9/8 Kester's WWE Superstars Live Coverage Review: Mason Ryan returns to WWE programming, Brodus Clay faces another local talent, and Daniel Bryan faces Heath Slater

By Ryan Kester

WWE Superstars on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio.

JTG made his entrance, quickly followed by Mason Ryan, who debuted some generic rock music and was all smiles.

1. Mason Ryan defeated JTG in 3:06. Mason Ryan dominated JTG to start, but JTG quickly took control by targeting Ryan's legs.

The pair traded offensive maneuvers for a while without either man really gaining any momentum. Eventually, Ryan caught JTG and worked several slow backbreakers before hitting JTG with a slam. Ryan quickly followed with a pumphandle slam for the quick win... [C]

Ryan's Rant: It's very, very weird seeing Ryan playing a babyface. He just doesn't look like the type you want smiling. This was a very hollow match that didn't really serve a purpose other than getting Ryan's face out there again.

2. Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins beat Titus O'Neil and Percy Watson in 3:43. Reks and Watson started the match with Reks quickly gaining the upper hand. Reks tagged in Hawkins and the heels kept Watson from getting to his corner to make a tag.

Eventually, Watson managed to create some space after hitting Hawkins with a back suplex. Watson and Hawkins got the hot tags to their partners and Titus immediately started to clean house. Hawkins interfered and Percy attempted to dispatch him but the ref sent him back to the outside.

With The referee's back turned, Hawkins and Reks hit the same powerslam/neckbreaker combo that Hawkins and Vance Archer hit when they were a team. Reks covered Titus for the win... [C]

Ryan's Rant: Yet another example of WWE giving some thought to their tag team division. Hawkins' cocky character will go great with the silent beat-em-up vibe that Reks utilizes. The finishing double-team move they utilized works great and looks like it hurts, but they need to work on making the set up look more fluid. Reks was standing there holding Titus for way too long for it to be believable.

3. Alicia Fox defeated Tamina in 4:30Tamina is back to a simple top and long pants and she came out to new music. Massive improvements over what she has been as of late.

Alicia took control early by staying two steps ahead of Tamina. She was eventually caught by a superkick from Tamina, who immediately started tearing the smaller woman apart. Tamina threw Alicia in the corner, worked some stomps, and then hit a massive wrecking ball a la Umaga. Wow.

Alicia battled back moments later and hit a series of dropkicks on Tamina. It was short-lived, however, as Tamina floored Alicia and went for the Samoan Splash. She missed, and Alicia capitalizes with her scissor kick for the victory… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Wow, getting back into her normal clothes seemed to make Tamina comfortable in the ring again. She held herself like the monster that she should be, and she was tossing Alicia around like she was a rag doll. That was a great women's match that saw Alicia get the win pretty much out of luck.

4. Brodus Clay squashed Allen Turner in 1:20. Brodus immediately hit his Rhino Horn headbutt, followed by an exploder suplex. Brodus then hit a sickening Fishermen driver.

He had the pin, but lifted Turner's shoulders, and hit his corner splash into the Fall of Humanity for the win.

The announcers ran through the Night of Champions card and Daniel Bryan made his entrance… [C]

Ryan's Rant: They don't pay Brodus by the hour, do they? Another week, another great squash. They need to get this man on one of the main shows and let him showcase his skills against some undercarders. It always impresses me how Brodus makes a point to add a new move from his repertoire to each of these weekly squashes to prevent them from getting stale. That fishermen driver was great.

5. Daniel Bryan defeated Heath Slater in 12:11. Bryan took control early by out-wrestling Slater, but Slater quickly battled back with some kicks. Bryan answered Slater's offense with kicks of his own, and went right back to working his technical offense through a series of chained rest holds.

Daniel Bryan went for the surfboard stretch but couldn't hook Slater's arms so he jumped, devastating both of Slater's knees. Slater quickly battled back by kicking Bryan's knee and working a rest hold. Bryan managed to get out of the hold after a European uppercut, followed with a dragon screw.

Bryan hit a snap suplex on Slater and got a two-count. Bryan attempted to lock in his LeBell lock, but Slater rolled to the floor and the show went to break... [C]

Back from commercial, Bryan had Slater locked in a rest hold, but Slater quickly slithered out and hung Bryan up on the top rope. Slater followed up with a few stiff kicks and choked Bryan on the ropes. Bryan rolled to the floor and Slater jawed with the crowd to some good heat.

Slater locked in a rest hold on Bryan but Bryan kicked Slater off of him. Slater hit a backbreaker and got a near fall. Moments later, Slater threw Bryan to the corner, but Bryan did his rebound into the ropes and knocked Slater down with a clothesline. Slater fell to the floor, and Bryan followed him with a suicide dive that sent Slater into the barricade.

Bryan threw Slater into the ring and went for and missed his Missile Dropkick. He landed on his feet, however, and followed with a running kick. Bryan worked a few kicks to a prone Slater and got another two count.

Slater hit an inverted powerslam out of nowhere, followed by a gutbuster . Moments later, Bryan reversed a move by Slater into a DDT. Bryan held on, and floated over into a guillotine choke for the submission victory.

Ryan's Rant: That's the type of match that makes me want to just stop covering the show and watch as a fan. Excellent back-and-forth match. Slater once again showed that when he's in there with someone that can go; he has no problem keeping up.

This week's Superstars was a real surprise. We got five matches and none of them were real let downs. I did not expect to get a main event that crested ten minutes, especially on a one-hour show with five matches. Thanks for following along with me and I will see you next week.

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. Have a great week.