WWE Superstars
February 2, 2012
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s WWE Superstars recap. If you all are ready, then since Adelitas Way is playing the intro, let’s get on with the show!
We kick things off with the lone Smackdown match this week, with announcers Josh Mathews & Matt Striker.
Jinder Mahal vs. Yoshi Tatsu
Tatsu goes for a couple of karate kicks, but Mahal backs away to the corner, all the while talking trash in his native Punjabi language. Lock-up and Mahal delivers a series of knees to the gut, followed by a club to the back. Irish whip by Mahal, but Tatsu ducks under Mahal’s clothesline attempt and hits a crossbody, followed by a Japanese armdrag and a dropkick. Tatsu nails Mahal with a kick to the back of Mahal’s leg, followed by a succession of chops. Referee moves Tatsu away from Mahal, and that allows Mahal to kick Tatsu in the ribs, followed by a boot to the head.
Mahal kicks Tatsu hard in the ribs again, followed by a jumping kneedrop for a nearfall. Mahal chokes Tatsu with his knee in the ropes, and then drives a series of knees using the ropes as a springboard. Mahal chokes Tatsu with his knee again, and then hits a butterfly suplex for a nearfall. Mahal locks in a head and arm facelock as the crowd tries to will on Tatsu. Tatsu gets back up to his feet and hits a couple of right hands, then goes off the ropes, but is met by another knee to the ribs by Mahal. Mahal delivers a stomp, and then sends Tatsu facefirst into the turnbuckles. Mahal stomps away at Tatsu in the corner, and then chokes him with his boot. Tatsu tries to fight back with a series of chops, but Mahal knees him in the ribs once again. Mahal gains a nearfall, and then goes to a rear chinlock. Crowd once again tries to will on Tatsu, as he gets back to his feet and delivers a succession of gut shots to try and break the hold. However, Mahal delivers another club to the back. Irish whip by Mahal, but Tatsu moves out of the way on Mahal’s charge in.
Tatsu hits a series of chops and kicks, then charges in and hits a running knee, followed by a running knee kick for a nearfall. Tatsu heads up top, but Mahal ducks under Tatsu’s Top Rope spinning heel kick attempt.
Mahal hits a running knee to the back of Tatsu’s head, then locks in the Camel Clutch, and Tatsu has no choice but to tap out.
Winner: Jinder Mahal by submission (Camel Clutch)
Mahal celebrates his win as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to the video following the Rock on his Road to WrestleMania.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to the RAW portion of this week’s show, with announcers Josh Mathews & Scott Stanford.
Alicia Fox & Kelly Kelly vs. The Bella Twins
Kelly and Nikki start things off, but Nikki quickly rolls out to the outside to taunt Kelly along with her sister. Nikki gets back in, but as Kelly tries to go after her, Nikki quickly rolls back out to the outside to do some more taunting. Kelly tags in Alicia, and both of them hit a double baseball slide to the Bellas, knocking them down. Alicia sends Nikki into the ring, and hits a couple of right hands. Irish whip by Alicia, and she hits Nikki coming in with a dropkick. Irish whip by Alicia, reversed by Nikki, but Alicia springs off the middle turnbuckles and hits a reverse back elbow. Nikki rolls out to the apron, but Brie distracts Alicia, and that allows Nikki to hotshot Alicia across the top rope.
Nikki slams Alicia’s face into the mat, then tags in Brie, who kicks Alicia in the head, then chokes her in the ropes. Tag back in to Nikki, and the Bellas drive Alicia’s head into the top turnbuckle. Nikki then chokes Alicia with her boot in the corner. Snapmare by Nikki, and then she locks in a seated abdominal stretch as the crowd tries to will on Alicia. Alicia gets back to her feet, but Nikki drives her head back down to the mat. Tag back in to Brie, and the Bellas do a double booty shake to Alicia, but then Alicia kicks Brie into Nikki, and Nikki goes crashing out to the outside. Alicia tries to make the tag to Kelly, but Brie hits her with a double sledge to prevent it, and then knocks Kelly off of the apron. Brie drags Alicia over to her side of the ring, then locks back in the seated abdominal stretch. Crowd tries to will back on Alicia, as she gets back up to her feet, and hits a couple of gut shots, followed by a split snapmare takeover, and then Alicia finally makes the tag to Kelly.
Kelly heads up top, and hits a Top Rope Lou Thesz press to Brie, followed by some right hands. Kelly hits a facebuster, then goes off the ropes, and connects with the many revolution headscissors takedown. Brie goes to the corner, but Kelly goes right after her and gives her the Stinkface. Kelly goes for a bulldog, but Brie pushes her off. Kelly then ducks under Brie’s clothesline and kicks her in the ribs.
Kelly then hits the K2 on Brie for the victory.
Winners: Alicia Fox & Kelly Kelly by pinfall (K2)
Kelly & Alicia celebrate their win as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to a video following John Cena on his Road to WrestleMania before our main event.
