by Thomas Keister

WWE Superstars continues the march to Night of Champions on July 26, setting up one definite and one potential title match for the all-title match pay-per-view.

SmackDown's contribution would open the show, featuring Cryme Time, accompanied by Eve Torres, squaring off against The Hart Dynasty, escorted to the ring, as always, by Natalia. While the tag team wrestling scene has teetered on the edge of becoming irrelevant in the past several months, it was nice to see two dedicated tag teams kicking off the show. David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd took an early advantage and engaged a classic playbook, isolating Shad Gaspard in their half of the ring and concentrating the attack on the big man's legs following a chop block by Gaspard. The experience factor may have played the biggest part in this match, as following a breakdown where all 4 men would battle as the Diva fought outside the ring, JTG gained the pin on Kidd to gain the win for Cryme Tyme. When they get a shot at the Unified WWE Tag Team titles is anyone's guess. I'm just glad Night of Champions is the next pay-per-view, so at least we'll have managed to see a Tag Title match at back-to-back events.

Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio then hit the ring following the commercial break to discuss the run-in by the now-sidelined Edge and Dolph Ziggler last week at the conclusion of the outstanding IC title match between Mysterio and Unified WWE Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho. Ziggler came out to respond, but Mysterio cut him off to call him out for not being the first to "dye his hair blond, do a couple of sit-ups, and walk around like a peacock." Ziggler then made a challenge to Mysterio for an Intercontinental title match at Night of Champions. A brief chase would follow, with Mysterio getting a couple of shots in on a retreating Ziggler.

Katie Lea Burchill would face Brie Bella in the ECW match for the evening. This was about as standard a Divas match as you are gonna see. While Burchill is not that bad a competitor, it seemed a little obvious that Burchill was wrestling down to match the ability of Bella. Neither woman is anywhere near gold in World Wrestling Entertainment, and judging by the piped-in crowd reaction, that is unlikely to change anytime soon. This is especially disappointing in the case of Burchill, who lost a second straight to the Bellas when they played another "switcheroo."

The main event for Superstars tonight was courtesy of Raw, as United States Champion Kofi Kingston drew the short straw in getting to face The Big Show, albeit in non-title action. Let's face it, with the Orton/HHH/Cena triangle playing out on Monday nights, The Big Show has become another odd man out in the WWE Championship picture, and it seems Show may have to settle for the United States title, if he has his way. Kingston tried the simplest plan, using his speed and agilty to try and get Big Show off-balance, but in a matter of seconds, the largest athlete in the world was firmly in control. Kingston would valiantly kick out of a pin attempt after a sidewalk slam, only serving to frustrate his much larger opponent. Rallying, Kingston tried Trouble in Paradise, but was blocked away with a swat of Show's arm, leading to a thundering chokeslam and the win. Expect this to be a lead-up for Kingston's title defense to be against The Big Show at Night of Champions.