By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Superstars TV Report
June 18, 2009 - Week 10
Taped the Week of June 15

After the WWE Superstars video montage started the broadcast, Raw announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to Raw's contribution to the show. First, though, Carlito & Primo & Christian vs. Hart Dynasty & Swagger is the TV main event from ECW.

In-ring: Santino Marella came to the ring to kick off the show. Cole and Lawler traded sarcasm about how sad they are that Vickie Guerrero is no longer Raw GM thanks to Santino(a). Santino cut a promo on Chavo Guerrero continuing the pig jokes on Vickie. He said he's going to administer a beating to Chavo that's even worse than waking up and seeing Chavo in the mirror. Santino told him to come get his beating. Chavo came out huffing and puffing and ready to blow Santino's house down. Oh no, there's another pig joke in there.

1 -- CHAVO GUERRERO vs. SANTINO MARELLA

Chavo was extra-aggressive early on taking it to Santino, who then powered of an abdominal stretch with a hip toss playing to the top row of the arena. Santino ducked Chavo, who tried to charge in the corner. He then ducked right hand jabs and discovered his super power wrestling ability before dumping Chavo to the floor. Back in the ring, Santino tried to go up top for the frog splash, but he played up an inability to pull off a high-risk move. He slipped, then tried a second-rope froggy splash, but Chavo blocked with a boot to the face. Chavo then scored a roll up on Santino for the win.

WINNER: Chavo in 5:00. Basic mid-card comedy match giving Chavo a "measure of revenge" over Santino. WWE is going to keep getting as much mileage out of this as possible, apparently. (*)

Raw Rebound: They re-lived Vince McMahon "selling" the Raw brand to Donald Trump after Cole and Lawler were shown on camera shooting each other puzzled looks selling the storyline.

[Commercial Break]

[Q2]

In-ring: Zack Ryder's music hit to bring out the Woo Woo Woo man for ECW's undercard match on the show this week. Already in the ring was Mike Williams. The former USC WR turned NFL bust? Nope, an early 1990s era-looking enhancement talent.

2 -- ZACK RYDER vs. MIKE WILLIAMS

Classic 1993 Raw squash match with Ryder getting early offense, then Williams having a second of offense before Ryder cut him off. Ryder busted out a leap-over leg smash using the leg covered by his pants. Hair adjustment, then he hit the reverse Fameasser, the Zack Attack, for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Ryder in 2:00. Good squash match for Ryder to gain some credibility points if he's going to be elevated beyond a lower-card heel on ECW. Lots of upside for Ryder. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Maria came out to special referee a divas match between Layla and Eve. Smackdown announcers Jim Ross and Todd Grisham then took us all the way back through their history of arm wrestling fights and backstage brawls going back six weeks. Six weeks of history on WWE TV seems like six years.

3 -- EVE vs. LAYLA -- Maria special referee

Layla, playing the heel, claimed mass cheating by Eve early on with a handful of hair. Eve let her guard down, allowing Layla to take control for a bit. Action moved to the mat for a series of leg stretches initiated by Layla. Eve broke free, sold the leg work during her comeback, and scored a nearfall. Eve then busted out an impressive double cartwheel into a splash for the pin and the win. Post-match, Maria wanted the divas to adhere to the Code of Honor. I hear Mike Hogewood jumping for joy somewhere. After tension was built, they shook hands.

WINNER: Eve in 4:00. Good, fundamentally sound divas match adhering to the WWE formula. Eve's finisher was impressive. (*)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Superstars profile: They showed a re-mixed highlight video package on Edge. Lengthy video. Well done.

Announcers: Ross and Grisham were shown on camera to talk about the "historic night" on Raw this past Monday. They sent to a video of the three-way World Title match between Punk, Edge, and Jeff Hardy. Lots of focus on Punk overcoming injury to sneak out a victory over Hardy by pinning Edge. Ross and Grisham then broke down the Smackdown card for tomorrow night: Rey vs. Punk and Hardy vs. Jericho.

In-ring: Jack Swagger came out first for the TV main event six-man tag match. He gave us a few push-ups in the entrance way to send the show to the break.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Hart Dynasty completed their ring entrance, then Christian came out for the babyface trio. Swagger started talking trash before Christian even hit the ring. Carlito and Primo then came out to start the main event.

[Q4]

4 -- JACK SWAGGER & HART DYNASTY (TYSON KIDD & D.H. SMITH w/Natalya) vs. CHRISTIAN & Unified tag team champions CARLITO & PRIMO COLON

Nice double-team work from the champs on Smith early on. Of note, HD changed up their pink and black color combos for the match. This combo works much better than Smith sporting pink knee pads. Christian and Swagger then picked up the action before Smith tagged in and cut off Christian. Action then broke down with Natalya tripping up Primo from the outside to set up HDSwaggs on the attack going to the break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, heels continued to work over Primo with crisp tags to keep the action fresh. Primo failed to make it to his corner several times to build up tension for the eventual hot tag. In the middle of the isolation, Smith snapped off an impressive powerslam that rocked the ring. Smith much more aggressive on Tuesday and Thursday TV. Carlito finally took a hot tag at 10:00 and cleaned house on Kidd. Hot action that made Striker want to speak Spanish. Action broke down all over the place before Christian took Swagger to the floor. Primo took Smith to the outside. Down to Kidd and Carlito in the ring with a hot crowd. Carlito ducked a springboard kick from Kidd and nailed the backstabber for the pin and the win. Afterward, babyface trio celebrated in the ring while HD yelled at the front row fans taunting them on the loss. Christian-Swagger stare down to close the show.

WINNERS: Colons & Christian in 12:00. Really hot final two minutes after a nice, fast-paced six-man tag match. Good set up for Colons vs. Legacy (via commentary) and Christian and Swagger going after the ECW Title at The Bash PPV. This was your basic WWE TV show with flashes of athleticism and character development sprinkled throughout on an "evenly paced" show. (**1/2)

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