Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza are back on the main roster.
Carrillo and Garza appeared in masks at the end of a match between Santos Escobar and Bobby Lashley on Friday’s SmackDown, attacking The Street Profits who were at ringside. The distraction allowed Escobar to roll up Lashley for the win, advancing to the finals of the United States title tournament that will determine the next challenger for champion Logan Paul.
After the match, Garza and Carrillo removed their masks, revealing their identities as they posed with Escobar.
Although they were drafted to Raw earlier this year as part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Garza and Carrillo instead started to make appearances in NXT this summer. They did a series of vignettes where they dropped their Lothario gimmick and instead wished to honor their grandfather’s legacy. Their most recent match was on the November 28 edition of NXT, losing to Tony D’Angelo and Stacks in a match that had been for the NXT Tag Team titles.
A stipulation match is set to kick off night two of WWE NXT Halloween Havoc.
The two-week Halloween Havoc special concludes on USA Network this Tuesday night. WWE announced today that a Tables, Ladders & Scares match with The Creed Brothers facing Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo will open the episode.
Last week, the Tables, Ladders & Scares stipulation was chosen via Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal.
Both teams were part of a number one contender’s battle royal on the October 17 episode of NXT. The Creed Brothers eliminated Garza & Carrillo, but the referees didn’t see it. With their elimination going unnoticed, Garza & Carrillo returned and eliminated Julius & Brutus Creed. The Creed Brothers then got their revenge by costing Garza & Carrillo the match as well.
Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza made their presence felt on this week’s NXT.
Tuesday’s show saw Carrillo and Garza attack Scrypts and Axiom after they successfully defeated Dabba Kato in a two-on-one handicap match. Later in the show, they appeared at the perch inside the WWE Performance Center, watching Edris Enofe & Malik Blade, Tank Ledger & Hank Walker, and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen go after one another. They both cut a promo saying they came to NXT to be part of the tag team division.
Both Carrillo and Garza have previously appeared in NXT. In 2021, they started to team together on the main roster and were later given the tag team name Los Lotharios. Over the last year, however, they have only appeared sporadically on WWE television. Two of their three appearances in 2023 were in battle royals, and their most recent appearance was on the May 15 edition of Raw where they were eliminated in a match to determine the next challenger for the Intercontinental title.
Dave Meltzer recaps the AEW Blood and Guts special, both nights of NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku.
Also in this issue:
Idea of War Games, Blood & Guts coverage, understanding the ratings and business notes.
Ospreay vs. Takagi, Dontaku coverage and New Japan COVID issues explained.
Notes on the upcoming AEW & WWE PPV shows.
Saturday’s UFC coverage.
The life of Randy Savage, what was and wasn’t covered by A&E, aspects that were and weren’t true.
AAA Rey de Reyes coverage and a major bout of international stars set up with Omega vs. Andrade.
Debut of a new promotion with lots of international stars coming to PPV.
Dragon Gate Dead or Alive coverage.
Lots of new info on exactly how people watch the major wrestling shows.
How many different people actually tuned in to see the different wrestling shows last week and why it’s far more than people realize.
Champion Carnival finals notes.
Hall of Famer returns to start new major promotion.
Story behind the Reigns vs. Bryan match.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
After having his match stopped last night on Raw, Humberto Carrillo wrote the following on Twitter: “Last night was the first time I couldn’t finish a match in my whole wrestling career, but when you push the limits as I do anything can happen in a split of second. This is not over @WWESheamus …. untill next time! #WWERaw”
WWE has applied to trademark the terms Nathan Fraizer, Bailey Matthews, Hit Row Records, Teoman, Meiko Satomura, Emilia McKenzie, and Stevie Turner.
A Karrion Kross promo aired during Raw last night, calling out Johnny Gargano ahead of Kross’s match against Austin Theory tonight on NXT.
Renee Paquette spoke to WrestlingInc on Adnan Virk receiving criticism of his commentary work on Raw. “Everyone’s putting in so much hard work,” she said. “So everyone just wants to do a good job, and everyone’s just really mean to everyone on commentary. Give the guy a break. He’s figuring it out. It just sucks. There’s no way around it.”
