WWE Superstars
February 9, 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 start things off with the Smackdown half of this week’s show with announcers Matt Striker & Josh Mathews.
Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater
Lock-up and Slater with an arm drag and then taunts the crowd. Another lock-up and Slater works on the wrist. Gabriel counters out with a flip into an armdrag, followed by a drop toe hold and then Gabriel locks in an armbar. Slater counters out with a slam, but Gabriel still holds on to the armbar. Slater Irish whips out, but Gabriel nails him with a shoulder tackle, followed by another armdrag into an armbar. Slater fights out with a right hand and an elbow. Gabriel then fires back with right hands of his own, but Slater drills him with another right hand that reels Gabriel. Gabriel then comes back with a series of kicks, followed by a chop. Slater sends Gabriel onto the apron, but Gabriel slides back in and clotheslines Slater over the top rope to the outside as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial as Gabriel has Slater locked in an abdominal stretch. Gabriel with an Irish whip, but Slater sends Gabriel onto the apron. Gabriel comes back with a forearm, but Slater scores with a neckbreaker, followed by a series of right hands.
Slater with a kick to the ribs, followed by a snapmare takeover to Gabriel and then locks in a keylock. Slater then switches to a cravate. Gabriel comes back with a series of right hands and tries for a rollup, but Slater holds on to the ropes. Slater then connects with another neckbreaker for a nearfall. Slater nails Gabriel with a series of right hands, followed by choking him in the ropes. Slater goes to charge into the corner, but Gabriel sends Slater over the top rope to the outside with a head scissors.
Gabriel then hits a baseball slide, follwed by “skinning the cat” back into the ring and finally hitting a plancha onto Slater. Back in the ring, Gabriel connects with a springboard crossbody for a nearfall. Gabriel connects with an STO and heads up top, looking for the 450 Splash, but Slater rolls to the other side of the ring to avoid it. Gabriel climbs down and charges at Slater, hitting a running forearm, followed by a series of right hands. Gabriel then connects with the Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Gabriel charges at Slater again, but Slater moves out of the way.
Slater then hits Gabriel with a spinebuster for a nearfall. Gabriel comes back with an elbow drop and goes back up top for the 450 Splash, but Slater blocks it. Slater sets up for a superplex, but Gabriel pushes Slater off the turnbuckles. Slater then leaps back up on the turnbuckles and drills Gabriel with a powerslam for a nearfall. Slater nails Gabriel with a right hand and charges, but Gabriel catches him with an elbow. Gabriel goes up top once again, but Slater crotches Gabriel. Slater then tries for another neckbreaker, but Gabriel counters it and hits a jumping back kick.
Gabriel goes up top again and finally hits the 450 Splash for the victory.
Winner: Justin Gabriel by pinfall (450 Splash)
-Commercial-
Yoshi Tatsu vs. Johnny Curtis
Lock-up and Curtis with a hammerlock, but Tatsu reverses it. Curtis gets to the ropes and shoves Tatsu away. Curtis hits a slam, but misses a kneedrop. Tatsu hits a Japanese arm drag, but Curtis comes back with a hotshot.
Curtis hits a European uppercut, followed by a club to the back. Curtis Irish whips Tatsu and follows in with him, hitting him with a clothesline. Curtis mocks Tatsu and then applies a front chancery. Yoshi tries to fight back with right hands, but Curtis hits a series of forearms to regain the advantage. Curtis chokes Tatsu in the ropes and gains a nearfall. Curtis then locks in a reverse chinlock. Tatsu gets back to his feet and tries to break the hold with right hands, but Curtis comes right back with another series of forearms. Curtis charges at Tatsu, but Tatsu moves out of the way.
Tatsu hits a series of chops to Curtis, followed by a kick that sends Curtis into the corner. Tatsu hits the shotgun knees, followed by a running kick to the chest for a nearfall. Tatsu goes up top and leaps, but Curtis moves to try and avoid him, however Tatsu leaps over Curtis.
