WWE Main Event 12/08/2014

Seth Rollins vs Kofi Kingston

Two exceptionally inconsistent wrestlers here, but the stars align and this ends up being a decent match. The big problems Rollins has always had is that he wrestles like a face, but he looks and sounds like a whiny brat heel. Here, he’s a shit to poor Kofi, trash-talking him in the corner, stood on his back and forcing Kofi to look at his MITB briefcase. There’s a nice bit where he stops and smirks at the “You sold out” chants, and this brief pause gives Kingston recovery time to duck a clothesline and hit a neat springboard dropkick and a big dive to the floor. Seth works a brief heat on Kofi after slamming him into the barriers, but Kofi takes over when he evades a corner splash, hitting a pendulum kick as Seth leaps into the corner. Kingston is kept looking really strong, getting nearfalls from a corner crossbody and the SOS, to the extent that I thought he might win. He doesn’t, as Rollins stops a superplex attempt by sunset flipping into a running corner bomb, and the Kerb Stomp gets three.

The Usos vs Rybaxel vs Sheamus & Rob Van Dam

This is for the Usos tag title, and the Sheamus/RVD team really stands out as “We had nothing for these guys this week”. I’m not sure that the team added anything to the standard good Usos/Rybaxel match, but it did add an interesting riff on the psychology. As the heels, Rybaxel end up working a heat sequence, in this case on Sheamus when Ryback catches a Brogue Kick into a powerbomb. To stop anyone tagging in, Rybaxel can’t even cut the ring in half, they basically have to contain Sheamus to their quarter of the ring, and they manage to do this convincingly, with Axel doing this awesome little scrabble for purchase, using momentum to roll Sheamus away from the hot tag. Impressive stuff. In the end, RVD gets the hot tag and goes through the greatest hits. There is a nice rolling senton/rolling thunder spot by Sheamus and RVD, but aside from that Van Dam isn’t cracking out the new stuff. The Usos are slightly marginalised, but Jimmy gets to light up Ryback with a vicious sounding series of chops and Jey hits a big dive to the floor. Neat ending sees RVD push Axel off the top and nail him with the Five Star, but Jimmy Uso had already blind tagged Axel, and he followed RVD with his own top rope splash, getting the pinfall on Van Dam. Overall, good stuff.

WWE Main Event 29/07/2014

Rybaxel vs the Usos

Starting to feel like Rybaxel are one of those great lost teams, really been enjoying their Main Event run. Good match here, really enjoyed the opening with Jimmy laying into Ryback with meaty chops. Meaty enough that you buy them doing damage to a man the size of Ryback. The heat gets worked on Jey, with Rybaxel simultaneously dropping these jackhammer-like kneedrops. Liked Ryback stopping a comeback by just grabbing Jey and hitting a huge spinebuster. Jimmy gets the hot tag after Ryback misses a top rope elbow, landing HARD. Jimmy runs riot, surviving a perfectplex to hit a huge dive on Ryback, and Jey hits Axel with a splash for three.

Slater Gator vs Zack Ryder & Tyson Kidd

Slater bumps like a madman in the early going of this one, going up high on a flapjack, taking a big spill to the floor then eating a Kidd cannonball from the apron. There’s brief heat worked on Ryder, before Kidd is tagged back in with some nice fire. Kidd hits a nice kick combo on Slater, then heads up top. However, Titus hurls Ryder into the ringside barricade and this allows Slater time to hit a top rope powerslam on Kidd for the win. Short, but fun little bout.

Dean Ambrose vs Alberto Del Rio

How good did Dean Ambrose used to be? He’s so fired up here, actually showing some aggression. He’s almost like a one man swarm, moving quickly and never giving Del Rio a chance to rest. He misses a corner charge, however, and Del Rio hits a leaping enzuigiri from the floor to send Dean’s head into the ringpost. Really nice spot. Ambrose is almost feral here, blocking a top rope back suplex by clawing at Del Rio’s face, and trying to block holds by scrabbling at his hands. Love the sequence where Del Rio ends up taking the Fuerza bump and Ambrose quickly follows with a suicide dive. Del Rio evades the rebound lariat and hits a fast German suplex in another nice spot. Lame ending sees Rollins come out for the DQ, but this was a surprisingly hot match. Really good stuff.