Sporting News spoke to Damian Priest on the current culture in the WWE locker room. “Everybody has been awesome to me – if I have a question or anything,” he said. “I could go up to say one of the guys in The New Day – they’ll take the time to just sit with me and talk and explain stuff to me, and guide me the right way. I’ve gotten that from everyone, and everyone has treated me great. I think that’s the easiest and my favourite part, was just how I’ve been treated and the culture of the locker-room. In past years and the old times, you would hear these nightmare stories. It’s nice to know that it is nowhere near that situation now, everybody is great. I really have no complaints. They are pros”
Helen Maroulis, who won a gold medal in women’s freestyle wrestling in the Olympics in 2016, spoke to WrestlingInc about being approached by WWE. “Yeah, I actually was approached in 2016. I had some really good conversations, and so they kind of explained to me what it was going to be like and talked about going out to the Performance Center. I know I have a couple teammates, quite a few teammates that have gone out there. It just didn’t feel like the right timing. I knew I wanted to come back and do another Olympic cycle, and I didn’t know if I would fit into that world to be quite honest. It’s a cool world. I have a lot of friends into it, but I was like, I don’t know if I can do this. I definitely don’t want to get hurt, that’s for sure. The acting, I mean, it’s one of those things, right? The same thing with MMA, just because you’re a good wrestler, doesn’t mean you’ll be good at these other things so until you go and see it for yourself, you just don’t know.”
Mansoor spoke to Arab News about his Raw debut against Sheamus. “It feels amazing. I’ve been on Super ShowDown, I’ve been on Crown Jewel, and those were big shows. But what I wanted most was to be consistent, and to be on a weekly program where I could show the world that I can perform every single week, not just once every few months.”
Atsushi Onita on his upcoming FMW revival project: “I complied my idea of deathmatch into shape. I will announce tomorrow about the ultimate deathmatch on July 4th. What kind of evolution will it make? FMW and I are like zombies, no matter how many times we die, we will back to live.”
AJPW’s Champions Night card, which is set to have a Triple Crown title defense between champion Suwama and challenger Jake Lee, has been postponed to June 26.
A match between Sheamus and Humberto Carrillo on Monday’s WWE Raw ended prematurely after Carrillo appeared to suffer an injury.
The match ended after a spot where Carrillo went for a sunset flip bomb on Sheamus off the apron. Upon landing on the floor, Carrillo did not move. After a few seconds, the referee checked on Carrillo, who indicated he was injured. The referee then waved off the match, awarding the victory to Sheamus.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Carrillo is ok and could wrestle Tuesday if he had to. They may do an injury angle based on the bump, but the fall wasn’t part of a storyline.
Carrillo has appeared on Raw in recent weeks, wanting to challenge Sheamus for the United States title after Sheamus flirted with the idea of reviving John Cena’s open challenge back when he was U.S. Champion. Sheamus responded by attacking Carrillo and laying him out several weeks in a row. Carrillo responded last week by interrupting a match between the debuting Mansoor and Sheamus. That resulted in Sheamus laying out both men.
On tonight’s episode of Raw, Mansoor made his debut, signing a Raw contract backstage with WWE official Adam Pearce. Sheamus then arrived, mentioning that Mansoor could accept his open challenge for later tonight. Mansoor did accept the challenge, but lost to Sheamus by DQ after Humberto Carrillo ran in and attacked Sheamus, retaliation for earlier when Sheamus attacked Carrillo backstage. The segment ended with Sheamus laying out both Carrillo and Mansoor with Brogue kicks.
Mansoor had attained 49 straight consecutive wins, dating back from his time in NXT to wrestling in Saudi Arabia, and most recently wrestling on 205 Live and Main Event. With tonight’s loss, his streak ends.
Signing with the WWE in 2018, Mansoor has been featured in several of WWE’s shows in Saudi Arabia. At Super Showdown in 2019, he last eliminated Elias to win a 51-man battle royal. At Crown Jewel later that year, he defeated Cesaro in a singles match.
This week’s Main Event featured two wholly acceptable matches that were made all the better for having been called by the returning Samoa Joe in place of Byron Saxton. Erik got a win over Akira Tozawa in a match perfectly pitched for the big man while Humberto Carrillo won yet again on this show, this time against Gran Metalik.
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Erik defeated Akira Tozawa (5:07)
After debuting on Main Event as a singles performer last week in a losing effort against Titus O’Neil, he was much better here against a much more capable opponent, getting his win back. Tozawa was sans ninjas, but worked really hard to make Erik look great. He took the opening few minutes, leading the match and looking both plucky and in control.
But when Erik took over, Tozawa sold beautifully. First, Erik hit him with an ura nage before charging to nail him with a running knee strike. Tozawa flopped over backward and looked dead.
