2010 Discussion

Discuss Superstars in 2010.

Goldust Vs William Regal - WWE Superstars 26/08/2010
We've got two great, great veterans here, starting things slowly just trying to gain control and not make a mistake because both men are great at capitalising on mistakes. Things get a little STIFF~! when Goldust is sick of Regal for not letting go of a hammerlock while he is in the ropes, so he elbows the fuck out of Regal, causing Regal to retaliate with those awesome European uppercuts he likes to use.

Goldust keeps fighting back and even manages to stamp on the right hand of Regal, and after Regal tries to use it and ends up hurting himself, he just stares at his hand and roars at it before going back to work on Goldust. Shit like that is just awesome to me and I don't know why. Awesome little spot in the match where they start trading some painful looking, and sounding shots to each other's head. Nice to see the crowd getting behind the match too, and doing the old "yey! boo!" for them landing blows. Not exactly WM 22 HHH/Cena atmosphere, but for a match on Superstars, I was impressed lol.

Just as Goldust thinks he has everything in hand, Regal drops him neck first on the ropes, hits the Knee Trembler, and this one is over.
Gotta say, I am disappointed. I had heard it got a good amount of time, yet it was less than 10 minutes. And that's about it for disappointments . Just another good sub 10 minute match for 2010, and certainly one you should watch if you like Regal and/or Goldust. Some stiffness, and general awesomeness from both guys. Would have liked them to cut out the other match (the tag match that I couldn't care less about) so they could have been given more time, but oh well, they can both work 10 minute matches as well as anyone on the roster, if not better.

Finlay Vs Mike Knox - WWE Superstars 07/01/2010
My god this is awesome. 2 tough bastards beating the living shit out of each other. Knox has the big raw power, while Finlay has the veteran instinct to find openings to get some of his shots in. Just some really awesome back and forth brutality with some nice spots (Knox booting Finlay in the face, Finlay smashing Knox into the announcers table, Knox flying at Finlay with a cross body...). Finish was cool; Knox exposed a turnbuckle, and while the ref was seeing to that... BAM. Finlay hits him with the Shillelagh and this is all over. Andy will love this. Everyone else should love this but some cunts won't because it wasn't a billion MOVEZ~! at super high pace.

Rating: **3/4

Ted DiBiase Vs Chris Masters - WWE Superstars 07/01/2010
DiBiase wisely goes straight for the legs in hopes of keeping the powerhouse down, but not even being on the mat can stop the Masterpiece from locking in the Masterlock! Fortunately for DiBiase, the ropes are near and the hold is broken.

So, going for the legs didn't work, so its onto the arms now for DiBiase, but the sheer power of Masters allows him to once again go for the Masterlock as DiBiase dives for the ropes. I don't know where Masters went when he was released from WWE a couple of years ago, but he came back more than able to work a match. Cudos to him for improving so much!

Ted is pretty good here too, I knew there was a reason I thought he had a bright future lol (never would have guessed Cody would be the better of the two right now ). He keeps switching up what holds he has locked in because Masters keeps countering them, so DiBiase is always looking for something that will actually work. Then after the third, maybe fourth Masterlock attempt, DiBiase finally finds a way to counter that as Masters had countered all his holds, and this leads to Dream Street and a win for Teddy.

Solid sub 10 minute contest. DiBiase was good, Masters was good, and they told a nice little story in the short amount of time they were given. I like.

Rating: **

Chris Masters Vs Carlito - WWE Superstars 14/01/2010
Had this episode on my PC, saw it had a Masters match on it, and decided what the hell lol. Carlito spits apple in Masters' face, and as soon as the bell rings Masters decks Carlito and tries to take his head off before Carlito runs out of the ring lol.That's as much of a babyface shine period that Chris gets, as Carlito shoves him back first into the steel steps and begins his control segment.Match is only short, but once Masters' makes his comeback and starts throwing Carlito around and locks in the Masterlock for the win (and the set up for the Masterlock was great btw), things get as good as they can for the time given. Really too short to be anything worth watching though.Oh, and Michael Cole was "SD vs Raw commentary" bad during this. "Great dropkick... by... Carlito" .

