considering who the face is in this match. The difference in skin tones between the surfer and the man from Ireland is awesome. They exchange headlocks and armbars before the ref breaks it up. Same thing happens. They shove each other, stare each other down, and the crowd seems to not care. Sheamus bitchslaps Tyler, and now the crowd was turned their attention towards the match a bit. Tyler punches away and hits an armdrag followed by a dropkick. Sheamus rolls out of the ring to regain his composure. He slowly gets back in and takes advantage with a couple of kicks. He connects with a big kick to the chest and punches away at Reks’ forehead. Gutbuster connects and gets a two count. Innovative neck submission hold applied. This hold is oing on for a long time. At least a minute. Finally Sheamus breaks it and hits a knee. He hits shoulder block in the corner. Reks tries a rollup but fails. Sheamus tries and an elbow, and guess what? FAIL. Reks hits pele kicks to the forehead of Sheamus. Reks is building momentum with elbows and such. He screams at the crowd and an estimated six people respons. He hits a big surfer-like elbow and gets a near fall. Sheamus connects with a vicious bicycle kick and that’s all she wrote.

Winner: Sheamus

The crowd was totally dead for this match, which is usually a sign that it wasn’t that good. In all honesty, it wasn’t terrible, but I never really got into it. Tyler is just not getting over as a face, and he is beginning to look retarded when he desperately tries to get a crowd reaction. I see much more promise for Sheamus rather than Reks.
*1/2

Promo video = Randy Orton

Cole just called Orton-Cena one of the most intense rivalries in WWE history. Wow, I laughed a lot at that. But anyway, they show a video looking at this LEGENDARY feud. I do like the music they used though, which is apparently the theme song for HIAC.

We get a recap of some of the matches we will see this Sunday.

Match #3: The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

It’s main event time on WWE Superstars as The Miz makes his entrance. He panders to the crowd as we hit a commercial.

Miz is just chilling in the corner as Kofi makes his way down the ramp. This should be a good preview of the triple-threat match in three days. They start things off with the Miz getting an early advantage on a shoulder block. Stare down ensues. They lock up again with some armbars following. Kofi uses a leg sweep to try and get a quick pin but only gets a one count. He goes right back to the headlock. Miz runs into a boot in the corner and Kofi connects with a strike from the second rope. One count. Another headlock applied. Miz punches out and the ref has to drag him away from the corner. He hits his patented clothesline in the corner. Miz goes to the top rope but gets hit with a forearm to the gut. Two count. Kofi, for the fourth time, decides a headlock is the best way to go. Kofi tries another pin and gets one. Hey, let’s play a game. Guess what Kofi’s next move is……..well if you guessed a headlock, you were right! Eventually Kofi hits a couple of shoulder blocks and a flying clothesline. He kicks Miz out of the ring. Kofi wants to try a suicide dive but Miz runs down the ramp. They stare a bit as we go to our last commercial.

Kofi hits a hip toss and an elbow on the other side of the commercial. The Miz gets the momentum in his favor by getting to Kofi’s right knee. That’s where he is centering his attack now. He lets Kofi get up and then kicks him right back down. He continues the assault on the right knee. Submission hold applied. Kofi finally avoids a strike and locks in a choke hold. Miz is able to counter out with another move targeting the knee. Miz is using the ropes to his advantage as the ref acts pissed off. After a third try, Kofi uses his good leg to propel the Miz out of the ring. Miz grabs Kofi’s leg and slams it against the apron and across the ring post. Wow, this ref is really pissed off! They’re back in the ring, with a near fall on Kofi. Kingston tries a rollup and gets a two count. Miz runs Kofi over with a big boot to the face. Two count. Kofi propels Miz into the ring post and tries a rollup. Two count. Kofi hits some strikes and chops. He misses a clothesline and Miz gains control with a chop block. He locks in a half Boston crab. Kofi is able to get to the ropes. Kofi throws Miz off the ropes and hits Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere for the victory.

Winner: Kofi Kingston

After the match, Swagger hits the ring and assaults Kofi. He turns to Miz and demolishes him to. He throws the belt on Kofi as he poses confidently in the ring to end the show.

This match was pretty decent, although it was pretty repetitive in the beginning. It will be interesting to see if Kofi will sell that leg at the PPV. Miz was in control for most of the match but Kofi hit a very nice Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere. The Miz came up on the wrong end in general, as he lost the match to Kofi and then got beaten on some more by Swagger.
**1/2

This week’s episode of Superstars was just okay. The first match between Shad and Kidd was decent, while the ECW match wasn’t too great. It is very difficult to have a good match when the fans just really don’t give a crap. The main event was a solid match, and Swagger’s interruption provided some decent build towards the PPV.

The match of the night was Raw’s Miz vs. Kofi Kingston and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of C+.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 11
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison 06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy 06/25/09
3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox 08/27/09
4. Christian vs. Paul Burchill 09/17/09
5. John Morrison vs. Kane 07/23/09
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox 08/06/09
7. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith 08/13/09
8. CM Punk vs. Edge 07/02/09
9. Christian, Carlito & Primo vs. The Hart Dynasty & Jack Swagger 06/18/09
10. Sheamus vs. Goldust 08/13/09

Later.