Tatsu then hits the roundhouse kick for the victory.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu by pinfall (Roundhouse Kick)
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to the RAW half of this week’s show with announcers Josh Mathews & Scott Stanford.
WWE Tag Team Champions Epico & Primo w/Rosa Mendes vs. JTG & Michael McGillicutty
McGillicutty and Primo start things off as Primo works on the arm, taking McGillicutty down to the mat. McGillicutty comes back with a side headlock and then takes Primo down. McGillicutty nails Primo with a right hand, followed by a drop kick, and finally clotheslines Primo over the top rope to the outside.
Rosa and Epico then distract McGillicutty and that allows Primo to attack McGillicutty from behind. Epico tags in and kicks McGillicutty in the corner. Epico scores with a dropkick for a nearfall. Epico then locks in a reverse chinlock. McGillicutty fights back with right hands and then counters Epico’s neckbreaker attempt with a backslide for a nearfall.
JTG gets the tag and he nails Epico with a back elbow, a clothesline, and finally a dropkick. Primo blind tags in while JTG hits a back body drop on Epico.
Primo then comes in from behind and hits JTG with the Backstabber for the victory.
Winners: Epico & Primo by pinfall (Backstabber)
-Commercial-
Main Event: WWE United States Champion “The All-American American” Jack Swagger w/Vickie Guerrero vs. Santino Marella
Lock-up and Santino plays with Swagger’s hair. Santino with goes for a few kicks and right hands that miss. Swagger nails Santino with a right hand and then sends him into the corner and hits another right hand. Swagger then misses a charge into the corner, but comes back and nails Santino with a series of forearms to the kidneys. Swagger traps the arm and puts Santino in the corner, followed by slapping him in the head. Santino floats over in the corner and hits a dropkick, but Swagger comes right back with a running shoulder tackle. Swagger chokes Santino in the ropes, followed by hitting a clothesline for a nearfall. Swagger then locks in a keylock. Santino tries to fight back with right hands, but Swagger fires back with a belly-to-belly suplex for another nearfall. Swagger hits a slam, followed by the double jump Swagger Bomb. Swagger then turns Santino over and does pushups to mock him. Swagger avoids a Santino right hand and hits one of his own. Santino then tries to fight back with a forearm, but Swagger with another right hand to knock Santino back down. Swagger places Santino in the corner for another double jump Swagger Bomb, but he takes too long and Santino rolls out of the way.
Santino with a series of jabs to Swagger and then does the split, followed by a hiptoss. Santino raises the roof and hits the diving headbutt. Santino goes to setup the Cobra by putting on the Cobra sock, but Swagger avoids it. Santino then rolls up Swagger for a nearfall, but Swagger then drills him with a big boot.
Swagger then locks in the ankle lock and Santino has no choice but to tapout.
Winner: “The All-American American” Jack Swagger by submission (Ankle Lock)
Vickie mocks Santino while Swagger celebrates his win as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
Decent episode of Superstars this week, but nothing special and nothing you really need to go outta your way to see. The Tatsu/Curtis and tag match were short, but for what they were, it was entertaining and not dull. Curtis was actually pretty impressive against Tatsu and while it was weird seeing JTG & McGillicutty as babyfaces when they were pushed as heels in recent months, they both did a good job at it and I wouldn’t mind seeing them back in that role in the near future.
The best match on the show IMO was the opening match with Slater and Gabriel. These two have pretty good chemistry and have always had solid to good matches, and this week was no different. Gabriel gets more comfortable each time out as a babyface and shows a lot more charisma, which was sorely needed from him. Slater, in terms of having a role and playing it well as a stoogy, bumping, undercard heel, may be the best at that role in the company. He always brings out good things from every babyface he works with and to me, has to be considered as an underrated worker.
Finally, the main event was just a match to regain some momentum on Jack Swagger, who has pretty much meant nothing since he won the United States title. Santino did a good job of selling for Swagger and making him look like a million bucks, which is nothing but high praise for Santino. Decent little match and it did its job of putting some much needed momentum on the back of Swagger.
Overall, decent show but nothing I would highly recommend.
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!