The Big Takeaway: Dana Brooke defeated Sarah Logan in a rematch from last week where Brooke had suffered a nasty facial injury. The main event saw the random team of EC3, Cesaro & Robert Roode see off the Lucha House Party in under three minutes.
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Dana Brooke defeated Sarah Logan (6:13)
Whether this show will reap any of the benefits of Paul Heyman becoming executive director on the Raw side of things remains to be seen.
The fact WWE acknowledged last week at all here is certainly a positive. Quite rightly, they did a rematch and made a much better go of it. Brooke was smiling and fired up throughout and they kept doing spots where she would get her face bashed.
The finish saw Logan with Brooke on the apron again. She went for the running knee that caused the stoppage from last week, but Brooke had it scouted. Brooke countered and then landed a Swanton Bomb from the top rope for the win.
Cesaro, EC3 & Robert Roode defeated The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) (2:40)
This, however, was a negative. If this show does see any changes, it would certainly benefit if they didn’t throw together arbitrary tag matches where the entrance times out-strip the running time of the match.
The first minute was EC3 getting dominated by the pace and tenacity of the Lucha House Party — before the ring filled and the LHP cleared it, posing in unison. And then we went to a break. Yes, a commercial break, in a three-minute match.
I can also confirm that wrestling took place during the commercials.
The last minute was everyone hitting their finishers but failing to get the pinfall. The finish was Cesaro hitting a European uppercut on Metalik as he came off the top rope. As usual, the timing looked fantastic.
Sullivan defeated Kalisto, Metalik & Dorado by disqualification at Super ShowDown, with The Lucha House Party getting disqualified when they were all in the ring and wouldn’t stop attacking Sullivan. As The Lucha House Party went to leave after the match, Sullivan attacked Kalisto, Metalik & Dorado.
The SAP Center in San Jose, California is hosting tonight’s Raw. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins will defend their Raw Tag Team titles against The Revival and The Usos in a triple threat match, United States Champion Samoa Joe will appear on Miz TV, and Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre will celebrate Shane’s win against Roman Reigns from Super ShowDown.
Most of tonight’s Raw is going against game five of the Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors NBA Finals series, with the basketball game starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The Raptors are leading three games to one in the best-of-seven series.
Lars Sullivan’s main roster in-ring debut is set for Saudi Arabia.
On tonight’s SmackDown, WWE announced that Sullivan will face The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) in a three-on-one handicap match at Super ShowDown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, June 7. The event is taking place at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and will air live on the WWE Network starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Sullivan has been feuding with the Lucha House Party and has had segments where he’s brawled with and attacked them, but this will be his first official match on the main roster.
WWE put out a statement earlier this month announcing that Sullivan would be fined $100,000 for racist, homophobic, and other offensive posts he had made on Bodybuilding.com’s forum in his past. It was also noted that Sullivan would be required to complete sensitivity training. In his own statement, Sullivan apologized for the posts and said they don’t reflect who he is today.
Here’s the updated card for Super ShowDown:
Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Baron Corbin
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Dolph Ziggler
Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon
Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor (as his Demon character) defending against Andrade
Lars Sullivan vs. The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) in a three-on-one handicap match
• Next week’s main event: Buddy Murphy & Tony Nese vs. Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander
• The program between Lucha House Party and TJP, Maria & Mike Kanellis will continue into next week after Mike Kanellis’ post-match chair shot angle.
Show Recap —
The episode kicked off with a video package of the Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali Cruiserweight title match from Survivor Series.
Back at the Staples Center, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy stood on top of the entrance ramp and cut a promo on the crowd and said he doesn’t need any of their approval because this is “his” 205 Live.
Tony Nese followed Murphy out onto the ramp. Nese had the next match against Noam Dar.
Tony Nese defeated Noam Dar
They played a pre-taped “selfie” promo from Dar. He claimed he is going to “make some noise” in the cruiserweight division and the announce team repeated that, so it sounds like it could become a marketing term for Dar for now.
Nese bullied Dar for a bit. Nigel McGuinness made a Volk Han reference. After Dar did his own version of the Tetsuya Naito Tranquilo taunt, he did a spinning backslide.
Nese did a gutbuster on the floor. He got booed pretty loudly, and it followed with a smattering of cheers down in front for Dar.
Murphy yelled at the announce team and claimed that he and Nese “are the division.”
