Main Event – February 21, 2019: WHAT IS THIS SHOW???
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: February 21, 2019
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Percy Watson, Renee Young, Byron Saxton
Well this was certainly an eventful week. In case you didn’t know it was Wrestlemania season, it’s time to pick up the pace with debuts, big storyline developments and announcements of some big stuff coming up. The question now is how WWE will manage to screw this week up. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
No Way Jose vs. Rezar
Only on Main Event. Rezar wastes no time with the power by driving Jose into the corner. A fall away slam makes things even worse and it’s time for the forearms to the face. Rezar’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Jose fights up with a shot to the face. The top rope shoulder gets two but Rezar calmly chokeslams him for the pin at 4:27.
Rating: D. What else were you expecting here? Jose is now to the point where he can’t beat the healthy half of a tag team. The problem with that is he never was going to be someone who could beat Rezar even on his best day. What should be one of the easiest characters ever has been thrown away, but to be fair it’s not like he had crazy high value in the first place.
From Raw.
Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin
Tables match and Strowman has bad ribs coming in. Strowman knocks him around to start but a shot to the ribs cuts him down. Corbin drives him into the barricade but Strowman whips him into it even harder to take over. It’s already time for a table, though Strowman’s ribs slow him down. Some kicks to the ribs keep Strowman in trouble but Corbin can’t suplex him on the ramp.
Strowman can certainly do it to him though and Corbin is screaming a lot. They head up to the stage where some tables are set up, though Strowman prefers the announcers’ table. Corbin knocks him off the stage though and we take a break. Back with Corbin knocking Strowman out of the ring and swinging a kendo stick at the bad ribs. Strowman knocks him out of the air with some steps though and the running powerslam puts Corbin through a table in the corner for the win at 14:35.
Rating: D. Well that’s very nice for Strowman as he gets to beat up the least interesting and intimidating heel in recent memory to get back a win that he didn’t need to give up in the first place. This feud has been going for months now and I’m still waiting for it to get interesting in the first place. I’m not sure what the endgame is supposed to be, but it seems like something we should have reached a long time ago.
Very short clip of Finn Balor/Ricochet vs. Lio Rush/Bobby Lashley.
We get both parts of the Paul Heyman narrated video on Brock Lesnar’s career. Still good stuff.
D-Generation X Hall of Fame announcement.
B Team/Tyler Breeze vs. Jinder Mahal/Singh Brothers
Rematch from last week. Breeze and Sunil start things off fast with Breeze kicking him in the face. It’s off to Sumir vs. Axel for the EXACT SAME dance off they did last week. Mahal takes Dallas down though and we take an early break. Back with a double suplex to Dallas setting up a chinlock, which doesn’t exactly last long. A suplex allows the tag off to Axel so house can be cleaned with everyone but Sunil being knocked off the apron. Breeze’s half crab has Sunil in trouble but Sumir makes the save. Not that it matters as the Beauty Shot finishes Sumir at 9:24.
Rating: D. It was the same match, almost down to the letter, as last week. You would think they could mix things up at least a little bit here and there but it’s not like Main Event is important. This was another waste of time, but that’s the case on this show almost every week so I can’t say I’m surprised.
We look back at the week in Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey.
Stills of the men’s Elimination Chamber match with Daniel Bryan retaining.
From Smackdown:
Kofi Kingston/AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton/Samoa Joe
During his entrance, Bryan talks about how ignorant everyone here is for not knowing Thomas Beckett. These people put him inside the Elimination Chamber but he survived. Bryan is going to educate us on his opponent for Fastlane but he won’t be saying who it is. The only thing he’ll tell us is that the opponent is NOT in this match. Bryan tags out to Joe at the bell, leaving him to face Kingston. An exchange of shots to the face allow the tag off to Hardy for the legdrop between the legs.
Orton comes in and grabs the chinlock, which is quickly broken up with a jawbreaker. It’s already back to Kofi to pick up the pace as things break down a bit. Orton drops Kofi onto the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Bryan hammering on Kofi until a dive allows the tag to Styles. AJ unloads on Bryan and cleans house, allowing the hot tag off to Kofi. That means the real comeback is on, including a pair of dives. Trouble in Paradise hits Bryan for the clean pin at 12:11.
Rating: C. The wrestling wasn’t the point here, at least not until the very ending. This was all about Kofi getting the pin on Bryan to set up what has to be the title match at Fastlane. There’s no reason for it to be anything else either before or after this match and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially after how things went over the last week.
Post match Shane comes out to make Kingston vs. Bryan for Fastlane to end the show.
Overall Rating: F. WHAT IS THIS SHOW??? The NXT guys debuting was one of the biggest stories in WWE in a very long time and it’s glossed over here, with only Ricochet being mentioned. But at least we got more build to a match six weeks from now instead of, you know, what’s actually happening now. It’s clear that WWE is banking very hard on the two Wrestlemania matches they’ve already announced but they’re running a very strong risk of making the fans so apathetic to the show that it’s not going to matter.
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B-Team and Tyler Bate? On Main Event? There’d be rioting in the streets to waste a debut like that