WWE Superstars TV Results
April 29, 2010 - Year 2, Week 3
Taped the Week of April 26
Report by James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

The WWE show started with Raw announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introducing the show and hyping the Draft. Out to start the show was Gail Kim, with some highly unrecognizable music, for an opening Divas match. Jillian Hall came out as her opponent to commence Superstars.

1 -- GAIL KIM vs. JILLIAN HALL

Interestingly, there was no pre-match promo/botched singing from Jillian to antagonize the audience and build up Gail as the babyface. They went right to the action with Gail and Jillian going back and forth until Jillian took control. She cut off Gail's first attempted comeback and settled into a mat hold. Jillian was able to show off some wrestling skill for once continuing to work over Gail, who then made her full comeback at 5:00. Gail nailed a series of knock-down clotheslines to build momentum, but Jillian cut her off again and landed a kick strike in the corner. She then measured Gail for a handspring elbow in the corner and connected. Jillian went back to the well once again, but Gail moved out of the way this time. Gail then finished off Jillian with her unique-looking snap facebreaker (Eat Defeat) for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Gail Kim in 7:00. Solid TV wrestling match. I doubt we're going to start seeing seven-minutes women's matches on Raw, but this was a good showcase for Jillian not having to play the dumb blonde with the Raw guest hosts and Gail was given some needed TV time and attention. (*1/2)

Raw Rebound: They replayed the Draft on Monday with a run-down of the picks for both Raw and Smackdown, highlighted by Edge coming to Raw. This was of course followed by a recap of Edge spearing Randy Orton in the main event, which set up Edge vs. Orton and Cena vs. Batista in a future WWE Title match.

Announcers: Cole did a voice-over on the Draft changes with a plug for WWE's website to review the roster changes. Still to come tonight: New Unified tag champions Hart Dynasty in action.

[Commercial Break]

[Q2]

In-ring: Superstars continues with Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes, who was drafted to Smackdown in the Supplemental Draft. WWE inserted a voice-over from Cole acknowledging that fact and Cole noted it will be interesting to see how their relationship evolves with Ryder on Raw and Rosa on Smackdown. Primo then randomly re-appeared for the first time on TV in two months to little fanfare and the match was on.

2 -- ZACK RYDER (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. PRIMO

The announcers spent the first minute talking up Sheamus's work on Triple H at the Extreme Rules PPV and noted Hunter is out indefinitely. Ryder worked over Primo early on before throwing him over the top rope. Primo held onto the top rope, though, and flipped back into the ring to land a dropkick and settle into an arm bar. Primo placed a knee on Ryder's neck for additional pressure before they came to their feet, followed by Primo sending Ryder over the top rope. Ryder hit his face on the ring apron on the way down, then Carlito followed with a plancha on the outside. Back in the ring, Primo was distracted by Rosa screaming at him in Spanish, then Ryder hung Primo out to dry on the top rope and kicked him to the floor. Ryder was in control heading to break.

[Commercial Break. Hulk Hogan and Troy Aikman are back this week. Hogan is now ripping off the t-shirt to reveal "Clearance-Mania." C'mon, Hulk.]

Back to the action, Ryder had control on Carlito working over the mid-section. Cole noted it's an important match for Ryder. Cole left that sentence hanging without giving the "why" as Ryder continued to work over Primo. The action moved to the floor where Ryder landed more offense before making a cover in the ring for a two cont. Ryder then slapped on a mid-ring submission, but Primo broke free. Ryder tried to come back with a leg drop from the middle rope, but Primo moved. Primo then kicked Ryder in the face and tried a quick roll-up for a two count. A backslide resulted in another nearfall, then a small package with the same result.

Primo built momentum with a back-elbow smash before hitting a Russian legsweep and dancing to his feet. Primo dropped Ryder with a leg sweep into a leg drop, but Ryder kicked out at two. Rosa saw her man in trouble and hopped on the ring apron to cause a distraction for Ryder to knock Primo off the top rope. Ryder then hit the Zack Attack for the pin and the win. And there's Ryder finally with a TV victory to conclude a fine TV match.