Nese missed a crossbody block and almost slid out of the ring. Dar made a comeback that consisted of forearms and a Northern Lights suplex.
Dar made a few attempts at using the guillotine choke, which leads me to question why his gimmick is the “Scottish Supernova” at all. Isn’t that, like, the opposite of that?
Murphy distracted Dar towards the end of the match. Nese took advantage and German suplexed Dar into the corner turnbuckle, then used the Running Nese for the win.
Murphy jumped into the ring to celebrate with Nese. He stomped on Dar and booted him from the apron to the floor.
Technically, there was nothing wrong with this match. It was fine. What I did notice from the announce team was that Murphy was the story tonight, and that the two in the ring were the backdrop.
Next up was another selfie promo from Mustafa Ali. He said he didn’t want to forget the pain Murphy gave him at Survivor Series and that he should really thank Murphy for the pain.
The next segment was with Drake Maverick and a referee. Maverick made it clear that he did not want any “shenanigans” during the main event of TJP vs. Gran Metallik, regardless of anything Maria Kanellis said the week prior.
Cedric Alexander swung by and he and Maverick shook hands. Maverick said he had always wanted to see a match between the team of Alexander & Ali against Murphy & Nese. They made it the main event for next week’s 205 Live.
Akira Tozawa & Brian Kendrick defeated an enhancement team
Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher were interviewed backstage before the match. Gulak said if Kendrick and Tozawa had the gall to challenge them again, they’d tap out.
Tozawa did a Shining Wizard while howling, then he and Kendrick did a few double-team moves. Tozawa got the pin after a Sliced Bread Number Two from Kendrick followed by a diving senton.
The story between these guys is that Tozawa is happy-go-lucky and Kendrick is a stick in the mud, sort of like a diet Team Hell No.
Dasha Fuentes saw Murphy and Nese walking together backstage. She claimed she’d heard that next week’s tag match between Murphy & Nese vs. Ali & Alexander was “already being called the biggest tag team match in 205 Live history.” Murphy cut a promo and then walked away with Nese.
Gran Metalik defeated TJP
They showed a video from an episode three weeks ago where TJP attacked Metalik after the latter’s match.
TJP came out with Maria & Mike Kanellis. The guys wore Lucha House Party’s masks and taunted the group on the ramp, which moments later led to a pull-apart in the aisle. Maverick came out and cleared everyone out so that the match could start. No one was allowed at ringside for this match.
Metalik did a tope con giro and a springboard splash into the ring right after the bell.
TJP did an interesting variation on the sharpshooter, then did a plancha to Metalik onto the floor.
The crowd died in the middle of this. They were somewhat hot during the pull-apart beforehand, but didn’t react much when TJP was on the offensive, which lasted much of the match itself.
Metalik did an absolutely insane diving frankensteiner from the ring to the floor, Dragon Lee style, just more seamless looking. Compared to the rest of the submission wrestlers on the scene today, TJP’s submission offense looks haphazard and phony.
TJP stole a piñata from Lucha House Party and went to hit Metalik with it. TJP went for a standing frankensteiner, but Metalik rolled through into a sunset flip pin for the victory.
Gran Metalik was, like always, impressive. The match was fine, but with piñatas and extra masks as the stakes there wasn’t much urgency.
Maria Kanellis came out with a mic and was screaming “How could you?! I have a family!” at Maverick. It was a distraction so that Mike Kanellis could attack Lucha House Party from behind with a chair.
Maria’s screaming was notably intense. The show ended with the Lucha House Party in the ring, beaten, while the Kanellis’ and TJP celebrated their sneak attack.
As WWE wrapped up four straight days at the Staples Center, three matches were taped for 205 Live prior to tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
– Tony Nese defeated Noam Dar
Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy cut a promo about defeating Mustafa Ali at Survivor Series. Nese won after Murphy distracted Dar.
– Akira Tozawa & Brian Kendrick defeated an enhancement team
Though there was some miscommunication between them during their loss to Drew Gulak & Jack Gallagher last week, Tozawa & Kendrick got the win here. Their opponents were Fidel Bravo & Richie Slade.
– Gran Metalik defeated TJP
This was announced last week when Maria Kanellis appeared on the video screen after Kalisto & Lince Dorado defeated an enhancement team, with Maria saying Mike Kanellis and TJP have unfinished business with The Lucha House Party.
After Metalik defeated TJP, Maria distracted The Lucha House Party and Mike attacked them.
