R-Truth def. Heath Slater by pinfall
Full entrance for R-Trizzle, who thankfully remembers that he is in fact in Washington D.C. tonight. Eden can be seen laughing in the background at 1993’s catchphrase-du-jour, “Whoomp, there it is!” People over there, what’s up, indeed.
Rich Brennan informs me that his opponent, Heath Slater, finished #8 in the Slammy voting for Superstar of the Year. Huh.
Brennan and Byron Saxton hilariously talk about the prospect of The Big Show winning this year’s Royal Rumble, as Truth gets the shine. Our forgetful hero taunts Slater with what Byron calls the “jiggy jiggy” off a failed Irish whip, before dodging Heath and sending him crashing to the outside leading into commercials.
Slater the works the left knee forever when we get back, before we get a quick Truth comeback and a Lie Detector out of nowhere for the pinfall victory. This went over nine minutes (not including the commercials) and I felt every minute of it.
Titus O’Neil def. Adam Rose by pinfall
Adam’s TitanTron reminds me that they’ve mercifully dropped the Rosebush segments on RAW. And by the look of his morose, disinterested demeanour, he ain’t too pleased about it either.
Announcers mention that Titus and Darren have been dipping their respective toes in the singles competition waters of late. At least Titus, a Main Event fixture, has had those exploits televised. Young was reduced to defeating Curtis Axel in a dark match at this particular taping.
Trademark overhand chop in the corner from Mr. O’Neil, followed by the ol’ rib-breaker toss that he’s equally fond of – which I’m reliably informed is called the Pay Check.
Short match here that went just over four minutes. Quick heat segment from Rose after he used a rope break to his advantage, only to get cocky and allow Titus to come back at him with impressive fire.
Big boot, The Meltzer Bark, a stinger splash and a Clash of the Titus wraps it up for the big man. He millions-of-dollarses with a frankly quite befuddled and bespectacled old man afterwards to celebrate.
– Recap of the Vince angle from RAW, entitled “Arrested Developments” by the Main Event producer, in what may or may not be a nod at the greatest sitcom of all time (season four notwithstanding).
Jack Swagger def. Stardust by submission
Swagger dominates leading into an early commercial break. He then takes an impressive bump to the outside when we return, slamming off the ring steps after a failed corner charge.
Work rate disproportionate to a show of Main Event’s standing continues, as Stardust hits a massive superplex off the top rope to highlight the heat portion of the match.
Swagger then starts his comeback by foiling a subsequent Figure Four attempt, before hitting a running clothesline on the outside to get the crowd going.
Back in and Stardust dodges the Swagger Bomb, before hitting a Side Effect for two. A nice series of reversals follows, as Swagger catches ‘Dust off a Disaster Kick attempt, only to find himself sunset flipped. Swagger then avoids the pinfall by countering into the Patriot Lock, which Stardust escapes.
Finishing sequence sees Stardust land on his feet off a Swagger back suplex attempt. He immediately lines up the Queen’s Crossbow, only for Swagger to roll him into another Patriot Lock, which this time gets the tap. Really good effort from these two.
Final Thoughts
A second featured contest in as many weeks for Swagger and he again turns in a surprisingly good bout by C-show standards. Watch that and ditch the rest.