(Added, # 21) Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 2/5/2010
Well, these guys have really great chemistry together, as evidenced by the quality of their bouts at Night of Champions and particularly SummerSlam last year. This was Elimination Chamber qualifying match, and it didn't disappoint. It was short and fun. Rey came in with injured ribs (not taped, but he was selling like they were sore already)-- I don't remember exactly what happened, but I'm sure Batista hit multiple Batista bombs, and Taker hit that monstrous Last Ride in their Rumble match. So Ziggler works on that, and Rey sells really well, and his facial expressions are choice. This was the first of a stack of matches I watched, so I don't remember everything, but I do know Ziggler hit a couple awesome cutoffs during Rey comebacks. At one point, he catches Rey coming off the top ropes with a beautiful dropkick. Later, he catches a springboarding Rey with an awesome powerslam. Really great spot. Finish was out-of-nowhere and awesome and looked like a really convincing flash pin, which I dug.
(Added, #16) Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters - Superstars 5/13/2010
Two really awesome guys, who at the time weren't getting the treatment they deserved. Dolph is getting his push, but Masters is still way down on the card. Oh well, this was awesome. They billed this as a sleeper vs. Masterlock deal, but it was actually more about both guys taking awesome bumps. Dolph gets massive elevation and drops right on his face. Later, Masters dumps Dolph to the outside, and then Dolph jumps and kicks Masters in the face (really cool spot), and Masters just launches himself flat-backed to the floor. Fucking bonkers bump. Later, Masters hits a catapult, and Dolph goes face-first into the turnbuckle, and it looks nasty. Masters hits a better catapult than anyone.
But the match isn't just bumps. Masters does little things really well, and his facial expressions totally rock. He takes a little thing like a kick to the chest and makes it fun to watch, and he's really fun to watch in a hold, especially for a guy his size. His facial expressions and the way he tries to get out are legit great. Finishing stretch was good, teasing both guys' holds only to end with a Zig-Zag, which I don't think is a great finisher, but Masters makes it look better than anyone else has.
(Added, #18) Chris Masters vs. Luke Gallows - Superstars 6/24/2010
I think I'd take the Ziggler match as the best match of Masters's impressive 2010 run, but this was darn close. These are possibly the two most under-utilized/under-appreciated guys on the roster. They're both fantastic workers: both have great facial expressions and bump incredibly well for guys their size, and both have simple but credible offense. They trade blows early, and Gallows throws some great punches. Masters hits a big suplex and Gallows rolls out. Maybe not a super-significant spot, but it comes back into play later. Gallows works the back: Masters takes sort of a mini-version of the flat-backed bump he took in the Ziggler match, and then Gallows throws him back-first into the barricade, which looked really good. All of Gallows's offense looked really good, and all of his cutoffs worked well, too. Masters's selling is awesome, too. He goes for a scoop slam at one point but can't get Gallows up, which I thought was cool because we saw Masters hit that suplex early on. Great way of showing the effectiveness of Gallows's offense. Finishing stretch was great, too. Gallows's finisher starts with sort of a reverse full nelson, so it was cool to see them trade holds trying to get their finishers in. Striker also makes a good point about how the damaged back hinders Masters's ability to lock in the Masterlock, which makes his great selling even more important. Distraction by Serena was a great way to set up the Gallows Pole.
(Added, #32) Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo - Superstars 5/27/2010
This was really fun. Heel Primo has been surprisingly good. He gets some nice shtick moments in, bowing to Yoshi and mocking him. But yeah, there's not much to say about it other than that I thought it was a really good 5-minute sprint that allowed both guys to showcase what they can do.
(Added, #13) Evan Bourne vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 5/27/2010
I LOVE this match. I'm absolutely crazy about Bourne, and he's really impressive here. Ryder's offense isn't great, but Bourne makes everything look good and impactful here. It's really remarkable the way he can take an average-looking blow and turn it into something special just by launching himself in the ground. And when someone has something that generally looks pretty good-- like Ryder's face wash-- Bourne really puts it over the top, doing something like crumpling through the ropes to the outside. Awesome. Everything here looks so good, from a really cool crucifix counter by Bourne out of some hold, which Ryder the rolled through, keeping Bourne on his shoulders to throw him for an awesome hotshot spot, to an awesomely-timed spin kick counter by Bourne on Ryder coming off the top rope. Also, kudos to Ryder for taking Bourne's kicks really well early in the match. Some guys don't bother to sell his kicks, which is really stinky because he has good-looking stuff that can look credible against bigger guys if they're willing to cooperate (Sheamus is really great with Bourne, btw). Finishing stretch was awesome, too, especially on the live viewing, as I remember really buying into everything because they were butting up so close to the end of the hour.
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