WWE Superstars TV Results
May 20, 2010 - Year 2, Week 6
Taped the Week of May 17
Report by James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

This week's WWE Superstars episode opened with Raw announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler opening the show. Cue up the "evil Russian" heel music to bring out Kozlov. Cole and Lawler were shown on-camera to plug the Over the Limit PPV on Sunday and put over Kozlov's meanness. Cue up Santino Marella to a nice crowd pop. He hit the ring and his music stopped, bringing up a huge "Santino" chant. This was taped Monday in Toronto and the crowd was hot for Santino, who is actually from Canada despite playing a lost foreigner.

Santino said he's seen a change in Kozlov since professing his desire to be his partner...in the tag team sense. Santino said he wants to take Kozlov out from under the "dirty English thumb" of William Regal. He said they will become a very great tag team "of all the times." Santino put over Kozlov's MMA background and he said he read - thoroughly three times - a book on MMA, which drew laughs. Santino put over the Cobra and his leg sweep. He did a comedy routine on how fast his punches are, which drew another "Santino, Santino" chant.

Santino did a "time-out" motion and smiled at the crowd. He said they both came to the U.S. with dreams of better lives. Santino started a "U-S-A" chant, but stopped when he realized they were in Canada. He tried a "North Ah-mer-ica" chant instead, which the crowd laughed at. Santino said if he can change and if Kozlov can change, they can all change. He said he's going to put down the mic, the bell is going to ring, and they can (a) fight or (b) leave the ring together marking the beginning of the greatest tag team in the universe. They could walk right on through like Chris Bosh leaving the Raptors, he said. That drew a groan. "He could stay, he could stay," Santino said. He then put the mic down and called for the bell.

1 -- SANTINO MARELLA vs. KOZLOV

Santino playfully put his hand on Kozlov's chest, then Kozlov grappled him. Santino closed his eyes waiting for Kozlov's response, then Kozlov landed multiple headbutts as Santino shrieked. Kozlov hit the Iron Curtain and Santino folded up like a cheap suit on the mat. Kozlov with the pin for the win.

WINNER: Kozlov in 0:30. Good start to the show. Only 30 seconds of Kozlov in the ring, they got over his offense in a unique way, and Santino was able to do the comedy routine in front of an appreciative audience. (n/a)

Still to come: Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler in the TV main event from Smackdown.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Goldust came out first for Raw's next singles match-up on the show. William Regal then came out and Goldust leaned against the ropes eagerly awaiting Regal's arrival. Cole put over NXT and talked about Regal's Rookie, Skip Sheffield, eliminated last week.

[Q2]

2 -- GOLDUST vs. WILLIAM REGAL

The match started with a standing exchange as Cole listed Regal's accolades, including a former Raw GM. Regal then grounded Goldust and started working over Goldust's left shoulder. Goldust recovered in the corner as ref Jack Doane started putting on medical gloves to examine Goldust. A medic then attended to Goldust, who received a cut around his check and ear region. Lawler said the doctor makes the decision on whether a wrestler can continue in the match. Regal played to the crowd while the medical examination continued for a few minutes.

The medic cleared Goldust to continue, then Regal went on the offensive, but Goldust made a brief comeback. Goldust teased a DDT, but Regal countered with an exploding suplex. Regal then went for a running knee trembler, but Goldust ducked and hit the Curtain Call for the pin and the win. Post-match: Goldust recovered in the corner and stared down Regal after picking up the win. Good reaction for Goldust from the crowd before they replayed the high points from the match. Back in the ring, Goldust played to the crowd and acted fired up.

WINNER: Goldust in 4:00. Nice little TV match. Goldust continues to impress every time they give him an opportunity. (*1/4)

NXT recap: Cole fed to a video package on Darren Young being eliminated and the return of a "sore loser" on Tuesday. Cue up an NXT video on Michael Tarver describing his elimination and then Daniel Bryan's "shoot" interview. For Bryan's line on WWE being all about big men, they showed clips of The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. For Bryan's line on the WWE machine manufacturing stars, they showed John Cena. They showed Bryan and Cole picking up the scrap ringside, with the inclusion of Bryan's line on Cole being a parrot for Vince McMahon, which essentially put over Vince McMahon as the master of the WWE Universe.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Cody Rhodes's music hit and out came Rhodes sporting his flashy new black jacket. It's a sharp look. They cut to Todd Grisham and Matt Striker on-camera to talk up Rhodes as a second-generation star and the son of Dusty Rhodes. Chris Masters then came out and Rhodes paced the ring waiting for Masters.

