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So, this might be the last time I have get to listen to Matt Striker's dazzling commentary replete with random pop culture asides?
R-Truth defeats Darren Young
in approximately seven and a half minutes via pinfall
• When did Truth stop rapping his own theme music? Now that he's a fan favorite again, it seems odd for him to not spit those dope rhymes. He does get the crowd (or the piped in crowd sound that WWE loves for its non-live broadcasts) to call & respond "What's Up?" with him four or five or nine thousand times.
• Striker and Tony Dawson talk about Darren's hair a lot and he spends a good chunk of time picking it out before the bell, so I do laugh when, on the first break, R musses it up for him. That's just one small part of our opening hijinks; there's also a lot of dancing in between strikes by the babyface.
• After a break, one of Truth's punches sends DY to the outside. Titus O'Neil feints at his partner's opponent, giving Young an opening to lay little Jimmy's best pal out with a back drop on he apron. While both men recover, Titus gonna Titus...
• Our first pin attempt comes off a sweet Northern Lights suplex with a bridging pin attempt by Young. That and a stomp to the lower, lower mid-section both earn whistles and "What's Up, R-Truth?" taunts from O'Neil.
• Darren takes too long showboating and stalking the face, and gets caught with a sit-out gourdbuster for a two count. Titus jumps up to distract the referee, but Truth runs him off. That allows Young to get him up into fireman's carry position (when people already make fun of you for looking like John Cena, maybe your finisher should have a different set-up than his?), but he slips out and hits the Lie Detector for the win.
Match Footage below via WWE.com's Official YouTube Channel:
Our first two recaps are of Mark Henry's "retirement" and the injury stoppage of Daniel Bryan - Randy Orton's no disqualification match. There's no mention of any of the controversy surrounding ending the match in this version of the video.
Layla & Natalya defeat The Funkadactyls (Cameron & Naomi)
in approximately four and a half minutes via pinfall when Layla pins Cameron
• The lead-in to this match was a commercial for Total Divas on E! I guess they figure that's reason enough to throw four babyfaces in a match together?
• Naomi and Layla start us off, and the former NBA cheerleaders actually give us some decent chain wrestling. Kneeling takeovers, reversals, armbars, head scissors, a couple of backslide pin attempts...all that and beauty, too!
• Layla mocks Naomi with a little funky dancing and a leaping butt-butt, so maybe they're the bad girls? The 'dactyl does her version and it knocks Ms. El down and allows for a tag to Cameron. The dancing duo actually perform a tandem maneuver where 'omi decks Layla with a somersaulting clothesline and then Cam hit a 180° senton.
• Once Natty gets in, she works over Cameron on the ground and mocks her by asking "so you want to be in the ring with me?" So, I'm definitely thinking the veterans are the heels here.
• After getting back to her feet, Alicia Fox's biggest fan slaps the Anvil's daughter and bumps and grinds with the air. Nat gets up and smacks Cameron, leading to a cat fight brawl that the ref breaks up. He demands that they shake hands, because, most of his experience is as an elementary school recess monitor, I guess. They do, and when Natalya goes to tag in her partner, the funk-ette attacks her from behind.
• Are Cameron and Naomi doing a heel turn that only happens on Superstars?
• A surprisingly okay match comes to an abrupt finish when the Brit sort-of connects with a head kick and covers for the win. There seems to be some tension between the two teams and the Funkadactyls themselves as the ring is cleared.
Match Footage below via WWE.com's Official YouTube Channel:
Cool, commentary free video of CM Punk's return at Payback and his night on Raw ends the show.
That...actually wasn't too bad. Both matches kept me entertained. I'll grade it a C. If you've got fifteen minutes to kill and want to see decent matches that don't matter one iota in the grand scheme of things...here you go.
Everybody's DVRs set for Total Divas? Feel free to talk about that, or whatever this show or post brings to mind, below.