Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler
Christian had won a four-way on Raw to face Big E for the IC
strap on this episode of Main Event, but had picked up his career ending
concussion, so the other three from the match had this triple threat to see who
got the match. Nice little one-show angle. The problem this match suffers from
is that you’ve got two guys really laying in their blows, putting in a sense of
struggle when trying to escape holds, and it clashes with the wrestling style
of Ziggler, who’s offence looks milky in comparison and isn’t the kind of guy
who puts in realistic touches. Compare Del Rio punching at Sheamus in a failed
attempt to prevent the rolling senton with Ziggler hitting his “opponent holds
me in the air until I slap his back to let him know it’s time for a DDT” DDT.
With Del Rio being the only heel, he controls a good part of this match,
working over Ziggler and keeping Sheamus on the outside (I appreciated ADR
going back to make sure Sheamus couldn’t get back in, rather than Sheamus
mysteriously vanishing for ages as in most triple threats). Sheamus’s comeback
is great, he’s a terrific offensive wrestler and I love how he builds up
momentum, hitting more and more moves from the ropes so he’s like a big block
of muscle crashing into his opponents. The end sees a really hot sequence
between ADR and Sheamus, before Sheamus misses a Brogue Kick and ends up
stranded on the ropes. ADR hits the backstabber, but Ziggler comes in to hit
the Zig Zag on him at the same time. Even though Del Rio landed in exactly the
same way that he was going to, this earns the win for Ziggler. Dolph really was
a subtraction by addition to this match.
Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Emma & Eva Marie vs Layla,
Alicia Fox, Tamina, Summer Rae & Aksana
AJ Lee is on commentary, as this is just a brief bout to
showcase the entrants in the “AJ Lee vs the world” match at Mania. Being so
short, no-one really gets the chance to stand out, bar Layla looking awesome as
a stooging heel. She’s not afraid to look daft to put her opponent over, even
doing a goofy version of the Robot to counter Emma’s terrible dance. Eva Marie
becomes face-in-peril, and surprisingly working heat on the least popular and
least sympathetic member of the face team doesn’t generate much reaction from
the crowd. Naomi gets the hot tag and immediately hits a terrible rana on
Tamina. She improved SO much on her heel turn. It all breaks down, leaving Tamina
to nail a superkick on Naomi for the win.
Big E vs Dolph Ziggler
This match really doesn’t work, as both guys seem to have
trouble clicking. They’re in a strange boat where the bigger face IC champ is
taking on a smaller guy who wrestled a ten minute match earlier in the hour, so
they need to find a way to make sure Big E doesn’t look like a bully. Seemingly
the solution they choose is for Ziggler to sell zero exhaustion from his
earlier match, which has the unfortunate side effect of making Big E look weak
as he ends up selling more than Dolph in this match. There’s too many odd
moments here that don’t work: Big E jams his shoulder on the ring post on a
corner charge, but this doesn’t get worked over or sold again in the bout.
Ziggler’s offence is reduced to just dropkicks, whilst Big E keeps on hitting
clotheslines. It’s just not a very good match, though I liked the ending: Big E
throws Ziggler up in the air, causing him to splat on the mat and grabs him as
he bounces upwards to hit the Big Ending for the win.
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