WWE Main Event 17/06/2014

Rusev vs Santino Marella

As good as 30 second squash as you’ll get. Rusev blocks a Santino kick, hurting Santino’s leg, then hits a jumping kick and the Accolade to win

Paige vs Naomi

Face vs face match, with Paige only recently winning the Divas title. This wasn’t very good, both ladies looked pretty clunky in the ring, like they weren’t quite sure what the other was going to do. There were a few nice bits, such as Paige cutting off a corner bulldog with a clothesline and a really good nearfall as Paige rolls through a top rope crossbody. It’s just that every time they have to exchange a hold, it looks like they’re trying to remember what comes next but are failing to do so. Naomi gets the surprise win with an inverted DDT.

Sheamus & the Usos vs the Wyatt Family

This was pretty good, but I kinda expected better from the talents involved. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it – it’s genuinely good all the way through – it just never heats up to quite the levels you’d expect. The best bits, as you’d expect, are when Sheamus and Luke Harper mix it up. They exchange some nice looking shots, with a mix of head shots and body blows. The faces control with some quick tags until Harper hits a throat thrust on Jey Uso. I like that, as the head of the family, Wyatt doesn’t get in the ring until they’ve got full control of one of their opponents. The heat on Jey is pretty fun, with a few hope spots sprinkled in. Loved him fighting out of the Wyatt’s corner, but then running directly into a Harper Michinoku Driver. The hot tag gets made only after Rowan misses a few moves, and Sheamus and Jimmy Uso both get to run wild off the hot tag. The end is pretty great, as Jey hits a big dive to the outside on Rowan, but Bray intercepts Jimmy as he goes to dive on Harper, fluidly hitting him with Sister Abigail for the win. As I said, nothing bad about it, just that it’s good rather than great.

WWE Main Event 27/05/2014

Cody Rhodes vs Curtis Axel

Pretty much the definition of a solid little match. Axel looks good here, takes his usual flip bump onto his head when Rhodes kicks his leg out, and has some nice intensity on offence. Axel never does anything fancy, but what he does looks good. Rhodes’s offence is a bit less impressive – he does both Goldust’s drop down punch and Bob Holly’s abdomen kick, but does it worse than both. Nice looking moonsault press though. Ryback distracts Rhodes, allowing Axel to hit a chopblock and roll up Cody to win.

R-Truth vs Damien Sandow

Sandow comes to the ring rapping, which is very much not hilarious. This is a lot shorter than the match they had on the previous Main Event, which is good, and this time they manage to make a victory roll look better. Sandow yelling “Put your hands in the air” before the Elbow of Disdain raised a smile, but Truth hits the Lie Detector from nowhere to win, and it looks a little bit shit. Not great.

Brie Bella vs Natalya

Well this was better than expected. The idea of a match starting with Brie Bella and Natalya working the mat sounds terrible, but it actually looked pretty good. I mean, it definitely felt like Natalya was walking Brie though it, but it was enjoyable. Brie’s running knees in the ropes looked a bit pony, but Natalya swiftly reverses a single leg crab to the sharpshooter and this ended up alright. Very short, but surprisingly fun.

The Usos vs Erick Rowan & Luke Harper

Less surprisingly, this is also a treat. Love the Usos using hit and run tactics against Rowan, the slower, less intelligent member of the opposing team. With Harper, they seem like they need to be more proactive in attack, knowing that he’ll be able to match them for pace (a dropkick out of nowhere catching Jimmy Uso proves that early doors), but against Rowan they stick and move. Of course, when Rowan does get them, it seems more devastating, with a fallaway slam sending Jey all the way outside the ring. Jey becomes FIP, which is a fun sequence of Wyatt offence, and things break down on the hot tag with all four guys in. A double dive by the Usos looks great, and I dug the ending where Jimmy looks to have Harper down and goes up top, but gets briefly distracted by Rowan slamming his brother into the ringpost. Though Jimmy is able to leap over a now-standing Harper, he walks right into a discus lariat for the win. Really good main event.

WWE Main Event 21/04/2014

Proper good episode of Main Event. Four matches, all worth a watch. Good use of an hour.

Big E vs Alberto Del Rio

Pretty decent little sprint here. Both move pretty quickly to start, with Del Rio showing a vicious side as he tries to wear down the bigger man. Loved Del Rio headbutting his way out of a belly-to-belly attempt, followed by a vicious kick to the head. Also loved a really nice sequence where Alberto escaped the Big Ending, shoved Big E into the corner and immediately followed with an enzuigiri. Big E makes a comeback and, in a rather slick sequence, catches Del Rio on a tornado DDT attempt and hoists him onto his shoulder for the Big Ending. Dug this.

