12/8 Kester's WWE Superstars Live Coverage Review: Drew McIntyre vs. Mason Ryan and Evan Bourne vs. Epico

By Ryan Kester

Superstars on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida.

1. Justin Gabriel beat Tyson Kidd in 5:30.The two worked some chain wrestling to start, but Kidd quickly took advantage and locked in a rest hold. Kidd continued to dictate the pace of the match and scored a near fall off of a springboard elbow drop.

Moments later, Gabriel knocked Tyson to the mat and followed with his 450 splash for the quick victory... [C]

Ryan's Rant: Decent action, but nothing you haven't seen from these two before.

2. Jack Swagger defeated Trent Barreta in 2:43. Swagger absolutely dominated the early match and beat on a fallen Barreta.

Barreta began to battle back and he hit the Gobstopper Knee for a near fall. Moments later, Swagger responded with a gutwrench powerbomb and his ankle lock for the submission victory... [C]

Ryan's Rant: Just a step above a squash for Swagger. Swagger could be doing so much more, but he looks completely unmotivated after rotting away on the undercard for so long.

3. Mason Ryan defeated Drew McIntyre in 4:57. Ryan was firmly in control until McIntyre clubbed him in the back of the head. McIntyre worked a series of stomps and rest holds to wear down the bigger man.

McIntyre went to the top and flew but landed in the clutches of Ryan who swung him around in the full nelson for a few seconds until transitioning into a slam for the win… [C]

Ryan's Rant: McIntyre can make most guys look amazing, but he had an impossible task here. Ryan is simply too jacked up to move properly. He can't sustain momentum and he's now using a mediocre finisher. The guy just doesn't have a lot going for him other than Vince's body builder fetish.

The Raw Rebound focused on the contract signing for the TLC main event… [C]

4. Epico (w/ Primo and Rosa Mendes) defeated Evan Bourne in 7:40. The two worked some chain wrestling to start with Bourne working several side headlocks. Bourne took control first and hit a series of kicks on Epico. Bourne dove off of the top rope to the floor and took out Epico as the show went to break…[C]

Back from commercial, Bourne continued to work over Epico. Epico soon fought back and hit two rolling back suplexes into a German suplex. Epico hit a butterfly suplex for a near fall. Epico locked in the Gory Special.

Bourne rolled out and set Epico up for AirBourne. Primo distracted Bourne and Epico was able to capitalize on the distraction with the Backstabber for the victory.

Ryan's Rant: Good match that showed a lot more of Bourne's potential than usual. Epico is a great in-ring talent and the trio of Epico, Primo, and Mendes works well. I know many will complain and say it's a Mexican America rip off, but the most they've done so far is have the Puerto Rican flag in their entrance graphic and wear ponchos when heading o the ring. That's considerably milder than the Los Guererros tag team of old and certainly not the xenophobic idiocy that is Mexican America. As an added benefit, all of the people in this group can actually wrestle.

Overall, this was a decent edition of Superstars in large part due to the good main event. Still, there was nothing really must-see about the show. If you need to burn some free time there are worse ways to do so than seeing this Superstars, but you won't be missing out if you happen to skip it.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.