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Arcademan:
WWE Superstars Results: 3-31-11

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- CURT HAWKINS vs. TRENT BARRETA

Back-and-forth action to start the match. Hawkins tried to wear down Trent and take away his high-flying offensive attack, then Trent caught Hawkins with an enziguiri that sent Hawkins flying through the ropes to the floor. Trent followed with a high-impact flip dive that caught the announcers off guard in the middle of their WrestleMania conversation. Back in the ring, Trent scored a two count, then Hawkins resumed control of the match. And the announcers resumed their WrestleMania conversation. Out of nowhere, Trent caught Hawkins in the corner for a Tornado DDT, which Korpela called the Dudebuster DDT. Sounds like something off the Dairy Queen menu. Barreta with the cover for the win.

WINNER: Barreta at 5:21. Basic five-minute Superstars match. A professional, serviceable match that didn't get in the way of the announcers having a conversation about WrestleMania. (*1/4)

2 -- Divas champion EVE & NATALYA & GAIL KIM vs. BELLA TWINS & MELINA

As the match kicked off, the announcers plugged the sole Divas-related match at Mania featuring Team Snooki vs. Team Lay-Cool. Mathews asked Stanford if he'll be GTL'ing. Stanford self-deprecated that he doesn't go to the gym (strike one with McMahon), doesn't tan, and he doesn't do laundry (strike two with everyone). The heels isolated Gail Kim in this one. Eve eventually hot-tagged into the match and the action broke down. The Bellas did the Switcheroo during the melee while Melina and Natalya scrapped on the outside. Back in the ring, the fresher Bella dropped Eve with an X-Pac facebuster for the pin and the win. The heels stood tall to close this week's Superstars.

WINNERS: Team Bellas at 6:23. Interesting result. As for the match, it continued the women's division feuds from Raw and kept the Bellas on the chase for Eve's Divas Title, which could come into play post-Mania. (*1/4)

Next week...the series finale of WWE Superstars!

Arcademan:
TNA Impact! Results: 3-31-11

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Bax's complete report). Condensed here to mostly in-ring results.

1 - SCOTT STEINER (w/Crimson) vs. SHANNON MOORE (w/Jesse Neal)

Starting off, Moore used the ref as a shield before rolling outside. Neal told him to get in the ring before Crimson tossed him in. That led to some dominant offense from Steiner that was deliberate and powerful, culminating in a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Apparently, Orlando Jordan is wearing a peacock hat, and E.Y. and he have shirts that say “We love Tag Teaming.”

Back to actual wrestling, Moore turned the momentum by squirming out of a carry and kicking Steiner in the back of the knee. Moore kept him down with some swift kicks before mocking him with Steiner’s own signature pushups. After a dropkick, Moore them put Steiner’s chain mail on before missing a top rope moonsault, despite Neal’s wishes to the contrary. At 3:30, Steiner hit an overhead belly to belly suplex before downing Moore with the Steiner Liner. After doing his push-up routine to cheers, Steiner dragged Moore over to the top turnbuckle and set him on top. The crowd got on their feet as he signaled for the Frankensteiner and hit it for the victory.

WINNER: Steiner in 4:30. I don’t care how old Steiner is, that top rope Frankensteiner is still an awesome move. I enjoyed the pace of this match as both men got some offense in before the bigger Steiner used his power moves to claim the win. I just would have preferred their solid promos right before the match started instead of with a commercial interlude and a Bully Ray promo.

2 – MAX BUCK vs. JEREMY BUCK

Right off the bat, Max told Jeremy to lay down so he could get the win, but Jeremy said no. What followed was nice, fast, back-and-forth X Division-style wrestling that got a big ovation from the crowd. Jeremy followed this up with two quick arm drags followed by a top rope running corkscrew arm drag that was pretty impressive. Max rolled out of the ring in frustration before younger brother Jeremy sat on the second rope to let him into the ring. Jeremy extended his hand, but Max turned the handshake into a headlock.

There was more fast-paced action back-and-forth that had the crowd making lots of noise. This culminated with yet another innovative arm drag from Jeremy, this time using a springboard off of the second rope. The sequence culminated at 3:00 with Max sitting down in the corner, looking at his little brother in shock.

