The question isn’t will Titus O’Neil wrestle on Superstars, the question is who will Titus O’Neil wrestle on Superstars. And when asked on Twitter mid week who they thought Titus would face this week, our savvy followers responded in 100% agreement that it would be a rematch with Big E (not Langston). I don’t know what that says about predictable WWE booking, but i’m not complaining that our followers were right, because the first match was two big hosses pounding the hell out of each other, so I had high hopes for part two.
Paige vs Cameron – Unless I missed it, it was never made clear whether this was a title match. Philips & Saxton did talk about Cameron being hungry for a title shot, so i’m going to assume this was one of the endless string of WWE Proving Ground matches. People get on ROH’s case for that concept, but WWE is by far the worldwide leader in annoying non-title matches. I mean, why not just call these things title bouts, to at least add a modicum of importance to these matches? In this case, it would also make the babyface champion look good, because you could play up the “she takes on all comers” angle. Cameron worked heel here, while Naomi made disapproving faces. This was actually the best Cameron has looked ever, and there seems to be some dissension with the Funkadactyl girls (are they still “Funkadactyls”?). Cameron controlled the whole way until a missed cross body block, which led to Paige locking on her finish for the tap. Once again, as has become the trend, even here with the low ranked Cameron who hasn’t been on TV in forever, Paige’s opponent took 90% of the match. I don’t get it. If I were a WWE fan who has never seen a minute of NXT (which is probably a decent chunk of viewers), I would have no idea why Paige is any sort of big deal. She’s been presented as a total banana peel undeserving champion who lucks into wins. *
I watch Batista quit for the fifth time this week, and Smackdown hasn’t aired yet.
Stephanie McMahon’s RAW segment airs where she goes over the (shoot) stips of Money in the Bank, which is Daniel Bryan will either defend vs Kane in a stretcher match (yawn), or if he can’t “compete” (WWE buzzword), the title will be on the line in a MITB ladder match.
Next we get Cena vs THE DEMON Kane from RAW joined in progress. I have a theory. When it comes to Kane and The Big Show, only one of these men is allowed to be presented as an unstoppable killer at a time. The other must do wacky comedy. Remember when Big Show was last an unstoppable force? Kane was up to wacky hi-jinx with Daniel Bryan in Team Hell No. Now it’s Kane’s turn, as THE DEMON, while The Big Show is being goofy & smiling and throwing down dunks on Damian Sandow.
Saxton caught up with Superstars MVP Titus O’Neil in the dressing room area (WWE buzzword). Titus was great here, decked out in his paisley shirt, with the following chilling promo:
“When people see me, they say woooo weeee, that man good! When people see Big E, they say that man lucky. Tonight, Big E’s luck runs out.”
HYPED.
2. Titus O’Neil vs Big E (not Langston) – Big hoss lock up. Titus with an overhand chop in the corner on the not so clean break. Big E back with some chops of his own. This rules already. Titus is clobbering this man with stiff forearms to the back. Big E counters with big hoss backbreakers. Yes, plural. Phillips notes that a win here could put the winner “in the conversation” for an IC title shot. That’s a nice touch, and speaks to the point I talked about earlier of making these matches seem important. The match spills to the outside, so you know what that means. Commercial break. When we come back, they are still clobbering. O’Neil uses the ABDOMINAL SRETCH, and then a full over the shoulder backbreaker. Keep in mind that Big E is a  very large man. Saxton mentions that “many people believe Titus is a future WWE Champion”. Fuck yeah. Big E eats two corner splashes but comes back with a back body drop. Two big lariats from Big E and a beautiful belly-to-belly. A big splash, and the straps are down. This is how it ended last week, but Titus escapes the Big Ending this time and hits a big boot. C’MON TITUS. Another big boot. TWO COUNT. Titus slaps him around in the corner and talks some shit. This is awesome. Titus runs to the opposite corner, but Big E follows him in with a spear. Big Ending, and that’s that. “This rivalry is far from over”, says Phillips. Good, because these matches are pretty great. ***
They show some MITB highlights, featuring a bunch of dudes no longer with the company (Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Edge).
And of course, this week we wrap up with Seth Rollins backstabbing The Shield. Usually I turn the show off at this point, but I wanted to watch Triple H get sub zero heat again for his “plan B” promo before Rollins landed the chair shot heard ’round the world.
Titus/Big E III next week?
