WWE Superstars Results: 1/7/10

Second Contender in Divas' Tournament: The opening match was a Divas' Championship First-Round Tournament Match to determine the new Divas' Champion. It was reported this past Monday that Melina was injured at a WWE Live Event, which means she would be unable to compete, thus, the title has been vacated. Sadly, Melina was brought over on RAW solely to be the champion and enter a feud with the returning Maryse, but those plans have changed. Maryse, as expected, has already advanced in the tournament this past Monday Night after pinning the Bella Twins. This match was Gail Kim, a former Women's Champion, vs. Jillian Hall a recent Divas' Champion in her own right. Much like the first Divas' contest, this match up was less than desirable. Gail Kim, just coming off of an amazing run in TNA, returned to the WWE. She may have gotten a bigger paycheck, but she definitely did not gain better competition. Jillian Hall, possibly one of the worst excuses of a wrestler, slowed down the pace of the match. Jillian's gimmick is too cartoony and thus has impaired her wrestling craft. Jillian took to long to go into a cover, and, when she did, had her leg under the rope. No limb of any of the wrestlers can be underneath the rope during a cover, those are the rules. Jillian obviously has no understanding of her surroundings while in the ring, and fails to quickly execute her maneuvers. Her wrestling is choppy to say the least, and to give her a title win over Mickie James only to lose it five seconds later to Melina has become a footnote in the annals of the WWE. Gail Kim picked up the win, maybe she can become the top face of the RAW Divas' division.

Money Trumps Pecks. The following was Ted DiBiase Jr. against "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters w/ Eve Torres. The match was clearly a testament to the evolution of Ted DiBiase. Chris Masters may have a sculpted body, but DiBiase has amazing ring awareness, because each time Chris Masters attempted the Master lock, DiBiase would get himself to the ropes to break the hold. Despite there being some issues within Legacy, Ted DiBiase is looking more and more like a guy that can inch his way to the main event scene thanks to the guidance of Randy Orton. Chris Masters, on the other hand, is doing well for himself... a babyface turn... dancing peck routine... and Eve Torres. However, he has been losing more matches than winning. Chris Masters, incorporating the dancing pecks, tries to intimidate his opponents, but personally, the routine seems out of place. And a sighting of old school was seen in this match... no, not Undertaker's tight rope trick... DiBiase attempted to lock in his father's finisher The Million Dollar Dream, while Masters executed Hogan's Guillotine Leg Drop. Ted DiBiase picked up the win after forcing out of the Master lock and striking with Dream Street.

ECW Match. The following match was Caylen Croft w/ Trent Barreta against Yoshi Tatsu w/ Goldust. The friendship between Tatsu and Dust is merely linguistical... Tatsu learns English while Dust learns Japanese. Croft, recently coming over to ECW, did well in his first singles match. Yoshi attempted a hurricanrana but fell flat because Croft retained a strong grip while on the turnbuckle. Still not to impressed with Croft and Barreta, but at least their entrance song has changed to a generic rock theme rather than that circus one. Yoshi picked up the win with his Roundhouse Kick.

Shillelagh Tops Beard. The main event was Finlay versus Mike Knox. The match was nothing special from all their previous encounters. Knox and Finlay have a set fighting style which is to punch, kick, and claw their way to the finish. Honestly, this should not have been the main event... the DiBiase-Masters match expressed wrestling a lot better than this. Fit Finlay is a 51 year old man who, despite a short run as the United States Champion years back, WWE has no interest in ever putting another title around his waste. Heck, after the aborted McMahon's illegitament child story line, Finlay was forced to change his gimmick after being relevealed that it was his son. Finlay's entrance music started out "My Name is Finlay, and I love to fight." Not anymore... Finlay has fallen far from the reservation and does not look too intimidating. Mike Knox cannot be taken seriously either because, despite having a new gimmick, he doesn't win any matches. He went through a trilogy of matches with Kane and lost all of them. This match up is considered below mid-card in my standards. Mike Knox attempted to cheat after removing the protective padding on the turnbuckle, and dropped it in the middle of the ring. The referee sees the padding and does not look to even attempt to fasten it back on... he just tosses it out. Well, Finlay only needed a second to strike with his shillelagh and he picked up the win. That's another thing, Finlay matches usually end with a shillelagh strike, when has he ever won a fair match? Wrestlers tend to watch videos of the competition and themselves in order to better themselves... but what about the referees? Shouldn't they catch on and think, 'Hey, we shouldn't let Finlay bring that shillelagh anymore. Heck, what do I know?