Max tried to charge him but Jeremy hit a quick huracanrana for a very close nearfall before Jeremy was expelled to ringside after Max hip-tossed him through the ropes. Mimicking Jeremy’s behavior from earlier, Max sat on the rope and offered his brother the chance to climb back into the ring but instead kicked his brother in the head before powerbombing him into the turnbuckle. Max finished off his little brother by flipping off the top rope into a Diamond Cutter for the victory.

WINNER: Max in 4:00. A pleasing X Division-style match, the kind that TNA used to feature with great regularity not so long ago. While I’m not a fan of the dissension between one of the promotion’s promising young tag teams, if they have a brotherly spat that results in the X Division getting some time every week then it might be worth the trade-off. This was a fun and action-packed four minutes.

3 – VELVET SKY vs. WINTER

The bell rang immediately back from break. Velvet charged Winter and rammed her into the corner. She was pulled off by Earl Hebner, but she went right back after Winter and cornered her again. This was quickly followed by a snap slam and a dropkick to Winter’s face. In full control, Velvet charged Winter in a corner for the third time, only to see Winter move and slam her hard to the mat.

Winter was now in full control and tossed Velvet across the ring by her hair before hitting a backbreaker for a two count. Winter’s rapidly making people forget about Daffney when it comes to being ‘Zombie Hot.’ Anyways, Velvet managed to reverse things and a bulldog on Winter at 3:00. As Velvet was standing Winter up, Angelina began slowly walking down the ramp with a completely blank look on her face. This allowed Winter to assault Velvet from behind and hit a spinning backbreaker that allowed Winter to lock in some sort of naked choke that forced Velvet Sky to tap out.

WINNER: Winter via submission in 4:00.

After the match, Winter locked on her submission move again and made her stare down Angelina before walking up the ramp and motioning for Angelina to follow, which she did wordlessly.

4 – KURT ANGLE vs. ROB TERRY

Well, we’re about to see if Angle is truly good enough to be able to get a decent match out of anyone. No way this lasts too long as Kurt wasn't wearing ring gear. Terry hit some overhand smashes on Angle to start off the match before Terry hit his trademark slow motion shoulder block that looks like it wouldn’t hurt a kitten. Somehow, Angle fought back and tried to hit a crossbody off of the top rope. Unfortunately, Terry caught him and scored a huge powerslam.

Taz immediately pounced on everyone’s surprise that Terry actually hit a big move, saying that Angle could be in danger. Ah, the curse of Taz: when he says you’re in position to win a match, it means you’re about to go down. Naturally, when Terry picked up Angle for another power move, Kurt fought his way out of it and locked on the Ankle Lock and it was academic from there as Jarrett hilariously leaned over the bottom rope in a vain attempt to distract the referee.

WINNER: Angle in 1:30.

5 - TNA World champion STING & MR. ANDERSON & RVD vs. MATT HARDY & BULLY RAY & ABYSS (w/Ric Flair) -- steel cage match

Sting came in and started cleaning house, leading to him hitting Stinger Splashes on Ray & Hardy before hitting a Stinger Splash on Abyss, who was standing on the Apron between the ropes and the cage. Cool spot. Sting climbed up on the second turnbuckle to hit the 10-count of punches on Hardy, but found himself being hit with an atomic drop. Sting no-sold the move (I guess he was wearing a cup) before clotheslining Hardy down hard. Right afterward, Anderson was shown standing with his hands on his knees outside of the cage, clearly taking his sweet time to get into the match.

Back inside, Bully Ray stomped a mudhole into Sting before Abyss came over to stomp him further. While RVD was left dumped on the ring apron, Mr. Anderson pulled up a chair and sat down outside to watch.

Back from break, RVD & Sting were down and Taz promptly informed the audience that Anderson hasn’t moved from his chair at ringside. In the cage, RVD was hit with a knee to the groin and a leg drop from Hardy while Abyss choked Sting. Suddenly, Hogan’s music hit and Hulk came out with his back brace on.

After Anderson mocked him, Hogan told him to get his butt in the cage. Anderson told him no. Hulk told him again and Anderson acted like he was going to punch Hulk, who begged off. However, it became pretty clear that the back brace was a ruse since he raked Anderson’s eyes and tossed him hard into the side of the cage. With Anderson reeling, Hulk threw him through the open cage door and seven minutes into the match all six men were finally inside.

