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.

WWE Superstars Results: Jack Swagger 3-0; Tyson Kidd Fails Lie Detector

RAW Match: Jack Swagger vs. Primo. After losing the Triple Threat Match at Hell in a Cell, Jack Swagger made a promise to be undefeated in singles competition for the remainder of the year. So far he's 2-0, beating Evan Bourne and MVP. His third opponent was Primo Colon, luckily he was not wearing the red clown shoes from 2 weeks ago. Primo attempted some swift offense, but he was unable to withstand the power of the 280lb force of the Gut wrench Powerbomb. The All American-American walks out WWE Superstars 3-0.

RAW Match 2: Kelly Kelly vs. Alicia Fox. Kelly found some success last Thursday, with a win over Gail Kim; and Alicia has had a series of bad luck against Mickie James in her pursuit for the Divas' Title, but things change. Alicia took the win with a running scissors kick to the back of the head of Kelly Kelly. Only in the WWE can a wedding planner get fired for making out with the groom to be, EDGE, and come back as a wrestler. If Kelly Kelly beat Gail Kim, and Alicia beat Kelly, then does that make Alicia better than Gail?

ECW Match: Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Reks. These two have faced off before on WWE Superstars, with Ryder always victorious. Ryder has made a name for himself on ECW, contending for the title and taking Christian to the limits, but he still hasn't reached his goal. Tyler Reks is really faltering since Sheamus has gone to RAW, Yoshi contended for the title, and even Abraham Washington hired Tony Atlas to make his talk show bearable; but, Tyler hasn't done much with his Superstar Initiative. I personally don't see a future for this guy, he just doesn't have what it takes. Zack picked up the win with the Zack Attack.

SmackDown Match: R-Truth and Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox and The Hart Dynasty. Its sad to see Hart Dynasty still heels, I like the 3 day span when they were faces fighting alongside R-Truth, Matt Hardy, and Finlay. Cryme Tyme would make better heels, I'm just sayin! And is Mike Know suppose to be intimidating? Because he never wins matches, he's more like a level 1 monster in any game, scary looking but easy to defeat. The heels really tried keeping Cryme Tyme occupied in the ring, avoiding to get Truth tagged in. It built minimal suspense for when Truth finally got into the ring, where everyone got a chance to knock the other out of the ring, to allow Truth to fight Tyson Kidd. I'll say this again, Hart Dynasty was taken out of ECW prematurely without actually really building them first. Truth was even distracted long enough for Tyson to go for a roll up but was countered. Truth won the match with Lie Detector.

Last night we got a glimpse of SmackDown's commentators: Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, Slammy Award winning team.

William Regal's Second Chance; Shelton Benjamin turns Face?

The ECW Title match at SummerSlam was tragically cut short in a record-breaking 8 seconds, because WWE were running out of time and needed to free up for the final two World Title Matches. It was a disgrace to have a squash match for the brand's title, but that's how the WWE handles things. In all honesty, WWE could have done without the Khali-Kane match and have put on a decent ECW match.

At the start of the program, William Regal entered the ring with Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson. He went on about how the WWE Universe could not fathom the idea of Kozlov and Jackson joining forces seeing as they have been one-uping each other for months. Well... if you would kindly take a look at this previous article (WWE Should Develop II) I mention how the dynamic that Kozlov and Jackson share is an inevitable formation. What I will admit to, is that I did not know it would be William Regal that would lead them. It's not like William Regal is stronger. If Kozlov and Jackson wanted to, they could obliterate Regal from existence.

Christian entered the ring, still the ECW Champion, and started belittling Regal by calling him Bill. Is this really the best that Christian can do? He even got inside Regal's head by repeating 8-seconds! - The time it took to beat William Regal to retain his ECW Title. In all reality, Christian struck Regal before taking off his robe, so he cheated for the split second win.

Before Christian could say good-bye to Regal as a challenger, the vivacious ECW GM Tiffany declared that Christian did take the easy way out, but if Regal wants another title shot he would have to earn it by defeating Christian in a non-title match.

The ECW main event after a pay-per-view is usually better than the previous one - Don't believe me? Then compare Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer at Night of Champions against Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer (Extreme Rules Match) the following ECW. You know I'm right.

The referee had his hands full trying to keep Kozlov and Jackson from interfering while calling the match. The two did manage to protect Regal from any outside high flying maneuver on the part of Christian. But it was not until Christian took a cheap shot and slapped Kozlov - who was doing nothing - that things turned ugly.

The referee's back was turned, occupied with Jackson, when Christian went for the Killswitch. Yet, Regal managed to shove Christian to the ropes where he met a nasty headbutt on the part of The Moscow Mauler. Thus, allowing Regal to go for the Knee Trembler and ending the match as the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship.

Side Note: The Knee Trembler seems like a diluted version to Orton's punt to the head.

In other ECW news, Shelton Benjamin is once again in ECW finally going through a face turn. Apparently, WWE thinks they can accomplish the turn with Shelton singing. In a vignette, Shelton Benjamin is seen imitating Louis Armstrong, requested by the Bella Twins. He was actually dead on in the impression. But is Benjamin's new gimmick going to be a Karaoke Superstar?

The segment was interrupted by Zack Ryder, who the Bellas cannot stand, and got in Benjamin's face. Shelton, a few weeks back, embarrassed Ryder by beating him in a match; however, this week, Tiffany teamed Benjamin with Ryder against the team of Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks.

Benjamin started the match going toe-to-toe with Surfer Tyler Reks. Reks is really not impressive, his gimmick is bland and his most impressive maneuver is a missile drop kick.