Rating: 1/2*

Christian Vs William Regal - WWE Superstars 14/01/2010
Great start to the match, with both guys fighting for control through the arm. Not working over the arm, but trying to control their opponent through the arm. And I think Regal is one of the better guys at doing it, both controlling with the arm and letting his opponent control him through the arm. Its all back and forth, even with Big Zeke trying to get involved (and being sent to the back), but one little shove by Regal sends Christian off the ropes and down to the floor, hitting the apron on his way down. Seems to be a favourite transition spot for Christian in his matches lol. No surprise because it looks great. Regal headbutting Christian for daring to attempt to escape a hold is awesome. Like, really fucking awesome. Like, better than anything not involving old man Flair in TNA awesome . Christian just collapsing after taking the headbutt further solidifies my thoughts on him being one of the best sellers in the world... either that or Regal is still one of the stiffest bastards in the world . Either way its great. Speaking of great... Regal's Half Nelson suplex makes me mark like a bitch every single time I see it. I'd love for someone to make a video of just Regal hitting that suplex. Would be like a fetish porn for me. Finish is nice, showing that Christian can survive anything and still comeback with his Killswitch to pick up the win, which is just what needed to be shown going into the RR against Big Zeke for the ECW title. Definitely a TV MOTYC for me.

Rating: ***1/2

Chavo Guerrero Vs Primo Vs Chris Masters - WWE Superstars 28/01/2010
Match is basically a showcase for Masters, as he makes both Chavo and Primo his bitch for the most part. He's decking them left and right, throwing them around, and making them shit themselves every time he goes for the Masterlock. Chavo and Primo end up having to take Masters out so they have a chance of winning the match, and we eventually end up with those two having a singles match with Masters on the outside. And no, its not even close to being as bad as you might think (Chavo Vs Primo on paper bores the shit out of me lol). Its actually... really good shit. They seem to have some good chemistry, so much so that I wouldn't mind seeing a singles match between the two or something. I think the Masterlock might very well be one of my favourite finishers right now. Chris makes it do damn interesting and entertaining with all the ways he can lock it in and the ways he can counter other people to lock it in. Every single Masterlock spot in the match (and there were quite a few before he finally locked it in at the end) came across great. Was glad to see Masters win the match with it too, and advance to the RR Match. Totally fun triple threat. Already I think I can say its one of those matches that I could sit through at any time and just enjoy it. It has a great pace, plenty of good action, and Chris Masters being fucking awesome. Oh, and its less than 10 minutes (the amount of awesome sub 10 minute matches so far in 2010 could have a DVD of their own lol).

Rating: ***

Christian Vs Zack Ryder - WWE Superstars 11/02/2010
Oh joy, Zack Ryder. This guy is up there with Chavo in terms of boring me by his name simply being attached to a match. Good luck Christian. Match was ok. Christian was his usual great self, but Zack somehow manages to take me out of the match quite a bit, and I ended up drifting off. Things picked up again for the finishing stretch with Christian kicking out of Zack's finisher (which looks fucking retarded lol), and then a couple more false finishes before Christian puts away this loser.

