WWE Superstars TV Results
July 29, 2010 - Year 2, Week 16
Taped the Week of July 26
Report by James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

This week's episode of WWE Superstars on WGN started with Raw announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introducing the show and plugging Summerslam in two-and-a-half weeks. Out first were Santino and Kozlov to start the show with Raw tag action. Cole and Lawler were shown on-camera to talk up Summerslam again, then William Regal sternly walked out. Primo was given his own ring intro for his standard role on Thursday night programming to round out the field.

1 -- SANTINO MARELLA & KOZLOV vs. WILLIAM REGAL & PRIMO COLON

They went for comedy early on with Santino squaring off with Regal. Santino proceeded to strut across the ring (rather than bounce off the ropes) several times doing a chicken walk while Regal looked on perplexed with these events. It looked like a comedy spot you would see on the independents, with Santino managing to pull it off. Lawler said it seems to be effective if it distracts an opponent. Cole, meanwhile, referenced Kozlov and Regal working together on the "now-defunct ECW" earlier this year. The first of many ECW references tonight on pro wrestling TV, for sure. Santino hot-tagged in for Kozlov and did the Santino Hulk Up that Regal sold for. Santino then dropped Regal with the Cobra and Regal rolled to the outside. The heels regrouped on the floor as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break. Hulk Hogan and Troy Aikman are back for Rent-a-Center this week.]

Back from break, Santino was on the offensive against Primo. Santino then went for his Sailor Salute fist drop, but Primo blocked with knees to the gut. Regal then tagged in and began trading tags with Primo to work on Santino. Kozlov eventually took a tag at 10:00 and landed power offense on Primo, who also tagged in. Regal broke up a pin, then Santino scared Regal away by flashing the Cobra. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Primo attempted a top rope move on Kozlov, who easily countered with the Iron Curtain for the pin and the win. Regal simply shook his head ringside while glaring into the ring where Santino and Kozlov celebrated.

WINNERS: Santino & Kozlov in 12:00. Regal's role is well defined at this point: sell for Santino, as silly and unrealistic as it can be at times. (*1/2)

[Q2]

NXT clip: They went back to Tuesday's NXT to show Eli Cottonwood eliminated from the competition. They put the ominous music and camera filter on Eli before showing him snapping on the other Rookies to beat them up post-elimination. The video closed with a scary still-shot of Eli's long, stringy black hair covering his shifty eyes. The video was the best presentation of Eli in eight weeks...and they saved it for after he was eliminated.

[Commercial Break. Hogan and Aikman part II.]

In-ring: Smackdown announcers Todd Grisham and Matt Striker introduced the next part of the show, with Chris Masters coming out for the first Smackdown match of the show. The announcers went back to three weeks ago on Superstars when the Dudebusters jumped Masters during the Masterlock Challenge. They cut back to Masters, who sold that he was ready to eat a snack. Caylen Croft then came out with Trent Baretta for singles action.

2 -- CHRIS MASTERS vs. CAYLEN CROFT (w/Trent Baretta)

Striker had an interesting opening line that Masters is "respected in the Smackdown locker room" and the veterans want him to take out the cocky rookies, The Dudebusters. Grisham tried to insert a Dez Bryant current-events NFL reference, but he called him Dez White, a former NFL receiver. He followed by calling Masters's opponent "Trent Croft." Striker noted the name-drop botches as Masters dominated early on. Croft then took out Masters at the legs before Masters made the Batista babyface comeback with power offense while selling a lower body injury.

Masters hit a nice turnaround powerslam, then teased a gorilla press, but dropped the hold to sell the leg work. Masters then tried a clothesline to the floor that completely missed Croft, but Croft flipped to the outside to sell the move. On the floor, Masters slapped on the Masterlock on Trent to eliminate him from the picture. That worked, but back in the ring, Croft caught Masters slowly re-entering the ring and dropped him with a DDT. Croft made the pin on Masters for the win. Trent Croft then celebrated the victory as Masters sold his leg and vowed to get them.

WINNER: Croft in 4:00. Fine story to the match just trying to give Trent Croft quality TV exposure and continue exposing them to the audience. (*)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Superstars profile: Rey Mysterio. High-flying, connection with the fans, #1 contender to the World Title at Summerslam.

Announcers: Grisham and Striker talked about happenings on Raw when there was...dissension! The Raw Rebound focused on John Cena's B-Team being formed two weeks ago, then breaking apart at the seams this week on Raw. All the while, Nexus looks like a solid unit. Back to Superstars, Grisham and Striker broke down the Summerslam line-up, including the seemingly hyperbolic sales pitch that the "future of Raw" depends on Team Cena thwarting Nexus.

In-ring: MVP's music hit to bring out MVP with John Cena's favorite NXT Rookie, Percy Watson. MVP and Percy danced to the ring as Grisham suggested MVP would be popping some champagne on Chavo tonight. What does that even mean? They cut to break with MVP getting his shine in the ring.

[Commercial Break. Cryme Tyme Superstars profile? Apparently WGN had some old Superstars footage in the can to fill 20 seconds.]

In-ring: MVP and Percy were talking things over as Striker plugged the 7-Eleven Slurpee cups. Striker said the Triple H cup is the hardest one to find. Nice political one-liner. "I love Slurpees," Grisham said, with the wrong tone. Chavo was out with a different look, dropping the long pants for wrestling shorts ala Christopher Daniels. Striker talked up Chavo's strong Texas following. It's worth noting they're in Corpus Christi where C.M. Punk dumped Chavo in the Gulf of Mexico in a February 2008 ECW episode.

[Q4]

3 -- MVP (w/Percy Watson) vs. CHAVO GUERRERO

MVP and Chavo cut a methodical pace to start things off. Meanwhile, Grisham talked about MVP hanging out with the Miami Heat trio of LeBron Wade, Chris James, and Dwayne Bosh. Okay, he didn't pull a "Dez White" and "Trent Croft" botching their names, but he very slowly pronounced LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade to make sure he got their names right. MVP cut off Chavo's offense to frustrate him, then Chavo bailed to the outside to regroup. MVP taunted Chavo from the ring as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Chavo was in control of the match. Striker said Chavo Classic was in the building sharing some "devious notes" with Chavo before the match. The crowd started an "MVP" chant as MVP broke free of a nerve hold. It's worth noting how pale Chavo's legs look compared to the rest of his body. He wasn't ready to drop the long pants. Chavo then cut off MVP again and went back to work, scoring nearfalls. Percy rallied the crowd as MVP pulled himself together and hit an exploder suplex. He followed with some slow-motion right hand blows during an exchange with Chavo that looked pretty clunky.

MVP hit the Ballin' Elbow drop and tried to end the match, but Chavo shoved him off into the corner turnbuckle. Chavo then did the Eddie Shake and followed with two out of Three Amigos. MVP countered #3 with a belly-to-back German Suplex for a nearfall. Striker then had a weird line about the audience needing to learn how to "take the WWE Universe on a ride" with the back-and-forth. It was a "break from suspension of disbelief" type of line that wasn't necessary. Chavo then went for a top rope splash, but MVP blocked with a boot to the face. MVP and Chavo traded pin attempts, then Chavo stumbled into the Play of the Day from MVP for the pin and the win.

WINNER: MVP in 13:00. The match had all the makings of a strong TV main event, but the commentary was terrible in spots and there were some really clunky spots throughout the match where it looked like they were pretending to have a fight and weren't on the same page trying to choreograph the moves. Good nearfalls and a strong back-and-forth helped overcome some of the negatives. (**)

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