Main Event – August 1, 2019: Even This Show Worked
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: August 1, 2019
Location: Verizon Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Renee Young
So things are back to normal around here this week and it’s just in time to start getting ready for the final push towards Summerslam. That rushed feeling has been a problem for the show ever since Extreme Rules ended and I don’t see it getting any better this week either. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke
Lacey throws her glove at Dana to start but Dana ducks the Woman’s Right and forearms her to the apron. That just earns her more forearms and a choke in the corner as Lacey gets serious. A clothesline gives Lacey two and the chinlock goes on. The slingshot Bronco Buster gets two and it’s right back to the chinlock. To mix it up a bit, Lacey even pulls the leg up for a pretty unique twist.
That’s good for two and yes it’s the chinlock going on again. Dana fights up and starts slapping away, followed by a bulldog. The cartwheel splash hits Lacey’s knees but Dana is fine enough to hit a sitout powerbomb out of the corner for two. Not that it matters as Lacey is back up with the Woman’s Right for the pin at 5:41.
Rating: C-. This was better than I was expecting as Brooke has been showing some fire as of late and certainly seems to be trying. The problem is that she’s still stuck on the main roster and needs time to develop something else. Lacey seems to have been dropped from the main event scene and after the disaster that was this summer, can you blame WWE whatsoever?
From Raw.
Gauntlet Match
The winner gets AJ Styles for the US Title at Summerslam. Rey Mysterio is in first and Cesaro is in second with the latter sweeping the legs to start. A headscissors into a rollup gives Rey two but Cesaro clotheslines his head off. Cesaro slaps on the chinlock for a bit until Rey winds up on Cesaro’s shoulders. They fall over the top with Cesaro landing on his feet with Rey still on his shoulders. A headscissors sends Cesaro into the apron and Rey hits the sliding splash.
Back in and a springboard hurricanrana but Cesaro is out of the way of the 619. That’s fine with Rey, who anklescissors Cesaro into the crowd as we take a break. Back with Cesaro in trouble as Rey was powerbombed into the post during the commercial (so the no action during breaks policy seems to be over, thank goodness). Cesaro’s camel clutch doesn’t last long as he puts Rey on top for a top rope seated senton. A kick to the head gives Rey two but Cesaro uppercuts him out of the air for two of his own.
The running big boot gets two but Rey sends him into the corner again. They fight on top with Rey managing a super sitout bulldog. The top rope splash finishes Cesaro at 11:13. Sami Zayn is in third, misses a big boot, and gets rolled up for the pin at 11:53. Andrade is in fourth and we take another break.
Back again with Rey not being able to hit a flying mare so he grabs a headlock instead. That goes nowhere so they chop it out with Andrade hitting Three Amigos into the double moonsault for one. Rey’s enziguri looks to set up the 619 but Andrade reverses into a spinning Rock Bottom backbreaker. The hammerlock DDT finishes Mysterio at 21:57. Post fall Andrade rips Rey’s mask open and we see most of his face in a big surprise. Ricochet is in fifth to make the save and we take another break.
Back with Ricochet flipping over Andrade and nailing a dropkick to put Andrade on the floor. Zelina Vega breaks up the dive though and Andrade sends Ricochet into the barricade. Back in and Ricochet gets hiptossed into the corner for a painful looking crash. The double knees in the corner give Andrade two but the hammerlock DDT is broken up. Ricochet drops him on his head with a reverse hurricanrana and it’s the 630 to send Ricochet to Summerslam at 32:27.
Rating: C+. This was your usual gauntlet match, though they did give most of the falls some extra time to make it a little easier to watch. Ricochet winning was the logical move and it’s good to see him back in the ring after the elbow deal. At the same time, it was rather nice to not have every fall be the space between commercials. The whole no action between the breaks deal was a bad solution to a problem that didn’t need to be solved.
From Smackdown.
It’s time for the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler bringing out Trish Stratus as his guest. Lawler talks about Raw Reunion and everyone wanting to have one last match. He asks if Trish ever has that feeling and we get a ONE MORE MATCH chant. Trish says she can never get rid of that itch but she’s a mom now and has to do those kinds of things. Cue Charlotte to say you can’t have King’s Court without a queen, but she has a big question: how is she not on Summerslam yet?
