By Chris Shore

Superstars on WGN America
Taped in Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Todd Grisham and Matt Striker welcomed us to Superstars. They hyped Zack Ryder vs. Evan Bourne for later…JTG made his ring entrance, Cody Rhodes was out next…

1. Cody Rhodes defeated JTG at 14:46. JTG cinched in a headlock to start, and held it through several escape attempts. Cody finally escaped and took a stiff elbow for his troubles. Cody mauled JTG in the corner as his eye began to swell. JTG hooked a rollup for two, and Cody tossed him from the ring. JTG slid right back in, and Cody hit a dropkick for two. Cody worked a number of rest holds and rolling pin attempts. JTG whipped Cody to the corner and charged. Cody got the feet up, but JTG tossed him over the top to the apron, and hit a drop kick to spill Cody to the floor…[C]

Back at 8:34, JTG worked an armbar on Cody. Cody escaped, but they botched the next move. JTG tossed Cody over the top to the apron again, but Coy hit a shoulder to the gut and took over. Cody worked the arm, and then choked JTG in the ropes. He hit a knee drop for two and went back to the arm.

[Q2] JTG fought back and hit a flying shoulder. Cody oversold a dropkick to get to the corner so JTG could hit a mug shot for two. He hit a leg lariat from the second rope for two. Cody slid out of a suplex attempt and rolled up for two. JTG came back with a scary looking neckbreaker for two. Cody ran JTG into the ring post, and hit a flying Chuck (!), followed by Cross Rhodes for the win…[C]

Shore’s Slant: That was terrible. There is no other way to put it. I wanted to turn the channel it was so bad. It was about 13 minutes too long, and it sucked. JTG is awful. Cody has looked good the past couple of weeks, so I hang this solely on JTG. Did I mention it was terrible?

Back from commercial, Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler took over on commentary as Yoshi Tatsu made his ring entrance. Primo was out next…

2. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Primo in 6:00. They slapped hands before starting, and then Yoshi hooked an armbar. Primo went to the ropes and then offered his hand to Tatsu again. Tatsu took it, and Primo hit a short arm clothesline to take control. He worked heel strikes and rope chokes, and then a straight right hand for two. Primo locked in a Camel Clutch that Tatsu fought out of immediately. He tried for a Sunset Flip, but Primo rolled through and hit a dropkick for two.

Primo worked the Camel Clutch again. Yoshi escaped, and kicked Primo in the mouth. Tatsu worked his "Japanese Strong Style" offense and hit a running knee. I lost my cable for a moment, but when it came back, Tatsu had won…

[Q3] A video recapped Cole and Bryan Danielson on NXT…The announce team hyped Bourne vs. Ryder…[C]

Shore’s Slant: That match had some fun spots in it, but it is once again two guys I don't care about. And yes, this show should be used to get those guys over, but there was no story being told here, and nobody walked away looking any better. So while it was a decent match, it was a waste of TV time.

Back from commercial, a John Morrison hype video aired…The announce team setup the Raw Rebound video…Evan Bourne made his ring entrance…[C]

[Q4] Back from commercial, Zack Ryder made his ring entrance…

3. Zack Ryder defeated Evan Bourne at 12:00. The two men brawled to start until Ryder hit a big clothesline to take control. He beat on Bourne and tossed him around. Bourne reversed a whip into a drop toe hold and single leg kick for two. He hooked a single leg crab, but Ryder grabbed the ropes immediately. He charged at Ryder, and Ryder reversed into a one man flapjack for two. Bourne escaped a head lock and hit a flying head scissors. He went to the top, but Ryder pulled him off and hit a stiff kick to the head that spilled Bourne to the floor…[C]

Back at 6:58, Ryder had a headlock on Bourne. A video showed Ryder hitting a clothesline on the floor during the break. Bourne twisted into a crucifix rollup for two, and Ryder stood in a fireman's carry and dropped Bourne on the ropes for two. Ryder worked the rest hold again, and Bourne escaped into a Sunset flip for two. Ryder hit a clothesline and a dropkick to the back for two while Ole King and Cole joked about Cole suing Danielson.

Ryder went back to the rest hold again, and again Bourne fought out, hitting a spinning heel kick. Bourne kicked Ryder into the corner. He hit the knees in the corner and went to the top. Ryder popped up and Bourne jumped over him, only to have Ryder hit the Rough Ryder leg lariat for two. Bourne Ryder setup for the Zack Attack, but Bourne reversed into a high knee. Bourne missed the Shooting Star Press, and Ryder followed with the Zack Attack for the win…

Shore’s Slant: Fantastic match to close the show. Ryder's character still chaps my ass, but he can really go in the ring, and we know about Bourne's abilities. Much like the last match, there was no real story here, but we have seen, and will see, Ryder on Raw, so this worked out OK. 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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