The Big Takeaway: Zack Ryder returned to Superstars to put on a good 8-minute match with Stardust. Fandango is back, albeit at the bottom of the barrel. No Xavier Woods on commentary this week.
Fandango beat Heath Slater (4:35)
Fandango looks like he’s dropped a few pounds, he comes out looking very lean and lithe. Heath Slater, meanwhile, is sporting some serious beard growth. No Xavier Woods this week, more’s the pity. Byron Saxton takes his place, more’s the pity. They lock up and a clothesline by Fandango knocks Slater off balance but he blocks Fandango and thrusts him into the turnbuckle. He puts on a headlock, they run the ropes and Fandango goes down by the shoulder barge of Slater.
They chain wrestle until Slater runs into a drop kick. There’s no hard cam until the second match so watching feels a little chaotic this week. Slater is clotheslined over the top rope and Fandango follows up with a springboard over the top rope onto Slater. They roll back in and Fandango Flair chops Slater in the corner. Slater cuts him off with a high knee and then lands him with elbows on the mat. After a kick out at two, Slater puts on a rear chin lock. Fandango gets out but is put back to the mat by Slater who uses a heel kick. Slater goes back to the chin lock.
Fandango gets the heat with an atomic drop followed by a back drop, chops, punches, a European uppercut, forearms and then side Russian leg sweep. This was all very Bret Hart, actually. Fandango goes up top but gets punched by Slater. Slater goes for the superplex but it is blocked and Fandango hits the Last Dance for the win.
Stardust beat Zack Ryder (8:00)
Stardust comes out with The Ascension, who are in full ring gear. There are immediate “Cody” chants. Zack Ryder gets a tepid reaction but looks in great shape – actually, when doesn’t he? A cartwheel from Stardust starts things off as they then exchange arm rings. Ryder gets the early going here, though; he hip tosses Stardust and then gets his legs up in the corner to block the charge and then uses a cross body quickly into a cover for two. Ryder then immediately tries a victory roll also for two. Stardust cuts him off with some knees to the gut and Ryder goes down. Ryder hits a facebuster out of nowhere and so Stardust bails as we head to a break.
Ryder hits a beautifully timed drop kick when we return. Stardust goes outside on to the apron and when Ryder follows gets slammed right onto the apron. Ryder takes the bump on his knees otherwise it would he seriously sucked. The ref counts Ryder to four before Stardust goes outside to grab him to throw him back in, and then stomps on him. Something went wrong somewhere here as Stardust stopped short and just postured to the crowd. I can only presume that Ryder wanted a few more seconds to recover from the apron bump.
Stardust puts on an abdominal stretch by Stardust and then uses the post to stretch Ryder. After more knees to the gut, Ryder smacks Stardust and both men go down. Ryder gets some hope with elbows, a clothesline, but then a second rope missile drop kick is side-stepped by Stardust who then goes for a suplex. Stardust reverses it into a neckbreaker. We get a near fall and then Stardust hits Ryder with a Rock Bottom for two. The finish sees Ryder drop toehold Stardust into the turnbuckle and follow it up with the Broski boot but Stardust crotches Ryder and so is able to put on the Queens Cross Bow for the win. This was a good match.