Rapid Reaction: WWE Superstars on WWE.com (April 21, 2011)

As a fan of the underutilized stars in WWE, I have always been a bit partial to the WWE Superstars program. Now on WWE.com, I figured I would give my take on the weekly show. In "Rapid Reaction," I give my on-going reaction to events and matches as they happen. I am sorry to disappoint those looking for a detailed, blow-by-blow recap of the show. That is better left to a writer more apt for that type of coverage. If you enjoy this and want to see it continued, drop a comment in the section below and let me know. If not, also let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback as this is most definitely an experimental article.

WWE Superstars - April 21, 2011

—Anyone else find it funny that John Cena, Triple H, the Undertaker and Randy Orton are all featured in the opening, yet none of those men are likely to ever appear on the Superstars show?

—Is it me or is Adelitas Way’s "Invincible" a much better theme for a wrestling show than Nickelback’s "Burn it to the Ground"?

—Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase is the night’s main event.

MATCH No. 1 - JTG vs. Tyler Reks

—Jack Korpela and Matt Striker on commentary.

—I am so happy Striker did not speak in the English accent he teased during Reks’ entrance.

—Reks enters to tremendous (canned) heel heat.

—It is still amazing how JTG manages to get the reaction he gets from the fans considering his place on the card.

—Reks tries to play some mind games with JTG at the beginning, but the former Cryme Tyme member calls his bluff and catches his bigger opponent off guard.

—Flurry of offense leads to a headlock takeover. Reks is frustrated early.

—JTG should NEVER try to out-wrestle anyone...ever.

—Two go-behinds by JTG three minutes into the match.

—Story of the early part of this match sees JTG consistently frustrating the larger Reks.

—ANOTHER go-behind.

—Jack Korpela doing a good job of getting Reks’ frustration with JTG over, even picking up on Reks’ trash-talking of his much smaller opponent, something he rarely resorts to. Good pick-up by a rookie commentator who obviously pays attention to the product.

—Reks takes over control of the match, using his decided power advantage to work over the smaller frame of his opponent.

—As good as Korpela has been thus far in the match, Striker seems more worried with reciting his WWE history and exchanging witty banter than paying attention to the match.

—We return from a short break to find Reks pounding away in the corner.

—Tyler Reks with solid in-ring psychology, working over the upper torso of JTG, which works, considering his finisher is the impressive Burning Hammer.

—JTG with his typical comeback. Anyone who has ever seen a JTG match knows what I’m talking about.

—Judging from crowd reaction, not one person expects a JTG victory.

—Reks breaks out of a backslide attempt by sending JTG sternum-first into the top turnbuckle and executes the Burning Hammer for the win.

Rapid Reaction: A very underwhelming match from Reks and JTG.

Tyler had been on a bit of a roll as far as strong performances on Superstars go, but took a major step back this week against what appeared to be a very unmotivated JTG. For a man who has been with the company for nearly five years, minus a few months in 2007 when Cryme Tyme was released, JTG just does not appear to have improved at all.I gather he will be on the chopping block come the end of the month, "Spring Cleaning" releases.

I do want to applaud Jack Korpela on a very fine announcing job. While Striker seemed more interested with amusing himself, Korpela did a very admirable job on keeping the focus on the superstars.

Edge Retirement Recap

—The video package set to 3 Doors Down’s "When You’re Young" pays tribute to the career of the "Rated R Superstar."

—It is not said enough just how spectacular a job the production team does in putting together these packages. They could take a meaningless match, much like the Tyler Reks-JTG affair that started the show, and make it seem like the greatest of all time just based on their editing skills. The video production team is as valuable an asset to the company, if not more so, than any other employee.

—I have seen the video three times now and it still packs an emotional punch to anyone who enjoyed Edge’s career from his first appearance up until the retirement speech.

MATCH No. 2 - Natalya vs. Maryse

—I said it before and I will say it again: Maryse is the most beautiful woman to step into a wrestling ring since Miss Elizabeth. Just my opinion.

—Nice heel reaction for Maryse. Surprising, given her lack of television time as of late.

—I have a feeling that, years from now when I re-watch Raw and Smackdown episodes from 2011, I will be wondering just exactly what Paper Jamz were.

