C-Show Showdown
WWE SuperStars SuperReview: Chavo and Jill vs. Primo and Gail, Carlito vs. Chris Masters, Slam Master J and J.W.Y. vs. The HaasKnoxers, and Christian vs. William Regal
By Jamie Kennedy
Jan 16, 2010 - 9:16 PM

Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the WWE Superstars SuperReview! It's been a wacky week work-wise for me but hopefully things will all pan out in a way I'd like. I'm delighted to say that I've been spending a lot of time treading through old tapes and re-living some of my favourite matches from yesteryear (Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn I'm looking at you). With that said, on with the show!

Battle #1 – Primo & Gail Kim vs. Chavo Guerrero & Jillian Hall

This was a pretty damn lively bout to open us up here. Usually, these mixed tag matches don't have a lot to offer but credit is due to all 4 of these performers for keeping the crowd interested and delivering a solid match-up with a logically happy conclusion. I for one am loving the focus Gail Kim is now getting in the WWE and she's now starting to show some of the form which made her a top female wrestler in TNA a while back. This woman has proved she has it and only needs time allotted to her matches in order to show it. I'm glad the booking squad gave this one around 6 good minutes as it allowed for everyone in there to shine a little bit more than they erstwhile would have.

In the end up, Primo rolled up Chavo for the victory following a highly original boot-inspired move by Kim. That result went over popular with the audience which is always nice to see. There's a lot of talk about Chavo Guerrero's role in the company and while he may not be exactly thrilled with it himself, he does have a purpose. Perhaps unfortunately for him, that purpose is to be comedy fodder. I personally don't see much wrong with that as he's still an over character with the crowds, just not really seen as a meaningful threat to any title.

WINNERS: Primo & Gail Kim

Meanwhile..

·          Little look back at what transpired at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony last year. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was by far the star of the show, even being touted as the “greatest WWE superstars of all time” by none other than Vince McMahon. That right there is high praise and I'm sure there are millions of you out there who would agree with Vinnie Mac. Could this be a package intended to bring Austin freshly back into our minds so his up and coming “Guest Host” of RAW slot will be more feverishly anticipated? WWE are the masters of that kind of 'mind game'.

Battle #2 – Carlito vs. Chris Masters w/Eve Torres

A few years ago, it'd be a tough call to predict who would walk away with their hand raised following this match. Nowadays however, it's almost a given that Carlito is not going to walk away victorious here. Masters is on a roll following his shift in alignment, not being a fun-loving babyface instead of a narcissistic heel. It's a change which has worked wonders with his career too as, get this, the fanbase actually now care about his exploits! I'm glad to see it aswell, due to the guy apparently heading to “Nowheresville” in a heartbeat just a few months ago.

Carlito, on the other hand, has been toiling for months. His career in freefall, maybe all that apparent whining backstage (or so I've heard) has finally caught up with him. He's now even less of a singles star than his brother, which is a major slap in the face. I would love to see him manage to pull things together and re-invent his character a little but it just seems as though he's killing time till the inevitable “Future Endeavour” card gets played.

Evidence of his status with management here as Masters blasted right through him with little to no trouble, eventually putting the elder Colon brother out of his misery with a “Masterlock”. Don't think I'm alone in thinking both Carlito and Primo would contribute a hell of a lot more to the product by being put back together as a team. They had chemistry and were doing well as a tandem, as singles they are merely making up the numbers.

WINNER: Chris Masters

Battle #3 – Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J vs. Charlie Haas & Mike Knox

This is the kind of matches this show wouldn't have dreamed of putting on at the beginning of its run. Now however, this is considered the 'D' show so we have matches featuring men with no real storyline to run with. Of course, as stated earlier, these guys all have their place and are obviously terrific athletes – otherwise they wouldn't be employed by the biggest wrestling company on the planet!

The outcome to this match was deemed a major upset, with Wang Yang nailing poor old Charlie Haas with an utterly gorgeous (MWAH!) moonsault on his standing opponent for the 1..2..3! Being a big fan of Mr. Haas, I can see why he hasn't really ever been given a major singles push with WWE. His charisma has always been somewhat suspect and his mic skills aren't exactly renowned. However, he is a solid, SOLID mat technician who can put on entertaining matches inside that ring so it's a bit of a shame to see him in this kind of situation. In fairness, Wang Yang and Slam Master J are in exactly the same position on the roster so they deserve a break. Being a lover of tag teams that I am, I would love to see the return of the “Worlds Greatest Tag Team” (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas). I feel both men did their best work as a duo and really shined on that platform. The framework and superstars are there for a simply stunning tag division but WWE don't really seem to want to put much emphasis on that kind of match anymore. To be fair, what they're doing isn't exactly horrible either so it's all good.

WINNERS: Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J

RAW Rebound..

·          Supposedly, Mike Tyson as guest host gained more viewership than Bret Hart did. This may surprise a lot of people but Tyson is a genuine mainstream celebrity with a reputation of being a little unpredictable. I'm sure a lot of people tuned in to see what kind of chaos could unfold with him in charge. I enjoyed Monday night and felt the guy did an admirable job in the role. His 'knockout' of Chris Jericho was well-received by the live crowd, as was his posing with the members of DX.   Tyson earns the distinction of being one of the celebrity guest hosts who have actually worked out. It's cringeworthy when some of them get some performers names wrong and there's no real excuse for it. That above all else will irritate wrestling fans.

Battle #4 – Your Main Event & Mine – Christian vs. William Regal

Predictably great action here as both men were really on fire and do appear to enjoy working against one another. I really do think Christian will manage to have a good match with the big Ezekial Jackson. It was refreshing to see the big guy get the opportunity and I'm hoping he will surprise a lot of people in his first major singles match on Pay-Per-View. Hopefully he's a lot more ready than the unfortunate Vladimir Kozlov was in 2008.

Christian had a fantastic year in 2009. Sure you could argue he maybe shouldn't be on the ECW show but he's a top star on that brand and will no doubt eventually get the nod to come to RAW or Smackdown, possibly to feud with former long-time partner and “brother” Edge. This writer feels WWE are being smart by letting him run with the ECW ball, using up all available feuding options before shifting him to one of the other brands.

Regal is another who is doing a stellar job on the “Extreme” show. He fits right in and could be a contender to replace Christian on top when he does move on. It's unbelievable how Mr. Regals career has ended up, having been through so much controversy and hard times. My hat's off to him for plugging away and still being one of the strongest in-ring talents WWE has.

For the finish of this one, Christian connected with his ever-sweet-looking “Killswitch” for the win and will move on to what will prove to a hard one to call against Jackson at the “Royal Rumble”.

WINNER: Christian

Overall this was another great show from Superstars and it continues to be an enjoyable part of the wrestling week. Hope everyone involved with WWI and all you readers have a brilliant weekend – don't forget to check out this weeks edition of “The Jamie Kennedy” experiment and also that you can drop me an email with your thoughts, questions and quips to – jamiekennedy@live.com Until next week..