7/28 Kester's WWE Superstars Review: David Otunga and Mike McGillicutty vs. Santino Marella and Chris Masters, Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger, and Heath Slater vs. Trent Barreta

By Ryan Kester

WWE Superstars on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Philadelphia, PA and Hampton, VA.

Heath Slater came out to some new music and cut a promo about the arena he was in and how it was the location of Nexus tearing apart the WWE legends. He called himself the One-man Southern Rock band and his crappy music hit again.

1. Heath Slater beat Trent Barreta in 7:45. This is the battle of the overly colorful tights. Barreta took and early advantage and sent Slater to the floor before diving onto him. Slater came back after a well-placed boot to Barreta's gut.

Slater hit an awkward-looking flapjack on the ropes to send to show to break. AS the camera faded away, a fan very clearly yelled, "Heath Slater, I hate you!" Funny... [C]

Back from the break, Slater unloaded on Barreta in the corner. Trent came back with a roll-up attempt and worked Slater over with some chops. Barreta hit his springboard missile dropkick for a near fall. Trent hit his Gobstopper knee for a near fall.

Trent went for the Dudebuster DDT but Slater reversed it into a Double-A spinebuster for a near fall of his own. Slater set Trent up on the top rope but Trent powered out. He went for and missed a corkscrew moonsault. Slater hit an impressive reverse DDT that Striker called the E-minor for the win… [C]

Ryan's Rant: That was a fun match, and I continue to question why Barreta hasn't been used as more than Superstars filler. Slater's new gimmick is apparently to be like Johnny cash and other Southern Rock legends, and that is a doomed idea from the start. The men Striker quoted in this match are genuine badasses, and that's the last thing I think of when I think of Heath Slater.

2. David Otunga and Mike McGillicutty defeated Santino Marella and Chris Masters in 7:34. Santino and Otunga started the match. The crowd popped huge for his early comedy antics.

Masters tagged in and went to work on Otunga. McGillicutty tagged in quickly and was quickly taken down by Masters with a Samoan Drop. Santino tagged back in and quickly got the best of McGillicutty. Otunga tagged in and Santino continued his comedy act and set up for the Cobra.

McGillicutty interfered and took Santino out, which allowed Otunga to capitalize and regain the advantage… [C]

Back from commercial, Otunga continued to work over Santino. McGillicutty tagged in and the two hit double-teamed Santino. The heels worked a few quick tags and kept Santino down.

Eventually, Santino hit a stunner and got the hot tag to Masters, who quickly tore McGillicutty apart. Masters hit a huge sitout spinebuster for a near fall. Otunga charged the ring and Santino brought out a Mr. Socko ripoff to hit the Cobra. McGillicutty took advantage of the distraction to hit the McGillicutter on masters for the win.

The announcers sent us to the Raw Rebound... [C]

Ryan's Rant: Eh, there was decent enough action during that match, but there wasn't a single person in the ring I have been given a reason to care about. The match felt a lot longer than it lasted, and that's not a good thing.

3. Alex Riley defeated Jack Swagger in 9:33. The two exchanged control early with some excellent chain wrestling. Swagger got some great heat by slapping Riley. Riley tried to mount an offense but Swagger got the better of him.

Riley took control with a huge clothesline. It was short-lived, however, as Swagger knocked Riley to the floor before throwing him into the barricade… [C]

Back from commercial, Swagger almost took Riley's head off with a shoulder block. He continued to beat down Riley, but was unable to put him away.

Riley eventually regained control after reversing a clothesline into an STO. Riley hit a spear on Swagger and followed up with a spinebuster. Riley did a complicated grenade gesture that led to a an elbow drop that Stanford called the "A-bomb."

Swagger came back and hit a Swagger Bomb on Riley before locking in the ankle lock. Riley rolled through, however, and hit his Impaler DDT for the win.

Ryan's Rant: That was a very entertaining match, and Riley really seemed to get the crowd behind him. However, there is a very awkward feel to Riely's movements in the ring, and he seemed to get sloppy in several key moments of the match.

Overall, this was a decent edition of Superstars. The first match was easily the best, and the tag match was an absolute throwaway. Thanks for following along with me and I will see you all next week.

Do you have any questions, concerns, comments, or criticism? Feel free to send me an email at ryan.kester@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @TheRyanKester. Have a great weekend.