Superstars on WGN America
Taped in Indianapolis, Ind. and Milwaukee, Wisc.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomed us to Superstars. Swagger and Regal made their ring entrance to Swagger’s music. The faces came out to Santino’s. Wait, Santino and Masters are the faces? What?...

1. Jack Swagger and William Regal defeated Santino Marella and Chris Masters (w/Eve Torres) at 4:22. Regal and Santino started out. After trading tosses, Regal tagged in Swagger. Santino hit a quick slam and setup the Cobra. Regal distracted the ref, and Swagger hit a huge clothesline. Regal tagged back in and worked the hand. Swagger tagged in and Santino escaped for the hot tag.

Masters worked his offense on Swagger. He hit a running powerslam and took out Regal. Masters flexed the pecs and locked in the Masterlock. Regal ran in and Masters broke to hit Regal with an elbow. Santino rolled Regal to the floor and they battled. Swagger hit a chop block and then the gut wrench powerbomb for the win…The announce team hyped the mix tag main event…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Hmmm. This is a tough week to have a throwaway show. The PPV, Raw, and NXT all delivered in their own way, and that makes this showing pale in comparison. Not a bad match, but a mediocre match that had to follow a great match, if you will.

Back from commercial, the Wrestlemania hype video aired…Back ringside…damn. Back ringside, Zack Ryder and Rosa made their ring entrance. Primo was out next…

[Q2] 2. Zack Ryder (w/Rosa Mendes) defeated Primo 4:03. Primo hit some quick slams and went to the top. Ryder knocked him down and hit a bottom rope sling shot for two. Ryder held a rest hold for just a few seconds, and Primo escaped. Ryder hit the Rough Rider leg lariat for two and Ole King and Cole made jokes. Pay attention douchebags, it’s what you are paid for.

Ryder whipped Primo to the corner, but Primo reversed into a tornado DDT. Ryder tossed Primo over the top, but Primo landed on his feet. He and Rosa argued, and then Primo missed a springboard crossbody. Ryder followed with the Zack Attack for the win…A NXT video package recapped this week, and hyped next week….[C]

Shore’s Slant: This match would have been so much better if King and Cole hadn’t been doing each other’s hair. If they were told to bury the wrestlers, then bravo. Otherwise, WTF? A decent match. Now that Ryder has moved to Raw, his catch phrase is , “Who, who, who?”

Back from commercial, Luke Gallows made his ring entrance with Serena as Todd Grisham and Matt Striker took over. His local jobber opponent, Sylas Young, was already in the ring. Gallows dedicated the match to Punk, and said he and Serena proved that straight edge was the correct lifestyle…

3. Luke Gallows squashed Sylas Young at 1:31. Backbreaker followed by the Gallows Pole for the win. Post match, Serena got a kick in on Young afterwards…

[Q3] The incredibly long Raw Rebound aired…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Interesting to see Gallows and Serena without Punk. I guess it would have been three times Punk was out during the taping and he wouldn’t get as much heat. Filler segment. And holy crap is Serena stacked. Wow.

Back from commercial, the awesome Taker/HBK video aired…

Shore’s Slant: I said this in the forum Monday night: How GD good is the WWE production team? This video is off the charts.

The announce team ran down the current Mania card…Back ringside, Khali, Mini-Me, Maria, and Matt Hardy made their ring entrance…[C]

[Q4] Back from commercial, The Hart Dynasty made their ring entrance…

4. The Hart Dynasty defeated The Great Khali (w/Ranjin Singh), Matt Hardy, and Maria at 10:10. Hardy and Kidd started. They botched a move that spilled Kidd to the floor just a little over a minute in…[C] Back from commercial, Hardy hit a flapjack on Kidd and tagged in Khali. Kidd escaped and ran. Smith tagged in and tried, but failed to get the best of Khali. Khali teased the head squeeze and Smith tagged in Natty.

Natty attacked Maria and knocked her to the floor. She rolled Maria back in and slid back in herself. Maria went on the attack for a moment, but Natty slammed her by the hair. Natalya went over and chopped Khali. Khali grabbed her hand, and Smith ran in and kicked Khali. Kidd tried to slam Maria, and Maria slapped him. She tagged Hardy and Hardy went nuts. Natalya tried to stop Matt, and Maria hit a bulldog. Smith ended up in the ring with Hardy and got the blind tag to Kid. They hit the Hart Attack for the win…

Shore’s Slant: The last three minutes of that match were really good. Hardy wrestled with more life than we have seen in a while, and all the interactions were really entertaining. This was the best match on the show, but that’s not exactly high praise. I’ll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you then.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com with whatever is on your mind.

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