Main Event – May 3, 2018: I’m Tired Just Watching The Highlights
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: May 3, 2018
Location: Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
The busiest month in WWE continues with this show featuring the highlights of this week where everyone other than the women and Sami Zayn were exhausted from the travel schedule. I’m not sure what to expect from this show but that’s been the case on Main Event several times now. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik vs. Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher
Dorado and Kendrick get things going with Brian taking him down, much to the fans’ annoyance. Lince speeds things up a bit by jumping over Kendrick and handing it off to Metalik as the masked ones take over. Unfortunately that means we hear more of Kalisto’s noisemaker on the floor so the bad outweighs the good. A jawbreaker staggers Dorado though and it’s off to Gallagher for some right hands.
Gallagher gets two off a clothesline and it’s back to Kendrick for the mock Lucha Dance. The copyright infringement kick (also known as an enziguri) puts Kendrick down and the hot tag brings in Metalik. That means a rope walk dropkick for two as everything breaks down. A double Golden Rewind sets up Metalik’s rope walk elbow for the pin at 4:56.
Rating: C-. Just a run of the mill cruiserweight tag match here but Lucha House Party is fine for a match like this. I’m still not wild on Kendrick and Gallagher but WWE certainly sees something in them. Hopefully we don’t get the cruiserweight Tag Team Titles as the more I think about them, the more I think they’re a bad idea. The division is barely deep enough for one title and tag titles would just get in the way even more.
From Raw.
Here’s Roman Reigns to some of the loudest non-Wrestlemania booing I’ve ever heard for him. The announcers give the “we’re in Canada” disclaimer, even saying this crowd is like the one after Wrestlemania. Reigns says he’s not making any excuses and talks about a tweet from the referee who said he made a mistake at the end of the cage match last week. He should be the Universal Champion but he’s not, yet.
Reigns promises he’ll be champion one day but here’s Samoa Joe on the screen to disagree. Joe promises to put Reigns’ dead career to sleep and here’s Jinder Mahal of all people to say he was cheated out of the United States Title. On Sunday, Reigns will be put to sleep but tonight, he’s losing to the modern day Maharajah. Cue Sami Zayn to the loudest pop of his WWE career with the fans singing his song.
Zayn cites a case of vertigo for not being at the Greatest Royal Rumble but he’s feeling much better tonight. That’s why he’ll be the one to take on Roman Reigns, drawing a heck of a YES chant. Now it’s Kevin Owens coming out to another major face pop (the Fleur-de-Lis version of his KO shirt helps a lot). Owens speaks French and draw a OUI chant, which is made even louder when he says he should face Owens tonight.
The three of the all want to face Reigns so let’s flip a coin. Actually hang on because he doesn’t have a coin and a coin only has two sides. Instead we’ll make it a popularity contest, which seems to be won by Owens. The beatdown is on but here’s Bobby Lashley for the attempted save. Cue Braun Strowman for the real save and we’ve probably got a six man for later.
From later in the night.
Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens/Jinder Mahal
Reigns and Mahal open things up and the fans just LOATHE Roman. Sami comes in before any contact and the fans are far more entertained. Owens gets the same treatment and it’s back to Sami again, who gets cheered just for kicking Reigns in the ribs. Roman hits a double apron dropkick to send us to a break.
Back with Reigns driving Mahal into the corner so Lashley can come in for some clotheslines. Lashley gets taken into the corner for a stomping from Sami but a neckbreaker gets him out of trouble in short order. Owens comes in to stomp away and prevent the tag and the fans are very pleased.
We hit the chinlock and another inset promo, this time about AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Back to full screen with the chinlock continuing until Lashley suplexes his way to freedom. Reigns comes in to such a quiet hot tag that I didn’t realize he had come in. Clotheslines in the corner abound and a shot to the face puts Sami in even more trouble. Owens kicks Reigns in the ribs and gets two off a DDT as we take another break.
Back again with Reigns still in trouble, including Owens’ Vader Bomb elbow connecting for two. It’s off to another chinlock for a bit until Reigns gets in a Superman Punch. Jinder decks Lashley off the apron but gets Samoan dropped. Strowman finally comes in and runs Owens over on the floor, just like last week. Sami gets the same treatment but Owens sidesteps a second attempt. That earns him a whip into the barricade, leaving Jinder to send Strowman shoulder first into the post. Reigns spears Mahal and Strowman is right back up to powerslam Owens for the pin at 20:56.