ECW Results: 12/29/09 - Tommy Dreamer Leaves ECW

The Final Original Leaves ECW

The final ECW of 2009 turned out to be Tommy Dreamer's last. Tommy Dreamer has truly been the heart and soul of ECW, from the very first feud in the original ECW, to the final repackaged ECW of 2009. When Tommy Dreamer won the ECW title from Tazz, he said that it was the happiest moment in his life, and that even though he may never headline a WrestleMania, or want to be at Starrcade, at least a guy like him made it in ECW. Amazingly enough, Tommy Dreamer did indeed wrestle at WrestleMania, as part of the ECW Originals (Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Sandman, and Rob Van Dam) to defeat The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, and Kevin Thorn). At the IZOD Center, where Dreamer had his final match, he remebers attending his second WWE show with his best friend and his father, and he got to see Rowdy Roddy Piper do a live Piper's Pit, and called a woman from the audience who happened to be from Yonkers, his hometown. It has been his dream since he was nine years old to become a wrestler, and if you have enough passion then you can make it anywhere. After losing his final match to Zack Ryder, Tommy Dreamer greeted his wife Trisha Hayes - for those who don't remember, her ring name was Beulah McGillicutty in the original ECW as Dreamer's valet. She was accompanied by their twin daughters Kimberly and Briana. When asked at school "what does your father do for a living?" Kimberly answered, "My daddy falls down a lot," while Briana added, "But my daddy always gets up." That has been the wrestling career of Tommy Dreamer, he loses a lot of matches, but he manages to always get himself back up. He says it's the fans that give him his strength, and that we are his family. Tommy Dreamer has been at the bottom of the WWE for several years after the Alliance movement of WCW/ECW, jobbing to superstars. But despite all that, he has worn the Hardcore Title 14-times and recently became the ECW Champion at Extreme Rules. With his departure, we can't help but pound our fist over our hearts and shout E! C! W! Tommy Dreamer not only made it in ECW but he also made it in the WWE, and that's a rare gift. Thank you, Tommy Dreamer for all you have done.

Hardy Returns to Extreme Roots

The opening match was the ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match featuring SmackDown superstars Matt Hardy and Finlay. During their time in ECW, Matt Hardy became the ECW Champion after defeating Mark Henry in an ECW Championship Scramble Match at Unforgiven 2008... eventually losing the title to Jack Swagger and departing from ECW; Finlay lost the Fatal Fourway Contenders Match for the strap, which saw Matt Hardy as the winner... eventually had a title match against Matt Hardy and lost... and after Matt Hardy left for RAW, Finlay had a fighting chance to become the top face of the brand but was traded to SmackDown as part of Donald Trump's fifteen-superstar trade. Finlay has never held a world title while in the WWE, and this qualifying match was possibly his final shot at the ECW Title. Finlay focused on twerking the knee of Matt Hardy, and managed to roll out of the Moonsault; but never count out the "Never Say Die" attitude of Matt Hardy, who managed to get in a Twist of Fate to score the pinfall.

Air-Bourne Soars High

The following match was also an ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match featuring RAW's Evan Bourne against SmackDown's Mike Knox. Mike Knox, currently in a one-sided feud with Kane, started out as one of the original members of the newly envisioned ECW revival. He was not well known, except during his feud with CM Punk because his then-girlfriend Kelly Kelly was enamored with "The Straight Edge" superstar. Evan Bourne was part of Teddy Long's ECW Superstar initiative, along with Kofi Kingston - both, now, fan favorites over on RAW - his closest shot at the ECW Title was during Cyber Sunday 2008, when the WWE Universe voted for him to take on ECW Champion Matt Hardy. This particular match up is interesting, not because Mike Knox is 6'6, 298lbs, while Bourne is a mere 5'9, 183lbs, but because these two are jobbers in their current brands; yet, these two were never at the top of their game as they were, here, on ECW. Evan Bourne had to rely on his quickness and agility, and most of the time that works against super heavyweights, but Mike Knox is adept to matching speed with the smallest of opponents. Mike Knox managed to connect with a flying crossbody, one of his deadliest maneuvers, but Bourne managed to kick out. To Bourne, it's not size that brought him to the game, it's heart and his will to become a champion. Bourne evaded a spear takedown and used the opportunity to strike with the Shooting Star Press for the win. Evan Bourne will have another shot at the ECW Title in two weeks, as all the winners of these matches go on to an ECW Homecoming Showdown to determine the #1 Contender for Christian's ECW Title at the Royal Rumble.