WINNER: Ryder in 12:00. Good, back-and-forth TV match with Ryder finally winning a TV match and Primo getting some TV time trying to catch viewers's eyes. These type of matches can drive you crazy, though, as it was one of those matches where they never really answered the "why" on the match's purpose and what each man was trying to accomplish in the ring. We know wins/losses don't particularly count in WWE and we know WWE is about reinforcement, reinforcement, and more reinforcement, but WWE could help make these matches seem more relevant to the TV audience if there was some sort of incentive spoken of e.g. make-believe cash prize, future Raw TV featured match, a title shot, or something else tangible. Just a thought. (*3/4)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break. Hogan ripping the t-shirt with Troy again.]

Superstars profile: Sheamus destroying folks, notably Triple H. Pure reinforcement to hammer home the angle with Hunter and Sheamus. ... Announcers: Smackdown's Todd Grisham and Matt Striker were shown on-camera to talk in quiet tones about Sheamus working over Hunter. Striker said they don't know when or if Hunter will return.

Last Monday video recap: Hart Dynasty won the Unified tag titles, then Big Show snapped on The Miz with the big KO Punch. ... In-ring: Hart Dynasty's music hit to bring out the new Unified tag champions. Natalya led out D.H. Smith and Tyson Kidd to a strong reaction from the crowd. They're up after the break in the TV main event.

[Commercial Break. Hogan ripping the shirt Part 3.]

In-ring: Dudebusters came out to oppose HD in the main event and Striker sold a bill of goods on a tag team re-birth or resurgence. Of note, there are currently two legit tag teams in WWE. And they're in the following match.

[Q4]

3 -- Unified tag champions HART DYNASTY (TYSON KIDD & D.H. SMITH w/Natalya) vs. DUDEBUSTERS (TRENT BARRETA & CAYLEN CROFT) -- non-title match

Tyson and Barreta started things off with Kidd working over Trent with a mat hold. Striker tried to act hip talking up Dudebusters's video game proficiency and name-dropping Justin Bieber in the broadcast. This was followed by Striker equating Natalya to Lady Gaga. Anyways, Smith tagged in and worked over Croft with some power offense before grounding Croft on the mat and working over the shoulder. Barreta then distracted Smith, allowing Croft to smash Smith from behind with a knee to the back. Croft, who could pass for Johnny Depp, then knocked Smith through the ropes to put the Dudes in control going to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Barreta was trying to ground Smith before Smith reached his feet and back-dropped Barreta to tag in Kidd. Kidd came in hot with a flying attack, but he was caught on the ring apron and Trent dropped him face-first across the apron with a snap DDT. The Dudes started working over Kidd with in-and-out tag action as the announcers talked up the Raw brand wrestlers who were drafted over to Smackdown. Trent then landed multiple knee strikes to Kidd's face in the corner that looked pretty impressive with some tight camerawork. Trent took too much time following up and missed with another smash in the corner.

Smith took a hot tag and ran over Croft, who also tagged in. He then set up Croft for a high elevated suplex and maintained the hold for a good five seconds before spinning him into the ground for a two count. Trent then helped Croft escape the ring, only to accept a slap to the face from Natalya. The Dudes lost their bearings and Smith launched Kidd over the top rope for a splash on the Dudes. Back in the ring, HD hit the springboard Hart Attack on Croft for the pin and the win. Post-match: HD got their shine celebrating with the tag titles to cap off a good week of TV.

WINNERS: Hart Dynasty in 13:00. Solid tag match main event. We'll probably be seeing more of this match-up considering they're the only two legit tag teams left in WWE, but they have good chemistry and the match formula works. Trent continues to stand out as the Dudebuster with the most upside based on character alone, but Croft is also developing as a steady hand in the ring. I imagine Hart Dynasty's future on Raw (and Smackdown) will be working tag matches with singles wrestlers who WWE wants to put together because WWE has no other plans for the select individuals. (**1/4)

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