WWE Main Event / Superstars 2016 Thread

[SirSmUgly]

Those Owens matches are really good if you like Owens's schtick, which I do. I realize at this point that I'm really into wrestlers who have a schtick that they do really, really well (Breaks, Rude, and Savage are three of my five favorite wrestlers ever), and Owens's works really well for me. I get the argument that he's almost too cute about it so that it comes off as a deconstruction of heel wrestling tropes that is clever and worth cheering, but I feel like he's enough of an asshole so that he doesn't cross that line. 

[Charlie M.]

I understand that criticism too but I think he generally does it in a way where the payoff is him getting his ass kicked. The crowd is kinda laughing with him and then getting to laugh at him.

[(BP)]

Wow Owen Hart is a pretty great comparison for Owens's act. It's also impossible to be a universal heel now (unless you're Miz.) I thought Punk was really great at being dispicable during the heel half of his title reign, and he was still getting 50/50 chants with everyone. 

[caley]

What's funny is if you listen to Mauro with King, he just BARELY puts up with him and repeatedly ignores his jokes and moves on.  On Main Event, Tom Phillps LOVES everything King says, there was like a 2 minute period where King just made jokes about Phillips not being loved by his parents and Phillips was laughing so hard he couldn't even call the action.  Thought Dolph Ziggler was actually fairly enjoyable on commentary, believe it or not.

New Day-Social Outcasts was super fun with both sides doing the others' schtick (New Day doing a Bo Train, Slater swiveling his hips like Big E.) and had a great closing stretch with Xavier using "The power of the singlet" and started using all Big E's signature moves.  Loved it.

[Jiji]

Which episode of which show was the Phillips/Lawler stuff on? I want to hear that, it sounds hilarious.

[caley]

This week's Main Event during the Paige-Summer match.  It actually made me enjoy Lawler's old jokes because Phillips was just so into them then he said in the saddest voice "These are very personal!"

[Charlie M.]

Main Event 5/24 #191

Xavier comes out wearing Big E’s singlet and Kofi explains that Xavier had his bags stolen. Outcasts interrupt mocking New Day’s entrance. “Prepare to have a blast and give it up for the Social Outcasts!” They’ve got Xavier’s bag with them and do some heel comedy. They challenge New Day to a six man with the bag on the line. New Day accepts.

New Day vs. Social Outcasts. They work some comedy spots around Big E having the power of the singlet and hitting suplexes then Xavier trying and failing. New Day does their own Bo Train that infuriates the Outcasts. Kofi cuts off the real Bo Train with a dive. Kofi plays face-in-peril. Xavier gets the hot tag and summons the power of the singlet to hit some of Big E’s moves. They finish off Slater at the 10 minute mark. B. One of the better comedy matches of the year in WWE.

Paige vs. Summer Rae. I was really not a fan of this at all. Summer did okay but Paige is too talented to allow herself to look this mediocre in a match. She won in like 4 minutes. C

Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin. Dolph Ziggler on commentary and does a great job putting Corbin over as a guy who hits really hard despite his lack of technical ability. Corbin plays into it in his work with an aggressive brawling style. The big transition is Corbin running around the ring to shoulderblock Swagger but Swagger moves and Corbin hits the steps really hard. There’s a nice nearfall where Corbin catches him with the Deep Six out of nowhere. Swagger gets the Patriot Lock, Corbin gets the ropes, cheap shots Swagger in the throat and hits the End Of Days for the win in 13 minutes. B. Solid outing for Corbin. I like the direction of his character because it can hide his limitations. He could stand to turn it up a few notches at times and really kick the crap out of people. He can still be a bit meandering especially when he's on offense for an extended period of time.

 

Superstars 5/27 #372

Summer Rae vs. Natalya. Summer threw a nice clothesline. Nattie seems more over coming off her feud with Charlotte. Nattie won with the Sharpshooter in 4 minutes. C+

Zack Ryder vs. Viktor. The red face paint Viktor’s been going with lately is quite creepy. This was probably the best I’ve seen Viktor look. He was working really hard and trying to show some personality. Zack won with the ElBro Drop in 10 minutes. B-

[Iron Moose]

This week's Main Event has a really weird Sasha/Summer match.

The one recognizably-Sasha move that she hits is the running knees in the corner, everything else was strikes and a weird running pin. Even the Banks Statement was just a crossface -- no backstabber beforehand. Summer hits a fabulous DDT and Sasha takes a great dive off the apron into the post, but ... it felt odd seeing Summer control as much of the match as she did, moreso because Sasha's traditional arsenal wasn't at all represented. No straightjacket or neckbreaker, no double knee drop... I don't know if it's Summer being unfamiliar with Sasha's offense or Sasha losing her edge as a face or Sasha retooling her style for less impact a la post-injury Austin, but I think this is a match that should be looked at. 