—Maryse slapping Natalya, then quickly attempting to run in fear of her angry opponent is exactly what an arrogant, cocky heel should do.

—Maryse is extremely vocal in her matches and it adds an extra dimension to her matches that just is not there with other Divas.

—Natalya’s in-ring work is second, maybe, only to Beth Phoenix.

—Maryse’s ability to go from cowardly heel, to vicious vixen, to arrogant snob is spectacular.

—Camel clutch to Natalya, but the only third-generation Diva breaks free by dropping her weight down on Maryse.

—Discuss clothesline gets two.

—Running powerslam reminiscent of the British Bulldog.

—Maryse backs herself into the corner. Natalya goes after her but the referee pulls her away, warning her to move the action out of the corner. Distracted, Natalya eats a hard slap from Maryse, who tosses the Calgary native face-first into the middle turnbuckle.

—Maryse with the French Kiss DDT for the win.

Rapid Reaction: A decent Divas match, running about six minutes. There is evidence of a much stronger match if Natalya and Maryse had more experience working together and slightly more time to craft it properly. A much better match than the Reks-JTG contest that was awarded nearly double the time given to to the Divas. On a side note, Maryse’s act is five times as entertaining as Lay-Cool’s. Just saying.

D-X DVD Spot

—Do we really need another D-X DVD? Especially one that will feature Hornswoggle heavily?

Raw Rebound

—The events featuring R-Truth and John Morrison from Monday night are covered.

—Is it just me or did the writers do more in one night to get R-Truth over than they have the entire three years he had been wasting away until that point?

—There is still something about John Morrison that does not scream "superstar" like it should. Not sure what that thing is, though.

—Anyone that saw R-Truth’s early run in TNA, as Ron "The Truth" Killings, knows Truth can portray a very entertaining heel.

—Some of the post-match stuff on Monday may have been a tad bit over-the-top, but I believe it worked. We will know for certain this coming Monday, but my initial reaction is that Truth will enjoy, at the very least, a momentary career resurgence.

Extreme Rules Preview

—The card for Extreme Rules looks very strong, minus the Lawler-Ross-Cole-Swagger debacle. Hopefully that show can make up for the very disappointing WrestleMania offering.

MATCH No. 3 - Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase

—Very underwhelming reaction for Mark Henry, who usually (and sometimes questionably) is incredibly over with the "WWE Universe" during his time on Raw. There is obviously some "canned heat" added in post-production.

—More canned heat for DiBiase’s entrance. Not sure why the crowd seems so dead.

—Anyone from England that was at the Raw and Smackdown tapings that can contradict my accusations of canned heat? Feel free to chime in down in the comments section.

—Henry overpowers early, as one would expect.

—Go-behind into a headlock by DiBiase, who tries to out-wrestle Henry early. BIG shoulder block puts Ted on his back.

—DiBiase with some fire and some trash-talk. Slap to the face proves to anger Henry and he begins his assault on his opponent with a massive clothesline.

—Announcers putting over the dissolving of DiBiase and Maryse’s relationship as the reason for Ted, perhaps, not being completely into the match.

—Missed clothesline sends DiBiase over the top and to the arena floor as we head to break.

—Very "punchy" and "kicky" match. Little in the way of actual wrestling, mainly due to the size difference between the two.

—DiBiase turns his attention to working over the left leg of Henry.

—Major lapse of in-ring psychology as DiBiase goes from working the left leg to applying a headlock.

—Henry with the comeback, but the damage done to the knee slows him down.

—World’s Strongest Slam out of nowhere for the win.

Rapid Reaction: There is just no excuse for this bad match. Henry seemed disinterested and Ted DiBiase has fallen so far down the ranks on Raw that he seems as though he has lost any confidence he had in himself and his performance, which is disappointing considering he was at one time considered a future world champion.

FINAL Reaction: Perhaps it is because of the grueling overseas tour, but this week’s show was just bad. JTG and Tyler Reks had the most time of any match on the show and did little with it. Maryse and Natalya had the best match of the night but at what point do you question the quality of a match when everything around it is garbage? DiBiase and Henry sleepwalked their way through the main event and it is very disappointing to see two men who were heavily involved on Raw just a year ago be so disregarded now. Skip this week’s show and catch up on any missed episodes from the last month instead.