Main Event – April 26, 2018: His Kids Should Be Proud

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: April 26, 2018
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

We’re almost done. This week in WWE saw things settle down a bit as we have done with the Superstar Shakeup stuff. Raw and Smackdown were more traditional shows but at the same time they had to set up the Greatest Royal Rumble on Friday. You can guess what a lot of the stuff on this show is going to be so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

In Memory of Bruno Sammartino.

Opening sequence.

Zack Ryder vs. Mike Kanellis

Kanellis now has trunks instead of tights and gets dropkicked for his fashion choice. Ryder misses a charge though and lands on the floor in a big crash. Back in and Kanellis stomps away before grabbing a chinlock. Ryder fights up and hits a flapjack, followed by the middle rope missile dropkick. The Broski Boot gets two but Kanellis scores with a superkick for two. A neckbreaker gives Ryder the same as Nigel quotes the Power of Love. Not that it helps as the Rough Ryder puts Kanellis away at 5:07.

Rating: D+. Not too bad here, especially considering Ryder apparently injured his knee (just a sprain and not a tear) somewhere in there. Kanellis is fine for a jobber to the midcard stars on a show like this so even though it’s not much to get excited over, it’s nice to have something fresh on here. Ryder winning is always nice to see as well.

From Raw.

Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to open things up. After a break, Heyman introduces himself for the man who is STILL the reigning, defending, undisputed Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar. Heyman knows fans think he’s here to gloat, just like they were when they broke the Streak or when they took John Cena to Suplex (repeated 14 times) City.

When it comes to Lesnar, this is real, and no one in the locker room or the crowd has a chance. Heyman delivers spoilers because Lesnar doesn’t gloat. However, Heyman can gloat all night long. He talks about the un-PG elbows to Reigns’ head and the multiple F5’s, but none of this matters to Lesnar. This Friday, Lesnar, who is dying to be in a UFC cage, will be flying across the world to be locked in a cage with Roman Reigns.

A small ROMAN chant breaks out before Heyman talks about Brock’s new contract. Lesnar wanted a fight inside a cage and now the odds are stacked against Reigns even more than before. Reigns will be coming back home in multiple boxes as another victim, but here’s Reigns to interrupt. Reigns says he’s coming home with the title and that’s it. I’m still not sure what to expect over there, but they’re booking themselves in a necessary title change at this rate.

Again from Raw.

Here are Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the Sami and Kevin Show. They hype up the Greatest Royal Rumble and say it’s great because one of them will win it. They’re here tonight because of Stephanie McMahon was smarter than their first guest, which means Sami and Kevin singing YOU SUCK.

Cue Angle to say that they shouldn’t quit their day jobs. Owens understands Angle’s bitterness as Stephanie has his manhood in a jar in Connecticut. They recap the conspiracy on Smackdown and say that Stephanie must hate Angle for what she’s done to him. Angle agrees, because if not for him then Stephanie would still have full use of her arm. Owens talks about Angle needing this job because he has five kids. Actually it’s six because Sami forgot Jason Jordan “just like Angle did for years.”

Angle warns them about the beating they’ll be receiving on Friday when they’re in the ring with him, Daniel Bryan, Shane McMahon, Chris Jericho and everyone else they’ve treated badly over the years. As for tonight, they can have a tag match with Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman. Can we please not do the Stephanie vs. Angle story again? It wasn’t great the first time.

And from later in the night.

Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley

Sami and Owens try to bail but Strowman throws them back in without too much trouble. Lashley forearms Owens down in the corner but it’s off to Sami for some right hands to take over. A suplex gives Sami two and the double teaming begins. Owens is sent outside and Lashley gets two off a crossbody but Owens pulls him to the floor. We hit a backsplash and it’s off to a break.

Back with Lashley fighting out of Sami’s chinlock and dropping him with a clothesline. That’s enough for the hot tag to Strowman, who runs around the ring and shoulders Owens down. Sami gets taken down as well so Strowman goes outside to run Owens over again, just as he gets up. Strowman does it a third time, this time with a dropkick as the fans are going insane for this stuff. That’s enough for Sami as he bails up the ramp, only to be thrown back inside by Lashley. There’s the delayed suplex to Sami (one arm version), followed by the running powerslam from Strowman for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: C. This might not have been a great match but it was entertaining. Strowman running Owens over three times in a row was making me laugh and Sami being tossed around like a toy was great. Strowman and Lashley could make for a very entertaining monster team and I could go with seeing more of them in the future.

Owens hasn’t moved since taking that dropkick in a funny visual.

Revival vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno

Slater and Dawson get things going with Heath grabbing some headscissors because the Revival can’t even beat Heath Slater on the mat anymore. Rhyno comes in for a front facelock on Wilder but a quick tag allows the double teaming to begin. A double suplex is broken up by Slater and everything breaks down as we take a break. Back with Wilder blindsiding Rhyno to take over again, including an armbar. Now that’s more Revivalish.

Dash adds a cheap shot to Slater to break up a hot tag with Wilder breaking up another attempt. Rhyno avoids a charge in the corner though and grabs a spinebuster to finally set up the tag. A neckbreaker gets two on Dawson, followed by a small package for the same on Dawson. Rhyno gets pulled to the floor though and the Shatter Machine ends Slater at 10:53.

Rating: C. Much better than it should have been here with all four working hard and getting some extra time. The Revival gets better as the match goes on so giving them ten minutes was the best news they’ve had in a long time. I know they’re not going anywhere (wrestlers rarely do) but I’d love to see them get even a token title reign somewhere down the line.

And finally, from Smackdown.

AJ Styles/Anderson and Gallows vs. Rusev Day/Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke now has a Japanese rock song set to the tune of his old music. I could go for never hearing that again. Graves says it’s because Nakamura is sick of the fans singing along. How does he know this? Graves: “Because I habla espanol.” Styles and Nakamura start but English gets tagged in before anything happens. That earns Nakamura a forearm off the apron and AJ pulls English into the corner for the tag to Gallows. So why isn’t AJ considered a coward too?

The villains are knocked outside in short order and we take a break. Back with Rusev kicking AJ in the head so Aiden can grab a chinlock. Therefore, let’s hit that inset promo for Friday! Back again with Rusev slamming AJ but getting kicked in the head, allowing the hot tag to Anderson. Everything breaks down but Nakamura kicks Gallows in the knee, setting up Kinshasa to the back of Gallows’ head for the pin at 10:08.

Rating: C-. Pretty standard main event six man here and there’s nothing wrong with giving Nakamura a pin before the title match, even if there’s not much benefit to pinning Gallows. I could very easily see a title change on Friday, but Nakamura is almost certainly getting the title at some point. If not, I’m not sure where he goes from here as it would make him look like a huge choker.

Post match AJ goes after Nakamura but takes ANOTHER low blow but Anderson shoves AJ out of the way to take Kinshasa. AJ is still down and can’t help Anderson from taking a second Kinshasa (sounds like a setup for an Anderson and Gallows turn to Nakamura) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Is anyone else completely sick of hearing about the Greatest Royal Rumble? It seems that we’re getting something about it every few minutes now and I can’t wait for it to be over. There’s a good chance that a lot of the show won’t mean much anyway, which makes it all the more annoying. A show recapping the build to the show didn’t help, but that tag match wasn’t half bad. Just get us on to Backlash already.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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