The episode will premiere on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time this Wednesday (November 21).
The Lucha House Party which consists of Kalisto, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik made their debut as a group tonight on Raw. The team of Dorado and Kalisto defeated the Revival, with Kalisto scoring the win with the Salida del Sol on Scott Dawson. Announcers never explained why Lucha House Party were on Raw or what their status is on 205 Live.
This isn’t the first time that 205 Live talent have found a spot on the Raw roster. General Manager Drake Maverick has been managing the Authors of Pain since September, while Lio Rush has been managing Bobby Lashley. Both still appear on 205 Live regularly.
All three members of the Lucha House Party were part of the inaugural 205 Live roster when the show started back in the fall of 2016. Kalisto has also been part of the main roster in the past, winning the United States championship on two occasions.
The Big Takeaway: Gran Metalik beat Tony Nese after a beautiful finishing combination. The Revival then stole a win against Heath Slater & Rhyno to close the show.
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Gran Metalik defeated Tony Nese (5:43)
Nese hasn’t had too much luck of late. In fact, he has only clocked up three singles wins since August of last year. His opponent this week was Gran Metalik, who rarely loses on Main Event as of late.
Nese took much of the early going, stopping to posture to the crowd at any opportunity. His physique is pretty remarkable, and he made throwing Metalik around look easy here.
They built to an excellent-looking finish where Nese was going for a superplex and had Metalik on the second rope in the corner. Metalik countered by crotching Nese and then did a rope-walk hurricanrana off the top rope. Metalik then pounced on Nese to hoist him up for the Metalik Driver for the win.
The Revival defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (4:14)
It had been Slater and Rhyno who dealt Dash Wilder many of his singles losses last year when Scott Dawson was out injured. But after beating Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on Monday Night Raw the previous week, The Revival came back to Main Event to notch up another win against some old foes.
Strangely, the heels worked out of what would be considered the traditional babyface corner at the top left of the hard cam screen, but there was no doubt that The Revival were the heels here. Slater and Rhyno took the opening minutes, getting the crowd on their side with Rhyno getting a few ‘EC-Dub’ chants from the expectant pre-Raw crowd.
After the break, Slater had the heat, taking out both Revival men and nailing Wilder with a running high knee and following it up with a neckbreaker. Wilder could only stop the three count by putting his leg on the bottom rope.
After two more near falls from Slater on Wilder, Dawson took out Rhyno to stop the tag and they teased a ref bump where Slater had to go out of his way to avoid colliding with the ref. This enabled The Revival to get the upper hand and hit the Shatter Machine for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Curt Hawkins added yet another loss to his streak, this time against Goldust, and Gran Metalik & Kalisto defeated TJP & Jack Gallagher in under three minutes.
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Goldust defeated Curt Hawkins (4:29)
And so it continues. Curt Hawkins went 0-164 here, is now 0-165, and following Main Event went on to have a backstage segment after Raw where the Brooklyn Brawler told him not to give up and to believe in himself. We may be going somewhere with this streak, but exactly where is not yet clear.
Goldust took the win out of nothing, really. The match was back and forth, with Hawkins looking the more likely of the two to come out on top. They did a lot of comedy early on, with Hawkins even laying down in the middle of the ring asking to be pinned. Of course, it was a ruse.
The finish started when Hawkins used a side Russian leg sweep and slapped on a rest hold. When Goldust worked his way out, he dropped to his knees, struck Hawkins, and rolled him up for the win. Hawkins was in disbelief.
Gran Metalik & Kalisto defeated TJP & Jack Gallagher (2:43)
They didn’t give this one long at all in front of this expectant pre-Raw 25th anniversary show crowd. Metalik has had TJP’s number over the last few weeks on 205 Live, and the same was true here as the pair started things off together.
After taking two arm whips, TJP hobbled as quickly as he could to make the tag to Gallagher. Gallagher slowed things down, crotching Metalik on the top turnbuckle as we went to a break.
We returned to both men down, and they went straight to the hot tag and the finish. Kalisto took care of Gallagher, tossing him over the top rope and hitting him with a springboard seated senton. And Metalik finished off TJP with a rope-walk elbow drop and the Metalik Driver in the middle of the ring.
The Big Takeaway: Curt Hawkins’ losing streak continued to rise with a loss against Rhyno, and the trend of short cruiserweight tag matches headlining the show persisted with Gran Metalik & Akira Tozawa dispensing with Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher in less than four minutes.
