WWE Superstars Review – 7/29/16

Match #1

Sin Cara vs Bo Dallas

Shoutout to Sin Cara for being the first wrestler to make their entrance on the new set! The lighting (on Raw too) is definitely a little different and I feel like that goes a long way, presentation wise. Before they lock up, Bo leaves the ring and starts the Bo Train. Sin Cara slides out of the ring but Bo ducks and dodges him. Bo flips Cara into the rope but Sin Cara bounces off and comes back down with a headscissors takedown outside the ring. Sin Cara heads to the top for the Senton but Dallas rolls across the ring to get out of range. Bo guillotines Sin Cara on the top rope. Bo with a clothesline, followed by some knee drops. Sleeper hold from Dallas. Sin Cara reverses an irish whip from Dallas and sends him hard into the corner. Springboard crossbody followed by a springboard back elbow from Sin Cara. Springboard moonsault by Carlit…Sin Cara. Bo hits a clothesline in the corner but Sin Cara ducks a second and hits a spinning samoan drop. Senton Bomb for the win.

Thoughts

I would’t say anything about this match was bad but I wouldn’t really say it was anything interesting either. One big gripe I have about Sin Cara is the mask. One of the biggest things that underdog/sympathetic faces use to get the crowd behind them is their facial expressions. When you see Sami Zayn or Zack Ryder trying to fight out of a submission or make a comeback, their facial expressions add so much to that. But Sin Cara literally has no face. Rey Mysterio and Kalisto, while having masks, still had a lot of open face and it worked easily with them. With Sin Cara he isn’t allowed to show any emotion and I think that hurts him. Bo Dallas is a really underrated heel that’s great at being annoying but after the first minute or so of this, he didn’t do too much with it. Although the match only clocked in a little over three minutes it seemed.

Recaps of Raw and Battleground. Do people like to know what exactly they show recaps of?

Match #2

The Dudley Boyz vs Jack Swagger & Titus O’Neil

Jack Swagger always gets super fired up during his entrance, whether it’s Raw, a PPV or Superstars. Swagger and Bubba lock up each time with each attempt going in Swagger’s favor. Swagger takes down Bubba and smacks him on the head. D-Von comes in and Swagger takes him down too. Swagger ducks a few clotheslines from D-Von and shoulder blocks him. After an elbow to the head from D-Von, Dudleyz take control. Quick tags from the Dudleyz. Bubba has Swagger dizzy and does his own takedown and slaps him in the back of the head a few times. Bubba does a “WE THE DUDLEYZ” taunt. Bubba tosses Swagger out of the ring into the barricade. D-Von sends him back in. Back from commercial and Bubba is standing over Swagger, mocking him and punching him in the face. Rest hold by D-Von. Spinning elbow from D-Von. Bubba punches Swagger over and over again. Swagger drops Bubba with a big slam to the ground and makes the tag to Titus. Titus is fired up and overpowers D-Von with multiple shoulder blocks. Splash in the corner to D-Von, followed by a clothesline to Bubba off the apron and then a big boot to D-Von. Bubba makes a blind tag and the Dudleyz hit a reverse 3D. D-Von gets the tag and goes to the top for the WAZZUP. Swagger pushes D-Von off the ropes. Bubba gets tossed out by Titus and Titus hits the Clash of the Titus on D-Von for the victory.

Thoughts

This was a pretty solid match but I felt like they drew out the hot tag a bit too long and it was kind of odd that there was only one tag between the face team the entire match. Not really any interaction between Swagger and Titus. Bubba is still the king of trash talk though. He really makes the Dudley control segments entertaining. Also Swagger is a great babyface. I never thought he’d be a face during his first handful of years in WWE but about a month after turning I realized he’s even better as a face. He shows a lot more emotion now. As a whole though the match didn’t really have much of a story to it and the Dudleys control segment was kind of slow.

Recap of Balor vs Reigns.

Overall

Not the best episode of Superstars but I’m chalking it up to how big a night it was on Raw and how I imagine 99% of the focus was on booking the main show. Bo Dallas vs Sin Cara was a really generic match that didn’t do too much for me. The tag match was solid but I believe it has potential to be a lot better with a story behind it. I didn’t really get to see how Swagger and Titus work as a team. Also Summer Rae is still undefeated in the New Era.