WWE Superstars Results: Montel-Swagger a Racial Feud?; Hart Dynasty Truly Better Than the Best?

SmackDown Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay. Last week on WWE Superstars, Dolph Ziggler had an impressive win over Matt Hardy, but would he be able to take on SmackDown's resident fighting Irishman, Finlay? The commentators focused mainly on Ziggler, not giving much credit to Finlay. When they mentioned, "He's in line for gold," they were talking about Ziggler, since Finlay's career was over about four years ago. Finlay's best chance at gold was on ECW, he could have been the ECW Champion, but instead he's jobbing to the Champions of Tomorrow. I guess you do what you are asked of if you keep getting nice paychecks, but seriously, it should eat away inside of you. Dolph Ziggler won with the Zig-Zag. For two weeks straight, Ziggler has defeated two veterans from SmackDown, but with Drew McIntyre inline for Morrison's IC Title, when will he move on to the next level? Probably when he stops showboating and remains 100% focused in the match.

SmackDown Match 2: The Hart Dynasty vs. Jimmy Wang Yang and Slam Master J. Jimmy Wang Yang appeared in a doo-rang alongside his tag team partner, Slam Master J. This choice of matching headwear is shades of when Yang teamed with Shannon Moore, who wore a cowboy hat to compliment Yang's redneck gimmick. This union came about simply because they are from the state of Georgia: J is from Atlanta, and Yang is from Austell. This is also the second experimental tag team to be showcased on WWE Superstars, the first: Evan Bourne and Primo. The Hart Dynasty have been on a roll as of late, defeating Cryme Tyme followed by Escobar in a handicap match. But they also have one added ingredient that makes them Better than the Best, Period, and that's Natalya. While the referee was distracted, Natalya dragged Yang out of the ring and scooped slammed him to the ground. How many female managers have you known to do that? Slam Master J had an interesting turn about within the match, taking Tyson Kidd to the limit. It looked as if J would win the match with a vertical suplex, or vertical facebuster, but it was countered into a Three-quarter facelock corkscrew neckbreaker. The Hart Dynasty claim that they are better than the best, period... Well, have they defeated Jeri-Show or DX? The Hart Dynasty have a long way to go to be considered better than the best. So their slogan should be "Better than the Best, Question Mark?"

RAW Match: MVP vs. Jack Swagger. A match up against a former 2-time United States Champion, and a 2-time All American-American: MVP and Jack Swagger have feuded on and off again within the past six months. Jack Swagger, a former ECW Champion, is looking to capture the United States Title, which is currently held by The Miz; while MVP wouldn't mind becoming a 3-time US Champ, or capture the Unified Tag Team Titles with his partner, Mark Henry. My problem with MVP and Mark Henry becoming the Unified Tag Team Champions, is that with those titles, one is able to transcend their own brand and appear on the show of their choosing. And, as we learned from Verne Troyer, Mark Henry does not have much of a personality. MVP pretty much carries all the personality for the whole team. For this reason, MVP and WSM will never hold the gold until Henry changes his gimmick. As for Jack Swagger, he attempted to go undefeated until the end of the year, but thanks to The Miz, Swagger lost to Evan Bourne. Jack Swagger dominated all of ECW, until being defeated by Christian for the ECW Title. Then, after being drafted to RAW, I thought he was going to join forces with Randy Orton, which would have really boosted his career ten-fold, but that never happened. Then Swagger-Miz-Kofi entered a Triple Threat Match for the US Title at Hell in a Cell PPV, which clearly would give Swagger the edge, but that never happened. Jack Swagger should abandon this racial feud with MVP and move on to a heated one with Miz. Yes, I said racial feud, because they don't like each other's backgrounds. MVP grew up in a "bad" neighborhood, which got him into some trouble and did jail time. And now he's described as a bling-wearing, club-hopping, bottle-popping man that should not be a role model. Swagger, on the other hand, went to school and graduated at the top of his class. Don't get me wrong, these two are impressive athletes and always put on great matches. The aspect of this feud that I'm not too particularly found of is the fact that MVP is part of a tag team and should be focusing on that, not single matches. Hence, putting MVP on a tag team was a bad move on the part of WWE, MVP is a great singles competitor and should remain as such. Jack Swagger has got the Swag and the capability to one day become the WWE Champion. MVP lost the match because he was too focused on theatrics instead of keeping his head in the game, and a Gut-Wrench Powerbomb can also do the trick.

