Main Event – August 24, 2017: You Never Get Used To This

Main Event
Date: August 24, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves

I just can’t get away from the Barclays Center. If my math is right, this is the seventh show WWE taped from the venue in four days and hopefully that means they’ll be all beach balled out. Odds are this is going to be a run of the mill show though as it’s not like these things are really any different no matter where they are. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Heath Slater vs. Curt Hawkins

Slater sucks up with the Brooklyn 3:16 shirt. Hawkins does the FACE THE FACTS pose so Slater does a bit of a striptease to take the shirt off. A side kick gives Slater two and it’s off to the armbar. Hawkins knees him to the back to send Slater into the corner and that means it’s time for more posing. We hit the chinlock for as long as a chinlock is going to go before frustration starts to set in. A knee drop gets two and we hit the second chinlock. Heath fights up but gets tripped straight down, only to small package Hawkins for the pin at 4:36.

Rating: C-. This was actually better than you would expect with Hawkins playing a heel who was ahead but got too caught up in bragging to finish the job. Slater hung in there until he had an opening to capitalize on and won as a results. It might not be in depth but it’s a story, which is a lot more than you would expect most of the time for Main Event.

Off to Raw.

Here are Lesnar and Paul Heyman to open things up. Heyman says this isn’t a tape delay because we’re live with Brock Lesnar still your reigning and defending Universal Champion. He talks about the conspiracy against Lesnar, who fought off everyone else last night to keep his title. For the first time in his life, Lesnar was taken off the battlefield in an attempt to get rid of him without having to pin him or make him submit. But Lesnar wouldn’t have any of that and marched back down the aisle so conquering could ensue. As for tonight, there is no one in WWE or UFC history, like Lesnar himself.

Cue Braun Strowman and you can see Lesnar wince a bit. The fans cheer for Strowman as Brock gets in his face. A chokeslam is countered but Braun kicks him in the face and hits a powerslam to put Lesnar down. He starts to get up so it’s another powerslam, leaving Strowman to hold up the title.

And then again.

Here’s Sasha Banks for her first comments after winning the title. She may be from Boston but she’s always left her heart right here in Brooklyn. Like when she and Charlotte tore the house down last year at Summerslam, which allows her to wish Ric Flair well. Sasha plans on defending the title the right way but here’s Alexa Bliss to interrupt. She laughs off the idea of Sasha being the right kind of champion but wants nothing to do with a rematch tonight in front of these Brooklyn fanboys. They’ll fight soon enough but for now, Bliss is fine making Sasha wait.

Lince Dorado vs. Brian Kendrick

Brian takes him to the mat to start but Dorado flips up without too much effort. A quick trip to the floor earns Kendrick a hurricanrana and we take a break. Back with Kendrick getting two off a big boot and slowing things down with a cravate. Like WAY down as the hold stays on longer than it needs to.

A belly to back superplex is reversed into a crossbody to drop Kendrick and Dorado has a breather. There’s a spinwheel kick into a hurricanrana for two, followed by the springboard Stunner for the same. The shooting star hits knees though and Kendrick grabs the Captain’s Hook for the tap out at 11:19.

Rating: C. Another match that was better than I was expecting though again that’s not covering a lot of ground. Dorado is fine for a low level face and Kendrick has completely exceeded expectations in his run with the company. I’m still not sure how good of a finisher the glorified chinlock was but he’s making it work to a certain degree.

We’ll wrap it up with Monday’s main event.

Miz/Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns/John Cena

Cena bulldogs Miz to start and the fans are very pleased as it’s already off to Joe. The fans go nuts over something and Cena actually pauses to look at it…..because it’s a freaking beach ball. It seems that the ball is taken away with Cena looking annoyed, earning himself a beating from Joe. Miz comes in to stomp away and it’s time for the wave again. Now Cena joins in the wave, earning himself a quick DDT for two.

The cheering and booing continues as a beach ball is put into play and confiscated as the match continues to be ignored. Cena gets ax handled for two as Miz stops to tell the fans to pay attention. Miz misses a charge and it’s off to Reigns to clean house with clotheslines to no reaction. Roman gets taken down as well for the YES Kicks. The last one is countered into a powerbomb though and both guys are down again.

Joe Rock Bottoms Roman but Reigns heads outside to beat up the Miztourage. Back in and the hot tag brings in Cena for the finishing sequence. Joe cuts off the Shuffle though and it’s off to the Koquina Clutch. Reigns tries a save with the Superman Punch but Joe sidesteps it, causing Cena to get hit instead. The second Superman Punch hits Joe but Cena pops up and grabs the AA to pin Miz at 13:03.

Rating: C+. I hate beach balls, I hate beach balls, I hate beach balls. As usual, whenever you ask a crowd to pay attention for this long (to something they paid for of course), it’s bound to cause them to lose their interest and set off something like this. Naturally their response is screw anyone who doesn’t like it, because wrestling fans are selfish creatures by definition. I couldn’t stand this stuff in Orlando and it’s really annoying now, much like WWE encouraging this nonsense. As for the match, it was exactly what you would expect though Cena pinning Miz made me roll my eyes.

Overall Rating: C+. This was one of the better shows they’ve done in a long time with two completely watchable matches and some good stuff from Raw. I’m not sure how to live in a world where Raw is completely outshining Smackdown but that’s been the case for a long time now. That makes the recap show a lot easier to watch and two pretty good matches helped quite a bit. Nice show this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

PDFPrint