Rating: *3/4

Dolph Ziggler Vs Chris Masters - WWE Superstars 13/05/2010
Don't think I have sat through a full Masters match in... umm... years lol. Heard a TON of great things about him in the last few months, so I am very interested in seeing how he has improved. And going against Ziggler, a guy I really enjoy, is probably going to help me give this match a real chance. I love Todd on commentary btw. Striker is just talking complete shit, and Todd is calling him on pretty much everything and making him look like a retard. Striker tries to throw some shit back at Todd, but Todd works with it and continues to make Striker sound like a retard. Ok, the match. Masters gets a really nice babyface shine period for the first 5 minutes or so of the match. His offence looks good, and Ziggler is a great bumper so naturally everything looks good. Nice transitional period into Ziggler's control segment with a couple of decent hope spots from Masters. I like how they are building up both guy's finisher too; the Masterlock from Masters and the sleeper hold form Ziggler. Masters went for his early on and Ziggler quickly escaped before it was locked in and ran out of the ring, putting the move over. Ziggler on the other hand had to wait before he could try and lock it in, and his first opportunity came when Masters was on the mat, and Ziggler couldn't quite lock it in so he quickly changed his positioning and locked in a different hold instead, one that was much better on the mat. Smart wrestling from Ziggler. Masters makes his comeback, and we quickly go right into the finishing stretch rather than having Masters get fired up a little more, but I'm not complaining. More build to the Masterlock, with Ziggler running away before Masters can even grab him, then coming right back in the ring to go for the sleeper, and we get a great little back and forth sequence with them trying to lock in their submissions, only for Ziggler to take advantage of a situation and he hits the Zig Zag for the win instead! Damn, this was... fucking great! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect given what I remember Masters being like (shit), but he was as good as everyone has been saying, and being in the ring with someone like Ziggler made him look even better. As far as the actual match, it told a wonderful story based around the Masterlock and the sleeper hold, and I was loving it. See what a story can do for a match? Now imagine if any of the Beer Money/MCMG matches had storytelling in them... they might have turned out good!

Rating: ***1/4

Drew McIntyre Vs Chris Masters - WWE Superstars 26/08/2010
Chris Masters continues to show me that he is fucking awesome, and McIntyre shows me that he can bump around really, really well too; something that I hadn't really noticed before. Drew is a ruthless bastard, as we have seen in the past with what he has done to Hardy and Christian, and he proves it here again by smashing Masters' leg into the ring post on the outside, and then goes after it as if destroying Masters' leg is his destiny or something. I always love when a big guy like Masters is able to sell really well and really make me believe that he can be a FIP when in the ring with someone smaller than him. Masters is just great at this, and is one of the reasons I have learned to love the guy this year. The leg work from McIntyre is pretty sweet, and Masters does a great job of selling it, and his hope spots are nice too (and yes, he still sells the leg! ). The finishing stretch is great too. Masters makes his comeback, goes for the Masterlock, they end up on the outside where Drew gets back in control, and then thanks to another shot to the leg, Drew is able to hit his DDT. Even better than Regal/Goldust. Oh yeah. Awesome leg work from Drew, great selling from Masters, plenty of really good action, some nice hope spots and comebacks from Chris, and a good finish too. Nothing to hate about this match whatsoever.

Rating: ***

Goldust vs Ted DiBiase - Superstars 02.09.2010
Cal referenced to it in the superstars thread and it is very good, suprisingly good actually. DiBiase has been yet another victim of Raw's midcard graveyard which kinda sucks. It always ticks me off when people say Cody must be the better of the two Legacy kids and base it on his singles run compared to Ted's. Cody's on Smackdown and Ted is on Raw. That's all you need to know about that issue. Ted didn't really bring much to the plate here for me though, despite me prefering him to Cody. Goldust was great in his veteran role and he just goes by doing his thing and just having a good match pretty much every time he shows up on this show. However it's not Ted or Goldust who are the stars of this. It's not even actually Michael Cole on commentary. I'll get to Cole and King in mo'. The star of the match for me was Maryse.

I make no secret that I'm a huge fan of managers in matches and I miss them deerly so it was an awesome change to see Maryse do her stuff at ringside. She could probably just stand there and be awesome in fairness actually. I loved her interaction with Cole during the match amongst other things. Cole's response when Maryse starts talking to him is brilliant and Cole and King just have a whale of a time on commentary. Normally when they try to be light hearted and fun while calling a match they come as fucking douches with some of the stuff they say, especially Lawler but it's really pleasant to listen to in this case. King's comment about dreaming about being naked in school or something along those lines was borderline disturbing though. After this match though and his amazing sarcy performance during NXT I've almost done a complete 180 on Cole in the space of 24 hours. If you havent seen the last episode of NXT, go back and watch the promo's just for Cole's sarcy comments he keeps making. If he starts this gimmick where he justs starts ripping all the wrestlers to shreds on commentary that are actually awful I might have to start putting up with watching Raw for it. He asks Matthews who he thinks will win and Josh does the obvious commentator response and cops out of saying a name to which Cole just responds, "Great answer, glad I asked ya." Kaval delivered this awesome promo as well on the show and even though Cole bashes him and Danielson constantly he just cuts in at the end of the promo with, "That was actually pretty good." Anyone who becomes a heel magnet for putting on some specs and saying "I have recieved an e-mail" is brilliant imo. "and I quote ...." He just needs to stop bitching on Danielson and kissing Miz's ass because that winds me up in knots that I cant get out of.

