On WWE Superstars, one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions is in action as Kofi Kingston faces Primo. Can the former holder of that title get himself and Epico in the running? Then, on Impact Wrestling, Sting addresses Bobby Roode, Karen Angle addresses the Knockouts, Rob Van Dam challenges for the TV Title, and 3 teams compete to see who will challenge the new Tag Team Champions. Will it be Mexican America, Ink, Inc., or Devon and D'Angelo Dinero? Read on for my thoughts on the shows as they happen, with in-attendance notes for the Smackdown half of Superstars in parentheses.
(It's a little hard to see on air, but DiBiase pointed to a DiBiase Posse sign and said "that's right". After his match, he said "thank you" to the person holding it. I missed the actual Posse before the show, but he seems like a real down-to-earth "bro" if you will).
Slater gets on my nerves, but kind of in a good way now.
God I have no idea who Striker's talking about some times. I live further South than Slater.
Why does that not surprise me from Striker about the Posse?
You know, I have no idea what purpose those laces serve on Slater's tights.
DiBiase's a talented guy, and I like what Slater's doing here, too. Good that they get time to experiment and show what they can do.
"DiBiase" would sound more natural to chant.
DiBiase's doing a good job getting fans behind him here.
I liked the ending sequence. More from these two please, especially DiBiase.
(No more live thoughts. We only got one Superstars match because they had to do Smackdown promptly at 8)
Not sure why Rosa Mendes is with Primo and Epico, but I'm ok with it. At least they're using her. She was really lost in the Divas shuffle for quite some time.
(Oh wait, a little more since they threw to this clip. One big thing of taping shows "out of sequence". They actually recorded throwing to a match that hadn't happened yet!)
Again, since I'm behind, I'm fast-forwarding through recaps. I enjoyed the match, though.
Ahh, Santino.
I wonder if Eden has to wear the same thing at the Monday and Tuesday tapings so it looks like it all takes place within an hour.
I'm crying foul. JTG should be with his NXT girlfriend Tamina. Unless she was at a house show or something Monday (which would be weird).
Scott Stanford's ridiculous in a good way.
I like the analysis of how JTG's shoes might affect things. Makes things seem more realistic.
Ha. Good little match on this oasis of wrestling (where things may or may not matter on the other shows).
For those wondering about all the recaps, WWE assumes that if someone missed Raw, they might watch ont of the later shows to see what happened. Pretty frustrating for the rest of us. I think I should just start fast-forwarding out of habit, regardless of how good the segment was. It'd help a bit in keeping me on schedule.
I'm going back to that alternate universe idea with Scott Stanford calling Raw or Smackdown.
Epico, Primo, Hunico, and Rosa need a faction name if they're sticking together for a while.
Yeah, that feels thrown together, but it could work.
Kofi's nicely over. His star's rising.
Good stuff so far. Basic storytelling, but the fans are behind it.
Oh, one thing I left out of my live thoughts: lots of Punk (and Cena) merchandise, and they got good reactions when they were on the screen. A couple of "We Want Ryder" chants, too. Pretty good for 3 people half the world away.
For those keeping score, Epico and Primo are listed on WWE.com as Raw stars, despite the former debuting on Smackdown with Hunico. Rosa Mendes is on Smackdown. They're just as confused as we are.
"Primo sucks" chant. A bit surprising given how little he's been featured this year.
A tentative thumbs up for this new tandem.
Good reactions for Kofi. Keep an eye on this guy.
Primo just beat Kofi clean!? One of these guys has been pushed a lot harder than the other lately, so that's got to be kind of an upset.
Impact Wrestling time? Impact Wrestling time.
I like Sting's look. He's really good in his current role. Really got some energy.
It's weird seeing a wrestler's name without a Twitter handle underneath these days.
Roode's pretty smooth.
I like the egotistical jerk turn for Roode. Some of the best stuff of his career bar none.
Styles looks much better with that look than with the hoodies.
Younger, fresher and/or rejuvenated performers in this segment. Exactly what I like to see.
