WWE Superstars
January 12, 2012
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s WWE Superstars recap, the 1st one of the year 2012. If you all are ready, Adelitas Way is playing the intro, so let’s get on with the show!
We kick things off with the lone Smackdown match this week, with announcers Josh Mathews & Matt Striker.
Wade Barrett vs. Yoshi Tatsu
Lock-up and Barrett backs Tatsu into the corner. Barrett breaks clean, but then goes for a right hand, however Tatsu ducks and nails Barrett with a couple of kicks to the leg. Tatsu goes for an Irish whip, but Barrett reverses it. Barrett charges, but Tatsu gets the boot up. Tatsu comes out of the corner and connects with a spinning heel kick on Barrett for a nearfall. Tatsu goes up to the middle turnbuckle, but Barrett grabs onto his leg and sweeps it out, sending Tatsu crashing down to the mat.
Barrett drills Tatsu with a boot to the head, and then heads to the mount where he begins to rain in right hands. Barrett has words with the official, before stomping away at Tatsu. Barrett then uses his knee to choke Tatsu in the ropes. Barrett brings Tatsu to his feet while Tatsu is still in the ropes, and grabs the back of his head to choke him once more on the ropes. Barrett hits a succession of knees to the head while Tatsu is still in the ropes, then charges and hits a running boot that sends Tatsu crashing to the outside. Barrett goes out after Tatsu, and drives him backfirst into the apron. Barrett rolls Tatsu back in, and gains a nearfall. Barrett then Irish whips Tatsu hard into the corner, and the velocity of the whip sends Tatsu crashing hard to the mat. Barrett locks in a rear chinlock as the crowd tries to get behind Tatsu. Tatsu gets back to his feet, and tries to break Barrett’s grip with gut shots. However, Barrett comes right back with a knee to the ribs. Barrett charges, but Tatsu moves out of the way, sending Barrett crashing into the corner.
Tatsu fires away with a series of chops and kicks to Barrett in the corner. Tatsu charges, and hits a running knee. followed by a running kick to the chest for a nearfall. Tatsu measures Barrett for the roundhouse kick, but Barrett comes back with a kick to the ribs.
Barrett then hits a savate kick to the ribs, and follows it up by Irish whipping Tatsu and catching him with the Winds of Change for the victory.
Winner: Wade Barrett by pinfall (Winds of Change)
Barrett celebrates his victory as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to highlights of the World Heavyweight Title match from Smackdown between champion Daniel Bryan and The Big Show.
-Commercial-
Back form commercial, we go to the RAW half of this week’s show, with announcers Josh Mathews & Scott Stanford.
WWE Tag Team Champion Evan Bourne vs. Michael McGillicutty
Lock-up and McGillicutty tries to bring Bourne to the corner, but Bourne breaks before he can do so. McGillicutty charges, and Bourne takes him down with an armdrag. Bourne tries for another armdrag takeover, but McGillicutty blocks it and nails Bourne with a right hand from a headlock position. McGillicutty kicks Bourne in the ribs, then nails him with another right hand. McGillicutty paintbrushes Bourne, who then fires back with a kick to the leg. Bourne hits another kick that sweeps out McGillicutty’s leg and sends him crashing to the mat. McGillicutty goes to the apron, but as Bourne tries to go after him, McGillicutty nails him with a shoulder to the ribs. McGillicutty slingshots in, trying for a Sunset flip, but Bourne rolls through it and counters with a double stomp to McGillicutty’s shoulders for a nearfall. Bourne wrenches the arm, but McGillicutty grabs at the hair and comes back with a right hand.
McGillicutty hits another right hand, then begins to stomp away at Bourne. McGillicutty then chokes Bourne with his boot. McGillicutty scores with a neckbreaker for a nearfall. McGillicutty hits another right hand, followed by a slam and an elbow drop for another nearfall. Bourne tries to fight back with a kick to the leg, but McGillicutty comes right back with a knee to the side of Bourne’s head. McGillicutty drives the elbow across the back of Bourne’s head for another nearfall. McGillicutty goes to the mount, and hits a couple of right hands to the back of Bourne’s head, then locks in a chinlock as the crowd tries to get behind Bourne. Bourne gets back up to his feet, and breaks McGillicutty’s grip with a couple of back elbows and another kick to the leg. McGillicutty misses a clothesline, and Bourne comes off the ropes, connecting with a rana.
Bourne then scores with a dropkick and a knee lariat. Bourne goes for another leaping kick, but McGillicutty ducks, however Bourne comes back with the same leaping kick, this time connecting for a nearfall. Bourne begins to head up top, but McGillicutty grabs on to Bourne’s leg and knocks him off the apron. McGillicutty then charges as Bourne was trying to bring himself back onto the apron and drills him with a running shoulder, sending Bourne crashing to the barricade on the outside. McGillicutty laughs at what he has done as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, McGillicutty has Bourne locked in a rear chinlock. Bourne gets back to his feet, and breaks McGillicutty’s grip with a succession of back elbows. However, McGillicutty comes right back and takes Bourne down with a clothesline to the back of the head for a nearfall. McGillicutty shoves Bourne off the ropes, and drills him coming in with a dropkick for another nearfall. McGillicutty then places Bourne in the ropes, and smashes him with crossface shots. McGillicutty hits another stomp, then goes to the outside and clubs Bourne in the chest twice, before coming back and gaining another nearfall. “Let’s go Evan” chants from the crowd as McGillicutty goes for another right hand, but Bourne blocks it and kicks McGillicutty in the leg. Bourne hits a kick to the ribs, then goes for an Irish whip, but McGillicutty reverses it. Bourne sidesteps McGillicutty’s back body drop attempt and goes off the ropes, but McGillicutty sees him coming and takes him down with a drop toe hold. McGillicutty rakes Bourne’s face in the mat, then drives a knee to the back of Bourne’s head. McGillicutty hits a succession of right hands for yet another nearfall. McGillicutty then hits another series of crossface shots as he appears to be getting frustrated, but only gets another nearfall. McGillicutty locks back in the rear chinlock as the crowd tries to get behind Bourne. Bourne gets back up to his feet and breaks McGillicutty’s grip with a series of back elbows. Bourne goes for an Irish whip, but McGillicutty reverses it and goes for a back suplex, however Bourne spins around in midair and lands on McGillicutty for a nearfall.