Charlotte congratulates Trish on being a mom and, after having Lawler hold the ropes open for her, calls it an excuse. Charlotte makes the challenge for Summerslam but Trish doesn’t say anything. That’s fine, as Charlotte knows Trish can’t hang with the queen anyway. Charlotte tells her to get out of the ring so Trish calls her a b**** (it’s a WWE women’s feud so you knew that was coming).
Trish talks about how there would be no throne for Charlotte without the trailblazers like Trish, Lita, Ivory, Beth Phoenix and others. To be the woman you have to beat the woman so the match is on. Good, as Charlotte is too big for the title again anyway and would just take away Bayley’s momentum otherwise.
From Smackdown.
We IMMEDIATELY cut to the back with Roman Reigns walking up to announce his Summerslam challenge…..and then someone drives what looks like a forklift to knock a piece of set and a bunch of anvil cases onto Reigns. The camera goes haywire and everyone screams for help, but Reigns is ok and on his feet. The medics want to check on Reigns but he tells them to back off. We don’t see who was behind it (the fans chanting JOE is a likely clue) as Reigns walks off to end the show.
From Smackdown again.
Randy Orton talks about Kofi Kingston saying this had all started in 2009 so let’s talk about 2009. By then, Orton had won World Titles and main evented Wrestlemania so all he had to do was be Randy Orton. Kofi didn’t have that luxury so he developed the personality of being the fun guy who danced a lot. That wasn’t cool with Orton so he RKO’ed him and called him stupid, which we see in clips. If you tick Orton off, you go back to the bottom of the ladder.
We jump ahead to 2019 and Ali is the new Kofi Kingston. Orton injured Ali to take him out of the Elimination Chamber and Kofi got the spot instead. There is no Kofi Mania without Orton so Kofi wants to prove himself. That’s stupid, stupid, stupid and the title reign is ending with an RKO. As has been the case with everything in this feud, this was well done and made me want to see the match.
Summerslam rundown.
Lucha House Party vs. Robert Roode/Eric Young/EC3
Renee brings up the Main Event Musclemen name but says Cesaro was kicked out of the team for being a weak link. Roode headlocks Kalisto to start but Kalisto rolls away and hits the kick to the head. Young gets headscissored into Roode and the House Party’s triple flips lets them pose.
We take a break and come back with Dorado knocking EC3 off the top and hitting a high crossbody. The hot tag brings in Metalik to take over and the rope walk dropkick gets two. There’s the double Golden Rewind to Roode and Young, setting up the triple dives to the floor. Back in and Metalik kicks Roode in the head, only to get caught in the Glorious DDT for the pin at 7:05.
Rating: C-. It was fun at times but this is the kind of thing that you’re going to get on these shows. The match doesn’t mean anything and none of these people are going anywhere anytime soon. That being said, it makes sense to have some extra people on the show instead of just doing a pair of singles matches every week. Let them get in the ring and do a little something if they can.
From Raw.
Post match Lesnar destroys Rollins with suplexes and an F5 into the post. Lesnar chairs him down and has a seat to laugh at Rollins. That’s not it though as Lesnar hits a pair of F5’s onto the open chair. Rollins starts coughing up blood so Lesnar loads up a third. Even Heyman tells Lesnar to stop as Brock hits the third F5 onto the chair. That’s enough for Rollins to go out on a stretcher. Remember in the build to Wrestlemania when Lesnar hit a bunch of F5’s and Rollins came into the match banged up? No reason for asking.
Post break Rollins is taken to the ambulance as Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch look on. The OC and Samoa Joe come up and gets in a fight with the Usos coming in to get beaten down as well. Rollins leaves in the ambulance, though this time without Lynch to make sure that it’s a little different. Hang on though as Brock blocks the ambulance from leaving and pulls Rollins out to beat him up even more. A release F5 onto the stretcher makes Rollins scream, though it looked awesome.
Overall Rating: C+. See, now this is how Main Event should be. They had a good look at both Raw and Smackdown instead of just doing one show with a single clip from the other. What’s the point in having a recap show if you only recap half of what mattered in the week? This was a lot better than usual and the show flew by as always, but this time it had a bit more of a purpose.
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