Back to the actual match anyway, kinda rambled off at a tangent there about a commentator on a different show lol. Maryse along with Cole & King make the match extremely enjoyable and the action inside the ring is really good too. Doubt I'd bother to pimp it out if it was just Ted & Dustin going at it in the ring with no outside as well though. Really good little finishing sequence to with some great reversals. Ted's kinda a victim of bad booking atm to say the least. He's stuck with his dad's gimmick and cant get anything original for himself other than Maryse who is basically stealing all his performances away from him. Maryse climbing the ladder while everyone was down at MITB beats anything Ted has done in his entire career. He could go far but unless they book him in an angle where he can start getting some serious heel heat and get people to care about him as much as they do about Maryse he'll go nowhere. Goldust is basically Raw's version of Masters on superstars. Completely different workers btw but in the sense that he does nothing on his show but always pulls out a great showing on superstars.

Goldust Vs Ted DiBiase - WWE Superstars 02/09/2010
Man, this match is just a total blast. You've got Goldust making DiBiase look better than he has ever looked inside the ring, you have Mayrse on the outside actually doing something other than standing there, and then you have Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler sounding like they have having so much genuine fun out there watching the match, insulting each other and talking about Maryse . The story for the match is as basic as it gets. Good guy controls early, bad guy cheats to gain control, good guy becomes FIP, then they go into a finishing stretch. Its match structure 101, but Goldust is so great as giving and receiving (shut up perves) offence that it makes the simple story and match structure stand out above most of the other matches around it in the last month or so. The hot crowd adds even more to the match too, making the simple shit they are doing seem way better than it perhaps should lol. Cole and Lawler on commentary are just awesome. If only they could be like this ALL the time, and not just one match every year or so. They manage to talk about the match and put both wrestlers over, put Maryse over on the outside, and poke fun at each other all at the same time. Incredible. Kinda hard to talk about this match in all honestly, because there are so many other things surrounding the match as well. Its just a big package of awesomeness, with the match being one of the parts. The in ring action is great, but without everything else around it I don't really know how I would feel about it. I'd probably still like it, but not love it like I do with everything else.

Rating: ***1/4

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Drew McIntyre - Superstars 12/16/2010
This was a blast. They should do inter-promotional matches on Superstars more often. Stuff like Sheamus/Masters, or Danielson/McIntyre, etc. Could be great. Anyway, the opening segments are so fun. McIntyre establishes his size advantage and tries to bully Yoshi, but Yoshi fires back with the fieriest kicks I've seen him throw. And Drew sells them brilliantly. Drew and Sheamus are both great at making smaller guys' strikes look credible. Drew finally takes control for real on the outside with a pretty great shoulderbreaker on the apron spot. Consistent with Drew's approach throughout the year, and while not as devastating as the transition spots in the Drew/Christian matches, it was still effective. Drew in control is as good as you'd expect, as he brings his typical mixture of viciousness and innovation, and this might be Yoshi's best performance, and it's maybe his best singles match yet (though I just remembered that Christian/Yoshi ECW title match that I loved). He's a pretty tremendous FIP here, and his arm selling is good, and his hope spots are great, and Drew busts out some fantastic cut-offs. Every opening Yoshi gets, he throws big kicks. I can't recall another time when he seemed this motivated. McIntyre's on-point with his facial expressions-- it's remarkable how much he's improved in that area. He also dives shoulder first into the ring apron, which is pretty awesome. So yeah, this was an easy-to-watch, fun TV match that showcased how good both guys can be. Not on par with McIntyre's best matches (with Christian, Matt Hardy, and Masters), but still very good. Like ***1/4