In the city that is home to the currently winless Cleveland Browns, Curt Hawkins added yet another loss to his ridiculous total. Although this took the streak to 0-142, at the time of this writing, Hawkins is now 0-144.
Rhyno mowed down Hawkins in the first few minutes, taking stiff chops in every corner of the ring. Finally, Hawkins reversed a whip to the corner and waffled Rhyno with a lariat and then applied a rest hold. Hawkins took Rhyno outside and roughed him up, nailing him back-faced into the ring apron.
Rhyno got the advantage with a huge back body drop and started to fire up with clotheslines and belly-to-bellys. The finish saw Rhyno catch Hawkins and nail him with the spinebuster for the win.
Gran Metalik & Akira Tozawa defeated Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher (3:20)
Main Event was again left with a tag team bout that was 100 mph and lamentably too short. The standout performer was Gran Metalik, who was exceptional here — moving around with such pace and agility.
Tozawa was all over Gallagher in the early going and Metalik then overwhelmed Kendrick. Gallagher distracted him to break up the flow of the match so that Kendrick could come off the second rope with an inverted atomic drop on Metalik.
Metalik worked his way out of trouble, hitting Gallagher with the Metalik Driver but missing the blind tag that Kendrick had made. The ring filled, and Tozawa sent Kendrick outside so that he and Metalik could hit stereo suicide dives on the heels. Metalik then finished Kendrick off with a rope-walk top rope elbow drop.
Last night’s 205 Live was a special Halloween-themed episode that took place in Norfolk, Virginia.
The show opened with a recap of the Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa feud that started when Gulak began his transformation into a wrestling moralist, complete with a “No Chants” sign, while promising to save the division from “unnecessary top-rope dives.”
Gulak hammered on Tozawa two weeks ago, beating him with his sign, but last week Tozawa got him back, doing a run-in after his match with Gran Metalik.
This brought us to our first match of the night.
Akira Tozawa defeated Drew Gulak
Gulak grabbed the microphone and screamed “My name is Drew Gulak and where my guls at?” He then mocked Tozawa’s “Ah, Ah, Ah” chant, saying he would put an end to it once and for all. He then welcomed the crowd into his “Drewtopia,” and offered a plan for “a better Halloween,” via a PowerPoint presentation.
Slide number one: No Candy. “Instead, try a sweet potato, they are high in potassium,” Gulak said.
Slide number two: No Trick or Treating. “Your little ones get together and say ‘trick or treat.’ They might as well be chanting. And there is nothing worse than chanting!” Gulak said.
At slide number three, Tozawa ran out to start the match.
Tozawa, who has some great facials, quickly wrapped Gulak up in a leg scissors and took control of the match with kicks, punches, and stomps to the chest in the corner. Gulak played his heel role well, rolling out of the ring to buy time. Gulak crept back in and snuck in a boot to the stomach, followed by a reverse knife edge chop to take back control of the match briefly.
Tozawa countered with a stiff elbow, but Gulak regained the advantage after an Irish whip reversal. Gulak hammered him with elbows and a clothesline in the corner. Tozawa reversed the action with a standing hurricanrana and then a belly-to-back suplex.
Gulak rolled out of the ring and Tozawa hit an amazing headbutt after diving through the ropes.
Tozawa battered him inside the ring some more and then hit his back splash off the top rope to get the victory.
Next we got a promo package and an interview with Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander, where they seemed to be headed toward an Alexander turn. Next was footage from Raw, where Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore beat up on Kalisto, which led to Raw GM Kurt Angle booking a Survivor Series title match between Amore and Kalisto.
Rich Swann (w/ Cedric Alexander) defeated Brian Kendrick (w/ Jack Gallagher)
Alexander and Swann both came to the ring dressed as clowns, with Doink the Clown’s music playing.
Swann’s red clown nose fell off just as the match was about to start. The two tried to lock up in a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, but Swann was wearing giant clown gloves, turning the spot into comedy. Swann’s rainbow-colored wig fell off and he put it back on. The wig fell off again, as the match degenerated into one clown spot after another. When Kendrick tried to whip Swann into the ropes, Swann’s glove fell off and Kendrick was frustrated.
