By Chris Shore

Superstars on WGN America
Taped in Las Angeles and Bakersfield, Calif.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomed us to Superstars…

1. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Primo at 11:46. They started with some mat wrestling, and then Yoshi ran the ropes and performed some Cruiserweight moves into an arm bar. Primo clubbed out and they went back to more mat wrestling into a string of near falls on each other. Tatsu hit a drop kick that sent Primo to the floor, where he hit a plancha to leave Primo laid out…[C]

Back at 7:03, Primo had a chin lock on Tatsu. Primo broke it and whipped Tatsu. He hit a drop toe hold into an Indian death lock into a crossface and bridge. Primo continued to work rest holds on Yoshi until Primo missed a dropkick in the corner and tied himself to the Tree of Woe. Yoshi hit a dropkick to the chest and went to work. Tatsu hit all his spots, and finished with the spinning heel kick from the top rope for the win…

[Q2] A video recapped the double elimination on NXT…[C]

Shore’s Slant: The match started slow, and the crowd slept through most of it, but it was pretty good from an in-ring stand point. There are very few people that care much for either of these men, so it was almost a waste. Still, Primo showed why he should be in a mid-card title hunt, and Tatsu continues to look good while learning the language. A decent opening. On a side note, I’m digging the hell out of Cody Rhodes. He has slowly won me over and I might start trimming my nose hairs and eyebrows.

MVP made his ring entrance as Todd Grisham and Matt Striker took over on commentary. Vance Archer and Curt Hawkins were out next…

2. MVP fought Vance Archer (w/Curt Hawkins) to an apparent no contest at 4:22. The crowd started hot for MVP when he was down, but went to sleep on him when he was in control. Archer slapped MVP in the corner and mouthed off. MVP slapped him back and went to work. He hit a running knee to the back of the head for two, but Archer came right back and worked strikes.

MVP fought back and setup for the Drive By. Archer moved and MVP hit the buckle. Archer tossed him over the top and distracted the ref while Hawkins got in a cheap shot. JTG ran out and attacked Hawkins. Archer ran over and attacked JTG. MVP ran over and attacked Archer. Then men fought for a moment and the faces got in the ring. Teddy Long came out and made it a tag match…[C]

[Q3] 3. Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer defeated MVP and JTG in 5:00. The match started during the break. JTG and Hawkins were in the ring. JTG tagged MVP and they hit a double hiptoss for two. Hawkins hit a chin buster on MVP and tagged in Archer. Archer destroyed MVP with a big boot, and then he and Hawkins worked in and out with tag moves. MVP hit the Drive-By on Archer and got the hot tag to JTG.

JTG botched his usual botches, and then all four men battled. MVP tried to take Hawkins out, but Hawkins got the best of him. In the ring, Archer caught JTG on his shoulder in a power slam setup, and Hawkins ran in so they could do a cool powerslam/DDT combo finisher on JTG…[C]

Shore’s Slant: OK, the finisher was a very cool move. Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the match. JTG took the pin at least. I don’t understand how MVP went from one of the top three acts on Smackdown to being JTG’s tag team jobber buddy. What a shame.

A video recapped SummerSlam Fan Access…The announce team setup the Raw Rebound video…

[Q4] Jack Swagger made his ring entrance…[C]

4. Jack Swagger defeated Chris Masters by submission at 5:05. Swagger with amateur moves and slapped Masters. Masters shoved him, and Swagger went back to the amateur moves with a headlock. Masters powered out an made his pecs dance. Swagger drove him shoulder first into the ring post and hit a belly to belly for two.

Swagger worked the arm, but Masters hit a side slam to take control. He hit a nasty looking spinebuster for two and went to the second rope. He hit a flying shoulder tackle and called for the Masterlock. He tried to hook it on for almost 30 seconds, but Swagger finally dropped to the mat and reversed into the ankle lock for the submission win.

Shore’s Slant: Typical Chris Masters match. He has a great look, but his move set is pretty limited. I just cannot believe that Jack Swagger has been reduced to beating Chris Masters on Superstars. This is even worse than MVP. A decent show that still leaves me scratching my head at how they are using some talent. Twilling’s got live coverage of TNA Impact up next. 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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