On the other hand, I agree with the decision made to team up Batista and Mysterio to battle for the tag titles. This is a much better way to get Batista back into things without clogging up the WHC. Although Mysterio has had some suspension issues, he is still one of the best wrestlers in the business and I expect him to step up for this team. I’m not so sure if they will be able to take down Jeri-Show, but they are sure as hell going to give them a run for their money.

Tests have been going on this week, so I only got around to watching the first of six Superstars episodes that occurred before I started writing here on WNW. The opening show was good, but none of the matches were good enough for the top ten list. Hopefully I can get enough time to watch those in the coming week.

But now, it’s time for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars!

Match #1: Chris Masters vs. Primo

Oh joy. It’s Chris Masters. Again. They obviously can’t find anything good for him to do, considering he’s been on Superstars three of the past four weeks. Him being here almost ensures that Raw will not have match of the night. Maybe he can impress me a little bit more here when he takes on Primo. The bell rings and we’re underway. Masters starts with the power game and his VINTAGE STOMPS to the back of Primo. Primo connects with a dropkick to the leg and another to the face to get Masters down. One count. Primo continues the offense with an elbow in the corner and a hurricarana from the second rope. Masters regains control with one of his clotheslines. Two count. Masters uses the second rope to try and choke Primo out. Another two count occurs. Masters turns a backbreaker into an abdominal stretch. Primo knees his way out of it. Masters keeps up the offense with a power slam. Near fall. He tries another cover and gets two again (of course.) Masters, in total control, poses for the crowd. He misses a leg drop. Primo hits a bunch of strikes but the offensive flurry stops after a hard Irish whip. Chris wants the Masterlock. Primo avoids it with a kick and a knee. He knocks Masters down with two clotheslines and a flying elbow. He connects with a dropkick from the top rope. Long two count. Primo tries a springboard crossbody but gets caught. Masters almost gets the Masterlock on, but Primo slithers out into a rollup and gets the three count and the victory.

Winner: Primo

This Chris Masters match didn’t bore me as much as it usually does. That doesn’t exactly make it a classic. Primo did what he could to make his fast-paced offense work against the Masterpiece. It was a quick match that was okay for what it was. After seeing him all this time, I feel like the Masters pickup was just a waste. He spends most of his time here on Superstars putting on the same dull matches all the time. Either have him fix things up or just release him.          *3/4

Match #2: Goldust vs. William Regal

Shattered Dreams Productions welcomes us to the ECW portion of the show with the entrance of Goldust. He is undressing in the ring as Regal’s music hits. His red cronies accompany him of course. Regal starts the match in technical fashion by working on the left arm. Goldust reverses, drops a leg on Regal’s arm, and William quickly scampers away. Regal didn’t like that. He gets right back to the left arm and mocks the crowd. Goldust hits a shoulder block but ends up being tossed to the outside. He quickly gets in and runs right into a boot. Regal has some more surprises for Goldust’s left arm. Submission hold applied. Goldust builds a tiny bit of momentum but it is immediately squashed. The theme of the match continues with some left arm pains. Goldust hits a sick uppercut to buy some time. They exchange some strikes with Goldust coming out on top. He hits a couple of clotheslines and an inverted atomic drop. Bulldog connects. He hits a quick power slam and gets a near fall. Regal tosses Goldust to the ropes, Ezekiel whacks him in the face, and the ref calls for the bell.

Winner: Goldust (via DQ)

After the match, all three are in the ring and keep the beatdown going. Yoshi, Christian, and Dreamer hit the ring and clear out.

This was short and not that great. Most of the match focused on Goldusts’ left arm. The rest was a puny momentum builder and a DQ finish to build Regal-Christian some more. Not much to write home about.          *1/2

Match #3: Michelle McCool & Layla vs. Maria & Melina

McCool is not looking good with that knee injury. If that’s an act, she is doing it pretty damn good. The crowd pops for Maria, not really caring about her involvement with Ziggler. I mean, I really don’t. Melina gets a nice pop following her out. McCool and Melina are going to start things off. McCool throws Melina to the ground and gets a quick one count. Michelle connects with a bulldog but Melina turns the tables with a hurricarana-like bulldog. Melina hits a dropkick and Michelle quickly scrambles over to tag Layla. Melina avoids Layla’s charge matrix style, knocks her down, and tags in Maria. She continues the offense with a neckbreaker for a two count. Michelle distracts Maria and allows Layla to hit a neckbreaker of her own. Two count. Michelle is tagged in. She gets in some more offense and another near fall. She repeatedly slams Maria’s head into the floor. She applies some chokeholds with help from the ropes. Layla is back in now. She locks in a neck submission hold in the center of the ring. Maria gets out of it with a jawbreaker. She tries to get a tag but Layla throws her down to the mat and disposes of Melina on the outside. Michelle gets in the ring and hits a big boot on Maria while the ref is distracted. Layla turns around and gets the three count for the win.