Bourne hits another series of kicks, followed by a roundhouse kick that knocks McGillicutty down. Bourne hits another knee lariat, then Irish whips McGillicutty to the corner. Bourne charges in as McGillicutty is heading to the corner and nails him with a flying forearm that sends Bourne out to the apron. Bourne heads up top and connects with the double knee takedown for another nearfall. Bourne appears to be bleeding with a trickle of blood between the eyes as he picks McGillicutty back up. McGillicutty then surprises Bourne with a Saito suplex for yet another nearfall. Bourne tries to go after McGillicutty, but McGillicutty throws him to the outside, but Bourne hangs on to the ropes and stays on the apron.
Bourne blocks a right hand attempt by McGillicutty and creams him with a roundhouse kick, then heads up top, hitting Air Bourne for the victory.
Winner: WWE Tag Team Champion Evan Bourne by pinfall (Air Bourne)
Bourne celebrates his win as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to this week’s “RAW Rebound” video before our main event.
Main Event: Brie Bella w/Nikki Bella vs. Kelly Kelly
Kelly shoves Brie to start things, then takes Brie down by the hair. Kelly drives Brie’s face into the mat multiple times, then goes after Nikki on the apron. However, the distraction allows Brie to kick Kelly in the ribs. Brie Irish whips Kelly to the corner, but Kelly gets the boot up as Brie charges in. Kelly goes up on the ropes, and locks Brie in the Figure 4 Neck Lock. Kelly lands on her feet on the outside, and takes Brie’s legs out from under her, sending her crashing facefirst to the mat. Back in the ring, Kelly kicks at the back of Brie, then goes off the ropes, drilling Brie with a leaping clothesline that folds Brie up like an accordion. Nikki goes up on the apron to check on her sister, but Kelly comes off the ropes and drills Nikki with a back elbow, sending her off the apron. However, the distraction allows Brie to take down Kelly with an arm wrench driver of some sorts for a nearfall.
Brie puts Kelly in the ropes, and pulls back on Kelly’s arm, using her boot for leverage. Brie hits a stomp, then goes back to pulling at the arm. Brie has words with the official, and that distraction allows Nikki to drive Kelly’s arm across the bottom rope. Brie gains another nearfall, then locks in an armbar. Crowd tries to get behind Kelly as she gets back up to her feet, but as she does so, Brie grabs her by the hair and drives her back down to the mat. Brie drops her weight across the arm of Kelly, then taunts the crowd. Brie goes to drop her weight across the arm again, but Kelly counters with a rollup for a nearfall. Brie knocks Kelly back down, then drives her knee across the arm of Kelly multiple times, while taunting her. Brie rakes Kelly’s face in the mat, then gains another nearfall. Brie begins to get frustrated, as he drives Kelly’s shoulders to the mat to keep them in place, but still only gets a nearfall. Brie then continues a hold of the knucklelock, and bridges over for a cover, but Kelly still kicks out. Both girls get back to their feet with the knucklelock still applied, and Kelly then regains the advantage with a monkey flip.
Kelly heads up top, and connects with a Thesz press onto Brie, and follows it up by raining in right hands. Brie misses a clothesline, and Kelly scores with a multiple revolution spinning head scissors takedown. Kelly then hits a faceplant bulldog, followed by the Stinkface. Kelly then hits the handspring elbow in the corner and stomps away at Brie, before being pulled away by the official.
In doing so, the Bellas perform Twin Magic as when Kelly comes back in after what she thinks is Brie, Nikki drives her headfirst off the middle turnbuckle, then jackknife pins her with her feet on the ropes for the stolen victory.
Winner: Brie Bella by pinfall (Jackknife Pin)
The Bellas celebrate their stolen victory as Kelly fumes while we go to credits.
My Thoughts
Very mediocre episode of Superstars this week. Complete squash with Barrett/Tatsu, but they had some good exchanges towards the end. Kind of odd to see Barrett on Superstars given the push he has been receiving, but a good showcase for him to have against a very competent babyface worker in Tatsu.
Bourne and McGillicutty had a pretty good match this week. McGillicutty did a really good job on his control segment, slowly but surely, he is starting to come around as a worker. Bourne, once again, delivers on the FIP work and on his comebacks. Best thing on the show by far.
Divas match at the end was actually a very good effort by both girls. Kelly does really need to get away from the screaming during her FIP segment, but the rest of the match I had no problems with. Brie did a very good job at getting heat from the crowd, and Kelly showed some decent fire on her comeback. All in all, a very good effort from the Divas this week.
Overall though, it was a very “middle of the road” show, with a splash of good things mixed in.
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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