[Cleavy]

never let Ziggler on commentary again...

[tbarrie]

Or in the arena at all, ideally.

 

[RIPPA]

 

[Spritenaut 32]

Otunga must really dislike practicing law.

[Charlie M.]

Just some brief notes on the last couple weeks of shows. Someone else please watch Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger from Superstars this week to see if I'm insane for thinking it was Corbin's best match ever (including NXT).

Main Event 5/31 #192 … Enzo & Cass beat Vaudevillains with the Rocket Launcher. They got a fair bit of time and Enzo is good at playing Ricky Morton. B- … Zack Ryder beat Viktor. Standard short match. C+ … Sasha Banks beat Summer Rae with the Banks Statement. Honestly thought Summer was the standout here and showed more. Good match. B

Superstars 6/3 #373 … Paige beat Summer Rae with the PTO. Someone should tell Paige to update her dance moves. A fine 4 minute match. C+ … Jack Swagger beat Viktor with the Patriot Lock. Swagger plugged Viktor into a ‘Swagger’ match so it was good. Swagger busts out the run up the ropes belly-to-belly superplex. Tick “Can Have A Good 10+ Minute Match with Viktor” off for Swagger. B

Main Event 6/7 #193 … Sheamus beat Zack Ryder with the Brogue Kick. These guys had their working boots on. Zack always does and Sheamus was game to go with him. A couple creative spots including Zack busting out an apron dropkick. High quality stuff. A- … Titus O’Neil beat Viktor with Clash of the Titus. Quick match, not much to it. C … Rusev beat Sin Cara with the Accolade. This started off awesome with Sin Cara doing his flip entrance and Rusev clotheslining the fuck out of him. They get some time but Rusev still takes most of the match as he should. Enjoyable match. B+

Superstars 6/10 #374 … Sin Cara beat Viktor with a hurricanrana. Nothing to report except Viktor went for a slingshot power bomb for the first time in his life just so Sin Cara could rana him for the win. C … Dolph Ziggler & Zack Ryder beat The Dudley Boyz when Dolph pinned Bubba with the superkick. At least this was something random and different. Zack worked the entire match until the hot tag. Usual stuff but at least it was different. B

Main Event 6/14 #194 … Becky Lynch beat Summer Rae with the Disarmher. Could have been a lot better if it was given more time because they were working well together. C+ … Jack Swagger beat Viktor with the Patriot Lock. Not quite at the level of their Superstars match. B- … Apollo Crews beat Bubba Ray Dudley with the standing moonsault. They did some stuff with D-Von at ringside teasing us a table. Crews dropkicked him into it. Crews showed a little more fire. C+

Superstars 6/17 #375 … Sasha Banks beat Summer Rae with the Banks Statement. Very quick match. C+ … Baron Corbin beat Jack Swagger with the End of Days. Enjoyed Corbin taking Swagger right out to the front row and smashing him with forearms to the back of the neck. Sliding under the ropes and coming back in to hit a clothesline was nice as well. Another impressive spot where Corbin is running around the ring to shoulderblock Swagger into the steps but Swagger leaps up onto the apron to avoid it. Corbin’s best match yet. Swagger’s a good opponent for Corbin at this stage because the match isn’t supposed to look smooth. It’s just two big guys beating each other up. A

Quick Picks: Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger (Superstars #375), Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder & Rusev vs. Sin Cara (Main Event #193)

 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

On 14/06/2016 at 1:55 PM, RIPPA said:

 

No coffee flask makes me sad.

[Charlie M.]

Main Event 6/21 #195

Enzo & Cass vs. The Ascension. Decent little match as Enzo & Cass were working really hard. Cass didn’t have to do much here but he worked the apron well. Rocket Launcher wins it. C+

Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara. I like that WWE lugs around that Andre The Giant statue from town to town just so they can have it at ringside for a match like this. Sin Cara got a little bit of offense but it was mostly Corbin and he won with the End of Days. C

Rusev vs. Zack Ryder. These two matched up well with Zack being a natural underdog that the crowd gets behind. Love how Rusev tells the crowd off when they start counting along with his punches. The sequence of offense Zack put together ending with the ElBro Drop resulted in a believable nearfall. Accolade wins it for Rusev in 10 minutes. B+

Superstars 6/24 #376

Golden Truth vs. The Ascension. Simple tag formula but Goldust is great at it and carried the whole thing. It’s worth watching just for him. Truth beats Konnor with the Lie Detector in 4 minutes. C+

