WWE Superstars
May 3, 2012
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s WWE Superstars recap. If you all are ready, then since Adelitas Way is playing the intro, let’s get on with the show!
We kick things off with the RAW portion of this week’s show, with announcers Matt Striker & Scott Stanford.
“The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler vs. Mason Ryan
Bell sounds and Ziggler instantly with a dropkick that reels Ryan, followed by a pair of right hands. Ziggler goes off the ropes, but Ryan catches him, then lifts him in the air and sends Ziggler crashing down to the mat. Ziggler goes out to the outside as Ryan licks his wounds. Ziggler gets on the apron, but Ryan brings him back in the hard way. Ryan throws Ziggler hard in the corner, then charges, but Ziggler catches Ryan coming in with a back elbow. Ziggler with a series of right hands, then goes off the ropes, however Ryan knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Ryan chokes Ziggler using his boot, then delivers a shoulder to the gut in the corner. Ziggler then comes back with a kick to the knee, followed by a front dropkick to the head and finally a leaping elbow drop for a nearfall.
Ziggler with a stomp, followed by a club to the back and finally a series of elbows to the top of Ryan’s head. Ziggler with a boot to the face, followed by locking in a front chancery. Ziggler then pulls back on the front facelock, bridging up to put more pressure on Ryan. Ryan shoves Ziggler off, but Ziggler comes right back with a kick to the gut, followed by a series of right hands. Ziggler with a pair of kicks to the gut, followed by a pair of right hands, but then Ryan throws Ziggler into the corner to try and regain the advantage. Ziggler then comes back with a knee to the gut, followed by a club to the back and finally locks in a rear chinlock. While applying the hold, Ziggler does a headstand to show-off and to put more pressure on Ryan. Ryan gets to his feet and lifts him up, followed by throwing Ziggler off.
Ryan with a pair of clotheslines, followed by going off the ropes and hitting a big boot. Ryan is fired up as he sets to charge at Ziggler. Ryan charges, but Ziggler moves out of the way and Ryan goes shoulder first into the ringpost.
Ziggler then hits the Zig-Zag for the victory.
Winner: “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler by pinfall (Zig-Zag)
We then go to video of what happened at Extreme Rules last Sunday between John Cena & Brock Lesnar before we go to commercial.
Commercial
“Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder vs. Michael McGillicutty
Lock-up and McGillicutty with a waistlock takedown. Another lock-up and McGillicutty sends Ryder to the corner. McGillicutty breaks clean, but then goes for a right hand, but Ryder blocks it and then hits a series of right hands of his own. Irish whip by Ryder, followed by knocking down McGillicutty with a shoulder tackle. However, McGillicutty then comes back with a kick to the knee, followed by a clothesline. McGillicutty stomps away at Ryder, then hits a slam. McGillicutty taunts Ryder, followed by another stomp. McGillicutty goes off the ropes, Ryder leapfrogs, then catches McGillicutty coming in with a one man flapjack. Ryder then charges and nails McGillicutty with a clothesline, sending McGillicutty over the ropes and to the outside. Ryder then nails McGillicutty with a slingshot plancha on the outside and then does a “Woo Woo Woo”. Ryder throws McGillicutty back into the ring, but as he tries to come back in, McGillicutty nails him with a kick to the head. McGillicutty then hits a neckbreaker while Ryder is hung up in the ropes. Ryder is clutching his neck in pain as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial as McGillicutty has Ryder in a reverse chinlock. Ryder gets to his feet and breaks out with a gut shot, followed by a right hand. Irish whip by Ryder, but as he goes for a dropkick, McGillicutty holds on to the ropes and Ryder then crashes down to the mat. McGillicutty then hits a running dropkick for a nearfall. McGillicutty pulls at Ryder’s face, then hits a series of crossfaces while Ryder is in the ropes for a nearfall. Ryder tries to fight back with a forearm, but McGillicutty comes right back with a knee to the gut. McGillicutty then with a hard Irish whip, sending Ryder bouncing off the turnbuckles and crashing down hard to the mat. McGillicutty places Ryder on the top turnbuckle and nails Ryder with a pair of forearms, but Ryder fights back with a boot to the face. Ryder then nails McGillicutty with a missile dropkick off the middle rope and both men are down.