Rating: C. This was the long tag match that you would expect when they’re coming back off a long international tour and everyone (save for Sami) is worn out. At least they went with the most over guy on the team (most of the time at least) getting the pin. Owens and Zayn felt like stars here though and I could go for them as a top face team down the line. Good match here, but you can tell they’re all exhausted.
From Raw again.
Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins
Rollins is defending. They head outside in a hurry with Rollins nailing the suicide dive into the barricade as we take a very abrupt break. Back with Rollins holding a chinlock until Balor is up with the running forearm. Rollins scores with a Blockbuster but another suicide dive is blocked with a kick to the head. I love it when they learn during a match.
A DDT gives Balor two more and the Eye of the Hurricane is good for the same. Rollins is right back up with a jumping knee to the face but Balor kicks him down again. The Coup de Grace is broken up with another kick to the head and Rollins hits the superkick. Rollins’ superplex connects but Finn hits his own Falcon Arrow for a crazy close two.
With both guys spent and the crowd WAY into this, they trade kicks to the head with Rollins going to the floor. Balor adds a running flip dive, followed by the shotgun dropkick back inside. The Coup de Grace misses but so does the Stomp. Balor rolls him up for two and hits (mostly) a Sling Blade. Rollins is back up with a superkick though and the Stomp retains the title at 15:28.
Rating: B+. This took its time to get going but its last six or seven minutes were outstanding. I was thinking they would go with the title change here to set up another triple threat match. They’re doing something good with Rollins here and that could pay off very hard in the long run, especially when he gets back to the main event.
Video on the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Breezango vs. Revival
Dash and Fandango start things off with Wilder running him over and stopping to dance a bit. Fandango blocks a sunset flip and swivels the hips a bit, setting up a legdrop for two. It’s off to Breeze vs. Dawson with the former taking him down into an armbar. A sleeper works as well as it’s going to in a low level tag match and Revival takes over on Breeze. The armbar doesn’t last long so it’s a knee to the back to put Breeze down as we take a break.
Back with Breeze fighting out of an abdominal stretch and enziguring Dash. Dawson gets kicked to the floor and the diving tag brings in Fandango. Heel miscommunication lets Fandango DDT Wilder and dropkick Dawson at the same time. Dawson uppercuts Breeze into an uppercut from Wilder for two but Fandango gets in a shot from behind, setting up the Unprettier to end Dawson at 10:43.
Rating: C+. That’s one of the best Main Event matches I’ve seen in a very long time with both teams working hard and looking good, which is a lot more than you can ask for most of the time on this show. Unfortunately neither is likely getting close to the titles because that’s not how Main Event works. It’s a shame too, as both teams are quite good and looked solid here.
We run down the Backlash card.
From Smackdown.
Here’s AJ Styles to talk to Renee Young in the ring. AJ says he’s trying to defend the title and Nakamura is more interested in the wrong jewels. Now Nakamura wants a public apology so AJ should have left him sucking sand in the desert. He’s fine with the No DQ stipulation on Sunday because AJ can break rules too. On Sunday, a low blow will be the least of Nakamura’s worries. If Nakamura wants an apology, he can come get one.
Cue Samoa Joe to say that AJ needs to pay better attention to the more important match. After he puts Reigns to sleep on Sunday, he’s coming for whoever leaves with the WWE Championship. Oh….I think I can go for this. Nakamura’s music hits and Joe is ready but we cut to the ring where Nakamura hits AJ low again. Kinshasa knocks AJ silly for good measure and Nakamura holds up the title. I fully support Joe becoming more involved with the World Title situation.
Overall Rating: B-. As sick as I am of Backlash and all the stories that they have going on there, I was digging this week’s show. They did a good job with the slightly better original matches and offered the best of the week. Just shortening the amount of material that we have to deal with helped a lot, but unfortunately that’s not going to be the case as we go forward because, as usual, quantity equals quality in WWE.
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