Lucha Dragons vs. Dudley Boyz. Bubba is funny as the old grouchy heel who hates flips. Not much to mention about the actual match. It was ok and Sin Cara got the pin in 8 minutes. C+

Main Event 6/28 #196

Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension. Given the way WWE operates, I’m surprised they let Sin Cara do the tope suicida since he does it a million times better than Ambrose. Dragons win a nothing match. C

Breezango vs. Golden Truth. Another quick nothing match. Golden Truth win. C

Zack Ryder & Jack Swagger vs. Shining Stars. Another short tag match. They actually had the structure of what could have been really good if it were given time. Shining Stars won clean on Zack. C+

The Dudley Boyz vs. Enzo & Cass. Decent enough, Enzo is a great seller. Enzo & Cass win with the Rocket Launcher. C+

Superstars 7/1 #377

Golden Truth vs. The Ascension. Goldust was fun again. Truth played face-in-peril this time so Goldust got to do his big comeback. Goldust beats Victor with the Final Cut. C+

Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger. Another fun hoss battle between these two. Corbin comes off more as a bad ass against Swagger than he does in a squash against a smaller guy. Good spot at the end where Swagger gets caught in the ropes, Corbin lights him up with strikes, yells at the crowd and finishes off Swagger in 10 minutes. B

 

[Charlie M.]

Final update of the pre-draft era! These shows have been very weak lately. I don't think there was one match in these six shows that I'd tell people to go watch.

Main Event 7/5 #197 … Cesaro d. Curtis Axel. Cesaro always finds a way to make these matches fun. This time he joined the Bo Train and took out each member one by one in a funny spot. B … Baron Corbin d. Sin Cara. Very short dominant win. C … Golden Truth d. The Ascension. Very quick. C … Rusev d. Apollo Crews. Tough to have a bad match with Rusev and Crews tried his best here. Still on the lower end of what we’ve come to expect from Rusev matches. B

Superstars 7/8 #378 … Shining Stars d. Breezango. Ok short match where Breezango actually played the faces and did a good job at it. C+ … The Usos d. The Ascension. Both teams tried hard and had a perfectly fine match. B-

Main Event 7/12 #198 … Jack Swagger, Apollo Crews & Golden Truth d. The Vaudevillians & The Ascension. Swagger was probably the highlight of this match. C+ … Becky Lynch d. Alicia Fox. Foxy < Summer. Quick match. C … Sheamus d. Titus O’Neil. Think of how far Sheamus has fallen. Didn’t get enough time to do anything memorable but it was fine hoss fighting. C+ … Cesaro & The Usos d. Alberto Del Rio & The Dudley Boyz. You can tell how badly Bubba wishes he could just be Bully Ray in WWE. Felt like a fun house show match. B-

Superstars 7/15 #379 … Becky Lynch d. Summer Rae. Becky was really over from the start. Short, smart match. C+ … Sami Zayn d. Curtis Axel. Fresh matchup and a good one. Zayn overcame the Outcasts at ringside and looked strong in victory. B-

Main Event 7/19 #199 … Apollo Crews & Golden Truth d. Baron Corbin & The Dudley Boyz. Ok match with Corbin walking out on the Dudleyz. Based on their brief interaction, Corbin should be working Goldust on all the house shows. C+ … Kalisto d. Viktor. Quick match made fun mostly by Kalisto. C+ … Jack Swagger & Mark Henry d. Breezango. Swagger & Henry back together again! Unfortunately this didn’t get much time so they ran through a basic formula. C+ … Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus & Shining Stars d. Dolph Ziggler & Titus O’Neil & The Usos. Creative’s got nothing for you special here. I’m a mark for big multi-man matches so I liked this. Sheamus got the pin for his side. B-

Superstars 7/22 #380 … Summer Rae d. Alicia Fox. Very basic stuff. Summer finally gets a win using the ropes. C … The Usos d. The Dudley Boyz. Nothing stood out about this at all. C+

 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Breeze wins!!!

Hype Bros is a pretty solid act - Ryder's pretty good these days and is over, Mojo is a good house of fire, and their finish pops the crowd big.

Dallas did not get much in against Sin Cara, whose Inverted Angle Slam remains pretty freaking sweet. He does Lucha thing good.

Bubba Ray remains hilarious, and his stuff with Swagger was great. Titus' hot tag was disappointing, it looks to me he doesn't really care anymore.

[Charlie M.]

The NEW ERA means more replays on Main Event and less matches.