In the end, Erik finished him with a knee to the back of the head, leaving Tozawa to sell like a rag doll on the mat.
The win made Erik look a lot more of a legitimate prospect and somewhat of a monster heel. Simply put, this is exactly the kind of person he should be working with each week and why on Earth they chose to beat him last week is beyond me.
Humberto Carrillo defeated Gran Metalik (w/ Lince Dorado) (7:26)
Carrillo worked with Lince Dorado last week on Main Event — a show that is fast becoming his home. The win here against Metalik made it three in a row for a performer whose Raw opportunities have tailed off since the summer.
The opening minutes were well mannered as the two tried to outwork each other and were all smiles as they appreciated each other’s attempts. Before they went to the break, there was a nice moment where Carrillo countered a tilt-a-whirl headscissors into a power bomb.
Unfortunately much of the second half after the commercial break was rest holds as Carrillo had an abdominal stretch in place before pulling and cranking Metalik’s arms back behind his body. They did come back to life, though, and began to trade near falls.
The finish started with a moonsault that Metalik had scouted, so Carrillo landed on his feet and then hit a backbreaker. He followed it up by hoisting Metalik up on to his shoulders and hitting him with his unnamed finisher — a sit-out facebuster from his shoulders — for the win.
Final Thoughts:
There was nothing much wrong with Main Event this week and actually, quite a lot of it was right. Erik was booked in an infinitely more logical way than he was last week with a lot of credit owed to Tozawa for the performance in addition to a really well-worked contest between Carrillo and Metalik.
Tucker debuted as a heel singles competitor, losing to Humberto Carrillo in a perfectly acceptable opener before Ricochet took care of business against Angel Garza in a really strong featured contest.
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Humberto Carrillo defeated Tucker (6:02)
Tucker and Otis had matches on Main Event a few times over the last year, but Tucker’s defeat here marked both his singles show debut and just his second ever WWE singles match.
Carrillo doesn’t miss many weeks on this show. He’s had 18 matches this year on Main Event winning nine of them and apart from still being guilty of overselling at times, he’s pretty damn good.
The result was a little strange, but they worked the usual WWE methodical style, pulling off the smoldering heel vs. the plucky, high-flying babyface dynamic pretty well in the time that they had.
In the end, it was a top rope battle as Tucker crotched Carrillo and looked for a superplex, but Carrillo maintained his footing and grabbed a sunset flip, rolling Tucker up for the surprise win.
Ricochet defeated Angel Garza (8:35)
Ricochet hasn’t lost on Main Event since June and has been somewhat of a regular since March. An affable and grateful guy at the best of times, he’s perhaps starting to show that he feels its time they did something with him.
WWE tweeted that this past week marked one year since he took on Drew McIntyre on Raw. Ricochet took the bait and bit with a ‘maybe it’s time for a rematch??’ response. The double question mark says it all and it doesn’t take much of an imagination to envisage the kinds of comments it drew.
He and Garza was a lot of fun as you might expect. Although this would easily sit alongside anything on Raw right now, their match went quite long for a Main Event bout and just started to get pretty good as they went home.
It felt as though this could go either way as the story of the match was about them going toe-to-toe. After a close near fall, Garza went for the Wing Clipper and hit him with a pop-up knee strike, but Ricochet had enough left to hit a clothesline and connect with the Kick Back for the win.
More of this each week would be fine by me, but, like a lot of these matches, if they let them off the leash and gave them time, they would likely produce something stellar.
Final Thoughts:
The cynics may think that Tucker’s reward for turning heel on Otis was to work Main Event this week, but with no house shows right now, wrestlers trialling new characters or tag teams splitting and working as singles have nowhere else to go.
On a show that he rarely loses on, Ricochet defeated Gran Metalik before Angel Garza dispensed with Humberto Carrillo in a strong match to close out the show.
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Ricochet defeated Gran Metalik (w/ Lince Dorado) (5:50)
Lucha House Party become two when Kalisto was drafted to SmackDown two weeks ago. The stable had had mixed success over the last two years, but were probably due a refresh and reset.
Ricochet’s plight continues as he is regularly relegated to this show despite being one of the most interesting in-ring workers on the active roster. Time will tell whether he is content to wait for his chance.
This was all action as you might expect. There was, however, quite a slow pace by the end as both men looked tired and labored.
In the end, Ricochet looked slightly heelish as he hit a modified suplex, growling and posturing to the crowd. He then hoisted Metalik up and nailed him with the Kick Back for the win.