Final Assessment: This episode of WWE Superstars marks the first time that an ECW Match was not shown. Also, this episode did absolutely nothing to hype up the TLC PPV this Sunday, but, then again, it's a show to build up "The Champions of Tomorrow."

WWE Superstars Results: Swaggin' Streak; Finlay Fails to Crack the Code

RAW Match: Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero. The battle of the jobbers, to see who is the biggest jobber! Santino has become a real crowd favorite; before he was a bonafide heel, but with the RAW celebrity guest hosts, he has warmed up to the WWE Universe. King made a great point, Chavo is a great wrestler but his feud with Hornswoggle has ruined him. But what I've heard, Chavo is content with his position in the WWE, seeing as he is on RAW, being used every week, and gets to interact with all the guest hosts... Plus, Chavo is not in any high risk matches, so the Mexican Warrior has it made in the WWE. Santino Marella picked up with win with a small package roll up.

RAW Match 2: Jack Swagger vs. Primo Colon. This is a rematch from last week's WWE Superstars, pitting Swagger against Primo yet again. And it ended the same way, Primo attempts a Hurricanrana, which gets countered into the Gut-Wrench Powerbomb. Swagger is going 4-0 and living up to his promise to remain undefeated in singles competition. The first two were on RAW against Evan Bourne and MVP, and the last two against Primo on WWE Superstars. Maybe a WWE Title match in his future?

ECW Match: Paul Burchill vs. Tyler Reks. The match was boring as sin; honestly, why is ECW presenting this to the WWE Universe? I don't think that it's sending a positive message to the WGN America audience that ECW is the show to watch. Despite being a part of the June 30th ECW Superstar Initiative, Tyler Reks has scarcely been seen on ECW and there is a reason, he's boring. Reks hails from Laguna Beach, California with generic Surfer music and his wrestling style is plain. Burchill, on the other hand, is stuck in a feud with The Hurricane, which will come to an end this Tuesday on ECW, and has a really bad finisher: The Dangerous Buster, which is a mere Vertical Suplex pin combo. Burchill wins with said-so finisher.

SmackDown Match: Chris Jericho vs. Finlay. From Bragging Rights to Bragging Brawl, these two put up a decent main event match. What I appreciated from the match, was Striker and Grisham's recognition of Finlay's other accomplishments outside the WWE. And why? First off, because Finlay only has a meager U.S. Title run back in 2006; and, since his other title reigns were in England, this sets up for where RAW, ECW, and SmackDown will take place this upcoming week. Chris Jericho, of course, is the complete package, multi-time World Champion, first Undisputed World Champion, only 9-time Intercontinental Champion, and currently one-half of the Unified Tag Team Champions. He is literally one of the best, which is why I feel, if Edge doesn't come through for WrestleMania, Jericho should go at it for Taker's Streak. Chris Jericho won the match with the Codebreaker.

Hardcore Match on Friday Night?; Khali Gains Momentum; JeriShow Steals Victory

The opening match was a Bellfast Brawl... not another one. Do you realize that a Bellfast Brawl is just a street fight?

It's only called Bellfast because Finlay's hometown is Bellfast, Northern Ireland.

Why must we, the WWE Universe, be subjected to a Bellfast Brawl?

As my DVR fast forwarded through the match - I paused - because Finlay grabbed hold of a steel chair and attacked Knox with it.

Huh? That's right, a steel chair! But Mike Knox overpowered the Irishman and a trash can comes into play.

Finlay avoided Knox from the crushing blows of the can.

Then... a table is brought into the ring by the bearded giant.

Steel chair, trash can, table? This isn't ECW.

Yet, a hellacious mid-air collision renders them both nearly unconscious - But it was Finlay that instinctively hooked the leg of Mike Knox and gained the victory.

The following match was DH Smith of The Hart Dynasty vs. The Great Khali.