Main Event in a Non-Title Match: WWE United States Champion “The All-American American” Jack Swagger w/Vickie Guerrero vs. R-Truth
Lock-up and Swagger with a waistlock takedown, then does his victory lap. Truth yells a “What’s Up” as they lock-up again. Truth with a side headlock, then switches to a hammerlock. Swagger reverses to one of his own, but Truth reverses back into the side headlock. Swagger then counters that with a keylock as the crowd chants for Truth. Truth reverses back to the hammerlock, but Swagger quickly gets himself to the ropes to break the hold. Truth does a little dance, then splits on Swagger’s charge in, and catches him coming back in with a heel kick for a nearfall. Another “What’s Up” from Truth as he nails Swagger with a right hand. Truth sends Swagger headfirst to the top turnbuckle, then goes for an Irish whip. Swagger hangs on to the ropes coming in, and then as Truth charges after him, Swagger nails him with a back elbow.
Swagger pushes Truth off into the ropes, then catches him coming in with a forearm to the lower back. Swagger does the same thing again, then taunts the crowd. Swagger hits a slam, followed by a jumping leg drop for a nearfall. Swagger locks in another keylock as the crowd tries to get behind Truth. Truth gets back up to his feet, and breaks the hold with a series of right hands. Truth hits another right hand, then goes for another Irish whip. Truth connects with another hiptoss, then does another split, followed by another little dance before hitting a jumping leg drop of his own. Swagger goes out to the outside to catch a breather, but Truth goes right out after him, hitting a slingshot plancha as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, Truth sends Swagger headfirst off the top turnbuckles, then Irish whips him to the far corner, sending Swagger crashing sternum first into the buckles. Truth hits a big right hand, as Vickie Guerrero tries to console her protégé. Truth has words for Vickie, but the distraction allows Swagger to nail Truth from behind, followed by hitting the 2nd rope Swagger Bomb across Truth’s back.
Swagger chokes Truth in the ropes, then nails him with a series of clubs across the back. Swagger locks in a chickenwing as Vickie taunts Truth. Crowd tries to get Truth back into the match as he gets back up to his feet. Truth hits a series of gut shots to break the hold, followed by a right hand. Truth goes off the ropes, only to be drilled by a Swagger boot for a nearfall. Vickie complains about the count as Swagger throws Truth into the corner and hits a series of right hands. Swagger Irish whips Truth hard into the far corner, and the velocity of the whip sends Truth crashing down hard to the mat. Swagger likes what he has done as he taunts the crowd again, before unloading with a series of clubs to the back. Swagger then mockingly does push-ups while pressing down on Truth’s back. Swagger then steps on Truth’s back, followed by snapmaring him over and going back to the keylock. Crowd again tries to get behind Truth as he gets back to his feet. Swagger hits him with another club to the back, then goes off the ropes. However, both men were thinking the same thing because when Swagger comes off the ropes, both men hit each other with a clothesline, knocking them both down to the mat.
Swagger gets back up first and fires himself up before getting ready to charge at Truth. Swagger charges, but Truth catches him with a kick to the gut, followed by a boot to the head. Swagger charges again, but Truth moves out of the way and goes off the ropes, hitting a succession of clotheslines. Truth goes off the ropes again, and gets Swagger in a wheelbarrow style rollup for a nearfall. Truth with another kick to the ribs, followed by a DDT for another nearfall. Vickie laughs at the crowd who thought Swagger was done for as Truth Irish whips him again. Swagger reverses the whip, and takes Truth down, then locks in the Ankle Lock. Truth quickly reverses it by kicking Swagger off, then takes Swagger down with a drop toe hold. Truth goes off the ropes, looking for the Axe Kick, but Swagger dodges it and goes off the ropes, hitting a flying shoulder tackle. Swagger goes back off the ropes, and hits Truth again with the flying shoulder tackle. Swagger taunts Truth and talks trash, saying he is the “greatest United States Champion of all time”. Swagger is taking too much time, and as he goes for another 2nd rope Swagger Bomb, Truth gets his feet up. However, Swagger catches his feet on the way down and locks back in the Ankle Lock. Truth again is able to reverse it and sends Swagger facefirst into the top turnbuckle.
Truth then hits the Little Jimmy on Swagger for the victory.
Winner: R-Truth by pinfall (Little Jimmy)
Truth celebrates his win as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
After a pretty solid show last week, Superstars goes back to its previous streak of bland shows this week. Nothing really stood out, and the matches were either not good to just OK.
Mahal & Tatsu was not very good. Tatsu did his best to make it passable, but Mahal showed many of his weaknesses in this match and as much as Tatsu tried to make it work, it wasn’t successful.
Divas match was a step off from the last couple of performances. Bellas once again were solid in their control segment, but Fox has really regressed and is getting into that “hard to watch” category of Divas who you cringe when you see them on your screen because you know it will not end up well, and it was case in point in this match. Bellas and Kelly put on a good effort, but Fox brought it down a notch.
Finally, the main event was just OK. Swagger and Truth do not have good chemistry and unfortunately, Swagger is only as good as who he is in the ring with, and when you are in the ring with Truth, you can only do so much. It wasn’t bad, but it could have been better.
Overall, a skippable show this week with nothing standing out that I would say to go back and watch. Hopefully, they get back in their groove next week.
My Grade: C-
Well, that will do it for me this week, I want to thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoy your weekend. But remember….
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See ya next week!