Winners: Michelle McCool & Layla

If Michelle’s knee is really hurting her as much as it looks, maybe it is better she doesn’t compete. She didn’t seem to have a problem, however, being able to connect with a big kick to Maria’s jaw. This was just a typical divas match used to give Michelle back some momentum that she lost with her defeat to Melina on Smackdown.          *1/4

An ask the divas segment is followed by a Smackdown Rebound featuring The Undertaker capturing Teddy.

Match #4: Matt Hardy vs. Kane

Hardy makes his way to the ring to what looks like one screaming fan. Commercial time.

Kane’s here on the other side. It’s nice to see him face someone other than Khali. Hardy avoids a big strike in the corner to start off the match. Matt gets a couple of punches in but Kane pushes him away. Hardy whips Kane’s left arm off the top rope. Matt drops an axe handle on the left shoulder to keep the pressure on. He continues work on the same spot. Kane powers out of things with a shoulder block. Kane starts his work with strikes and knees in the corner. He connects with a dropkick on the seated Hardy. Kane continues to work as we hit another quick commercial.

Hardy goes for a move from the second rope but gets stopped for a chokeslam attempt by the Big Red Monster. Hardy gets out of it but then ends up running into a big boot. Kane continues to use the ropes to choke away at Matt. Hard Irish whip knocks Hardy to the canvas. Submission hold applied. Kane locks in a bear hug. Hardy tries to fight out but gets rammed into the turnbuckle. Kane connects with a sidewalk slam for a near fall. He gets another bear hug applied. Hardy gets out of it and hits some strikes. Kane tries a power slam but Hardy gets away and tries a chop block. Hardy hits a couple of clotheslines and tries a bulldog, but is thrown away. Hardy hits a boot in the corner and succeeds with a bulldog from the second rope. One count. Hardy hits an elbow to the back of the neck and gets another one count. Matt can’t get Kane up for the Side Effect. After some tussling, Hardy connects with a DDT. Two count. Hardy tries for the Twist of Fate, but Kane lifts him and drops him on the top rope, causing Hardy to win for his manhood back. The ref is pissed. Kane does it again and the ref calls for the bell?

Winner: Matt Hardy (via DQ)

Kane hits some more strikes after the bell rings. He picks up Hardy and connects with a chokeslam.

Well that was one really pathetic way to get a disqualification. Honestly Kane, hit him with a chair or something! The match itself was nothing spectacular, but the ending in my mind was just plain stupid. Sometimes WWE just bends the rules whenever they feel it is necessary. It reminds me of the time Jericho got DQ’ed from a Fatal Four Way match for using a chair. Since when are there DQ’s in those types of matches? This was just a bad ending to a semi-decent match. I was more relieved that anything to see Kane not fighting Khali. Really, a tree would be more entertaining.          **

This week’s episode was not very good. Masters continues to have me longing for a pillow and some nap time. Regal-Goldust didn’t do much better, and was used primarily to build Regal some more with the ECW title hunt. The divas tag team bouts are never really anything special. Kane Hardy was a little bit slow but it was decent enough to be the best match of the night. I guess a better way of putting it would be to call it the best of the worst. Let’s hope for a better show next week leading into HIAC.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s Matt Hardy vs. Kane and this week’s edition of WWE Superstars gets a grade of D+.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 11
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 2

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison 06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy 06/25/09
3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox 08/27/09
4. Christian vs. Paul Burchill 09/17/09
5. John Morrison vs. Kane 07/23/09
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox 08/06/09
7. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith 08/13/09
8. CM Punk vs. Edge 07/02/09
9. Christian, Carlito & Primo vs. The Hart Dynasty & Jack Swagger 06/18/09
10. Sheamus vs. Goldust 08/13/09

Later.

Unified Tag Team Titles: Jeri-Show def. MVP & Mark Henry

It is definitely awesome to see the tag titles defended at every PPV by established stars such as Chris Jericho and Big Show. Eventually, I think it will come down to Jeri-Show facing DX for the titles once their feud with Legacy subsides. This was a good choice for an opener as it was a solid bout to start show. There is a possibility that these two might face off again at HIAC, but I would like to see some new teams take on the champs (Hart Dynasty). Then maybe we can see MVP in a top of the card feud on Raw, possibly for the WWE title.          ***

U.S. Title: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

Another very solid match that saw Kofi retaining the title followed up the good tag team opener. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t get the chance to give my prediction on this one, because I would have most likely gone with The Miz. He put on a good fight, but Kofi continues his impressive title run.           ***

The Legacy def. DX

I finally see Rhodes and DiBiase as legitimate wrestlers who can hang with the big boys. This was the best match of the night and it showcased the four fighting all over the arena. Shawn took a pretty nice bump onto the table from the stands. The double figure fours in the middle of the fans was an awesome spot. Legacy ripped apart HHH in the back and set their sights on HBK. Shawn tried his best but the figure four million dollar dream combo was just too much. Another really well done tag team match.           ****

