WWE Superstars
March 22, 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!
“The 1 Man Southern Rock Band” Heath Slater vs. Alex Riley
Lock-up and Riley with a side headlock into a hammerlock. Slater breaks out with a back elbow and then locks in his own side headlock. Irish whip by Riley, but Slater knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Slater goes off the ropes, but Riley catches him with his hiptoss like suplex. Headfirst goes Slater off the top turnbuckle, but Slater comes back with a kick to Riley’s leg. Slater goes for a right hand, but Riley ducks and hits Slater with one of his own. Irish whip by Riley, reversed by Slater, but Riley moves out of the way on Slater’s charge and goes off the ropes, hitting a flying clothesline for a nearfall. Irish whip by Riley, but Slater holds on to the ropes. Riley charges, but Slater dropkicks him in the leg, sending Riley into the ropes.
Slater moves onto the apron and hits Riley with a boot. Slater with an elbow drop, followed by a series of elbows to the side of Riley’s head. Slater then drives Riley’s head into the mat for a nearfall. Slater drives a knee into Riley’s back, followed by locking in a reverse chinlock. Crowd wills on Riley back into the match as he gets to his feet. Riley tries to fight out with gut shots, but Slater comes back, taking down Riley with a STO for another nearfall. Slater hits another series of elbows to the head and then goes back to the reverse chinlock. Crowd once again tries to will Riley back into the match as he gets to his feet. Riley breaks the hold with gut shots, but as he goes for a right hand, Slater ducks and then connects with a leaping neckbreaker for another nearfall. Slater can’t believe it and then has word with the official. Slater stomps Riley in the corner and then chokes him with his boot. Slater has more words with the official and then charges at Riley in the corner, but Riley moves out of the way and Slater catches nothing but turnbuckle.
Riley with a couple of right hands, then ducks a Slater right hand and goes off the ropes, hitting a flying forearm. Riley with a clothesline, then ducks a Slater clothesline and catches him coming in with a spinebuster. Riley is all fired up as he charges at Slater, hitting an avalanche. Riley goes up top and then hits the A-Bomb for a close nearfall. Riley can’t believe it, but then goes to measure Slater. Riley lifts up Slater to go for the Final Score, but Slater counters out with elbows, followed by sending Riley shoulder first into the ringpost.
Slater then goes off the ropes and nails Riley with Sweetness (Sleeper Hold Neckbreaker) for the victory.
Winner: “The 1 Man Southern Rock Band” Heath Slater by pinfall (Sweetness)
-Commercial-
After the commercial, we see a bunch of video packages hyping up the many matches at Wrestlemania 28 this Sunday before our main event.
“The Cape Town Werewolf” Justin Gabriel vs. Tyson Kidd
Lock-up and Kidd with a waistlock, but Gabriel counters into one of his own. Kidd spins out into a takedown, Gabriel with a headscissors, Kidd with a kip-up to get out, and we have a stalemate. Both men go for a knucklelock, but Gabriel spins out into a hammerlock. Kidd spins out into a single leg takedown and then goes right into a grounded headlock. Irish whip by Gabriel, followed by a leapfrog, then both go for a hiptoss that Kidd counters with doing a backflip using Gabriel’s momentum. Kidd then goes for a hiptoss, but Gabriel lands on his feet. Gabriel goes for a leg sweep, but Kidd jumps over it. Kidd with a kick to the ribs and goes off the ropes, but Gabriel catches him by tripping up his feet and sending him crashing to the mat. Kidd rolls out to the outside as Gabriel sets to charge. Gabriel goes for a baseball slide, but Kidd ducks under it. Gabriel then with a kick to the ribs and goes for a suplex, but Kidd spins out and nails Gabriel with a Russian leg sweep into the barricades. Kidd sends Gabriel back into the ring and then goes onto the apron. Kidd springboards and connects with a missile dropkick on Gabriel for a nearfall. Kidd then with a neckbreaker for another nearfall. Kidd with a forearm, but Gabriel fights back with a kick to the gut. Kidd, though, fires back with a series of forearms in the corner. Irish whip by Kidd, reversed by Gabriel, but Gabriel stops himself when Kidd tries to go up and over. Kidd charges, but Gabriel catches him with a STO for a nearfall. Gabriel with an uppercut, followed by a forearm. Irish whip by Gabriel, reversed by Kidd, but Gabriel tiger flips over Kidd’s back as Kidd was looking for a back body drop. Gabriel goes for a spin kick, but Kidd ducks. Kidd then with a spinning back kick to the gut, followed by a boot to the face. Kidd goes for a rana, but Gabriel counters it into a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Gabriel then springboards, looking for the top rope Lionsault, but Kidd moves out of the way and Gabriel crashes hard on the mat. Kidd then drills Gabriel with a spinning roundhouse kick for another nearfall. Kidd goes for the Sharpshooter, but Gabriel blocks it. Kidd tries again, but Gabriel counters into a roll-up for a nearfall. Gabriel charges at Kidd, but Kidd gets his boot up and in doing so, backflips onto the apron.
Kidd goes for a springboard, but Gabriel catches him into an awkward looking powerbomb for the victory.
Winner: “The Cape Town Werewolf” Justin Gabriel by pinfall (Botched Powerbomb)
Kidd and Gabriel shake hands after the match as Kidd raises Gabriel’s hand in a sign of mutual respect while we go to credits.
My Thoughts
Pretty much, a nothing edition of Superstars. The matches were OK, but were mostly filler to show a bunch of video packages heading into Wrestlemania 28 this Sunday. All I say about the show is that. Slater and Riley was decent and so was Kidd & Gabriel, except for that horribly botched ending. Skippable show this week, unless you wanna see a bunch of video packages for Wrestlemania.
My Grade: C-
Well, that will do it for me this week, I want to thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoy your weekend. But remember…
This week is the “free” edition of the Wrestleview Independent Roundtable as Nicholas Gray & myself look at the best matches in the SHIMMER career of Allison Danger, DVD Review of ROH’s Homecoming 2012 & more. Send in your questions & comments to roundtable@wrestleview.com and I hope you enjoy our “free” show.
Also, there will be 2 ROH post-shows for their “Showdown in the Sun” Internet PPV Events featuring Gregory “Grash” Walek, “Mr. V” Anthony Valvo, and whoever else joins the party on Friday night & Saturday afternoon, also for “free”.
Remember, if you like all of the “free” content the Wrestleview Radio Network provides you this week, you can hear it all month for $4.99 and become a Wrestleview VIP at vip.wrestleview.com.
With that, enjoy the shows this weekend and I hope you all have fun and enjoyable Wrestlemania weekend. See ya next week!