Why hello there, and welcome to a sensational edition of your Superstars Redux. If you can’t tell by that perky intro, I’m in a pleasant mood today. Part of that has to do with WrestleMania Week being a mere few days upon us, and the other part is because we got an exceptional match tonight on Superstars. It was a case of odd pairings, no doubt about it, as former rivals, Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres, teamed up to take on — again, former rivals — Tamina Snuka and Natalya. Which odd couple will come out on top? Let’s scroll down and have a gander…
SHEEEEEEEEEEE Looks Good To Me graces my ears, but unfortunately, the crowd doesn’t seem to agree as they present Eve with a chorus of boos as she makes her way out to the ring for this tag team bout. Following her grand entrance comes the woman she will also team up with at WrestleMania, Divas Champion, Beth Phoenix! Phoenix doesn’t get to do her trademark flip into the ring though, for she is taken off guard by “TA-MI-NA” Snuka! Snuka steps down the oh my, her tag team partner, Natalya steps out. Divas of Doom colliding? On Superstars?! Am I in some sort of odd fantasy land?
The two Divas pose for the fans, as Nattie and Beth decide to start the match out. A large “hoeski” chant erupts, while the radiant opponents guide the crowd along with it. Beth tries to let Natalya out of her ring, almost reluctantly. Natalya plays along and pretends to exit, but as the Glamazon turns her back, Nattie scores with a roll up! Beth is in shock! Natalya with a headlock, charged off the ropes into a beautiful crucifix roll up. Beth immediately breaks the pin attempt, but that doesn’t stop Natalya from her amazing kip up. GOD, can we please get a singles match between these two?
Beth’s jaw drops, as Natalya plays along and sprints about the ring. She applies a waist lock until Phoenix slams her out of the ring and tags in Eve. Torres climbs down the ring steps, before kicking Nattie in the back and tossing her back in the ring. Torres then attempts a pin to no avail, as she sends Natalya into the corner and continues the pain with a Stratusfying choke hold. Neidhart tries to make the tag, but Eve goes for a pin. Natalya breaks out instantly, which then provokes Eve to lock in a fancy double arm choke submission. Natalya lets out an earth shattering scream as Tamina cheers her partner on. Finally, Nattie is able to get out as she NAILS Eve with a discus clothesline and tags in Tamina!
Snuka hops in the ring and scores with a huge clothesline. A chop soon follows, before dropping Beth with a Samoan Drop. Tamina then ducks a fist attempt, runs off the ropes and hits an awesome running double chop to the head. She waits for Eve to get up before proceeding to drop her with a body slam. The crowd gets behind her as she ascends to the top rope! Beth tries to intervene, but Snuka kicks her off to the outside. This was just enough for Eve to recover though, as she tosses Tamina to the canvas and climbs to the top rope herself. From there, she leaps off and scores with the Moonsault for the victory! The two vicious Divas taunt their victory, as I continue to long for the day we see Beth and Natalya square off.
Thoughts: This match honestly sets itself apart from the one last week for me. I know before I said that I couldn’t really get into Superstars matches because they just happen to happen with no rhyme or reason, but there was something different. I think honestly, I loved that Beth and Natalya were able to give us some story during their part with Beth not wanting to face her (former?) partner. Those are the things Superstars matches lack that I’ve been wanting more of so tonight was a welcome change of pace.
I also think because this is a match we’ve never seen before and the pairings were so unique, I was able to really invest in it more than I am when we see something that’s already happened multiple times. I didn’t know what to expect with the ring work. All four have proven themselves to be anywhere from capable to amazing in terms of putting on matches, and it really showed tonight.
The prospect of seeing Beth and Natalya finally face off, even if only for a few moments, was something that I want to see more of for sure. I kind of like how they at least showed Beth not wanting to fight against Nattie, rather ordering Tamina to enter instead. Having Natalya be the one that was all about wanting to square off really makes me think that after the Mania stuff is done, we could finally see a feud between the two. They normally always go the route of an Extreme Rules style match for the following pay per view (albeit more catered for Divas) and I could think of two better candidates to compete in this year’s event.
Overall tonight’s match was refreshing, solid, and had a bit of story included. I approve!