Singapore Cane Match: Kane def. The Great Khali

Hopefully, Kane’s win means the end of this feud. Just like their last encounter, Kane did his best to carry the match as much as possible. There were a couple of nice moves, but nothing spectacular occurred. After all that Kane has done, it’s time to give him a more legitimate person to feud with.                             *3/4

ECW Championship: Christian def. William Regal

These two gave us the match we had all hoped for at SummerSlam. The styles of these two clashed well and gave us an excellent bout with some pretty nice spots involved. Regal is one of the best workers out there, and putting him in the ring with Christian means a definite solid match. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was the second best match of the night for me.          ***1/2

WWE Championship: John Cena def. Randy Orton

I’m really on the fence about this match. I was honestly enjoying the first 15 minutes or so with the methodical dissection by Orton on Cena. The shots with the Singapore cane must’ve hurt like hell! I thought that there was no way Cena could get out of it. Then he did. What pissed me off the most is not the fact that he won, but rather the fact that he beat Orton with basically one move. That made Orton look like a huge pussy. Plus this happened right after Cena took an RKO. So apparently he just shook that off in five seconds and pulled Orton away from the key. It was a very good match for the first 15 minutes, but I was not happy with the way Orton lost.          ***

WHC: CM Punk def. The Undertaker (Submission Match)

How could I not see this one coming? It was the obvious ending to get the Punk the win without ever getting Taker to tap. Once I saw the match starting after 10:40, I knew things were array. The first 8 minutes or so were pretty awesome, and then Screwjob 2.0 took over. That did not go over well with me. So maybe Punk gets a dirty win like that, but they should have at least let the match go twenty minutes. And why even bring up the ban on Hell’s Gate? Didn’t the Big Show get a taste of that at the end of last year? Yea, I don’t remember anyone bringing up the ban there. A lame job of continuity and a lame screwjob make the rating on this match much lower than its potential.          **

All in all, WWE Breaking Point was a decent PPV. The best match of the night was DX vs. Legacy, with the worst matches being Kane-Khali and Punk-Undertaker. Next up is Hell in a Cell, which I will be attending. That means I’m going to be more critical than ever of the card since I want to see some epic matches! Therefore, my rant will start now.

Before I talk about the upcoming PPV, I want to just briefly bring up Jeff Hardy’s situation since it is a hot topic with us bloggers on this site. I read Paul’s ECW blog yesterday and I totally agree with his view on the situation. Hardy, you’ve had enough chances. Jeff was the hottest thing going in the WWE, and two weeks after he leaves on top, he gets arrested. That is definitely not the way Jeff wants people to remember him. Unfortunately, that might be the last thing we know about him if he gets locked up. But enough of this, back to my ranting.

As a fan attending Hell in a Cell, I would be perfectly okay if there was only one HIAC match on the card. When the idea for this PPV came around, I was worried of the overkill factor more than anything. In my opinion, HIAC should be saved for intense feuds and not for a general PPV idea. The WWE, however, thinks they can increase buys with these themed-PPVs, and I give them credit for trying something new.

There are already two HIAC matches on the card, and one would have to assume that the WHC match is going to be the third. I feel like I’m going to get bored sitting there watching three of those matches. Hopefully the competitors can find a way to keep it fresh, especially if these matches go back-to-back or possibly all three in a row. Two matches is tolerable; three matches is overkill. I want the WWE to prove me wrong and make me leave the Prudential Center on the 4^th feeling like I got my money’s worth.

Wow, that was pretty lengthy for me. Finally, it’s time for another edition of WWE Superstars!!

Cole and King are out to announce the opening match from Raw. The main event of the evening is going to be Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay. That should be a solid encounter with the rookie taking on the grizzled veteran.

Match #1: Chris Masters vs. Santino Marella

This is the highly anticipated rematch from their encounter on Superstars about…..5 weeks ago! I hope you noticed some sarcasm because I’m laying it on pretty thick right now. Masters is quickly becoming a man who knows a total of four moves. It’s never good when you know fewer moves than Cena. Santino should be getting more time on Raw instead of doing these matches on Superstars. I mean really, listen to the ovation he gets. Masters starts by shoving Santino and flexing. Santino puts on a side headlock but gets knocked down with a shoulder block. Santino tries a rollup but gets a near fall. Santino connects with a boot and tries a scoop slam, but can’t lift Masters, who counters with a power slam of his own. He’s now in control, stomping and punching away at Santino. Suplex connects and the crowd does not like it. A leg drop gets a near fall. Masters applies a bear hug. Santino gets support from the crowd. He stomps on Masters’ toes to get out of it, but isn’t in control for long. Masters hits some more clubbing blows. Santino is getting pretty pissed. He hits some punches, a Khali-esque chop, and a dropkick. Two count for Santino. Santino keeps it going with a hip toss and a kick to the back. Santino applies the Masterlock on Masters. Masters is like wtf, powers out, and hits a huge clothesline. Masters applies his own finisher. Santino does his best to fight out but eventually he gives up and the match is over.

Winner: Chris Masters

Santino is really such an enjoyable comedy act. The extent of his wrestling ability is still somewhat unknown, but who cares. I thought for a second he might actually break out of the Masterlock, but that did not happen. Masters still fails to impress me, and I guess he isn’t doing too well with WWE management either considering he’s still facing Santino on WWE Superstars. Just what you would expect from these two. *1/2

As usual, Ask the Divas segment = fast-forward.

