Friday, March 5, 2010

WWE Superstars 3/4/10

1. Kofi Kingston vs. Chavo Guerrero - 3
2. Evan Bourne vs. William Regal - 6
3. Kane vs. Mike Knox - 3
4. Chris Jericho vs. Goldust - 5

This was definitely the best episode thus far this year of wrestling's most criminally underrated show. Chavo bleds the hard way and had to be pampered by the ref like a child that got a "boo boo" on the playground. What would Ed Farhat have said? Each guy did some pointless arm work, lead nowhere, but Guerrero rose to the occasion leading Kofi through the match, looked particularly fired up after he broke free of the referee's healing hands (John Coffey, anyone?), and his rolling koppo kick was titties. Kingston (as usual) looked bad and I hated the finish where Chavo dodged one "Trouble In Paradise" kick but then stood there frozen while Kofi did a second one and got beat. Bourne and Regal was a great WCW Worldwide main event in the best way possible. Regal's maestro selling was on display here, eating Bourne's explosive offense in all sorts of weird ways, selling a jumping kick to the back like he just stood up for the first time after a twelve-hour bus ride. Regal was nasty on offense, all his short, ugly uppercuts and shots looked expertly gnarly. Regal's one of the few guys who could emote three or four different facial (and hence emotional) reactions to being taken over in a headscissors: shock, disbelief, embarrassment, and anger all wrapped up into one fleeting moment. Knox and Kane was fun the short time it lasted, two huge dudes clubbing each other, Mike's crossbody continues to amaze, and his selling Kane's chokeslam like death was spot-on psychology. Jericho and Goldust was great fun, too. This was your best 2010 Goldust performance. Towards the end, face paint almost all gone, I swore I had a "Natural" Dustin Rhodes sighting in early-'10 as once he got fired up I couldn't distinguish between his two perennial personas. Jericho's most famous trope is his counters, here he had several key ones, my favorite being catching Goldust who was coming from the top in mid-air with a spectacular dropkick. Dustin wasn't shabby in that department himself, cutting off Jericho in mid-run with a snapping powerslam that'd cure Steve Williams' cancer. A really, really good show.

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