Main Event – April 25, 2019: The Interest Is There
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: April 25, 2019
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Percy Watson, Renee Young, Byron Saxton
These shows are so hit or miss and with a week where a lot went down, it’s hard to say what we’re going to get. If nothing else we might have something fresh in the way of the original matches, though there is no reason to expect it to be anything worth seeing. That’s never stopped Main Event before though. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Dana Brooke vs. Ruby Riott
Dang it not Ruby. Likely annoyed at having her stable broken up and getting sent to Main Event, Ruby drives her into the ropes but gets powered right back out. Some elbows work a bit better for Riott until a kick to the face gives Brooke two. Shoulders in the corner put Brooke back in trouble so she grabs a rollup for two more to get away.
The chinlock goes on to keep Brooke down again as the back and forth continues. This time Brooke fights up and gets kicked in the face for her efforts, meaning it’s right back to the chinlock. Brooke comes back again with a clothesline and the handspring elbow sets up a cartwheel splash. Ruby gets two off a rollup but walks into the Samoan driver for the pin at 5:12.
Rating: D. Remember the match where Brie Bella knocked Liv Morgan silly and the rest of the match was a mess? Ruby Riott was the one who took charge and threw something together on the floor. She can do that because she’s talented, experienced and unique enough to be put in that spot. Now she’s jobbing to Dana Brooke on Main Event.
We look back at Roman Reigns punching out Vince McMahon.
From Smackdown.
Here’s Shane McMahon to get things going. After making Greg Hamilton do the big intro, Shane wants to talk about Roman Reigns. We see the clip of Reigns hitting Vince last week, which is like disgracing the American flag or defacing Mount Rushmore (which Shane stumbles over). That man is a national treasure and it’s time for payback.
Shane lists off some options before saying that he’ll deal with Reigns right now in this ring. Reigns comes out and they both drop their mics. Cue Elias from behind and the beatdown is on. Drift Away leaves Reigns laying. Great. More McMahon Family Fun as Shane and Vince like each other again.
We look at Becky Lynch having to face two challengers at Money in the Bank.
From Raw.
Baron Corbin vs. AJ Styles
The winner gets Rollins at Money in the Bank. AJ seems to have an ankle or leg injury so it’s right hands instead of the dropkick. AJ’s springboard is blocked with a right hand to the face and Corbin sends him hard into the corner. They head outside with AJ being whipped in the barricade and getting dropped ribs first onto said barricade as we take a break. Back with AJ fighting out of a chinlock but getting slammed down onto his face for two.
Styles gets in some kicks to the leg but it’s too early for the Calf Crusher. Instead AJ goes with the running seated forearm and a spinning backfist to rock Corbin. A rollup into a Styles Clash attempt is broken up and it’s Deep Six for two. The Calf Crusher goes on this time though until Corbin slams him head first into the mat for the break. AJ gets sent into the corner but comes back with a kick to the head. The Phenomenal Forearm sends AJ to Money in the Bank at 13:05.
Rating: C-. I can’t remember the last time I felt such a relief, but there is no way that Corbin isn’t getting his title at some point. It’s clear that WWE sees the world in him for some reason and there doesn’t seem to be a way around it. At least we can have Rollins vs. Styles while it lasts though and that match should be awesome.
Post match Rollins comes out for the staredown. A handshake ends the show.
From Raw.
We go to the Firefly Fun House, which looks like a children’s program. Bray Wyatt (looking slim) in a longsleeved shirt comes in and introduces himself, saying he knew we would be together again. Offscreen children cheer and Bray can’t wait to show what he’s learned. He ducks his head and looks to come up evil but he’s just kidding. Bray introduces us to his special friends: Mercy the Buzzard and Peppy the Witch (the stars of the creepy vignettes). See, Bray used to be a bad man, which makes the children boo.
That part of him is dead now, but he always keeps a memory with him to prevent that from ever happening again. That would be a cardboard cutout of his old look…..and Bray whips out a chainsaw and cuts it in half. The fun is just getting started and remember that he’ll always light the way, so all you have to do is let him in. I have no idea what to think of this but it was disturbing in a lot of ways.
EC3 vs. No Way Jose
EC3 is rather disturbed by the Conga Line. Same with me man. The dancing begins again after the bell with EC3’s waistlock not being much of a counter. A slam works a bit better though and it’s a Stinger Splash into a neckbreaker. The seated full nelson sets up the EC3 Elbow (that’s growing on me) for two more. It’s too early for the TKO though and Jose grabs a belly to back suplex. Some clotheslines set up a high crossbody but EC3 gets in a reverse DDT to cut things off. The 1%er finishes Jose at 5:13.
Rating: D+. It was slightly better than the first match but that might be due to the lack of Ruby Riott losing. EC3 is someone else who seems to check all of the boxes for greatness in WWE but for some reason (possibly backstage discipline), he’s stuck here as the high point of his week. Hopefully things turn around for him because he’s too good to pass up.
And from Smackdown to close things out.
Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Non-title, Rusev and Lana are at ringside and Owens and Woods have their own announcers’ table. Nakamura misses an early kick to the head and gets sent to the floor. Kofi teases a dive so Nakamura can get back in, where he takes Kofi down into a cross armbreaker. That’s switched into a cross armbreaker but Kofi stacks him up for two and the escape. Kofi’s top rope splash to the back gets two and a dropkick puts Nakamura on the floor again. A dive is cut off with a kick to the face though and Nakamura adds the knee drop off the apron.
Back from a break with Nakamura hitting more knees, followed by a kick to the head. They head outside with Nakamura kicking him out of the air for two as we go to New Day for more commentary. Kofi flips to his feet and goes to the middle rope but Nakamura hits the sliding German suplex to take him down again. Kinshasa is countered with the standing double stomp. Trouble in Paradise misses so Kofi settles for the SOS, drawing in Rusev for the DQ at 13:23.
Rating: B-. The ending wasn’t exactly in doubt as WWE isn’t about to push Nakamura into the World Title scene all of a sudden. Kofi not winning isn’t the biggest problem in the world as it’s basically a matter of time until he loses the title. Good match from two good workers, but what comes after is probably what really matters.
Post match Owens and Woods make the save with Woods being taken down. Owens cuts the nonsense and superkicks Kofi, setting up the big beatdown. He shouts that Kofi’s kids better have had a good time because Owens is coming for the title. Kofi tries to fire up but gets stomped down in the corner. Woods breaks up the apron powerbomb so Owens gives it to him instead to end the show. I know it seemed obvious from the beginning, but that’s because it was obvious from the beginning. Why stretch it out for another few weeks instead of just getting to the point already?
Overall Rating: C. The original wrestling was even worse than usual if you can believe that, but the rest of the show was good stuff with a nice focus on the recaps, which were all big stories instead of focusing on midcard material from one show over another. There is interesting stuff going on in WWE at the moment and this was a nice showcase.
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I saw it was Ruby v Dana and thought “Hey, Ruby’s getting a winning streak.”
Boy, was I wrong…