TV REPORTS WWE SUPERSTARS ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 8/20: Caldwell, Donofrio, Parks rate and review
Aug 21, 2009 - 2:03:53 PM
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James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (3.5)
Disappointing show and not worth anyone's time watching on the DVR. There were four matches on the show and I thought the Divas match between Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix was the best match of the night. They showed passion and energy, whereas the three male matches seemed to be the product of WWE handcuffing wrestlers to wrestle a certain style. Throw in Shelton Benjamin turning heel and face more times recently than a bad stretch of TNA TV and this was a mess of a show.
I don't understand what WWE is doing with Shelton. I went back to July 2005 when I became a staff writer for the Torch and saw the following blurb on an audio update I recorded: "why it's important to develop Benjamin's character." That was four years ago. Four years later, it's the same thing. Imagine how big of a star Shelton could be right now if WWE developed his character four years ago when it was obvious they needed to address it. Now, he's been "heel, we-don't-know, face, heel" in the course of a few weeks. Don't even get me started on former WGTT partner Charlie Haas. The curse of Kurt Angle in WWE lives.
Chris Masters vs. Mark Henry was a standard big man match, but neither one came out looking good. Too much time on the mat for Henry, who has been relegated to a sideshow act. He was the star of the show when he was traded from ECW to Raw, but, along with Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger, he's slowly been knocked down little by little. The curse of the ECW Trade.
Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)
This edition of Superstars was definitely nothing to get excited about. The opening match was a very pleasant surprise though. Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix put on a pretty good match. I'm not sure yet if Kelly is getting better or if Phoenix is just that good that she carried Kelly to a good match. R-Truth seemed to be very over with the crowd but this was a match that seemed to be just thrown out there with no real direction. Shelton Benjamin and Tyler Reks was okay for what it was, but again, where is this going? Mark Henry and Chris Masters main eventing a show (even if it is just Superstars) before SummerSlam really made no sense at all. However, I'm hoping this could start a mini-feud with these two (even if it's just to get Henry away from Hornswoggle). I could see a Master Lock Challenge this coming Monday on Raw with Masters and Henry. Another thing that crossed my mind was, how many matches has Henry won by count out lately? It seems like a lot, but maybe it's just me.
Finally, the most glaring problem with Superstars was that it didn't feature any wrestlers that are on Sunday's card. The only promotion of WWE's second biggest show of the year was done through video and recaps. I know we won't know for months, but I'm worried for WWE about this Sunday's buy rate of SummerSlam. I know you can say this for a lot of WWE PPVs lately but the fact that a lot of matches have been added only within 10-14 days of the SummerSlam can't be good to help build up a good enough buzz to create a strong buy rate. Here's hoping that I'm wrong and the show is a success on all sides, but I have my doubts now that we're this close to Sunday.
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)
A very average edition of Superstars this week. The matches weren't bad, but it didn't have that long Morrison vs. Kidd-type match to hang its hat on. Beth vs. Kelly was better than I expected, but that's not saying much. Hopefully, since she hasn't been in the title picture in a while, they'll get behind Phoenix as a contender again. Was Benjamin a heel again on this show? Didn't he recently turn face? He got a decent win over Tyler Reks, as if that means anything at this point.
Speaking of good wins that don't really mean much, R-Truth beat Charlie Haas. I can't help but think Haas is being wasted in this role, and there HAS to be something more they could do with him, what with his talent and all. For three minutes of action, I did enjoy the match. I can't say the same for the main event, however. It seems they're building up Henry winning by count-out because wrestlers are too afraid of him. I just can't fathom why they bothered bringing Masters back.
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