3 -- CODY RHODES vs. CHRIS MASTERS

Cody started with a lock-up, but Masters shoved him to the mat and did the pec dance. Cody tried to overpower Masters, but he couldn't, so he rolled to the floor to recover. Apparently he had Masters "scouted," as Masters tried to follow up on the outside, but Cody lured Masters into a trap by yanking his shoulder-first into the ringpost. Masters writhed in pain on the floor as they cut to break with a ten count being applied.

[Commercial Break] [Q3]

Cody was working over Masters in the ring back from break. Cody kept Masters on the mat working over his shoulder before Masters came to his feet and landed a short-arm clothesline. Masters landed a series of clotheslines before making a cover for a two count. Masters pumped up the crowd before attempting a one-arm Masterlock. Cody reached the ropes for a break, though. After Masters let up, Cody took advantage with a quick single arm DDT center ring. Cody then followed right up with Cross Rhodes for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Rhodes in 9:00. Very good execution of basic ring psychology by Cody. Target the shoulder, take away one of Masters's arms for the Masterlock, get a slight advantage to re-target the shoulder, and hit the finisher for the win. Cody is on the right track getting over as a smart heel just looking to win matches. It's not main-event level, but it's effective and marketable if WWE gets Cody on a nice winning streak. (*1/2)

Video package: John Cena vs. Batista in an I Quit match at the Over the Limit PPV. ... Grisham and Striker then broke down the PPV line-up for Sunday. The graphics seem to be WWE's way of trotting out 3D-looking graphics in a test run. It's been dizzying me for three weeks.

Up next: Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler in the TV main event.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

In-ring: Dolph Ziggler was out first doing his mini-Rick Rude & Curt Hennig "look at me" routine. Christian then came out playing to his home country. Grisham called the upcoming match-up a "five-star match" in the making. That would require back-story, more than ten minutes of in-ring time, and a lot of other background factors. It was merely a throwaway line by Grisham with WWE trying to "own" the evaluation of the in-ring product.

4 -- CHRISTIAN vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER

The crowd was hot for Christian early on as he took early control. The action moved to the floor where Christian yanked Ziggler nose-first across the ring apron. Christian then hit a baseball slide kick through the ropes that knocked Ziggler to the floor. Christian rolled Ziggler back into the ring, where Ziggler caught him with a hard knee to the gut. Ziggler then flung Christian over the top rope and Christian ate the floor stomach-first. Christian sold as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Ziggler was working on Christian with stomps and kicks and punches. Ziggler then missed with a corner attack and Christian hit the pendulum kick. Christian made his comeback while selling the mid-section and scored a nearfall following a missile dropkick. Christian then went all the way up top and hit a cross-body block, but Ziggler rolled through into a nearfall. Ziggler tried to follow with the Sleeper, but Christian slipped underneath and hit an inverted DDT for a two count.

Christian then tried a turnaround sunset flip, but Ziggler blocked and trapped Christian's shoulders to the mat for a two count. Ziggler immediately tried to follow with the Zig-Zag, but Christian held the ropes to block. Christian then hit the Killswitch moments later and scored the pin for the win. Post-match: They recapped highlights of the match before Christian was shown smiling and pumping his fist in victory to get his shine as they wrapped up the show.

WINNER: Christian in 10:00. Nice ten-minute TV main event. They had a good back-and-forth exchange at the end heightening the anticipation for the finish, which looked a bit "forced" with Ziggler kind of walking into Christian for the Unprettier. That aside, a solid bout between two solid wrestlers. It wasn't a blow-away match, as it fit Christian's basic wrestling style, but it told a good story and ended the show on a high note. (**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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S TOUGH ENOUGH REPORT 8/11 - Week 8: Cena returns to WWE TV, contestants have a match in front of NXT roster, more

CALDWELL'S TOUGH ENOUGH REPORT 8/4 - Week 7: Latest cut, Prime Time Players guest-star, Amanda Swerve, more

CALDWELL'S TOUGH ENOUGH REPORT 7/28 - Week 6: Latest elimination, Hogan replaced, Miz ruins everything, WWE stars appear, more