Kendrick became increasingly frustrated, which led to him making mistakes. Swann showed off his agility in the match, demonstrating a high leapfrog, then a big dropkick. Kendrick threw Swann outside of the ring. Gallagher looked like he was going to hit Swann with his umbrella, but Alexander walked over and backed him off.
Kendrick controlled the match when Swann entered the ring again, but Swann rallied, showcasing some impressive aerial moves, including a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
He hit a flip over the top rope to the outside on Kendrick. Swann then hit a twisted splash off the middle rope for the win. Gallagher tried to interfere, but he was knocked off the apron by Alexander. A good match, despite the clown comedy at the beginning.
Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, and Gran Metalik in a Fright Night fatal four-way match
Daivari looks to have taken over Austin Aries’ attire. He cut a promo about joining forces with Amore and then started speaking in Persian before he was interrupted by Ali, who was throwing out candy to the audience members.
Ali spent the first part of the match giving his opponents candy. Nese refused, saying “I don’t eat candy.” He slapped the candy out of Ali’s hand as the match started. Pumpkins were set up on the ring apron.
Ali and Metalik put on an acrobatic clinic that, for a moment, resembled Ricochet and Will Ospreay, but then it was broken up by Nese and Daivari.
Daivari eventually found a bowl of candy on a table at ringside. Fishing through it, he discovered a Gran Metalik mask. Daivari put the mask on and then mocked Metalik by doing his cartwheel and rolling moves. Ali broke it up.
In a bizarre spot, Ali removed Daivari’s mask and then put it on a ringside skeleton. He threw the masked skeleton on Daivari, setting up Metalik to hit a dropkick on the skeleton and Daivari.
At ringside were candy corn kendo sticks. Daivari and Ali grabbed them and started to unload on Ali. Nese then started throwing pumpkins at Ali from a sit-up position.
The match ended with Daivari falling into a bucket of apples, Ali shoving a Twix bar into the mouth of Nese, and pumpkins flying everywhere. Nese found a black bag under the ring that during the 1990s hardcore era would have been filled with thumbtacks. On Halloween in 2017, it was filled with candy corn. Nese dumped the candy corn on the table and attempted a powerbomb, only to have it reversed into a back body drop by Metalik through the table.
Ali eventually won the match after he found a broom, put it through his legs, and dove onto Nese for the three count. Ali celebrated with the skeleton after the match.
The Big Takeaway: Dash Wilder made it three losses in three weeks, then Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik put on a beautiful display in the main event.
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Heath Slater defeated Dash Wilder (5:35)
Two weeks ago on Main Event, Dash Wilder was beaten with relative ease by Rhyno’s spinebuster. Last week, he and Slater went back and forth in a fairly by-the-numbers bout with Slater getting the win with the Smash Hit. This week, Wilder lost again. To Rhyno. With the spinebuster.
Nigel McGuinness was nowhere to be seen on the show and, instead, we were back with Corey Graves alongside Vic Joseph. Graves has a way of drawing you into matches and he really knows his wrestling and calls moves well, but McGuinness is better at putting the talent over.
Wilder is comfortable on his own, here, but lacks the kind of charisma at this stage of his WWE run to be carrying a match with a veteran like Rhyno. Rhyno sold a lot as Wilder took the match until the finish, where Rhyno fired up to hit his big moves.
The match was what you’d expect. It was slow and full of rest holds and Wilder’s quick pin attempts. Rhyno made Wilder look strong and powerful, but he finished him with the spinebuster in the end without too much concern.
Rhyno still seems to exist off the nostalgic pop that hasn’t faded too much, but without Slater the act is less fun for pre-Raw matches like these on Main Event.
Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik defeated Drew Gulak & Tony Nese (4:25)
The Cruiserweight tag match once again saved the show, bringing some pace, action, and invention to an otherwise run-of-the-mill episode. The finish was awe-inspiring from Dorado, who finished Gulak with a magnificent springboard shooting star senton.
Gulak, who is now clean shaven, had a few matches on Main Event over the summer months, but is now without a win on any show, televised or otherwise, since the end of May.
Dorado and Metalik speak for themselves. They’d be fantastic together on the main roster and could easily find a position in the tag team division. They did a great spot here where Metalik was teasing a springboard attack on Gulak on the outside, but the distraction meant that Dorado was able to fly at him with a seated senton. They did similar things a couple of times in the match and it proved to be very effective.
