WWE Superstars - October 11, 2012
by Scrooge McSuck
- Last week on Superstars, Wade Barrett squashed Tyson Kidd, David Otunga squashed Michael McGillicutty, Tensai squashed Yoshi Tatsu, and the Rhode Scholars defeated the Uso's, extending the Uso's losing streak to "every match they've had in 2002, possibly further back into 2011." Not exactly the best week in the history of the show, but it could've been worse, I guess. At least that match between Barrett and Kidd was fun, if not a bit one-sided.
- Scott Stanford and Matt Striker are on hand to call the action this week, unless otherwise noted.
Tyson Kidd vs. Wade Barrett:
ReMatch! Unless the bastards try and sneak a re-run by us, but according to the commentary, it is, in fact, new. Lockup, and Kidd quickly grabs a side headlock. Whip to the ropes, and Barrett easily plows through Kidd with a shoulder tackle. Kidd ducks under a lockup and hooks the arm. Barrett counters, but Kidd uses the ropes to counter back, before giving a clean break from behind tied up in the ropes. they lock knuckles, with Barrett powering Kidd down to the canvas. Kidd slips out and kicks the left hand. Barrett with a well placed kick to the midsection, followed by an elbow across the back of the neck. Kidd springboards off the ropes to send Barrett to the floor with an arm drag. Kidd follows out, but Barrett catches the foot and slams Kidd face-first onto the canvas. Back in the ring, and Barrett pounds away on the midsection with rights. Snapmare, and he slaps on a modified surfboard. Whip to the corner, Kidd avoids contact before running into a superkick.We return from commercial, with Barrett working a seated chinlock. Knee to the midsection, followed by a back breaker. Kidd with a shoulder to the midsection, followed by a dragon screw between the ropes. Back inside, Kidd lays a few kicks into the leg, then connects with a spinning heel kick. Kidd to the apron, and a dropkick to the face connects (for once). Kidd to the top rope, and the missile dropkick gets a two count. Spinning kick to the midsection, but Barett meets him at the ropes with a clothesline, sending Kidd back to the arena floor. Barrett follows, but crotches himself going for a charging boot. Kidd to the apron, and a kick to the face sends Barrett's nose about 10 rows deep. Back inside, Kidd avoids jumping into a boot and slaps on the Sharpshooter! Barrett with a slow crawl to the ropes, forcing the hold to be broken. Kidd with more fancy offense, but Barrett catches him off the ropes with a sidewalk slam. Barrett pulls him up by the nose and connects with the forearm smash of doom for the three count at 7:45. Good match, with some decent back and forth action, and giving Kidd a bit more of a believable chance of winning since last week. Notice, when he sped things up, just like last week, it was mostly all-Barrett, but when he slowed it down, he was able to maintain offensive attacks.
- WWE Raw Rebound: Vince McMahon gives a State of the WWE Address, no doubt inspired by the anemic 2.5 nielsen rating Raw got for October 1st, 2012. After a few minutes of the usual, you know what to expect... CM Punk, reigning WWE Champion and Seeker of Respect™ interrupts and demands respect from McMahon. McMahon tells him he's not in the same league as people like Bret, Austin, Shawn, Triple H, and Andre. Punk responds by doing what Austin did, and bitch slaps Vince's tastebuds back into 1998. Vince offers to beat respect into Punk, and Punk accepts. OOOH!!
Justin Gabriel vs. Antonio Cesaro (US Champion):
Non-Title Match, and if you don't watch Smackdown (and neither do I), Cesaro dumped Aksana for reasons I don't recall... he lost a match because of her, perhaps? I want to say these two have had a match on Superstars about a month or so, ago, but damn if I can remember (quick research confirms they did, September 6th). Lockup into the corner, Gabriel ducks under a cheap shot, and lays in a chop. Cesaro with a headlock takeover, and Gabriel counters with a head scissors. Cesaro rolls through, crosses the legs, and grabs another headlock. Gabriel goes for the arm, but Cesaro easily fights out of it and we get an exchange of blows. Whip to the corner, and Gabriel sends Cesaro to the floor with a head scissors. He follows out with a plancha attempt, but Cesaro catches him and uses the momentum to plant him with a powerslam! Cesaro then throws him hard into the security wall, just for the hell of it.We return from commercial, with Cesaro working a chinlock. Gabriel with elbows to the midsection to escape, but a clothesline really does flip him upside down. Eat your heart out, Marty Jannetty. Cesaro covers, but it only gets a two count. Cesaro crosses the arms of Gabriel, and drives a knee into the back for extra preasure. Whip to the ropes, Gabriel surprises him with a roll up, but Cesaro gets to his feet first and lays him out with an uppercut for two. Cesaro with the power-lift and slam for another two count. Cesaro goes back to working the back, wrapping an arm around the face of Gabriel for more punishment. Gabriel fights to his feet, trading blows with the Champion. The spinning heel kick is blocked, and Cesaro simply throws him into the corner. Gabriel fights his way out of the corner, and connects with the heel kick on attempt #2. Springboard moonsault gets a two count! Cesaro misses some stuff in the corner, and Gabriel with a somersault into a reverse DDT for a two count. Gabriel to the top rope, but he gets crotched. Cesaro with the Neutralizer, and it's enough for the three count at 6:56. A little bit more balanced than the last time these two met. Gabriel, much like Tyson Kidd did earlier, worked a smarter style than in the last encounter, but didn't have enough to keep Cesaro down long-enough for his big finish. Other than the somewhat lengthy rest hold, another solid match.
- We get a complete replay of Vince McMahon vs. C.M. Punk from Monday Night Raw, but I'm just going to cover it with brief notes: Punk attacks McMahon from behind, beats him up a bit, busting him up beneath the eye and around the ear. McMahon makes a comeback and gets some shots in of his own. Singapore canes become involved, including a nice little whacking duel. Punk eventually gains complete control with a well-placed low blow, but then John Cena and Ryback make their presence felt, sending Punk running through the audience. For the record, as if my opinion matters, Punk has every right to defend himself when there's no security to help out, and you can clearly see he was being assaulted, first. Anyway, during the hooplah, Vince offers Punk two choices for Hell in a Cell: Ryback or Cena. Decision time is Monday, or Vince will make it for him. End show.
Final Thoughts: Not too much "new" footage, but the two matches exclusive to Superstars were about as good as you could get with 7-8 minutes allowed to each of them (not including commercials, at least). Kidd vs. Barrett stands out especially, since it feeds off their match last week, allowing Kidd to work smarter spots and avoid problems he was falling into consistantly last time. Cesaro/Gabriel is still good, but it's the usual you'd expect, and pointing out the more deserving rather than the obvious is my intention, typically. The Raw Recap was a good way to keep fans aware of what went down, because, even with the corny aspect of using a 65 year old man to fight the WWE Champion, it hooked me into watching the rest of the show to see how it turned out. Very strong show this week, well worth a look.
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