Angel Garza defeated Humberto Carrillo (8:06)
Since making the move from 205 Live to the Raw roster back in February, Garza has had quite a bit of success. This being only his second appearance on Main Event, it was yet another win for the impressive 28-year-old from Mexico.
In comparison, the wins have really dried up for Carrillo who now finds himself somewhat of a Main Event regular and rather directionless.
They worked beautifully together at times, both generous with each other until they culminated in a nice creative finish where Garza was arguing with the ref over holding the tights.
Carrillo hit a missile dropkick and a crossbody for two near falls, but when Garza rolled him up and held the tights, the referee took issue with it. Garza dodged Carrillo’s attempts to take advantage, nailed him with a superkick, and hit the Wing Clipper for the win.
Final Thoughts:
These were two good matches, but there wasn’t much to go out of your way to find here. Ricochet and Garza should be used better elsewhere, but for now, they are by far the most entertaining thing on Main Event for some time.
Another round of WWE Draft picks has been revealed.
WWE announced during this week’s episode of Talking Smack that Humberto Carrillo, Drew Gulak, and Tucker have been drafted to Raw. It was also announced that Murphy and Kalisto have been drafted to SmackDown.
Those five names were among the remaining wrestlers left in the night one draft pool after last night’s SmackDown. Mickie James, the rest of The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado), and Shorty G were also in the night one draft pool but weren’t selected. WWE has noted that any undrafted wrestlers “will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing.”
Tucker being drafted by Raw means that Heavy Machinery have been broken up in the draft. Otis was selected by SmackDown last night.
Murphy is joining Seth Rollins and Rey & Dominik Mysterio on SmackDown.
The draft will conclude on Monday’s episode of Raw. The updated rosters for Raw and SmackDown are listed below, along with the wrestlers in the night two draft pool:
Raw —
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka
The Hurt Business (MVP, United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
AJ Styles
Naomi
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Ricochet
Mandy Rose
The Miz & John Morrison
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
Bianca Belair had yet another bout with Billie Kay in a fairly standard opening Main Event match while Humberto Carrillo and Mustafa Ali had a solid contest at the top of the show.
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The ebb and flow of the Main Event announce team continued this week with Michael Cole, of all people, leading commentary alongside Byron Saxton. As Saxton pointed out, Cole was the lead announcer on this show when it debuted eight years ago, but, as memory serves, that was when it was on Ion TV and it was Cole and The Miz who were doing their best to put the show over as a big deal.
In every sense, how things have changed.
Bianca Belair defeated Billie Kay (5:42)
Although still undefeated as a singles wrestler since her NXT call-up, Belair has yet to be given a permanent home. With sporadic Raw appearances only really punctuating her work on Main Event, it seems to be taking her longer than any logic says it should to become a mainstay on the big show.
Since arriving on the main roster in March, she has worked with Kay more than any other performer. They clearly get along because there’s always an undercurrent of fun in their matches. Kay is a good worker, but Belair has been the next big thing for some time now.
They worked a good back and forth with Kay thwarting any attempts by Belair to be the dominant babyface. It was only really in the last minute or so that Belair was able to get things going with any consistency. The finish saw Belair get posted and it looked like Kay might get the victory until Belair slammed her head into the corner and wasted no time in hoisting her up for the KOD to get the win.
Mustafa Ali defeated Humberto Carrillo (8:07)
Another week, another Main Event, and another match for Mustafa Ali and Humberto Carrillo.
Carrillo still has time on his side, but Ali is 34 years old and way too good to be used on a show that has such limited reach. The reason may be that they’re going in a different direction with Ali as he was definitely heelish here against Carrillo who is a natural babyface.
This was a good, solid match between two talents who can really go. In the end, it went through a commercial and Ali dominated things with some nicely placed aggression.
Ali went up to the top rope for the 450 splash, but Carrillo had it scouted and moved out of the way. Ali landed on his feet, rolled to the corner, and turned to launch himself at Carrillo who caught him for a near fall. Ali then transitioned into Koji Clutch for the submission win.
Final Thoughts:
Main Event was a fine show this week with good performances all around. The usual unsettling feeling remained, however, as Ali and Belair continue to be underused on a show like Raw that is bloated at best. Watching Ali and Carrillo having decent outings each week is certainly not all bad, but there’s undeniably room for both on any one of WWE’s weekly network television shows.
Bianca Belair was back on Main Event this week, but remained undefeated since being called up to the main roster.
Riddick Moss and Humberto Carrillo had a rematch from last week’s show with Moss going over once again.