Now, I've mentioned before that the Hart Dynasty have what it takes to become a dominate force in the WWE. The problem is... they have no personality.

Sure, Natalya acts as the mouth piece from time to time, but the WWE is not just about skills. This is Sports Entertainment - you need impressive mic skills to go over big in this business.

Kane proved on WWE Superstars in a singapore cane match against Jimmy Wang Yang (yeah, I know - he's not released) that he has all the momentum going into the match. Something hilarious Grisham mentioned about the match - Kane knocked Jimmy Wang Yang back to Asia. I could not believe Todd said that.

The DH Smith and Khali match appeared to be a squash match, until we found out seconds later that it was an ambush.

Kane attacked Khali from behind - But a Khali Chop and the Punjabi Plunge knocks Kane out!

And yes, the WWE Universe will once again be forced to watch Khali and Kane fight - but this time they through Singapore canes into the mix. Why not something crazy, like a Tables match? I'd like to see a Giant go through a table, How about you?

The Unified Tag Team Champions - not faring so well with loses on RAW - entered the arena with their awesome new entrance theme. A tag team match against Cryme Tyme - might as well call it an exhibition match.

JTG getting the upper hand on Jericho at the start of the match - causes Y2J to lose his cool. Especially, when Shad Gaspard - taking a page from The Ultimate Warrior - executes a Gorilla Press on Jericho.

Shad also tries to even his strength with Big Show through flying uppercuts that knock the Big Show flat on his back.

But, when JTG pulls a Shelton Benjamin, a Shawn Michaels, as he wills his way back into the ring by holding unto the top rope - He is Knocked Out by Big Show with a hellacious Knock Out Punch!

Jericho picks up the win, turning their luck around as they gain momentum into this Sunday's ppv match as the defend the Unified Tag Team Titles against MVP and Mark Henry.

But if we have learned anything about the match - MVP and Mark Henry know that the key to winning the titles is to isolate Jericho and avoid the knock out punch by Big Show.

Rey Mysterio's Opponent To Be Determined in Fatal Four-Way

There are no rematches come SummerSlam, every opponent must earn their way through intense and enduring matches to prove they have what it takes to be the next champion.

John Cena won the "Beat the Clock" Challenge to become the #1 Contender for Orton's WWE Championship, Crym Tyme defeated The Hart Dynasty to challenge Chris Jericho and The Big Show for the Unified Tag Team Titles - And tonight four men will enter the ring, but only one will become Rey Mysterio's SummerSlam opponent for the Intercontinental Championship.

The four men who will be competing are: Mike Knox, Finlay, Dolph Ziggler, and "Delicious" R-Truth.

Who will come out on top?

Mike Knox: It's a surprise that this guy is still wrestling, he was out of action for months. But since he's returned, Knox has lost every match. He has lost to The Great Khali, the tag match with Ziggler, and last night on WWE Superstars - he was disqualified thanks to Ziggler's interference.

Possibility as Contender: Negative

Finlay: His face change has killed his career. Teaming with Hornswoggle had him pandering to the crowds and living in the Irish Stereotype. His best shot at another title was in ECW, he was finally moving up the ladder, because honestly - how many Christian and Dreamer matches will there be? But then the WWE ripped him from ECW and threw him back on Smackdown.

Possibility as Contender: Negative

"Delicious" R-Truth: What's up is that R-Truth has been stagnant for a year now. The man has a good following from the crowd - especially since he's known for spinning and stepping it down the aisle rapping to his theme song. The closest R-Truth was to a title win was back in the fall, when he feuded with Shelton for the United States Title - but he didn't get the job done. I would like to see R-Truth win - it could possibly be the moment were he fully unleashes his alter-ego "Delicious" Pretty Ricky. Pretty Ricky seems like a heel waiting to unravel. Because if R-Truth remains a face and does win - two faces dueling each other rarely works.

Possibility as Contender: Neutral

Dolph Ziggler: Dolph had his shot at Night of Champions and blew it. Then his tag match with Knox - not only lost the match but was pinned by Mysterio. Yet, Ziggler restored my faith when he attacked Mysterio during his match with Knox. Sure, Mysterio walked away with the win through DQ, but Ziggler made a statement that he's not giving up on the Intercontinental Title. Plus, Ziggler has Maria on his corner - if she so happens to "accidentally" distract an opponent, more power to Ziggler.

Possibility as Contender: Positive