The ECW Champion is shown making his way to the ring.

A promo video is shown of CM Punk and his new straight-edge/I’m better than you personality that we all love.

Match #2: Christian vs. Paul Burchill

Zack Ryder is out for commentary on this match. We haven’t seen Mr. WOOWOOWOO on Superstars in ages! It’s good to see him get a push as the #1 contender for the title. Christian is out first to a ginormous pop from the Canadian crowd. Burchill doesn’t exactly get the same reaction that Christian did. Christian gets a slow clap going, which is something I love to do in big lecture halls or at dinner. The ref has to break things up in the corner. Ryder tries to build himself at the announce table, saying he has more desire to win the title. He has a girlfriend? Wtf?? Never would I think that the man with the half-pants half-trunks and the gleaming purple WOOWOOWOO headband would be giving a shout out to his gf. She must design his attire! Oh yea, the match. Some basic mat wrestling continues with a couple of quick arm drags from Christian and an arm bar follow-up. Burchill counters into a headlock. Christian connects with a dropkick after a nice exchange off the ropes. One count. Burchill knocks Christian to the canvas with an uppercut. Scoop slam connects and gets a near fall. Christian avoids a Burchill charge in the corner and hits a kick from between the ropes. Dropkick finds its mark from the second rope. Christian goes back to the top rope but Burchill wants no part of it. Christian gets down and disposes of him to the outside. Christian starts the second slow clap in five minutes (an amazing feat in itself) and hits another dropkick through the ropes. The crowd loves it as we go to commercial.

Of course Burchill is in control on the other side of the break with a headlock. Christian strikes his way out but ends up eating canvas on a Samoan drop. Two count. Burchill flings Christian into the corner with a hard Irish whip. Burchill is furious and continues the assault with some forearm shots to the face. Christian tries punching out again but this time gets caught in a sit-down powerbomb, very similar to the Bubba bomb. Burchill turns that right into a half-nelson type submission hold. Burchill tries a splash from the second rope but Christian rolls away. Christian goes to the top rope but is stopped. Burchill is looking for the superplex. He gets it. Beautifully executed. Both men are down and the ref begins to count. Burchill is up at six. Christian tries a quick small package and gets a near fall. Burchill immediately gets back on the offensive. Christian fights out and hits a ridiculous tornado-DDT from the second rope. And yes, the way Burchill popped up after that was ridiculous. Both men are down again. Christian crawls over for the pin attempt but gets two. He begins building momentum with a clothesline and a backdrop. He hits a reverse neckbreaker, with Burchill’s neck bouncing off the top rope. Two count. Christian tries for another tornado-DDT but it is countered. Eventually he hits a springboard sunset flip, but it only garners a two count. This is excellent so far! Christian connects with an inverted-DDT and a follow-up forearm to the face. Burchill kicks out at two-and-a-half. Christian misses a flying head butt from the top rope. Burchill hits a vicious side suplex and gets a very long two count. Christian hits a flying elbow from the second rope and is looking to end it. He connects with what I will always call the Unprettier and that’s the end of a dandy.

Winner: Christian

After the match, Ryder and Christian have the cliche stare-down.

This was an excellent TV match and Burchill showed just how good he has become in the ring. While Christian can work with just about anyone, Burchill put on a display of impressive moves and almost got the victory over the ECW champ. I don’t know how Ryder-Christian would fare, but a feud with Burchill would definitely be something I would look forward to if all of the matches are going to be this high quality. It’s going to be very tough for Finlay-Ziggler to top this one!          ***1/4

Todd and JR are at ringside and they show us footage from the Batista-Orton match on Raw.

Josh Mathews is backstage with Randy Orton. Josh wants to talk about Batista. Orton says forget him; he’s run away to Smackdown. He’s focusing on Cena. He says he made a business decision at Breaking Point and he did not quit. He calls Cena not quitting stupidity on his part. He promotes HIAC and he talks about beating the holy hell out of him. He wants the title back. (Well obviously.)

Finlay and Ziggler and shown split-screen making their way to the ring.

Match #3: Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay

Someone in WWE management has to come to their senses and start giving Finlay legit music. His theme from the pre-Hornswoggle era was much better. That kind of music doesn’t bode well for the man who loves to fight. He puts the shillelagh down and we’re ready for our main event. Finlay gets the early advantage with a big time shoulder block. He rips at Ziggler’s face. Uppercut connects. Quick pin doesn’t even get one. Ziggler tries his own quick pin, with the same result occurring. The ref has to intervene and break it up in the corner. Finlay applies a headlock on Dolph. Dolph counters and goes to work on the left leg. Finlay spins Ziggler away, who quickly scrambles to the ropes. The ref tells Finlay to tie his shoe, and while he’s doing that, Ziggler takes control with a kick to the face. The action spills to the outside. Ziggler flees over the security barrier and the ref has to stop Finlay from chasing after him. Commercial time.

