WWE Superstars TV Report
December 31, 2009 - Week 38
Taped the Week of December 28
Report by James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

It's worth noting WGN's "split-faced" rotating graphic before Superstars starts still has half of Jeff Hardy's face. The WWE show started with Raw announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcoming us to the show, which brought out Primo and Gail Kim from the Raw brand. Mixed tag match to start the show, as Chavo Guerrero and Jillian Hall came out as the opposition.

1 -- PRIMO & GAIL KIM vs. CHAVO GUERRERO & JILLIAN HALL

Chavo was the aggressor early on and worked over Primo in the heel corner before Gail and Jillian tagged in for their respective teams. Jillian took control and worked over Gail before bringing in Chavo, which forced Primo to enter. Chavo wanted the Three Amigos suplexes, but Primo blocked a third one. Chavo took control anyways, and Gail broke up a pin attempt. Chavo then cornered Gail and feigned going after her, which allowed Primo to sneak up behind Chavo to roll him up for a pin following a dropkick to the jaw from Gail. Well, look at that, Primo and Gail in the win column. They celebrated the victory post-match before the show went to break.

WINNERS: Primo & Gail in 5:00. Fine warm-up match getting some stars on TV and putting the likeable babyface Gail in peril before Primo scored the pin to start the show on a feel-good note. (*)

Main event to come: ECW champ Christian vs. William Regal.

[Commercial Break]

Raw plug: One year later, Shawn Michaels wants a WrestleMania re-match. Taker answers the challenge this Monday.

In-ring: Carlito's music hit to bring out Carlito with an apple. He taunted Justin Roberts with a spit, then adjusted his tie and walked away. Chris Masters's new generic rock theme hit to bring out Masters with Eve. The combination of spray tan and baby oil was just way too much here. The TV screen nearly exploded. Before the match started, Carlito spit his apple in Masters's face to upset Masters.

[Q2]

2 -- CHRIS MASTERS (w/Eve) vs. CARLITO

The bell sounded and Masters cold-cocked Carlito with a right hand. That should have been the end of the match, but the match continued with Carlito regaining control on the floor after suckering Masters into his trap. Cole and Lawler sounded like announcers at a Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest quietly talking about Masters's assets as he made a babyface comeback. Carlito then surprised Masters with a dropkick to the back before flashing a cocky smile. He then charged Masters, but Masters moved and Carlito ate the corner turnbuckles. Masters then telegraphed and applied the Masterlock center ring, which drew a submission after ten seconds. Cue up the MasterEve celebration.

WINNER: Masters in 3:00. It was there, then over. The take-away point for Carlito was creating a memorable impression for viewers with some good facial expressions throughout the match. In a WWE environment where wins and losses don't really mean much in these types of matches, it's about standing out and creating a lasting impression. Carlito won in that regard. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Slam Master J and Jimmy Wang Yang came to the ring first for Smackdown's contribution to the show. Mike Knox and Charlie Haas then came out in very dark wrestling attire to have a seemingly-uniform heel persona. Charlie also with a freshly-shaven head. If you want a Dr. Knox discussion, be sure to check out today's PWTorch Livecast with a discussion on how Knox could be a major star for WWE if presented correctly.

3 -- MIKE KNOX & CHARLIE HAAS vs. SLAM MASTER J & JIMMY WANG YANG

In a battle of teams and wrestlers that simply do not win matches, Team J started off with control until Knox ran over SMJ with a brick wall-like splash. Knox then brought in Haas, who stretched SMJ's body. Knox re-entered and pounded on SMJ. Haas re-entered and stretched SMJ, who finally teased that hot tag to Yang and connected after ducking underneath Haas. Yang went wild on the heels before scoring a one count on Haas when Knox broke up a pin attempt. SMJ then cleared Knox to the outside before nailing a plancha on the floor. Back in the ring, Yang caught Haas in the corner and came off the top with a moonsault that grazed Haas on the shoulder to score the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Yang & SMJ in 4:00. And Knox still can't pick up a win. Knox and Haas make a nice little tag team based on this match with some nice, fast-paced, in-and-out tag team action working over SMJ. It was good to see Yang and SMJ in the win column for once, although WWE needs to be building up some strong heel tandems they can feed to DX for a one-off match. (*1/4)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Raw Rebound: They went back to Raw for Mike Tyson's return to WWE and concluding with a sucker punch on Chris Jericho.

ECW announcers: Josh Mathews and Byron Saxton were shown on-camera to introduce the Superstars main event for tonight. Out first was ECW champion Christian. He has William Regal on the other side of the break.

[Commercial Break]

Superstars profile: They gave us a look at Ezekiel Jackson in the weekly Superstars video profile. ... In-ring: Back from break, Jackson accompanied William Regal to the ring for the main event.

[Q4]

4 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN vs. WILLIAM REGAL -- non-title match

The announcers sold this as a "learning opportunity" for Jackson before his title shot against Christian at the Royal Rumble. The learning opportunity quickly ended when Jackson was booted from ringside when the ref spotted him attempting outside interference. Regal sold concern as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break. Smackdown plug - Rey vs. Batista in the steel cage.]

Back from break, Regal and Christian exchanged control before Regal knocked Christian off the ring apron and Christian ate the mat neck-first. They slow-motion replayed Christian eating the mat neck-first, which was slightly uncomfortable considering head/neck issues in pro wrestling. Back in the ring, Regal aggressively went after Christian before Christian blocked a corner attack and hit a leaping cross-body splash for a two count. Christian followed with a top rope missile dropkick for another two count. Christian then went up top again and missed with a diving headbutt (ugh landing on the neck). Regal then landed forearms to the back of the head before measuring Christian for a running knee smash, but Christian ducked and caught Regal with a kick to the gut. Regal tried to come back with a sunset flip with rope leverage, but the ref saw it and stopped his three count.

In the confusion, Christian to hit the Killswitch, but Regal slipped out and applied the Regal Stretch. Christian escaped, but Regal smashed him with a forearm to the face. Regal tried to follow with a double underhook suplex, but Christian blocked, ducked underneath Regal, and hit the Killswitch for the pin and the win. Well done. Post-match: Christian stood tall with possession of the ECW Title. After replays of the high points in the match, they closed the show with Christian holding up the ECW Title center ring.

WINNER: Christian in 13:00. Solid TV main event with a very strong final three minutes of counters, reversals, and high-impact moves. Christian and Regal have great chemistry being able to go full-speed without holding back in the ring. Nice match worth catching on the DVR. (**1/4)

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Superstars TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on Superstars, email to pwtorch@gmail.com using our Feedback form.

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