McGillicutty charges in, but Ryder catches him with a back elbow. McGillicutty then misses a clothesline and Ryder goes off the ropes, hitting a pair of clotheslines. Irish whip by Ryder, reversed by McGillicutty, but then Ryder sidesteps McGillicutty’s back body drop attempt with a facebuster. Ryder is fired up as he charges and connects with a running forearm. Ryder does another “Woo Woo Woo” and then hits the Broski boot for a close nearfall. Ryder can’t believe it, but then measures McGillicutty for the Rough Ryder. Ryder goes for it, but McGillicutty throws him overhead, causing Ryder to land facefirst onto the top turnbuckle. McGillicutty then nails Ryder with a clothesline to the back of the head. McGillicutty goes for a back suplex, but Ryder lands on his feet and goes to the corner. McGillicutty charges, but Ryder catches him with double knees to the chest.
Ryder then hits the Rough Ryder for the victory.
Winner: “Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder by pinfall (Rough Ryder)
Ryder does the “Woo Woo Woo” one more time to celebrate his victory as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial, we see video of what happened between Brock Lesnar & WWE COO Triple H this past Monday on RAW before we go to another commercial break.
Commercial
Back from commercial, we go to the lone Smackdown match of this week’s show, with announcers Josh Mathews & Matt Striker.
The Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal
Lock-up and Khali throws Mahal down. Mahal goes for a waistlock, but Khali knocks him down with a right hand. Headfirst goes Mahal off the top turnbuckle, then Khali nails him with a big chop. Headfirst goes Mahal off another turnbuckle, followed by another big chop. Khali with a right hand that knocks Mahal down. Mahal tries to get his boot up while in the ropes, but Khali blocks it and then clotheslines Mahal over the ropes and to the outside. Khali goes back after Mahal, but Mahal hotshots him across the rope.
Back in the ring, Mahal hits a knee to the gut, followed by unloading on Khali with right hands while Khali is in the ropes. Mahal with a stomp, followed by a knee to the face and finally chokes Khali with his knee. Mahal with another stomp, followed by going back to choking Khali with his knee. The crowd chants for Khali as he fights back with a back elbow to Mahal, followed by a chop. Irish whip by Khali, but Khali takes too much time posing to the crowd because when he charges, Mahal moves out of the way of Khali’s boot and this causes Khali to get his leg caught in the ropes and send him crashing down to the apron. Mahal with another stomp, followed by a pair of knees using the ropes as a springboard. Mahal again chokes Khali with his knee, followed by hitting a pair of leaping knee drops for a nearfall. Mahal with a pair of elbow drops to Khali’s leg, followed by locking in a leglock. The crowd chants again for Khali as he fights out of the hold, but then Mahal comes right back with a boot to the face. Mahal goes up to the middle rope and leaps off, but Khali catches him with a goozle. Mahal fights out, but then Khali knocks him down with a right hand. However, Mahal comes right back with a dropkick to the leg of Khali. Mahal charges, but Khali catches him with a back elbow. Mahal charges again, but Khali drills him with a big boot.
Khali with a pair of clotheslines, then double goozles Mahal, hitting the Punjabi Plunge for the victory.
Winner: The Great Khali by pinfall (Punjabi Plunge)
Khali celebrates his victory the only way he knows how as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial to close the show, we go to video of what happened between John Cena & WWE General Manager John Laurantis as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
I thought this was an OK episode of Superstars, but clearly not on the level of past weeks.
The opener was a decent carry-job by Ziggler, as he bumped his butt off like he usually does and made Ryan’s limited offense look good. Ryan is still very green, but Ziggler carried him to a serviceable effort.
Ryder & McGillicutty was the best match on the show, as McGillicutty continues to show a lot of improvement in the ring. Ryder was decent on the sell and got the crowd into his comeback, so all in all, the effort was there by both.
Khali & Mahal, finally, was what you would expect from these two and that’s really all else I can say, because when you have seen one Khali-Mahal match, you have seen them all.
Overall, the show was OK but to me, was not up to par of Superstars episodes in the past.
My Grade: C-
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