By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Superstars TV Report
July 30, 2009 - Week 16
Taped the Week of July 27

The WWE show started with Smackdown brand announcers Todd Grisham and Jim Ross welcoming us to the show as John Morrison came to the ring for the opening match. Ross plugged World Hvt. champion Jeff Hardy vs. Morrison for the World Hvt. Title on Smackdown tomorrow night. Hard Dynasty then came out with Tyson Kidd representing against Morrison.

1 -- JOHN MORRISON vs. TYSON KIDD (w/D.H. Smith and Natalya)

Nice, steady pace to start things off. So refreshing to listen to Jim Ross setting the table for the match. He gave us some elements of Morrison spending more time out of the ring working on his mat-based game to balance his aerial attack while Kidd is continuing to hone his mat skills from the Hart Dungeon. Morrison broke the slower pace with a nice flurry before a Shawn Michaels-esque kip up led to a spinning leg drop for a two count. Match moved to the ring apron where Kidd nailed a high-impact neckbreaker across the apron. Safe move that looked painful. Well done. Back in the ring, Kidd went to work on the neck with a chinlock. Kidd then discarded Morrison to the outside and held off the ref to give Smith an opening to blast J-Mo on the floor. Morrison in trouble heading to break.

[Commercial Break]

"Ask him, ref, ask him!" Kidd greeted us back from break with a reverse chinlock on Morrison. Morrison broke free with a fallaway back drop and 7-Eleven sponsored the replay. Get a Slurpee! Morrison then went aerial on his comeback with a Pele soccer kick and leg whip lariat for a two count. Kidd came back with a kick strike, but Morrison ran him over near the ropes and took Kidd to the floor. Morrison teased a top rope move, but Smith and Natalya shielded Kidd. Ref had enough of HD and gave 'em a ticket to the back. Morrison then blasted Kidd with a sweet corkscrew splash on the floor.

[Q2]

Back in the ring, Morrison wanted the Moonlight Drive, but Kidd countered and went back on the attack. They had a pin exchange before Kidd nailed a double foot dropkick to the side of the head for a close count. Morrison then rolled through on a sunset flip attempt and smashed Kidd in the face with a kick strike. Morrison paused in the corner to build anticipation, then he hit the Starship Pain corkscrew moonsault for the pin and the win. Ross hyped Hardy vs. Morrison for Smackdown tomorrow night. Combine a high-energy finish with Ross's textbook sales pitch and I think people would pay money for Friday night to get here already. Morrison got his shine post-match as Ross and Grisham continued to hype the World Title match tomorrow night.

WINNER: Morrison in 13:00. Always a good thing to get that "please don't let this match end" feeling. WWE delivered that with all four matches in the recent Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho series. This one had it too. Morrison was great getting the crowd behind him, Kidd was great cutting off Morrison's comebacks, and they had a nice finish that could have been stretched another two minutes to really have a memorable match. (***1/4)

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: William Regal came to the ring for ECW's contribution to the show. They showed footage of ECW TV from last Tuesday when Yoshi Tatsu beat Regal. They cut back to a visibly upset Regal, who did not appreciate re-living that footage. Yoshi and his music then hit the ring to face Regal.

2 -- WILLIAM REGAL vs. YOSHI TATSU

Match moved to the floor early on where Regal smashed Yoshi into the ring apron. Ref Robinson started a ten count and Yoshi made it back in at six, only to be greeted by a series of stomps from Regal. Regal with an exploder suplex before settling into a Million Dollar Dream. Yoshi escaped, then landed a kick strike, but Regal ducked a slap and executed a brainbuster out of the butterfly suplex position. Nice. Yoshi then fired himself up and nailed a Waltman-like spin kick for a two count. Yoshi corner mounted Regal for consecutive chops, but Regal pushed him down. He then landed the running knee strike on a stunned Yoshi, who spun around and fell to the mat. Regal with the pin for the win, giving Yoshi his first WWE TV loss.

WINNER: Regal in 4:00. Quick-paced, aggressive TV match. The series is 1-1 setting up a little rubber match on a future episode of ECW TV. Basic wrestling program to build up Yoshi, give him something to work with, and give Regal a purpose on the ECW brand right now. (*1/4)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Superstars profile: They gave us a look at MVP with a remix of his theme music. ... Raw announcers: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the Raw Rebound that focused on Shaq hosting the show and Orton-Cena being set as the Summerslam main event for the WWE Title. And, don't forget about the epic Hunter vs. Legacy handicap match on Raw next week.

Backstage: Josh Mathews brought in WWE champion Randy Orton. He asked him about John Cena winning the Beat the Clock challenge to get a title shot. Orton sarcastically said the bright idea WWE and Shaq came up with was Beat the Clock to find a new challenger? Orton told Cena to watch him methodically pick apart Primo tonight so he knows what's in store for him at Summerslam. "Congrats, John Cena, you beat the clock; at Summerslam, I'm going to beat you," he said.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

In-ring: WWE champion Randy Orton slowly made his way to the ring for a non-title match in his Superstars debut. Primo then bounced out high-energy in stark contrast to Orton's methodical walk to the ring.

3 -- WWE champion RANDY ORTON vs. PRIMO COLON -- non-title match

Orton with a one-up, then he stared a hole through Primo with his sinister eyes. Primo then surprised Orton with a series of deep arm drags that flustered Orton and sent him rolling to the outside to collect himself. Back in the ring, Orton landed clubbing blows on Primo, who came back with a series of dropkicks. Primo missed a third, then rolled to the outside. Odd edit. They cut to break with Orton in control.

[Commercial Break]

They came back with Orton in control "sending a message" to John Cena by stomping and pounding on Carlito. Cole sold the Summerslam re-match of the re-match of the re-match of Orton vs. Cena as the "renewal of a personal feud." Announcers also talked about Orton having something to prove to "critics" who say Orton isn't capable of keeping the WWE Title without help from DiBiase and Rhodes. Orton continued his methodical attack, but walked into a side Russian legsweep. Primo followed with a running European uppercut into a dropkick. Building momentum. Primo then went up top and hit a missile dropkick for a close two count. He got his close-call, then Orton ducked a springboard splash and started to stalk Primo. Orton nailed the RKO without a counter to actually get the move over since he hardly ever hits the move when he telegraphs it ahead of time. Orton with the pin for the win. They closed the show with Orton walking out of the ring with some measure of confidence away from Raw when he's routinely booked to be back-pedaling away from competition, namely Triple H, John Cena, celebrity guest hosts, or anyone with a pulse.

WINNER: Orton in 10:00. Good TV main event. Primo benefited from working with the champ (albeit not a credible champ right now) and having some close nearfalls after showcasing his offense. Orton just needed to look credible. They have to start somewhere building to Orton-Cena at Summerslam. (*3/4)

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