As Benjamin tried to tag in his tag team partner, Ryder was busy adjusting his knee pad. Reks tried to get the roll-up but Shelton powered out.

Ryder tried to capitalize on the opportunity when Reks was down, with a blind tag. But Reks able to kick out of quick covers, Ryder tagged Benjamin back in.

It wasn't until Yoshi Tatsu tagged in, that Ryder also wanted in. If you recall, Ryder pinned Tatsu in one-on-one action, hoping to have the same result he rushed into the ring. But his biggest mistake was sending Tatsu into Benjamin before he could get out. This distraction allowed Tatsu to pick his spot and countered the Zack Attack and struck with the Roundhouse Kick to pick up the win.

Benjamin, still upset at what Ryder did, entered the ring over a defeated Zack Ryder and executed Paydirt.

Is Shelton Benjamin really turning Face, or is the feud with Zack Ryder just a collision of egos?

More ECW News: Tonight on WWE Superstars - The Hurricane goes up against Paul Burchill. Will the masked crusader foil Burchill again, or will Burchill do away with the green vigilante?

Tyler Reks in-ring debut; Paul Burchill Jobs; Zack Ryder Untouched

This week on ECW, the WWE Universe witnessed the in-ring debut of Tyler Reks.

Reigning from Laguna Beach, California, Tyler Reks’ surfing background should keep him balanced in the ring; thus, giving him the upper hand against his opponents.

On the night Tiffany reinstated the Superstar Initiative, Reks and Zack Ryder butted heads prior to their match on WWE Superstars. The dispute was a silly one – to figure out who was the real surfer dude – Ryder living in Long Island NY makes this a war between the west and the east coasts. However, after two matches against the WOO WOO WOO guy – Tyler has come up short.

This week Tyler found himself facing “The Ripper” Paul Burchill. Knowing a thing or two about the open seas, former pirate Paul Burchill overpowered the Sol Cal Dude in constricting chinlocks.

Tyler, motivated by the live energy of the crowd, collected enough strength to break out of the hold, lifting The Ripper to new heights in a Back Body Drop. The momentum shifting to Tyler – he took to the air with a top rope missal drop kick.
It is safe to say that Reks picked up the win in his first in-brand match since joining the roster.

Yet, this is Burchill’s second straight loss against the new members of ECW – Are they just too skilled, or has he been demoted to jobbing?

Whatever the case, maybe a match up against Abraham Washington will boost moral – But a match against Sheamus is more likely to occur.

Yet, it looks like we may have to wait for the European encounter, since Burchill’s post match interview reveals that his next match will be against Goldust.

The Ripper vs. the Freak! Next week on ECW!

It is a surprise that Tyler can pick up a win against Burchill but not against Ryder. Is Ryder just too much Dude for Reks to handle?

Its not like Ryder has had an impressive career – This is his third gimmick since coming to the WWE.
1. One of the Major Brothers
2. Member of Edge’s Familia (Edge Look-a-like/Lackey)
3. The WOO WOO WOO Guy

Also as THAT guy, Ryder cannot seem to decide whether to wear pants or trunks, so he wears half and half.

And the only title Ryder ever won was the WWE Tag Team Belts with Curt Hawkins, winning them in a Fatal Fourway at the Great American Bash 2008, but lost them in their first title defense against the Colons.

WWE is just desperately trying to save their investment, even though they gave up on Hawkins.

Whatever the spell that Ryder has over Reks, one thing is certain – If Reks doesn’t pick up more wins, we may be saying goodbye to the Surfer Dude, You Know It!!!

Donald Trump's Trade Make or Break ECW?

ECW kicked off with an announcement from the vivacious General Manager, Tiffany stating that ECW has lost a lot of great talent but has also gained some. The reality is that the trade has severely crippled ECW. Three of the five competitors from Sunday’s Scramble Match have now found homes on RAW and Smackdown.

Evan Bourne, no doubt the most exciting commodity, has also left the Land of Extreme to thrive on Monday Nights – as seen during the Gauntlet match, Evan almost pinned the WWE Champion.

The Hart Dynasty, possibly the most exciting union since The Miz and John Morrison, has left for Smackdown – in hopes to dominate Friday Nights and one day obtain both the Unified Tag Team and Women’s Titles. It is no secret that ECW is always cheated out of their top tier superstars, mainly to RAW who tend to capitalize on ECW’s hard work.

After losing seven superstars, what is next for ECW?

Tiffany, learning much from the previous GM, has reinstated the Superstar Initiative – a program that brings in fresh talent over from FCW, training grounds, over to the WWE.

The first of the new superstars was Yoshi Tatsu, a Japanese wrestler, facing off against “The Gold Standard” Shelton Benjamin, re-debuting on ECW. Not much is known about Tatsu’s wrestling technique, except for an enzuigiri that knocked the Gold Standard out cold – giving him his first victory on ECW.

ECW has also acquired a new talk show, hosted by Abraham Washington. Gimmicked as having the gift of gab, Washington is actually an instigator – badmouthing superstars and causing problems - as his guests, the Bella Twins, were about to pull hairs until they discretely left.

With the departure of one Irish Brawler, ECW has introduced the arrival of another Celtic Warrior by the name of Sheamus. During his match with a local jobber, Sheamus was instantly portrayed as a heel, driving his knee into his opponent's back for the 1-2-3 victory.

In the weeks ahead, how will the superstars from the initiative fare along with the superstars from the trade? And with three threats gone, will Dreamer have a long title reign, or has new threats emerged?