El Torito vs Hornswoggle

The commentary team only play this for comedy, which is a shame, as the match is pretty fun. El Torito in particular is pretty good on the mat, tying Hornwoggle up in a leglock. Torito looked great with a nice top rope crossbody, but Hornwoggle had some surprisingly nice bits too. Loved his vicious running kick to the skull. Torito goes for a moonsault, but is distracted by Heath Slater, causing him to miss and letting Hornswoggle hit the Tadpole Splash to win. Fun stuff.

Sheamus vs Titus O’Neill

This was pretty boss. Considering their respective place on the card at the time, Sheamus was especially giving to make Titus look like a beast. Right away, Sheamus takes a big pinball bump out of the ring to put over O’Neill’s strength. Loved how these two guys were both happy to lay in the blows, with the body shots from both making a lovely thwacking sound. Sheamus takes a big bump, as he tries to hit the slingshot shoulderblock into the ring, but meets a big forearm and tumbles to the floor. Really nice show of strength as Titus catches a top rope crossbody to hit a fallaway slam, which looked great. Even the end helped keep Titus strong, as he spends too long shit-talking Sheamus, holding him by the face, only to meet a quick headbutt and a Brogue Kick for the win. This basically ruled.

Ryback vs Jimmy Uso

Ryback and Jimmy also seem happy to lay in the blows on this match, so we’ve got quite a fun episode of Main Event this week. Really enjoyed Uso going for a big out of control dive early, knowing he’s got to take it to the Big Guy early. It’s slightly disappointing that we go to a break with Ryback out on the floor, and return to find Uso in the same position, takes away from the match a bit. Ryback’s control is pretty standard, punctuated with some really nice bits. Loved his massive spinebuster and the meathook clothesline always looks devastating. Uso kickstarting his comeback by powering out of a Ryback powerbomb attempt feels unlikely. The end sees Ryback hit the Shellshock after Curtis Axel distracts Uso, and this was a perfectly fine match.

WWE Main Event 04/03/2014

Whether it's due to the (then) recent launch of the Network or the build to Wrestlemania, this episode of Main Event is positively star packed. But does having bigger names result in better matches?

Daniel Bryan vs Kane

Quite a big match for Main Event. Surprisingly good match here, best Kane match I’ve seen in a long time. Of course, being in there with Bryan helps, but it looks like Kane has upped his game knowing he’s in the ring with someone who’ll go all out. First indicator is when he whips Bryan to the buckle near the start, and immediately follows with a big clothesline. Just a noticeable burst of speed I don’t associate with Kane. Bryan’s comeback sees him work over the knee of Kane, who sells it superbly even on offence. It also adds an interesting element to their interactions with the size difference, as it gives Bryan a weak spot to concentrate on and an easy focal point for his comebacks. At the same time, one shot from Kane is enough to take Bryan down, so both are vulnerable even when on offence. Bryan goes on a kick blitz that sees Kane positively wilt. Bryan lands on the back of his head following a failed top rope rana, which is a bit cringeworthy knowing what we do now. Kane tries a chokeslam, but Bryan hoists himself over for a sunset flip for the victory. Pleasant surprise.

Nikki Bella vs Alicia Fox

Also interesting to see Nikki slumming it on the C-show. Fox is on point throughout the match, hurling herself with gusto into Nikki’s slightly weak offence. Nikki got to be really good as a heel later this year, but as a face she’s a bit too lightweight. Not as much fun as the Nikki Bella who beasts women with massive forearm shots to the face. Fox is great on offence – her Northern Lights suplex is always terrific, and I liked her choking Nikki over the ropes whilst dismissively slapping her head. Nikki makes an uninspired comeback and hits the Rack Attack from nowhere for the win.

The Usos vs Los Matadores

This is the Usos first title defence, and is due to be against the New Age Outlaws, but the NAO claim injury and are replaced by Fernando and Diego. To be honest, it most likely resulted in a better match. A really fluid and fun opening ends with a dive series, before the matadors take control with a nice dropkick/legsweep combo. Los Matadores continue to work over the isolated Uso and, barring a sloppy two-man monkey flip, incorporate a nice mix of double teams. Fernando gets a real shine spot, hitting a springboard twisting Swanton and landing on his feet when an Uso avoided the second. The Usos helpfully don’t fill this match with a thousand superkicks, so it’s acceptable when they hit just the one and win the match with a top rope splash. Fun bout.