No moral ambiguity with Roode here. Straight-up jackass heel. Good.
Hmmm... so are fans supposed to pull for Styles or Hardy?
Kind of an odd angle, since Angelina and Winter are heels as well. But it definitely builds heat on Karen/Gail/Madison.
Jarrett's a pure prick as well. It's all about building heat on the heels and sympathy for the babyfaces, and TNA's getting that lately.
Not really sure why Hardy needed to take his shirt off, but the segment was good.
Nice continuity with Immortal not having an office anymore.
Selling Garett and Abyss as credible competitors and people to watch. Thumbs up from me. They can do all the camera shenanigans they want if they keep that kind of thing up.
Tara having issues with Kim makes sense given the years they've had together. I'm liking this, and I would without the bikinis.
ODB being used and favored as someone Karen signed not too far back. Continuity!!!
Wrestlers getting entrances and the announcers focusing on the feuds... is this Bizarro World TNA!?
Devon's slimmed down. Hats off to him.
Whoever's directing the commentators needs to be hired by WWE. A minimum of BS from them in this match.
Also, feuds other than the top however many names getting TV time. Praise-worthy show so far. Much better than the Thanksgiving debacle.
Heck, Devon and Dinero earned that one. Looking forward to them getting more TV time.
Hahaha, great Aries sign.
Solid Aries promo as well. Very dislikeable, as heels should be!
Probably the two best workers in the division showing what to do on the mic. Should be a good feud, provided it doesn't become a crazy excuse to do spots.
Current heel vs. classic heel. Interesting.
At least there's a reason for the roving cameraman in this segment.
Gunner beats up innocent bystanders in a gym. It doesn't get much more heelish than that. Not to mention that he's portrayed as much more competent than the "average gym rat".
Jarrett has good points. Sting should have countered that he's all about forgiveness for the past and so on. If they do end up feuding, there'll at least be a better reason than "they fought in WCW".
How long does it take to wash 6 cars!?
Hahaha, oh wow. Steiner and Bully Ray getting Abyss a girlfriend could be pretty entertaining. Minus a couple of points for ignoring the cameraman, but that was pretty hilarious.
After Mickie's performance in the gauntlet match, ODB's going to have to bring anything she can find to the table if she wants the title shot.
I had pleasantly temporarily forgotten that Hogan was with the company. At least he's theoretically just there for publicity.
Good little match-up.
I like that they're pushing what's coming up later in the night.
Another good "feel sympathy for the babyface and hatred for the heel" segment. Set up well for next week.
Steiner's freaks arrive on short notice.
I like the package on Roode. Even his family and friends are disappointed in how big of a jerk he's become.
And Roode doesn't even care what THEY think of him.
This'll be pretty interesting as far as how they're viewing the veterans.
This probably wasn't Robbie E's first choice for a gimmick, but he's making the most of it.
RVD held ECW's TV Title for a LONG time, only dropping it when injured.
Good story so far.
And then they ruin it with Eric Young. Why is this guy still on my TV?
HA! RVD didn't get the title after all. This was good for Daniels, RVD, and E for retaining the title.
Well, that was interesting...
Are they still on the same car!? Karen's going to be mad.
That was kind of a trainwreck segment, but I guess it's what those people who wanted them in the lingerie match are into.
It's hilarious to hear products plugged in the ring announcements in JB's announcer voice.
Smart by Roode, and smart by his opponents for not falling for it.
A handicap match would make more sense as punishment. Don't bring up questions there aren't answers for!
Oh, Roode, you cad.
I love Roode heeling his opponents and the crowd.
Styles and Roode doing what they do best. Final Resolution should be pretty awesome.
Clever spots here.
Jarrett's a better heel than he sometimes gets credit for. I'm ok with how that turned out.
And THAT'S selling a PPV match. Great stipulation (even if the Karen/Sting stuff's a little silly).
All in all, very good edition of Impact Wrestling. This shows how good they can be if they have their ducks in a row.
That's all for Thursday's wrestling. I'll be back Monday for Raw, and a news post will be up very shortly. Thanks for reading!
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