WWE Superstars: 4th March 2010

I've been going over some Superstars shows as part of getting back into current WWE. Got a bunch of reviews coming in the next couple of days. Opening match of this show is Kofi Kingston vs. Chavo. This is a match of two polar opposite performances - Chavo has great-looking offence, whilst Kofi has awful looking offence. He does a tope which barely creeps over through the ropes, whilst Cole mentions his "imaginative" offence. Perhaps in this case, he was imagining what it would be like to do a tope whilst wearing armour. Chavo, on the other hand, leads Kofi through some matwork (whilst making it look like Kofi was matching up), works the blood stoppage with palpable exasperation and does some really nice looking stuff, like the roll-up boston crab, before the inevitable loss.

William Regal is on Superstars. Amazing. I am short of William Regal in 2010. He's against Evan Bourne. I am short of Evan Bourne in 2010. And he is short in 2010 (aha!). This was a really fun six minutes of match. I was really enjoying Regal submission work - with a smaller opponent, he really gets to improvise increasingly painful and elaborate looking stretches. I also liked how Evan battled to escape - they do a nice little roll through with Regal holding on before shakes it off. For the size difference, Regal's bumping off Bourne's early offence - headscissors, monkey flips - and his selling of the strike to the back and the knee to the chin at the end were an utter treat.

The Kane-Mike Knox match had little to recommend for it, aside from Knox's chokeslam bump. I don't think I've seen a guy the size of Knox take such a great bump off that move. The main event was Goldust vs. Jericho. I got a kick out of the early interactions - Jericho's has two facial expression which he does well. Firstly, there's when he doesn't understand why something has happened, and Goldust's schtick let's him play that one out. Secondly, he knows how to look smug, and when the smugness comes off the back of some minor victory (here, a shoulderblock that knocks Dustin down), it works really well. Goldust is so good taking the beating - I loved the little wild swinging fist as he fell down at one point, and he does a tremendous job selling his throat after getting guilottined (a move which rarely looks any good). His comeback was typically exciting - he really gets the crowd involved as he fought out of a sleeper, and there was some nice nearfalls. Both the first version and replay of Dustin getting caught by a dropkick as he came off the top really was as spot-on as the commentary suggested.

Quite the little TV show, with two matches that are definitely worth your time. Superstars, I am sorry I did forsake you these past three score and seven...weeks? Maybe.