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Bianca Belair defeated Jessi Kamea (4:30)
There had seemed to be hope.
Last week, Belair had some Raw TV time in a tag match with Ruby Riott and, not only that, she won. Yet this week, she was back on Main Event and up against an opponent who isn’t really in the same league.
Kamea made her debut last week in a squash at the hands of Shayna Baszler. This time out, she was outclassed by a performer who is significantly more able at this point in their respective careers. She did get a lot more in against Belair, but is probably not ready for this kind of in-ring action just yet. Her move set appears limited and she was a little off the pace at times during this one.
Belair used this as an exhibition, repeatedly showboating and, at one point, doing squats while she had Kamea up for a scoop slam. In the end, Belair finished her by slamming her face first into the turnbuckle and pinned her after the KOD.
Riddick Moss defeated Humberto Carrillo (6:06)
This was a rematch from last week’s Main Event. It ran a little shorter and unfortunately wasn’t quite as good.
Watching this match made me realize how much improved MVP has become in his role in the announce booth. With no real agenda, other than to be more inclined towards heels, MVP was easily as good as a sports color commentator as you are likely to hear.
One issue MVP pointed out — that Carrillo almost immediately righted — was that Carrillo was trying to wear down Moss when his strength lies in his speed and agility. The best parts of this relatively short bout came when Carrillo quickened his pace and tried something creative.
In the end, the finish was identical to last week with Moss spearing Carrillo into the corner before nailing him with his modified neckbreaker. There is still a fluidity between these two that is intriguing to watch and, if given the opportunity, they will work well together further down the line.
Final Thoughts:
There was nothing special about the show this week.
The stuttering start to Belair’s main roster run may be frustrating, but they are at least protecting her. Although she hasn’t really been tested against a highly rated in-ring performer, she ran her record to 11-0 since her call up with the win. Kamea has a fantastic look, but doesn’t seem to have it quite yet.
Moss would benefit from a manager or a tag partner to work off. He is constantly trash talking to someone on the hard cam side of the ring and it would be better directed elsewhere. I do fear that Carrillo has hit a career roadblock at this point, but at least he is still in his early twenties and time is on his side.
Shayna Baszler squashed Jessi Kamea in a match that marked both of their Main Event debuts while Riddick Moss grabbed a win in a good match against Humberto Carrillo.
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Shayna Baszler defeated Jessi Kamea (5:09)
Over the last few months, Main Event has been a platform for NXT talent to try out against main roster talent, making for a superior show that has been infinitely more watchable. Kamea was the latest such debutant this week, facing off against Baszler whose very presence on this show will certainly raise a few eyebrows.
Kamea was a college volleyball player at Concordia University in Texas and joined the NXT roster back in 2017. She is tall, lean, and strong and at 31, it’s time for her to get a chance to prove herself at the top level.
However, as far as debuts go, this wasn’t much of one. Baszler worked over her left arm for the whole match and Kamea didn’t really get a chance to shine or show off what she could do.
But, this was Baszler’s Main Event debut as well and was there to make her look strong and dominant. After lots of mat work, she hit Kamea with a modified cutter and a knee strike before locking in the Kirifuda Clutch to claim an easy submission victory.
Riddick Moss defeated Humberto Carrillo (6:21)
It has been a few months since Moss appeared on Main Event. In February and through March, he had a 24/7 Championship run before he relinquished the title to R-Truth. He was last seen on this show defeating Cedric Alexander back in January.
Carrillo has been nothing short of impressive since he joined the main roster a year ago. A natural in the ring and with time on his side and if used right, he has a big future.
Moss has real tone and strength in his upper body and carries himself like a big man, but can be explosive and quick too. He and Carrillo were near perfect opponents for each other, having only really worked together a handful of times over the last couple of years.
After Carrillo came off the top rope with a moonsault where Moss got his legs up, Moss absolutely annihilated him with a charge to the corner and hit him with a cool looking, modified neckbreaker for his first win since March.
Final Thoughts:
This was an intriguing show, but not a great one. Never say never, but Baszler surely won’t be a Main Event regular. Kamea would benefit from working with the likes of Natalya as having her as fodder for Baszler doesn’t do anyone much good. Given more time, Moss and Carrillo could work a decent program together.
Andrade made his Main Event debut, beating Ricochet in a very technical match and despite defeat, Shane Thorne continued to impress in a match against Humberto Carrillo.