Ziggler is hitting multiple strikes and stomps in the corner. Finlay fights back with a scoop slam. One count. Headlock applied on Ziggler. Another one count. Ziggler locks in his own headlock. One count for Ziggler. Finlay connects with an inverted atomic drop. Ziggler slams Finlay’s head into the turnbuckle. Finlay rolls to the outside. Ziggler goes for an axe handle but Finlay pulls out the apron and severely injures Ziggler’s manhood. Finlay rolls Ziggler back into ring. While Finlay is trying to get back in himself, Dolph dropkicks him back to the outside. Ziggler stomps away on the outside. Ziggler tries a pin back in the ring but Finlay’s shoulder are up. Another dropkick gets a near fall. Submission hold applied. Ziggler hits a big elbow and gets another near fall. He goes right back to the neck submission hold. Splash connects in the corner. Two count. He mocks Finlay a bit and ends up getting bitchslapped. Ziggler violently strikes away in the corner and the ref has to get involved. He tries another splash but Finlay avoids it. Finlay hits a boot and an elbow to build a little bit of momentum. He hits three clotheslines and a sit-down splash. Two count. They bump heads in the corner and both men are down. Finlay’s up at four. He tries a backslide and gets a long two count. Ziggler rakes the eyes and connects with the Zig Zag for the three count.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

There was nothing overly spectacular about this match. The crowd seemed pretty dead for it and it wasn’t doing a great job at catching my interest either. Things didn’t work as smoothly between Ziggler and Finlay as they did between Burchill and Christian. Obviously Ziggler gets the win here to build him towards his IC title match at HIAC.          **

This week, WWE Superstars had one bad match, one okay match, and one excellent match. ECW definitely wins out here because of the excellent encounter between Burchill and Christian. The first match was exactly what you would expect with Santino Marella involved, and the last match bored me just a bit. All in all, a one-match show (sort of like Wrestlemania) and an okay edition of Superstars.

The match of the night was ECW’s Christian vs. Paul Burchill and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of B.

Matches of the Week: Smackdown  10            ECW  4            Raw  2

Over the weeks, I’ve been keeping a nice Excel spreadsheet with my ratings for each match (because I’m just that cool.) Well now I figure it’s far enough where I can make a list of the top ten WWE Superstars matches. I would do one list for Superstars and one for all of WWE, but that would require me going back to the beginning and looking through all the matches again and rating them. However, since there were only six episodes of WWE Superstars before I started this blog, it’s quite possible that I will go back and watch those so I can rate them and possibly insert some matches into the top ten list.

Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison     06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy     06/25/09
3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox     08/27/09
4. Christian vs. Paul Burchill     09/17/09
5. John Morrison vs. Kane     07/23/09
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox     08/06/09
7. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith     08/13/09
8. CM Punk vs. Edge     07/02/09
9. Christian, Carlito & Primo vs. The Hart Dynasty & Jack Swagger     06/18/09
10. Sheamus vs. Goldust     08/13/09

Later.

Singapore Cane Match: Kane vs. The Great Khali

It’s easy to see that these two are never going to have a good match together, let alone a classic. Hopefully, the Singapore cane stipulation will ease some of the pain that we will be feeling while watching this match. I would much rather see them beat the living hell out of each other with the canes than actually try to have a wrestling match. I’m going to pick Kane to win and finally end the feud, mainly because I would despise having to see this one more time at HIAC.

My Prediction: Kane

Unified Tag Team Titles: Jeri-Show(c) vs. MVP & Mark Henry

MVP and Jericho had two excellent matches on Raw. Sometimes it looks like MVP desperately tries to get a pop that he hasn’t been getting. The fans have finally caught on and are cheering him the way he deserves it. On the other hand, the 900 pound mass of Big Show and Mark Henry in a singles match was kind of disgusting. It was nice to see both MVP and Henry get wins this past week, but I definitely don’t see them as being the team to de-throne Jeri-Show. Champs retain here.

My Prediction: Jeri-Show

Submissions-Count Anywhere: DX vs. The Legacy

For basically the first time ever, the Legacy has looked pretty good in this feud. After the big entrance by DX at SummerSlam, it was obvious who was going to win. The Legacy, however, put on a really great match and almost took DX down. Will Legacy win on Sunday? They should, but I’m not convinced that will happen. Maybe it’s because they have been buried way too much in the past by the likes of HHH, Cena, and Batista. A win here would put them up to respectability. It’s against my better judgment, but I’m pulling for a win from Rhodes and DiBiase. Once that happens, we can really start to take them seriously.

My Prediction: The Legacy

ECW Championship: Christian(c) vs. William Regal

These two could have had one of the better matches of SummerSlam; instead, we got five minutes of ECW debacle. Give these guys 10-15 minutes, and get ready to watch some excellent wrestling. No doubt Kozlov and Jackson are going to get involved. Maybe we’ll see Dreamer and someone else come out and make the save. I don’t think Christian is going to lose here. He has done a good job at the top of the brand and I want to see that continue for some time.