Main Event 7/26 #200

Hype Bros vs. Vaudevillains. Crowd seemed into Mojo. Vaude’s got the heat on Zack and Mojo worked the apron well getting the crowd HYPED for the hot tag. Bros won with the Hype Ryder in 9 minutes. This would be a fun house show opener. B-

Tyler Breeze vs. Jey Uso. Fandango gets involved from the outside allowing Breeze to gain the advantage. Breeze was pretty good in this bumping around and controlling the match. Uso tried hard but I didn’t think the match hit the next gear. Nice counter off the splash by Breeze into a nearfall. Breeze hit the superkick and put his feet on the ropes for the win in 14 minutes. B-
 

Superstars 7/29 #381

Sin Cara vs. Bo Dallas. Poor Bo has to do the Bo Train all by himself now. He somehow winds up with a bloody lip early on. I’m guessing he didn’t complain to Hunico about it afterwards. I still think someone got the Lucha Dragons mixed up and that’s why Kalisto is the one on Smackdown. Sin Cara wins with a Swanton Bomb in 4 minutes. I fear for Bo’s future. C

The Dudley Boyz vs. Titus O’Neil & Jack Swagger. Swags gets the advantage for a couple minutes before the Dudz take over and work his shoulder. “I’m gonna smack you around and you can’t do nothing about it!” Bubba taunts Swagger. Titus finally gets in on the hot tag. Dudz cut him off. Go for the Wassup but Swagger tosses D-Von off the top. Clash of the Titus finishes it in 9 minutes. Ok match, easy night for Titus. C+
 

Main Event 8/2 #201

Jey Uso vs. Tyler Breeze. Rematch from last week. Not much to this one. Fandango gets involved and Breeze picks up another win in 3 minutes. C

Ascension vs. Hype Bros. Mojo does football spots with Viktor. Ascension get the heat on Ryder. Lots of squeezing and chin locks until they hit a sweet double powerbomb type maneuver. Finishing stretch is fun. Looks like Ryder kills Konor with the Broski Boot. Hype Ryder ends it in 11 minutes. Pretty much same thoughts as last week’s match. B-


Superstars 8/5 #382

Neville vs. Curtis Axel. I guess Neville will do nothing until the Cruiserweight Division starts. Neville hits a moonsault to the floor in the opening moments of the match. Better than their RAW match. Neville wins with the Red Arrow in 3 minutes. C

The Dudley Boyz vs. Jack Swagger & Sin Cara. New tag partner for Swagger this week. Swagger hits a big belly-to-belly on Bubba Ray and backdrops Sin Cara out of the ring onto the Dudz. D-Von helps the Dudleyz gain the advantage by pulling Swagger’s hair. At the end, D-Von crotches Sin Cara on the top rope and they hit the 3D for what seems like a rare win these days. Match was OK, Cara and Swagger didn’t seem to have much chemistry. C+

[J.T.]

Breeze may be cheating but at least he is getting wins.  The poor Villains can't even pick up cheap victories on the B shows.   Looks like they are still in the doghouse for that backstage altercation.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Breeze should be cheating to win.

Er, I kinda sorta get the 'solid enough hand, easy foreigner heat' thing, but they brought back Mahal for this?

 

[John from Cincinnati]

The suggestion from Corey on Superstars seemed to be that Sami now needs to define who he is beyond being a guy who punches Kevin Owens in the face. If they start Sami at the very bottom and have him slowly work his way up while they condition nerds like me to become frustrated about Sami being "buried," they may be onto something. It could be a great way to build Sami up as an underdog on the main roster. 

Of course in three sentences, I've probably already put too much thought into this. 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Kane squash lol.

 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Erick Rowan's music is back; they didn't say BIG RED~! once though. Rowan vs Rhyno was one of those rare C-show matches where it was hard to tell spoiler-free who was going over, but it didn't really succeed in being interesting despite this.

Hype Bros vs VaudeVillains wasn't terrible but it feels like a pretty tired match up by now. 

Swagger vs Mahal was short and sweet. For all the jokes about Swagger, dude barely bumps, 'We The People' will always be over, his t-shirt probably sells ok. If he gets released, he probably makes decent money on the indys and teaches high school wrestling or something. Be smart; be like Jack.

Golden Truth are entertaining enough, but Goldust has kind of been dragged down (he's stayed thin though, kudos for that at least). Bo is Bo, Axel.....I want to like Axel, but he needs to find something new quick & Mr Irrelevant isn't it. A team with Tye Dillinger is the obvious thing......Axel is an eleven because he's better than perfect....I mean c'mon people!

 

[Wyld Samurai]

I'm pulling the hardest for Bo to make it out of the C Shows. I do like Swagger, but Bo has that infectious smile and demeanor that makes me pull for him. 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Bo Rida was so clearly the moment....I really don't get how they dropped the ball on that. The hip-hop consensus was that he took that battle, and not building on it was crazy.