The match was far too short, but the finish made up for it. Metalik flew over the top rope onto Nese on the outside, while Dorado stunned Gulak on the top rope to set him in position for a huge springboard shooting star senton. Graves’ exclamation of “good lord!” after he landed it said it all.
The Big Takeaway: Kalisto grabbed a win against Rhyno in the opener, then Gran Metalik lost his second straight match on Main Event, this week losing out to Tony Nese.
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Kalisto defeated Rhyno (5:38)
A series of rarities kick off the show this week: a rare babyface vs. babyface match saw an unlikely fist-bump of appreciation between the two on the bell here. Moreover, this is Kalisto’s first appearance on this show in almost exactly a year — it was June 26th last year when he last performed on Main Event, beating Viktor in singles competition.
This was as you would expect for a giant vs. luchador match. Kalisto tried to unsteady the enormous frame of Rhyno, who pinged Kalisto around the ring like a rag doll. Occasionally, Kalisto would catch Rhyno, as he does a couple of minutes in with a hurricanrana. Rhyno is so stunned that he rolls outside and takes a walk.
Rhyno then works over Kalisto’s lower back, sending him from pillar to post, playing the heel by mocking his “lucha” arm chant. Kalisto immediately gets payback, though, as he nails Rhyno with a spike rana for two. Rhyno fights back with a second rope suplex, but Kalisto has enough to kick out.
The finish sees Kalisto dodge Rhyno’s charge so that he can tuck around the back and nail him with the Salida Del Sol for the win. This got pretty good in the last few minutes.
Tony Nese defeated Gran Metalik (3:20)
In a short match here, Gran Metalik once again lost after a reasonable amount of dominance. He rolls out of the way from Nese’s attempt at a top rope senton in the early going and dumps Nese outside. He then uses a top rope springboard senton onto the matting outside as we head to a break.
Metalik has the heat as we return. He nails Nese with a running bulldog and follows it up with a rope-walk missile dropkick. He goes up top and hits an elbow drop, but Nese kicks out at two.
Metalik looks to finish it with the Metalik Driver, but Nese ducks out of the way and uses the ropes to break the hold. He German suplexes Metalik into the turnbuckle and then finishes him with a running knee strike in the corner. This was fine, but it was quick.
The Big Takeaway: Curtis Axel and Curt Hawkins continued to trade wins, while an explosive cruiserweight main event saw Ariya Daivari steal one against Gran Metalik.
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Curtis Axel defeated Curt Hawkins (5:11)
Hawkins has become somewhat of a mainstay on this show of late. The weird thing is, this show used to be Superstars and when Hawkins was at the end of his last run with WWE, he was somewhat of a mainstay on that show too. It’s a career stasis that is odd given his ability.
Hawkins and Axel usually work well together, and this match is no different. Axel smashes Hawkins into the turnbuckle on the apron and then pulls him into the ring, where he dominates the early going.
Vic Joseph and Corey Graves discuss the lack of success that Hawkins has had since his return as Axel gets a near fall.
Hawkins gets some heat with a shot to the back of Axel’s head as he blocks an Irish whip. They do a spot where Axel misses a clothesline but is able to smash Hawkins to the back of the head to repay the favor. The finish sees Axel get thwarted by blocks for the Perfect Plex until he ducks under Hawkins and hits it for the win.
Ariya Daivari defeated Gran Metalik (4:26)
Daivari is doing his best to amalgamate Razor Ramon and Alberto Del Rio. His current new-money gimmick is getting him some good heat and he’s backing it up with results in the ring as well.
Daivari and Metalik go at it with some pace. After a testing start, Metalik explodes into his repertoire of high-flying moves. He uses a springboard arm drag that sends Daivari outside, then when Daivari tries to outwit him, he nails him with a springboard crossbody for two.
Daivari looks stunned as Metalik superkicks him, following it up with a running bulldog and ropewalk missile dropkick. Daivari kicks out at two and a half, rolls onto the apron where Metalik charges at him, and hits a beautiful running hurricanrana to the matting outside.
They go down for a seven count. Metalik then comes off the top rope with an elbow drop. Daivari barely kicks out, so he tries for the Metalik Driver but Daivari works his way out. Daivari tries to tear Metalik’s mask off and then uses a hammerlock twisted into a short-arm lariat for the win. This was a perfect heel finish for Daivari.
The Big Takeaway: With Vic Joseph from NXT leading the announce team, TJP beat Gran Metalik in the opening bout, while Rhyno and Heath Slater picked up a win against the begrudging combination of Curtis Axel and Curt Hawkins.