Sting and Anderson didn’t even pretend that they were on the same team as Immortal stood back and let the pair of them fight. After Sting threw Anderson hard into the side of the cage, Immortal went right back to work destroying the three men in the Main Event at Lockdown. It was dominance to the point where Immortal was going around the ring and attacking each man three on one. Finally, Hardy went for a pinfall and Abyss & Bully Ray retreated into their corner for a proper tag match.

With only RVD in his corner (Anderson was still down on the ring apron), Sting desperately tried to make a tag but Hardy stopped him and tagged in Abyss. After Sting was beaten with big fists from Abyss, Ray was tagged in and the two big men went for a double team clothesline. But at 10:00, Sting ducked and they ran into each other instead. Stinger took them both down and finally made a hot tag to Rob Van Dam. RVD came in on fire, taking down each Immortal member twice, including a brutal spin kick on Bully Ray. However, Abyss stopped his momentum briefly before RVD hit a big single leg thrust off of the top rope to put him down hard. Van Dam vaulted up on the far turnbuckle to go for the Five Star Frog Splash, but, suddenly, Mr. Anderson jumped up from the ring apron below (where he had been laying most of the match since he came into the cage) and hit RVD with Bully Ray’s chain.

This allowed Ray (the legal man for Immortal) to hit the Bubba Bomb on Van Dam and earn the pinfall victory for his team as Anderson kicked the door open to leave the cage.

WINNERS: Ray & Abyss & Hardy in 12:00 (8:00 televised).

Arcademan:
WWE Smackdown Results: 4-1-11

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Park's complete report). Condensed here to the two in-ring results only. Everything else on the show was RAW reruns and hype toward WrestleMania 27.

1 – WADE BARRETT vs. KOFI KINGSTON – INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

This was a match taped in Chicago. During Barrett’s intro, Josh Mathews, Booker T, and Michael Cole were shown on camera, with Cole in his glass case of emotion. I guess they wanted to get Kingston’s rematch out of the way prior to ‘Mania. Kofi tried an early Trouble in Paradise, but he missed an ended up on the apron. Barrett kicked him down to ringside. He rammed Kingston back-first into the side of the ring. He continued the beat-down at ringside. Front slam, lateral press, two-count only. Kingston fired back with a kick and some chops. High dropkick found the mark, but Barrett dodged the SOS. Flip kick in the corner, though the timing was off a bit. High cross-body off the top for two. Booker was all over Kingston here, saying his stock had dropped the past few weeks, and the chided him for wasting time. Kofi went for Trouble in Paradise, but a nice boot to the face by Barrett changed those plans. Barrett slapped the mat and told Kofi to “come on!” Wasteland attempt, but Kofi held onto the ropes. Trouble in Paradise hit, but as he went for the cover, the rest of Corre ran out and attacked Kingston for the DQ.

WINNER: Kingston, via DQ, at 3:57. Well, Kofi looked a little better here, but Barrett could’ve used a decisive winning going into ‘Mania.

As Corre continued their onslaught, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov ran out. They weren’t able to put a dent into Corre’s offense, so Kane’s pyro went off, and he and Big Show ran out. They cleaned house, standing tall again before the eight-man tag at Wrestlemania.

2 – CODY RHODES vs. CHRIS MASTERS

Rhodes went right after Masters, but Masters came back with a chop. Rhodes went to the knee as Cole and his two security men came back from the back. “What, did he have to go take a bathroom break?” asked Booker. Booker actually asked him that when he got back on headset, and Cole fired back that only Booker does that at PPVs. Rhodes continued on offense, stomping on Maters’ face. Samoan drop by Masters, but he missed a clothesline. Masterlock attempt, but Rhodes got to the ropes. He headbutted Masters, which I don’t believe the ref saw, then hit the Cross Rhodes for the pin.

WINNER: Rhodes, at 2:11.

Post-match, Rey Mysterio ran out. He kicked at the legs of Rhodes and set up for the 619, but stopped Rey. He tried to powerbomb Rey, but Rey got him in 619 position. He showed off the knee brace he was wearing, but Rhodes got out of the ring before Rey could deliver the move. I’m not sure that post-match stuff was necessary to hype their WM match. They could’ve just had Rhodes win, and that would be that.

