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The Specialists
7/2 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Santino, Reks, Edge vs. Punk Jul 3, 2009 - 12:41:47 AM
Santino Marella: Thank God for Santino Marella. This has been a tough week watching WWE so far. Raw was decent, but had some major problems. I really disliked ECW this week which is a shame as I have enjoyed it for the most part over the last few months. Things have been looking down, that is until Santino made his way to the ring to start Superstars. He instantly puts a smile on my face. I really like his current character and the fans are really responding in a positive way to him. I love how he talks during his match, like when he yelled at The Brian Kendrick "you make-a-me so mad!" His in ring antics are hilarious. I also loved when he tried to shake Kendrick's hand after the match, but Kendrick was just too angry. While I enjoyed this, there has to be a better use for Kendrick.
Morrison vs. Haas: This was good for a 4 minute match. I wish the match had gone longer. However, I enjoyed this match while it lasted. John Morrison has had very good longer matches lately with Chris Jericho, Edge and a victory over CM Punk. Charlie Haas is clearly not at that level, so it makes sense that it wouldn't take Morrison that long to beat him. Both wrestlers worked hard in the time to put on a good match. Morrison continues to show great athleticism and innovation in the ring. Haas has been looking good in the ring on Smackdown when teaming with Shelton Benjamin. He looked good here too, but time will tell what happens to him with Benjamin traded to ECW.
Punk vs. Edge: This is one of those matches that worked well in the storyline. It wasn't great, but it told a story and did so with good wrestling action. It went 12 minutes and was interesting to watch as Edge the heel took on CM Punk the tweener, leaning more towards also being a heel. The injured eye angle has potential. I'm not a huge fan yet, but I see where they can go in some interesting directions. On the whole, I'm a fan of how Punk's character has been written since Extreme Rules. It was a very different ending than what we usually see, and different is good. Edge's facial reactions to the referee calling the match, then being named the winner were great. I am looking forward to seeing where this angle goes from here.
SUPERSTARS MISSES
Reks' Debut: This is not a criticism against Taylor Reks, but I was underwhelmed by his in ring debut, because he lost clean in less than three minutes to Zack Ryder. The match was fine while it lasted, and if Reks had been a local jobber I would have thought it was a fine match to continue to build Ryder who is getting a fair push. The action was fine while it lasted. Reks looked good in what he was asked to do. But, after taking time to debut him on ECW, why have him job in a short match? A longer more competitive match, showcasing his in ring ability, would have been a better way to go. He would have still lost, but at least put up a fight and gotten some of his moves introduced to the fans. After two appearances in WWE so far, we know that he likes to surf, and that's it. We don't know anything about what he can do as a wrestler.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.
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