My Prediction: Christian

WHC: CM Punk(c) vs. The Undertaker (Submission Match)

The best word I can use to describe this feud is fresh. It seems that every time I write my PPV predictions, I praise the Smackdown main event and criticize the Raw title match. Breaking Point seems no different; I am thoroughly looking forward to watching these two go at it. With that being said, the Undertaker will not tap out. He never has, and he never will. To my memory, the closest he ever came to tapping was the excellent title match he had against Kurt Angle back at No Way Out 2006. I don’t see him winning the title, however. Since this is not being advertised as No DQ, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Punk gets disqualified. This would give Taker the win but not the title, and it would give them another three weeks of build before a HIAC showdown.

My Prediction: The Undertaker via DQ (Punk Retains)

WWE Championship: Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena (I Quit Match)

I desperately want this feud to end, but it doesn’t look like anyone else is coming in to save the day. Apparently Batista is making an announcement on Monday, and if it goes something like I’m challenging for the title at the next PPV, I’m going to get very pissed off. With that being said, these two have the potential to put on an excellent match. They have done so before and I’m looking for both competitors to step up and deliver. No pathetic RKO’s on a chair this Sunday please. Once again, could you imagine Cena saying I Quit? I certainly can’t. Since I have the WHC ending in a DQ, I’m going with Cena as the new champ.

My Prediction: John Cena

As of this writing, there are only six matches on the card. I originally reviewed the Ziggler Morrison match, but since that has been taken off the card, I disposed of my prediction as well. Breaking Point has the potential to be a decent PPV but could also end up being a total disaster. We’ll see how well the submissions idea plays out in this one.

With those predictions out of the way, it’s time for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars!!

Match #1: Kane vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

You can’t help but pop for Kane a little. As heelish as he tries to be, it is hard to boo a guy who has given so much service to the industry. He is going to face Jimmy Wang Yang. In my opinion, the Asian Redneck is the clear favorite to win. And that definitely isn’t sarcastic!! Ok maybe a little bit. Jimmy Boy tries kicking at Kane’s legs to knock him down, but he just gets shoved away. Jimmy hits a couple of dropkicks, build a tiny bit of momentum, and runs straight into a big boot from Kane. Kane stomps away at Jimmy in the corner. Huge clothesline in the opposite corner leaves Jimmy prone on the canvas. Evil uppercut in the center of the ring connects. Kane hits an elbow and stomps away again. He hits a running dropkick on a seated Jimmy wang Yang. Sidewalk slam time. He’s calling for the chokeslam. He hits it. It’s over.

Winner: Kane

Kane isn’t done yet. He grabs a singapore cane from under the ring and starts beating the living hell out of Jimmy. He poses in the ring to look a little more evil and still gets a boatload of cheers. I found that pretty funny.

Apparently it was squash time on WWE Superstars. This did nothing more than to build Kane for Sunday and advertise the power of the singapore cane. It still doesn’t make me any more excited about the match.           n/a

The main event of the night is from Raw and it features Kofi Kingston & Primo going up against Jack Swagger & The Miz.

Match #2: Sheamus vs. Yoshi Tatsu

The ECW crew is in the house and ready for a good match between two up and coming stars. Yoshi gets down to the ring in 4.8 seconds flat! Give or take. Yoshi starts off with a side headlock and after a couple of attempts at hip tosses, Yoshi finally hits one. Sheamus bitch slaps Yoshi straight across the face. Don’t get Yoshi mad! He hits an angry dropkick to show Sheamus who’s boss. Sheamus fights back with a couple of punches but Yoshi ends up disposing of him on the outside. Yoshi fakes a suicide dive, lands on the apron, and Sheamus takes him out with a chop block. Sheamus starts attacking the lower back. Two count and a submission hold applied. Yoshi chant from the crowd. Yoshi battles back to his feet but gets tossed right down. Back to the submission hold. Sheamus conveniently uses a hard Irish whip, which is followed up by a shoulder block to the lower back. Back suplex connects and gets a two count. Yoshi hits a pele type kick and is able to catch his breath. He hits some more kicks and tries an inside cradle but only gets a two count. Yoshi hits some insane chops and a spinning heel kick. Another two count. Yoshi hits another spinning kick in the corner but runs right into a big-time bicycle kick from Sheamus. He hits an innovative backbreaker, which is his finisher known as the Irish Curse, for the three count.

Winner: Sheamus

You can’t help but be impressed at the work rate of Sheamus. Yoshi is impressive with his wide variety of kicks, but Sheamus seems to be progressing well in all areas. Look for him to become a big player on ECW in the coming months. Nice short match here.          **

Match #3: Katie Lea Burchill vs. Nikki Bella

How do they decide which one of the Bella twins is going to compete in a singles match? Do they flip a coin or something? Well apparently Nikki won the coin toss (or lost it, depending on how you look at it) and earned the right to face the extremely emo Katie Lea Burchill. Plenty of whistles coming from the crowd as the match begins. Nikki takes the early advantage but misses a clothesline in the corner. She tries a rollup but barely gets one. Nikki tries a crossbody but runs into a vicious backbreaker from Katie. Two count. Katie is in complete control, tossing and stomping on Nikki. She locks in another innovative submission hold through the ropes. Another backbreaker gets another near fall. Nikki is up to her feet but is immediately thrown back down. As Katie mocks Brie, Nikki tries a quick rollup but can’t get the three count. Nikki tries to fight back but Katie hits a version of a Samoan drop. Long two count that time. Another attempt and another near fall. Nikki pushes Katie away from the corner and the quick switch is made. Brie climbs to the top rope and hits a crossbody and gets the three count.

