Only two matches this week, but they make up for it by virtue of one match being a real cracker.
Goldust & Kofi Kingston vs Luke Harper & Erick Rowan
This is during the “Cody Rhodes tries to find Goldust a
better partner” angle that ultimately led to Stardust. This is a really cool
little match however. Goldust and Kingston work this as a real cat-and-mouse
match to start, doing their best to try and avoid their larger opponents and
only approaching them on their own terms. Things like holding the ropes to halt
an Irish whip and working in opening from their opponent’s confusion. Goldust
hits a lovely bulldog on Harper. The tactics actually work perfectly against
someone like Rowan, who is a very meat-and-potatoes, no-nonsense wrestler who
can be outsmarted by quicker opponents. The heels do take over on Goldust for a
fun spell of heat, and Kofi is really good on the hot-tag, hitting a huge dive
onto Harper. Really liked the end too, as Kofi tries Trouble in Paradise on
Harper, but gets caught with a rolling clothesline in mid-air to give the heels
the win. Ending made the face team look good too, as one seconds difference
would have seen Kofi nail his knockout blow first, putting this THAT close to
winning.
Bad News Barrett vs Rob Van Dam
This is for Barrett’s IC title, and is played up as a big
deal. Match itself isn’t anything special though. Van Dam really shows his age
here, despite a nice cannonball from the apron, as his kicks all look
super-light and he’s definitely moving at 2/3 speed. Barrett isn’t a guy who’s
going to carry Van Dam to anything better, but at least his offence was better.
His second rope elbow was terrible, basically landing feet-first then falling
onto RVD, but his strikes looked nice and I dug him meeting a diving kick with
a big clothesline. Barrett looks to be about to hit the bullhammer for a clean
win, but Cesaro interferes and hits both men, drawing the DQ. The terrible
ending doesn’t help an already average bout.
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