WWE Superstars Review – 7/8/16

Match #1
The Shining Stars vs Breezango

And heel vs heel tag match? Primo and Epico come out with microphones and talk bad about the US and how greatly Puerto Rico is. Not a bad gimmick but WWE essentially told you to not care about these people the second they re-debuted them. Dropkick from Fandango to start the match. Breeze and Fandango with tandem elbows. Breeze dodges a bunch of attacks from both Shining Stars but eventually gets taken down by a knee to the head and a clothesline. Looks like Breezango are working as faces. Resthold from Epico. Breeze dodges a charge into the corner and kicks Epico in the head. Hot tag to Fandango who takes down Primo over and over again. Spinning wheel kick from Fandango gets two before Epico breaks it up. Epico throws Breeze out of the ring and Fandango sends Epico out. Roll-up by Primo for two. Fandango kicks Primo in the face and heads to the top. Primo gets up and Epico makes a tag that Fandango doesn’t see. Primo hits a backstabber and then they hit a high/low looking thing for the win. Primo and Epico cut another little promo about Puerto Rico after winning.

Thoughts

This felt really, really flat. Breeze as a sympathetic face didn’t work here at all. He didn’t really sell it particularly well and the crowd has only ever boo’d this guy so cheering him didn’t make much sense anyway. I like Breeze and Fandango a lot but neither one of them seemed like they really put any emotion into this match. It didn’t get time to tell any sort of story either. It was literally Breeze/Fandango hit a couple moves, Breeze gets beaten down for maybe a minute, tops, and makes the hot tag. This is probably my least favorite match I’ve seen since I started reviewing these shows. I will say that I did like Primo & Epico’s mic work. And while sloppiness doesn’t matter at all to me, all four of them were very clean in the ring.

Recaps of Ambrose vs Miz and the Cena/Club promo.

Match #2
The Usos vs The Ascension

Konnor and Jimmy Uso lock up first. Konnor gets over powered to the ground but kips up and uppercuts Uso in the face. Jey gets the tag in and forearms Konnor in the corner. Konnor holds Jey up and Viktor punches him in the stomach. Tom Phillips says Ascension are one big win away from establishing themselves. Good one, Tom. Jey Uso dodges an attack from Viktor and dances and dabs. Viktor runs at him but Jey throat thrusts him. Jimmy gets the tag but immediately gets backed into the Ascension corner. Konnor pulls Jimmy Uso out of the ring and slams his face off the announce table. Konnor swings around Jimmy’s towel, mocking him. Konnor body slams Jimmy to the mat, back in the ring. He follows it up with an elbow drop. Viktor gets in and taunts Jimmy as he tries to make it to the corner. Viktor locks in a rest hold. Both members of Ascension kick Jimmy in the ribs. Konnor clubs Jimmy in the back and delivers a cheapshot to Jey. While the ref is dealing with Jey, Viktor attacks Jimmy. Jimmy fights off both members of Ascension and makes the hot tag to Jey. Jey hits some clotheslines and a samoan drop to Viktor. Jey hits a running hip attack to Viktor and sends Konnor out of the ring. Flying crossbody from Jey. Viktor knocks Jey off the ropes and tags in Konnor. Konnor picks up Jeyin the spinebuster position and Viktor hits a diving knee as Konnor slams him down. Viktor tags back in and they set up for the Fall of Man. Jimmy drags Konnor out of the ring and superkicks him. Jey hits a superkick and tags in Jimmy who hits the splash for the victory.

Thoughts

This was way better than I was expecting and by far the most competitive Ascension match I’ve seen in ages. It makes me wonder though, how sick would this match have been in mid 2014 with actual build and on a bigger stage when both teams were really built up? I liked that after the hot tag the match didn’t instantly end and Ascension actually got more offense in. Gave it a bit of extra drama. Konnor also has a solid amount of charisma despite not being the best wrestler in the world and Viktor really brings it in the skills department. They work very well together. It wasn’t perfect but it was just nice seeing Konnor and Viktor get a competitive tag match. Only one disappointment. You know that finish that The Usos always have to every one of their tag matches? Yeah, that happened here.

Overall

The show was prety passabe. Usos vs Ascension was enjoyable but I can’t imagine it appeals to all that many people and there’s honestly no point in watching Breezeango vs Shining Stars. I’ve become a bit disappointed with the Superstars line-ups the past couple weeks. I mean Baron Corbin wasn’t on Raw this week, where was his match?! Although they got a lot of people onto the July 4^th Raw so I guess I can forgive them there. And ultimately I’d like to see most of these people on main tv anyway (outside of a jobbing role). I guess I’m a bit split at wanting success for these guys and wanting to see good matches.