Arcademan:
WWE RAW Results: 4-4-11

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- JERRY LAWLER vs. JACK SWAGGER (w/Michael Cole)

They locked up and Swagger took control before Lawler retaliated in the corner. Swagger sold frustration and charged Lawler for a big shoulder tackle, then another. Swagger then missed with a corner splash across the ring and the two men backed away from each other. They circled the ring as the crowd chanted, "Jerry, Jerry." Swagger showed off his strength with a standing powerslam, but missed with a sort of seated butt splash. Lawler bounced off the ropes to follow up, but Swagger smashed him with a clothesline. Swagger then put the boots to Lawler before missing with a running Vader Bomb. Lawler capitalized with left hand jabs, then a dropkick that decked Swagger. Lawler looked to the crowd, then went to the second rope and dropped the strap. However, Cole hopped on the ring apron. Lawler gave chase and pounded on Cole before Swagger grabbed Lawler from behind and slapped on the anklelock. Lawler fought the hold for a moment before tapping out. Post-match: Swagger kept the hold locked in as Lawler kept tapping. The ref reprimanded Swagger, but left the ring to note to Justin Roberts he was reversing the decision. Ross asked for a sense of urgency to check on Lawler. Roberts announced the reverse decision and Cole complained to Roberts.

WINNER: Lawler via reverse decision at 3:51.

2 -- RANDY ORTON & REY MYSTERIO vs. CODY RHODES & C.M. PUNK

Orton took the early advantage on Cody, then tagged in Rey. Cody landed a bit of offense, but Rey cut him off and tried ripping off Cody's protective mask. Cody then rolled to the floor to catch a breather as they cut to break.

Back live, Legacy Exploded with Orton slamming Rhodes before dropping a trademark knee to the skull. Orton then tagged in Rey, who dropped a springboard leg on Rhodes for a two count. Booker said Punk was doing a heck of a job working the apron during the match, then right on cue, Punk tagged into the match. Punk tagged right back out as the heels worked over Rey, who suddenly rolled up Cody and scored a two count. Orton then tagged in and Cody landed forearm smashes before Orton exploded on Cody with a clothesline for a two count. Orton took his eyes of Cody momentarily to focus on Punk, giving Cody an opening to chopblock Orton at the bad knee.

Punk tagged in and teased the G2S, but Orton slipped out and teased the RKO, only to have Punk shove him off. Punk then smashed Orton's knee from behind again. Punk went back to work on Orton's knee with repeated kicks and smashes. They cut to another break.

Three seconds of a 20-second Smackdown plug aired leading back to break where Cody and Punk were in the ring. Orton went to his corner looking for a tag, kicked Punk away, and made the tag to Rey, who delivered a springboard moonsault. Rey then missed with a kick strike and Punk threw him into the corner. Cody cheap-shooted Rey from the apron, then Orton ran around to the other side to smash Cody on the ring apron. Rey then set up Punk for the 619, but Cody intercepted him in mid-air with a step-up kick. That was a great counter. It was only good for a nearfall, though.

At 13:30, Cody followed up on Rey as they replayed Cody's great counter with the step-up kick. Cody then rammed Rey sternum-first into the corner turnbuckle as Orton reached out looking for a tag. However, the heels isolated Rey in their corner continuing to wear down Rey. Cole and Booker bickered on commentary before Rey turned it around on Punk. Orton took the ultimate hot tag moments later as Rhodes also tagged in.

Orton cleaned house on Cody as Booker noted Orton was blocking out the pain. Orton set up Cody for the big spike DDT from the second rope and connected. Orton then crouched down to enter his happy place before shooting a glare toward Punk, who dropped off the ring apron. Orton then grappled Cody from behind and executed the Angle Slam. Punk broke up a pin, then Rey cleared Punk to the outside. Orton followed with an uppercut that put Cody on the second rope and Rey fluidly nailed the 619 that spun Cody back to center-ring. Orton followed right up with the RKO and that was it for Cody.

WINNERS: Orton & Cody at 16:31. Nice long-form tag match giving everyone quality TV time and giving the babyfaces some shine with Rey getting a measure on comeuppance on Cody after his loss at WrestleMania. It looks like Orton vs. Punk will continue after Mania, though, as there wasn't much resolved. (**1/2)

3 -- ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Brodus Clay) vs. EVAN BOURNE

Bourne scored with early offense before Del Rio cut him off with a boot to the gut. Del Rio checked his mouth, as he appeared to have a cut lip. Del Rio then smashed Bourne to the outside and rammed him into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Del Rio slapped on a neck vice that Bourne escaped. Bourne then landed a knee strike for a two count. Bourne suddenly found himself up top looking for Air Bourne, but Del Rio smashed him with a step-up enziguiri. Del Rio followed right up with the cross arm-breaker and Bourne tapped, giving Del Rio the win. Afterward, they zoomed in tight on Del Rio's cut lip to sell aggression written on Del Rio's face.

