Commentators: Scott Stanford, Josh Matthews & Matt Striker
Championship's roll call: WWE Champion: CM Punk… World Champion: Daniel Bryan… Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes… United States Champion: Zack Ryder… Tag Team Champions: Air Boom… Diva's Champion: Beth Phoenix
Yoshi Tatsu vs. Tyson Kidd: Yoshi comes out in his mask; apparently Kidd has been teasing Tatsu on Twitter. Tatsu starts off with a quick rollup and an O'Connor roll for a pair of one counts; they battle over a top wristlock and Matt Striker mentions his two cats named after the Midnight Express. Tatsu gets in a few chops and Kidd reverses a whip but Yoshi grabs him in a head scissors; he heads up top but lands right into an inverted atomic drop. Kidd hits a spin kick and takes over. Kidd mares him into a soccer kick and chokes him in the ropes. Kidd hits a kick and gets a nearfall; he lassos him into a chinlock. Tatsu frees himself and nails Kidd with a spinning wheel kick for a double KO. Tatsu chops and kicks his way back then hits a Yakuza kick in the corner. Kidd avoids the buzzsaw kick with a schoolboy but Tatsu rolls through that and hits a running boot to the face. He looks for the buzzsaw kick again but Kidd dropkicks his knees out; Kidd nails a brainbuster… for two. Kidd props him on the top but Yoshi fights free and hits a top-rope spinning wheel kick and gets the three count. 5.5/10 Pretty decent back-and-forth match between these two who can wrestle a good match between themselves in their sleep; that's what this felt like a decent sleepwalk.
Here is your winner… Yoshi Tatsu @ around 7:30 via top-rope spinning wheel kick pinfall.
Trent Barreta vs. Darren Young: Haven't seen Young in a while (on Superstars); he's a heel now, since we haven't seen him in a while, and he's been feuding with Percy Watson and Titus O'Neil on NXT. Barreta goes behind but Young powers out and works the arm. Young forces Trent into a bridge and when he begins to power out, Young pulls the hair; he then floors Trent with a shoulderblock, the he tries to run the ropes with the severely speedier Barreta, which is a bad move, and pays the price with a high elbow to the face, after some leapfrogs and drop-downs. Barreta gets some Euro uppercuts in but Darren comes back; Trent tries to scale the ropes but Young knocks him down stomach first onto the top rope and then backdrop suplexes him ONTO THE APRON. Ouch. Back in the ring, Young gets a nearfall. He works the back with a backbreaker and applies a chinlock. Young using the power moves is a good thing, perhaps it will help differentiate him a little from the rest of the NXT clones. Trent tries to speed up but Young hammer-tosses him into the buckle and then tries a suplex; Barreta is too quick and turns it into a small package, for two. Young upends him with a running lariat, for a pair of two counts; Young now segues into a body vise. At least he is using some sound psychology, working the back. He tries a backdrop superplex but Barreta fights free and hits a beautiful Whisper in the Wind for a close nearfall. They exchange blows and Trent capitalizes with a step-up enziguri. Trent misses the Gobstopper knee and charges right into a tilt-a-whirl stomacbreaker. Young looks for a back suplex but Barreta flips free and gets a boot up in the corner. He mounts the buckles again and Young crotches him again. They battle atop the ropes and Young wins with a top-rope Gut Check for the pinfall. 6.5/10 Deadly finish there. Very entertaining back-and-forth match; I knew Young was going over, because Barreta NEVER wins, and it was a good match. Young still has the generic NXT stink on him but he has some cool power moves to hopefully distinguish himself. I surprisingly wasn't bored with this match but that could be due to Barreta's in-ring zeal.
Here is your winner… Darren Young @ around 9:10 via top-rope Gut Check pinfall.