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Humberto Carrillo defeated Shane Thorne (5:20)
You would have to go back to April to find Carrillo performing on Main Event as in the months since then, he has found himself booked regularly on Raw against the likes of AJ Styles and Bobby Lashley. Conversely, Thorne has been a show regular and just as impressive on this edition.
Carrillo was the perfect foil for Thorne as he is a hugely talented babyface while Thorne is such a natural heel. It’s strange to think there is ten year age gap between these two, probably because Thorne looks younger than his years and Carrillo older and more experienced than he actually is.
This was action packed from start to finish as they both worked really hard. Carrillo oversells things a little for my taste, but the finish was impressive as he launched himself off the top rope with a missile dropkick and followed it up with a top rope moonsault for the win.
Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Ricochet (7:28)
Ricochet has become a mainstay on Main Event over the last few months, but this was Andrade’s show debut. Any bit of logic would tell you this is a pay-per-view quality pairing in any other world.
It certainly delivered, but was not the kind of match I expected. The story was that Ricochet came off the top rope early and landed awkwardly on his left leg. He went outside and was clutching his left knee, so Andrade went after it relentlessly.
Andrade, who carries himself like such a star, put on a clinic in how to be a heartless heel while Zelina, who was also fantastic here, looked on and laughed at every new way he found to work over the injured knee.
There was a sense that this slow, methodical approach was all going to backfire for Andrade when Ricochet finally got some hope just before the finish. He hit a hurricanrana off the second turnbuckle and a standing moonsault for a near fall, but Andrade quickly retained control.
Andrade went back to the leg. finally planting him with the hammerlock DDT for the win.
Final Thoughts:
These were two perfectly good matches again this week. Andrade debuting might be a bit of a worry as the creative lead changed for Raw, but he and Vega are such a class act, it would be a huge waste to leave them in a spot like this.
This was a perfectly enjoyable Main Event once again this week. Liv Morgan and Santana Garrett had a decent opening match with Garrett looking a ease against the accomplished Morgan while Shelton Benjamin lost once again to Humberto Carrillo in another fine contest.
Show Recap:
Liv Morgan defeated Santana Garrett (4:38)
What had primarily been a show for those near the bottom of the roster (many of whom lost their jobs this week) is now featuring some new faces and one debut.
Morgan came into this having received some good reviews for her work of late as recent matches against Natalya and Asuka raised some eyebrows from those who had underestimated her.
Garrett is the latest NXT recruit to earn a spot on the show. She had been on the indies and working for SHINE and MLW before opportunities presented themselves both for Impact Wrestling and WWE television. She officially joined NXT in August 2019.
All told, this was a very athletic contest as both showed some really impressive in-ring work. Morgan does some great spots, like her Matrix Evasion into a clothesline, and is just clearly very comfortable in the ring. At only 25, she’s a real asset for WWE.
Garrett did a spot where she suplexed Morgan and rolled her hips as though she was going to go for the Three Amigos, but instead twisted around and bridged into a submission choke hold. Morgan escaped, but it looked great.
The only negative was the finish which Garrett didn’t take well. Morgan hit the Flatliner off the ropes and pinned her for her first win since the WrestleMania night 2 kickoff match.
Humberto Carrillo defeated Shelton Benjamin (5:41)
These two faced off against each other last month and you can see why they were paired up again. Their two styles compliment each other and they worked really well together here in a totally different match despite having the same outcome.
Neither Carrillo or Benjamin got near the WrestleMania card as Carrillo worked with Brendan Vink on the Raw the night after, but this was Benjamin’s first work since last month on this very show.
They went back and forth throughout this one. At one point, Benjamin paused to give a face to Carrillo as if to say, “Damn, look at you” as he tried to work out how best to outwit him. Benjamin not only put Carrillo over here, but went out of his way to be in position for everything. At one point, he fell awkwardly so that he was in position for a standing moonsault and got his knees up to block it. They then went up top and when he was punched off by Carrillo, he again made sure to be in position.
Carrillo came off the top rope with a beautiful moonsault to get the win. I’d happily watch these two each week. Carrillo is fully of verve and it’s a pleasure to watch an experienced pro like Benjamin put over a new face with such class.
Final Thoughts:
WWE Main Event is probably one of the few shows where it doesn’t overly matter about the lack of fans in attendance. Since it’s mainly made up of video packages and a Raw rehash with two short matches, it is fairly palatable and certainly inoffensive. Hopefully, more young talent will get a chance in future weeks as this company try to pull themselves out of the awful PR hole that they dug for themselves this week.