Winner: Nikki Bella (sorta)

The whole twin switching thing is starting to get old now. It was obvious that was going to happen at some point, with Katie continually mocking Brie throughout the match. This was just what you would expect from a divas match. Katie hit some nice moves, but as usual, it was nothing special.          *1/4

The Smackdown Rebound highlights the CM Punk-Matt Hardy match and the subsequent attack of the Undertaker.

Grisham and JR are back and they go over some of the matches on the Breaking Point card.

Ziggler is shown in back getting ready for his match. This means that we have five matches on Superstars this week. Wtf?? It definitely explains the quickness of the other three. This I do not agree with.

Match #4: Dolph Ziggler vs. Slam Master J

This is definitely shaping up to be the second squash of the night in an hour long show. Not good guys. Jesse has decided he’s a gangsta, and Cryme Tyme has decided that’s good enough. The Master starts off by working on Ziggler’s left arm. Ziggler gets out of it and knocks J down. J hits a clothesline and gets a one count. He goes back to the left arm but gets tossed to the outside while trying to go to the top rope. Two count. Ziggler starts the attack. Neckbreaker connects and gets two. Dolph hits a big elbow and garners another near fall. Headlock applied. Impressive knee hit on the side of the head. J tries countering with a quick rollup but just gets two. J builds momentum with some clotheslines and an elbow. Two count. Ziggler stops the momentum with a jawbreaker. Dolph hits his finisher, and in the words of JR, “He just got zig-zagged!”

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

JR botched one after the match by saying “We are happy to have you here on Friday Night Smackdown.” Only 24 hours off JR!

Slam Master J got enough offense in for me to give it a rating. With the show having five matches in one hour, it is tough to really get a decent one going. Like the other matches, this one wasn’t long enough to really give it a good look. Ziggler wins and continues to be the #1 contender for the IC title.          *1/2

Match #5: Jack Swagger & The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston & Primo

That’s right, we’re at match #5 here on WWE Superstars. This is a feat never before accomplished! (And hopefully never again.) A pin fall for either Miz or Swagger would most likely make them the #1 contender for the U.S. title. Primo’s got some new dance music, which I will say is much better than his other music. Kofi definitely gets the best pop of the night. Kofi and Swagger are going to kick things off in this main event. Swagger knocks kofi down with a shoulder block. Kofi tries a rollup but Swagger stays on his feet. Kofi tosses Swagger across the ring and hits a nice standing dropkick. One count and Primo is tagged in. Primo hits a nice leg drop but only gets a near fall. Primo connects with a springboard dropkick. Another two count. Primo tries to fight out of Swagger’s corner but The All-American American hits a gut buster to stop Primo in his tracks. He quickly connects with the gutwrench powerbomb but Kofi breaks up the pin. The Miz is now in and he chokes away at Primo. Big kick to the face from Miz. Two count. Submission hold applied. Primo fights out and tosses Miz away. He tries to get the tag but Miz stops him. Primo again fights out and gets to Kofi to make the tag. Kofi hits some quick offense on the Miz to really build up some momentum. Kofi hits a clothesline and is looking for his big elbow. Swagger pulls Miz out of the ring before Kofi can get the chance. Kofi hits a suicide dive on the Miz. Swagger looks impressed that he got out of the way, but Primo comes running in with a suicide dive of his own on Swagger. Kofi hits a crossbody on Miz but gets a very long two count. Kofi knocks Swagger off the apron, but it’s enough for Miz to capitalize and hit the Skull-Crushing Finale. Three count and that’s all she wrote.

Winners: Jack Swagger & The Miz

In the time that it was given, the match was pretty good. The two suicide dives were definitely the best part of the match. The Miz was the one getting the pin over Kofi, so it looks like he’ll be getting a U.S. title shot in the near future.         **1/2

I definitely do not like having to squeeze in five minutes. Squashes or not, it brings the quality of the show down. Matches like the main event and the Sheamus Yoshi bout could have been that much better if given a few more minutes to run with. With that being said, nothing about the show was really bad. The divas match was what you would expect, and Kane’s match was build for this Sunday. Ziggler was also booked to look somewhat dominant, although Slam Master J did get some offense in. Sheamus and Yoshi had a good match, and I would definitely like to see them go at it in a match that requires at least one commercial. The main event did what it could in six minutes, and built the Miz as the next one in line. All in all, an okay edition of WWE Superstars.

The match of the night was Raw’s Jack Swagger & The Miz vs. Primo & Kofi Kingston and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of C+.

Matches of the Week: Smackdown  10            ECW  3            Raw  2

Later.