WWE Superstars TV Results
February 3, 2011 - Year 2, Week 43
Taped the Week of Jan. 31
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

This week's WWE Superstars episode opened with crowd shots and silence from the announcers. Scott Stanford then came to life and introduced the show before Josh Mathews plugged the Smackdown main event of JTG & Trent Barreta vs. Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins later in the show.

In-ring: Zack Ryder's music hit to bring out Zack Ryder, in a new flashy ring jacket, and Primo, who was sporting dark shades. Stanford said the WWE Universe is hung over from the Royal Rumble. Nice wording choice. In the ring, Ryder took the mic and said he woke up this morning with a smile on his face. Primo, looking like he was playing dress-up with the shades on, asked for some respect. Ryder said he's read everyone's Tweets and he knows they're DZP - Down with Zack & Primo. Primo said nothing and no one will stop them from going to WrestleMania. "You know it," Ryder said. Cue up Yoshi Tatsu's music to bring out Yoshi and D.H. Smith, who was sporting the Barry Windham ring jacket, as the opposition.

1 -- D.H. SMITH & YOSHI TATSU vs. ZACK RYDER & PRIMO

This is a re-match from last week's Superstars, which was won by Ryder and Primo. Stanford noted he saw Smith and Yoshi backstage before the show talking strategy in Japanese. Apparently that makes them a more formidable tag team. The announcers discussed the poor showings by these four men in the Rumble (Yoshi and Ryder quick exits and Smith and Primo replaced) and Mathews said they are all trying to break from the "also-ran" label. Before a mid-match commercial, Primo knocked Yoshi to the floor and Ryder landed a cheap shot. Smith checked on Yoshi, who was selling a leg injury, and they cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, the heels enjoyed extended offensive control isolating Yoshi. Mathews said he likes what he sees from Ryder and Primo as a potential tag team to be reckoned with. D.H. Smith eventually tagged in and showed off his delayed vertical suplex as Stanford seemed confused on why Smith held Ryder in the air for that long. The action broke down, then Yoshi blind-tagged into the match and delivered high-flying offense on Ryder. On his second try, Yoshi popped Ryder in the head with a roundhouse kick and that was good for the win.

WINNERS: Smith & Yoshi at 11:37. Basic Superstars tag match continuing the back-and-forth mini-tussle between the two teams. (*1/4)

Post-match: Stanford name-dropped Triple H, then fed to the debut trailer for "The Chaperone" movie. ... Backstage: After the video aired, Melina was shown posing for the paparazzi on the way to the ring for a Divas match. ... WrestleMania 27 is...59 days away.

[Commercial Break]

2 -- MELINA vs. TAMINA

The background here is Melina looking for a rebound win after her Divas Title match loss on last week's Raw and this is Tamina's first televised match in 2011. Tamina, wearing an outfit from the Superfly Snuka collection and not accompanied by Santino, displayed an aggressive streak early in the match. Melina sold a nose injury and went to the corner to recover, which drew the referee's attention. It also cut off Tamina's momentum as Melina went on the attack after feigning the injury. Tamina made a comeback at 4:00, but Melina cut her off with a blast to the face. Melina then screamed and scored with her step-over sweeping leg drop for the win.

WINNER: Melina at 4:58. Good, aggressive, five-minute TV match ultimately getting over Melina's "mean streak" as a heel Diva. (*1/4)

Up later: Smackdown tag team main event.

[Commercial Break]

Superstars profile: Alberto Del Rio. ... Ringside: Matt Striker and Jack Korpela were shown on-camera to talk up Del Rio's Royal Rumble victory before feeding to the Raw Rebound, which focused on Jerry Lawler winning the Raw Rumble match to advance to face WWE champion The Miz at the Elimination Chamber PPV.

In-ring: JTG and Trent Barreta made their way to the ring for the TV main event. They focused on JTG playing to the crowd before cutting to break.

[Commercial Break]

Mystery Vignette: Before returning to Superstars, the "mystery man in the abandoned cabin" vignette from Raw aired. "2 21 11 flashed on the screen before being "burned away." It will be interesting to see if this re-airs on Smackdown on Friday night.

3 -- TRENT BARRETA & JTG vs. CURT HAWKINS & TYLER REKS

The "former best friends," Hawkins and Barreta, locked up to start the match. Stalemate and they locked up again. Barreta got the better of the exchange and tagged in JTG. For what it's worth, Barreta and JTG were color-coordinated with DX-inspired green design and lettering on their pants. Back and forth tag action as the teams continued to feel each other while the announcers played up all four men's quest to get on this year's WrestleMania card. This led to Korpela questioning Striker's WrestleMania credentials and Striker noted his appearance at WrestleMania 23. No mention of the letters "ECW" for the ECW Originals vs. New Breed match, of which Striker was on the losing end with Elijah Burke (The Pope in TNA), Marcus Cor Von (Monty Brown in TNA), and Kevin Thorn. The faces took control of the match going to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Tyler Reks had taken control of the match for the heels and he was working over JTG. Barreta was shown looking for a tag as the heels continued to isolate JTG. Meanwhile, Striker plugged Friday's Smackdown episode where they'll find out some of the Elimination Chamber participants on the Smackdown side. Reks applied neck vice and the camera zoomed in on JTG's face as he sold agony mixed with losing consciousness. JTG tried to escape, but Reks cut him off and brought Hawkins back into the match.

JTG eventually broke free and tagged in Trent to bring the match back where it started with Trent vs. Hawkins. Trent nailed a springboard dropkick on Reks, who tried to enter the match, then Hawkins dropped Trent with a flip-over facebuster for a two count. Hawkins targeted JTG, who also tried to enter the ring. Trent then crotched Curt and JTG took out Reks on the outside. The action settled down and Hawkins nailed a heat-seeking elbow from the top rope on Trent. It was good for a pin to give the heels a victory.

Post-match, Hawkins and Reks celebrated the victory a bit. Suddenly, Reks decked an unsuspecting Hawkins with a right hand before pulling him back into the ring to deliver his Burning Hammer finisher. Reks is the only one standing tall this week. Korpela signed off as Reks made his way out of the ring and surveyed the damage.

WINNERS: Reks & Hawkins at 13:13. Decent, formula tag match followed by a character-enhancing post-match angle for Reks. For the first time possibly ever, Reks showed a little bit of an "it" factor with the post-match attack and facial expressions trying to get over this unexplained character straight out of the mid-1990s WWF playbook. (*1/2)

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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