Tag: main event

WWE Main Event results: The Creed Brothers vs. The Authors of Pain

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana before Monday’s episode of Raw.

Akira Tozawa defeated Joaquin Wilde (5:25)

This was a high energy sprint that was a lot of fun to watch and marked Wilde’s Main Event debut.

Tozawa is both a safe pair of hands and also the ideal opponent for someone trying to make a mark. He was giving here and allowed Wilde plenty of time to dominate and show off his skill.

Wilde was able to get in snap suplexes, head scissors takes downs and even a suicide dive. As always, Tozawa sold really well and this meant that as he was in peril, the crowd rallied behind him.

I’m never a fan of the rest hold in these short matches, but it served its purpose here as Tozawa was able to come from behind and fight his way out. They did a false finish as Wilde got in a DDT, but once Tozawa kicked out he hulked up, tore the shirt and they went home.

Tozawa nailed Wilde with an enzuigiri and then went up top and hit his senton to get his arm raised.

The Authors of Pain w/Paul Ellering defeated The Creed Brothers (6:13)

While The Creed Brothers are a huge highlight every week on this show, it felt like a backward step to beat them here and, equally, to humble them against such stiff opposition at this stage in their run wasn’t ideal.

In the first few minutes, it was all quick tags as Julius and Brutus took early control, eventually dumping Rezar and then Akam. Julius dived over the top rope with a cross body, much to the crowd’s joy and we went to a very early break.

It was then all about the hot tag after the ads. Julius was in trouble for a long time here as they cut the ring in half and wore him down with a series of power moves and basic, slow ground and pound.

Akam eventually got too cocky, missing a charge to the corner so that Julius could use an enzuigiri before finally giving the hot tag to his brother. Brutus ran wild, finishing with a standing moonsault on Akam but Rezar had to come in and break up the pin and make the save.

Rezar quickly nailed Julius off the apron and after hitting Brutus with a Rock Bottom, he and Akam combined to use the Last Chapter to get the win.

The Authors of Pain angrily refused to let the ref raise their hands and insisted on Paul Ellering doing it for them instead. They mounted the ropes at either corner in front of the hard cam and Ellering stood between them in a perfectly shot, dominant pose to finish the match.

WWE Main Event results: Akira Tozawa vs. Axiom

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska before Monday’s episode of Raw.

Two good matches this week, with an appearance from the very talented Axiom to boot, made this a very pleasant experience indeed.

Nikki Cross defeated Kiana James (5:07)

This was a good five-minute match where James was able to get over who she is as a character, whilst also showing off her moveset.

Kiana James hasn’t appeared on Main Event in over a year. Believe it or not, she wrestled Asuka the last time she worked an episode. Asuka is a dream opponent for anyone on Raw, let alone on this minnow of a show.

James plays the heel really well, she appears to be a businesswoman who has the power to manipulate anyone who stands in her way. She’s got a great smile and so if they wanted to turn her babyface later down the line, that’d work too.

She hit a great-looking belly to back suplex, but unfortunately, they stuck a body scissors spot in the middle, which always look a little bit hokey for my taste. Credit to Cross who sold it like the move was squeezing the life out of her.

The finish saw Cross go for a bulldog, but she was posted as James halted it. James hit the 401K but Cross kicked out. After some back and forth, Cross used a swinging DDT and The Purge to get the win.

Akira Tozawa defeated Axiom (8:48)

This was an excellent match by Main Event standards. Tozawa is always value for money and here despite winning, he played his role just right to allow Axiom to get over with the live crowd.

Axiom has only had the opportunity to appear on a main roster show once before and it was this one in December last year. He was able to work with Mustafa Ali and they were tremendous together.

It was nice to see here that they resisted the temptation to put him up against a giant, like a Bronson Reed, and instead went with something that would be far more entertaining.

This was a really carefully crafted match. It had everything you would want: a ton of grappling and intricate mat work early on, some high spots and some late drama before the victor was crowned.

It’s hard to believe that they haven’t worked together before, because the timing was there. Before the break, they worked really hard on the mat and then Axiom did a springboard moonsault onto Tozawa on the outside as they went to the ads.

Tozawa was in control after the commercials and did a sweet spot where he did a kip up into a German before heading up to the top rope.

In the end, the top rope played a big part in the finish. They fought up there and did a wicked-looking Spanish Fly for a near fall before Tozawa got the upper hand and used the senton to get his hand raised.