Alex Riley vs. JTG (w/Tamina): I'm sure that Tamina and JTG is an angle from NXT but I admit I haven't watched that show in months; I think the last one I saw had Vladimir Kozlov planking. JTG piefaces Riley and eats a spear for it. Riley tosses him into the corner a few times and then a running clothesline; he hits a suplex takeover and JTG rolls to the floor. They battle in the ropes and Riley looked to have been going for a Viper DDT but JTG backdrops him onto the apron. Tamina jaws with Riley allowing JTG to boot him into the ringpost. The commentators explain the Tamina/JTG history for me; apparently it was originally to piss off the Uso Brothers and then JTG just kinda grew on her. He applies a seated abdominal stretch; Riley fires back but eats a Gutter Punch and backdrop neckbreaker for a nearfall. He chokes Riley within the ropes and then hits a wristlock neckbreaker, for another two count; he returns to the chinlock. They clunk heads and Riley tumbles to the floor; JTG goes after him, a little dazed, so Riley nails him with a running boot as he is leaving the ring. Riley reenters the ring and begins the comeback with clotheslines; he drops a spinebuster and lifts him up into the Final Score for the three count. 5/10 Not bad despite the fact that JTG had about a zero percent chance of winning that match; he got some good token offense in but Riley's comeback was really short and sweet. Didn't make him look too good, but at this point, I don't think JTG could look any worse; he's become the heel version of Trent Barreta.
Here is your winner… Alex Riley @ around 8:15 via Final Score pinfall.
Air Boom vs. Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks: This is a rematch from last week; Hawkins and Kingston start and Curt plays some heel games in the corner and eats an arm drag. Hawkins hits a shoulderblock and then tries another but Kofi double jump leapfrogs and hits a twisting reverse forearm. Bourne tags and they hit a double team high/low move; Bourne gets a hurracanrana but Hawkins recovers and tags in Reks. He hits a short clothesline and tosses Bourne around the ring until Evan drops him with a kick off a backdrop attempt. Kingston comes in and they hit another nice doubleteam move. Reks powers over again and then tries to match speed with Kofi and gets a crossbody splash to the back. Tyler comes back with a vertical suplex and tags in Hawkins; he chokes Kofi against the ropes and drops a nice snap-suplex for a nearfall. Hawkins settles into a chinlock. Kofi reverses into an O'Connor roll and then hits a nice one-footed dropkick. Curt slides to the floor to break the momentum so Kingston topés out onto him. Reks misses a clothesline so Bourne leaps off the apron with double knees to him. Back from commercial, Bourne hits a hurracanrana and gets a two count. Bourne gets backdropped to the apron and kicks Hawkins' head off; he tries to mount the buckles but Reks distracts, drawing Kofi over and therefore, the referee over to him, Reks then nails Bourne with the Demolition Man DDT; Kingston makes the save. Reks legally tags and stamps Bourne; he adds some choking at the ropes. He settles into a chinlock and then an Eye of the Hurricane… for two. Hawkins returns and taunts Kingston; he applies another chinlock. Bourne tries to free himself but charges right into a bodyslam. The heels quick tag and Hawkins hits a backdrop suplex and reapplies the chinlock; Curt misses a Stinger splash and Bourne makes the tag. Kofi springboards onto Reks with a clothesline and hits punches but Reks avoids a short Trouble in Paradise. Kingston drops him with a double jump twisting crossbody; Hawkins makes the save but gets wiped by a Bourne high knee. Reks comes over to try to extricate him from the ring but eats a reverse enziguri. Kingston hits Trouble in Paradise and tags in Bourne to finish Reks off with Air Bourne. 6/10 Good, long match; there was a little dead spot in the middle but picked up severely in the end. Air Boom has gelled as a good team and should have a fun spot as tag champions for the foreseeable future.
Here are your winners… Air Boom @ about 16:10 via Air Bourne pinfall.
OVERALL 5.5/10 Good show this week with ample matches. They all were either good or entertaining squash-like matches. Fine way to close out 2011 for WWE Superstars. Happy New Year!
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