WINNER: Del Rio via submission at 2:40. Fine match re-establishing Del Rio's quest for the World Title, although it shows where WWE sees Bourne on the pecking order. (*)

4 -- DOLPH ZIGGLER & VICKIE GUERRERO vs. JOHN MORRISON & TRISH STRATUS

Ziggler and Morrison started things off against each other. Ziggler had enough of Morrison, so he tagged out to Vickie. Trish slowly entered and Vickie teased a cartwheel before comically falling on her head. Vickie then piefaced Trish, who exploded on her with chops. "Aaaaaahhhhh!" Vickie shrieked. The heels cut off Trish and Vickie worked her over in-between shrieks. The men eventually tagged in and Cole tried act serious putting over the feud and the two wrestlers. Ziggler went for a pin, but Trish broke up the pin and slapped Ziggler. Morrison then followed right up with the Flying Chuck. Cole complained about the mixed tag rules as Morrison set up and connected with Starship Pain. Booker said he didn't think Morrison got all of it, but it was good for a pin. Ringside, Vickie screamed and threw a fit while Morrison and Trish celebrated.

WINNERS: Morrison & Trish at 3:24. Uninspired effort that captured the entire theme of WWE's product right now. The commentary is just awful, WWE isn't getting any new stars over, and it feels like Morrison and Ziggler are stuck in mid-card purgatory. Positioning them in the dead Q7 quarter-hour captured it all. This show was missing a sense of urgency at the very beginning coming right off WrestleMania and it's felt like any other show throughout.

5 -- U.S. champion SHEAMUS vs. DANIEL BRYAN -- U.S. Title match

Mathews and Booker took turns knocking Bryan trying to play him up like an underdog while not doing a very good job of it. The state of announcing is at an all-time low in WWE. Cole talked himself up as Sheamus worked over Bryan in the ring. Sheamus then scored with the Irish Curse backbreaker for a nearfall and sold frustration. Sheamus tried to work over Bryan with mat holds, then Bryan landed a kick strike, ducked a clothesline, and nailed a clothesline of his own. Bryan sold the back, then exploded on Sheamus with a flying kick strike for a nearfall. Cole was mid-Rock-Cena plug when Bryan teased the LeBell Lock, but Sheamus fought it off and nailed a backbreaker. Sheamus followed with the Brogue Kick and made the cover for the win.

WINNER: Sheamus at 3:52 to retain the U.S. Title. The announcers did their best to knock Bryan, the match was designed to reinforce Sheamus, and Bryan has transferred whatever momentum he had to Sheamus. Back to square one for Bryan, joining about ten other younger wrestlers on the roster who can say the same thing. (*1/4)

Arcademan:
WWE Tough Enough: 4-4-11

Here are the notes from the show courtesy of Caldwell over at PWTorch.com (direct link to complete report).

Host- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Trainers
Booker T
Trish Stratus
Bill DeMott

Cast List (age)
Men
-- Matt Capiccioni (30)
-- Andy Leavine (23)
-- Jeremiah Riggs (28)
-- Martin Casaus (26)
-- Ryan Howe (23)
-- A.J. Kirsch (27)
-- Luke Robinson (26)
-- Eric Watts (25)
-- Michael Zakki (26)
Women
-- "Miss USA" Rima Fakih (25)
-- Christina Crawford (22)
-- Michelle Deighton (25)
-- Ivelisse Velez (22)
-- Ariane Andrew (23)

Ariane was the first eliminated.

Video preview: In the coming weeks, contestants will face brutal physical challenges in and out of the ring. They will overcome pain, stare down fear, and make it count to become the next WWE star.

The Rock was shown making a surprise visit. John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Big Show were shown making their visits. Only one will win the ultimate prize.

Next Monday: dogs chase down the contestants. John Cena guest stars next week.

INITIAL THOUGHTS: Austin absolutely owned this episode. Perfect pick to host this show. DeMott was a great supporting authority figure and Booker & Trish added a good amount behind DeMott. There are some potential stars in the Tough Enough mix. It will be interesting to see which stories progress as the show progresses. Very strong start to the season. Well done.

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