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TJP defeated Gran Metalik (5:25)
TJ Perkins, now “TJP,” doesn’t seem to be a perfect fit as a heel. His gimmick is perhaps more annoying than it is heelish. He comes out here against Gran Metalik and other than a curl of his upper lip, his entrance is just as it was when he first came to the main roster last year.
After a slow start, they put on some good wrestling. They previously faced off in the finals of the Cruiserweight Classic last year, where Perkins became Cruiserweight Champion.
Rest holds and TJP’s attempts to thwart any high flying from Metalik soon give way to these two reverting to type and doing what they do best.
After TJP’s suicide dive to the outside, Metalik does a beautiful ropewalking dropkick and then hits a top rope splash for a near fall. TJP rolls out of the way of a moonsault and hoists Metalik onto his shoulders and hits his Detonation Kick for the win.
These are the kind of undercard performers it’s fun to watch before an episode of Raw. Curt Hawkins has had a string of appearances on Main Event over the last few weeks. His entrance complete with his “heaping helping of Hawkins” is the kind of stuff The Miz was attempting to get over before he was given a push. And Hawkins has the in-ring ability to match his promos.
The story of the match is that Hawkins and Axel don’t really get along but are still very effective. Slater works most of the match, with Rhyno waiting for the hot tag.
Axel and Hawkins keep blind tagging in as they tease dissension early on. But they cut the ring in half and keep Slater as the babyface in peril. The match isn’t too much to write home about as Axel and Hawkins transition from one chinlock to the next, but Hawkins is very neat and tidy and doesn’t waste too much movement.
The finish sees Slater give the hot tag to Rhyno. He nails Axel and covers him for a near fall before Hawkins makes the save.
Slater superkicks Hawkins and springboards over the top rope onto him on the outside. Inside the ring, the distraction allows Rhyno to spinebuster Axel for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Aleister Black made his show debut by squashing Curt Hawkins, then Noam Dar and Gran Metalik put on a good match to make it a thoroughly enjoyable Main Event.
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Aleister Black defeated Curt Hawkins (2:00)
Hawkins cuts a pre-match promo, asking who’s ready for a “heaping helping of Hawkins?” He does some awful comedy aimed at the British, but much to everyone’s delight, Aleister Black from NXT comes out to “face the facts.”
Black wrestled under the name of Tommy End in Europe and the UK, but was born in Amsterdam, Holland. At TakeOver: Orlando, Black made his televised in-ring debut in NXT, defeating Andrade “Cien” Almas and this marks his main roster debut (even if it’s only temporary).
Black’s speed and talent is too much for Hawkins, who is an excellent foil for him here. He cuts an imposing figure — he has the height and bulk, but a fairly unique look. After sending Hawkins outside, he threatens a suicide dive, but instead does a flip off the second rope, lands on his feet, and sits cross-legged in the middle of the ring, staring back at Hawkins.
After giving a little of the match to Hawkins, Black takes over. His moveset is full of kicks, leg lariats, and forearm strikes. He’s agile, athletic, and impressive. After two charges into the corner, he boots Hawkins to the mat and then drags his chin up with his foot and hits a roundhouse kick (the Black Mass) for the win.
This was exactly what the crowd at the O2 would have wanted from Main Event.
Noam Dar defeated Gran Metalik (7:47)
It was good to see Noam Dar in action in front of the London crowd. These two are really talented and Dar and Metalik put in some intricate work early on, but the crowd are a little subdued after the debut of Black. They come to life when Metalik open hand chops Dar and springs off the top rope with an armdrag that sends Dar outside.
Metalik stands on the apron and boots Dar in the face and then sets up a top rope springboard moonsault. After a little shaky footwork on the top rope, he lands the move perfectly and is safely caught by Dar as we head to a break.
Dar gets some support from the London crowd when he boots Metalik in the shin and he tumbles down to the matting outside. Dar rolls him back inside and slows things down, tying Metalik up with what looked like a standing STF. After more rest holds, Metalik gets a suplex in and both men go down.
After Dar kicks out of a running bulldog and a small package, Metalik hits Dar with a tope to the outside. They both crawl back in and Dar hits his impressive running enzuigiri to a nice pop and ends the match.
This was the second good Main Event show in as many weeks — and long may it continue.