Zack Ryder vs. Evan Bourne - Superstars 5/27/2010
These guys only got about 9 minutes, but they packed a whole bunch of awesomeness into a really short time. Opening stuff is fun, with some good mat exchanges. Bourne gets the upper-hand with his speed, and he busts out some good offense. His kicks always look good, and I like his ranas more than anyone else going today. Ryder gets some shots in, too, but he doesn't take control until Bourne goes for the SSP too early. Ryder hip locks him back into the ring, and then hits a brutal-looking face wash, which the camera got nice and close for. Awesome transition spot into the commercial break.

They come back with Ryder in control, with Bourne grounded in a rear chinlock, and his control segment is very good. Bourne gets in some awesome hope spots-- he counters that chinlock into a convincing cradle for a near-fall, and Ryder rolls through into a fireman's carry, which leads to a cool hot shot over the top rope. Really good cut-off spot. Ryder focuses on the neck and hits a nice neckbreaker. He has really improved a lot lately, and his heel mannerisms add to his matches. He continues to ground Bourne and work some headlocks, and Bourne plays a nearly perfect FIP. He gets another good near-fall out of a sunset flip. Ryder's offense is simple but sound and effective and focused on the neck. Bourne works great comebacks with his wonderful kicks, and he gets in a really awesome spot where he catches Ryder coming off the top rope with an awesome spinning heel kick. but like in the first part of the match, he goes for the SSP too soon. Finally, on his third SSP attempt, Ryder lets him jump off the top rope but rolls out of the way, which sets up a Zack-Attack for the finish.

The match was fast and fun and focused throughout, with a nice story built around those SSP attempts. They both worked smart, and they both time everything well. Ryder played his role well, and his reactions to Bourne's kick-outs were all spot-on. But the real star is Bourne, who impresses me more and more every single time he gets to work a match on TV. He rarely gets as much time as he deserves, but he always packs a lot into a short time. He had a beautiful 3-minute-or-so match with Regal on Superstars a while back. He worked for about 5 minutes with Punk on the Draft episode of Raw, and it was great. He was awesome in a mixed tag on Raw with Gail against Ryder/Alicia a couple weeks back. He carried Carlito to his best match in years on Superstars a while back. His offense always looks good. His timing is fantastic. He stretches well, and he understands how to sell. I feel like people tend to compare him to Mysterio, which probably isn't a fair comparison, but the gap between the two isn't very big, and it's getting smaller. Bourne's easily a top 10 guy in the WWE atm, and I'd probably put him in my top 5.

And I'd also probably call this my #2 WWE TV MOTY, just behind Punk/Rey from 2/12.

***1/2

Finlay v Mike Knox (Superstars, 1/7/10)
So a friend of mine told me to watch this aaages ago, and I'm glad I finally did because it's a totally bossy way to spend 7 minutes. Finlay is a guy that always works really snug when he's dishing out a beating, and that's something one tends to pick up on when you watch a bunch of Finlay (because how can you not pick up on that?), but he is also not afraid to eat a nasty beatdown in return (the Benoit and Regal matches were sort of stiff). He takes a powerslam on the floor here that looked super hurty and he leans WAY into a big boot from Knox. I mean this was forehead-denting. I've watched hardly any WWE over the last couple years, so I never got a chance to see much Mike Knox, but he's a guy plenty of people started banging the drum for and it's clear to see why. He looks like Boris the Blade mated with Baloo from The Jungle Book and had an angry baby. He also has a few great cut-offs (the powerslam on the floor being a highlight) and does a big cross body spot called the Flying Bear. Finish is pretty cool, as Knox rips the middle turnbuckle pad off and forgets to throw away the evidence, so as the ref' tosses the padding Finlay sneaks in a shillelagh shot for the win. How many times did Finlay make TV over the last two years? Couldn't have been many, which is a crying shame...