January 3, 2014
Miz and Punk share a face as the Superstars theme song plays and WWE Superstars hits the air!
Ring
Jack Swagger runs to the ring by himself as Tom Phillips and Alex Riley wish the WWE Universe a happy new year. Tyson Kidd is confident as he hits the ring for the first match of the night.
Match 1
Singles Match
Jack Swagger vs. Tyson Kidd
The bell sounds and Kidd goes for a hammer lock. It’s quickly reversed by Swagger into a hammer lock of his own but Kidd uses the ropes in a great way to get another hammer lock of his own! They are in the ropes though so the ref breaks the hold. An exchange lead to a 1 count for Kidd and he quickly follows up with a dropkick. Swagger reverses a whip into the corner and lands a huge wheelbarrow suplex! Very impressive! The crowd appreciates it and chants “we, the people” with Swagger.
Swagger takes control and tosses Kidd around. 2 count. Kid gets a 2 count of his own with a rollup but Swagger answers with a side belly to belly suplex. He stomps Kidd and gets a 2 count after a clothesline. He applies a headlock. He tries to dump Kidd over but he lands on his feet and drives Swagger into the turnbuckle face first. Kicks from Kidd lead to a tarantula! Shades of Tajiri as mentioned from Phillips. Riley says it’s innovative, which it isn’t. But it’s still awesome. Leg drop from Kidd over the ropes to the apron on Swagger’s head! He muscles Swagger over but only gets a 1 count because his foot was under the ropes for like a millisecond.
Kidd staggers Swagger with a kick to the head but a springboard leads to a power slam from the all American American. Swagger DDTs the left leg of Kidd and floats over into the Patriot Lock for the win!
Result
Jack Swagger wins via submission with the Patriot Lock
Match Thoughts
This was a really good match. Pretty quick, but Tyson Kidd and Jack Swagger both have serious skills in the ring. I remember their WWECW days with great fondness. Kidd showed some great moves but the power of Swagger came out on top and led to a convincing victory.
Ring
Riley points out that the impact of the leg DDT was just too much for the surgically repaired leg of Kidd. Good point, but he said it in the most annoying of ways. “Patriot Lock, Patriot Lock, Patriot Lock!” He made fun of Cole copying Jim Ross, but Tom Phillips didn’t do that. I don’t get it. Alex Riley is destined to be the next Michael Cole because he really is terrible at the table.
-Commercial-
Video
After the break we get a replay of portions of the match between Rollins and CM Punk from RAW.
-Commercial-
Video
Another video replay segment from RAW focusing on Triple H talking about the return of Lesnar.
-Commercial-
Ring
The Usos perform the Siva Tau and PTP make their way to the ring for the next match.
Match 2
Tag Team Match
The Usos vs. The Prime Time Players
Young and Jimmy exchange side headlocks before Jimmy downs Young with a shoulder block. Young hits a forearm and inverted atomic drop followed by a knee to the head and a 2 count. Jey makes a blind tag but is met with a northern lights suplex for a 1 count!
Titus tags in and PTP hit a double shoulder block on Jey. A body slam and a pair of leg drops from O’Neil lead to a 2 count. Titus shoulder blocks Jey to the mat, tags in Young, then front suplexes his partner onto Jey for a 2 count. Jey rolls out of the ring to catch his breath which leads to…
-Commercial-
Titus and Jimmy are in the ring and Jimmy is sent flying into the corner after attempting a waist lock. They tie up and Titus pushes Jimmy into the PTP corner. Young tags in and takes control with a side headlock. Jimmy lands some big chops but Young answers with some European uppercuts and chops of his own! Jimmy whips Young into the corner and he tumbles over the ropes and out to the floor! Jimmy tosses Young into the ring and tags his brother.
Double team and Jey is in control. Young looks desperately for a tag but Jey stops it with a shoulder to the gut. Jimmy tags in and hits an elbow to Young. He controls Young’s left arm. Young tries to fight out but is hit with a big spinning kick to the head. Jey is tagged and lands an elbow drop for a 1 count. Again Young is desperate for the tag but Jey puts on a top wrist lock to his downed opponent.
Jimmy is tagged back in but gets taken out with a hip toss into the turnbuckle by Young! Jimmy tags Jey but not in time to stop Young from getting to O’Neil! O’Neil overpowers Jey which leads to a pin that is broken up by Jimmy at 2! Young tries to eliminate Jimmy but gets tossed out himself. Jimmy is tossed to the floor by O’Neil. Titus goes for the Fall away slam but Jey lands on his feet and Jimmy makes the blind tag. Double team kick to Titus! Jey sets up Titus as Jimmy hits the diving splash for the victory!
Result
The Usos win via pinfall (Jimmy Uso on Titus O’Neil after a diving splash)
Match Thoughts
Very good tag team bout. Nice back and forth. I was actually pulling for PTP as a babyface team for most of the match though. They seemed to be the ones in peril. The Usos are just better at tag team wrestling and performing as a unit. I love PTP, but Jimmy and Jey move like they have one mind during a match.
-Commercial-
Video
Phillips introduces a video recap of the closing moments of the last RAW of 2013. Bryan enters the Wyatt gauntlet.
Impressions
Two very good matches make this Superstars a very good show. If you’re not watching Superstars then you’re missing some great wrestling.
Match of the Night
Jack Swagger vs. Tyson Kidd
The two matches were pretty much even in terms of quality. I’m going to pick the opener of Swagger vs. Kidd as the Match of the Night simply because I loved the psychology of the finish. These guys are great and they both deserve a main event spotlight.