WWE Main Event results: Nikki Cross vs. Kayden Carter

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the SAP Center in San Jose, California before Monday’s episode of Raw.

These matches were just last week’s shuffled around and since the releases a few weeks ago, the show feels like it has a more limited pool of talent to work with. This was the third straight week that Main Event offered an all-women’s card.

Indi Hartwell defeated Xia Li (5:19)

This was just there really, not much to shout about at all but it told a story of sorts in which Hartwell’s knee wouldn’t hold and yet she still got her hand raised against the odds.

Hartwell has done really well on Main Event since she started getting some main roster action back in February of this year. Only a couple of defeats to Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross, but otherwise lots of wins. She also worked a three-way on NXT this past week and is certainly getting her minutes in.

The crowd liked Hartwell and didn’t like Li much, and they especially didn’t like her when she started to work over Hartwell’s left knee. She used a kind of knee bar, almost a half Boston crab to get Hartwell hobbling in discomfort.

Li telegraphed everything after this far too much so it was relatively easy for Hartwell to get the win. She dodged a charge and hit a cool-looking spinebuster. Then she missed a high knee and ate a facebuster to allow Hartwell to get the win.

Nikki Cross defeated Kayden Carter (6:54)

Cross’ finisher, The Purge, is proving decisive on Main Event these days and it once again got it done here. Carter took most of this one and although better than the opener, wasn’t anything special.

Cross is quite active on her socials and built up this one on X this week, as well as reposting some positive press from others.

As she normally does in these matches, she gave Carter plenty of chances to take control and show off what she can do. Cross is very good in this sort of spot.

Cross hit a Stinger Splash and a Michinoku Driver before she went for and missed a top rope cross-body. Carter seized the opportunity and locked in a submission hold. It didn’t feel like the finish and it wasn’t.

Cross crawled her way to the ropes to break the hold and then quickly managed to counter Carter to hit The Purge for the win.

NXT’s Cora Jade reflects on working WWE Main Event taping

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NXT star Cora Jade had a full-circle moment at Monday night’s WWE Raw.

Before Raw went on the air, Jade was part of the tapings for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event. Jade lost to Nikki Cross on the tapings, which took place just outside of Jade’s hometown of Chicago.

Jade reflected on the moment in a tweet on Tuesday morning.

“Last night I wrestled in the Allstate Arena,” Jade wrote. “I started going to WWE shows there when I was 8 and went to my last one in 2018 when I started wrestling. 5 years later. Tune in to Main Event this week. Now tonight, I take out a big scary bird lady.”

https://twitter.com/CoraJadeWWE/status/1650830204237930497

Jade is facing Lyra Valkyria on tonight’s special Spring Breakin’ episode of NXT.

NXT talent have been featured on Main Event for the last several months. Monday night’s tapings also saw Joe Gacy lose a match against Dexter Lumis.

Main Event episodes premiere on Hulu every Thursday.

Kylie Rae makes WWE debut at Main Event taping

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Independent star Kylie Rae worked Monday’s WWE Main Event taping.

Working under the name Brianna Ray, Rae lost to Dana Brooke in a match taped prior to Monday’s Raw. It was reported last week that Rae had taken part in a tryout at the WWE Performance Center along with other independent talents such as KC Navarro, Dutch, and Vincent.

Rae appeared for AEW briefly in 2019 before heading to Impact Wrestling. In 2020, she was scheduled to face Deonna Purrazzo at Impact’s Bound for Glory event. However, she did not appear at the event and subsequently announced her retirement from professional wrestling. Months later, she started to appear for the National Wrestling Alliance. She last appeared for the promotion at the 2022 Crockett Cup, where she lost to Kamille and Chelsea Green in a three-way match for the NWA Women’s Championship.

Another match taped for Main Event had the NXT team of Edris Enofe and Malik Blade come up short against Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander.

NXT’s Wendy Choo, Xyon Quinn work WWE Main Event taping

Posted on by Joseph Currier

This week’s episode of WWE Main Event will see two more NXT wrestlers in action.

Before Monday night’s Raw in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania went on the air, WWE taped two matches for this week’s edition of Main Event. NXT wrestlers were victorious in both matches. Wendy Choo defeated Tamina, while Xyon Quinn defeated Akira Tozawa.

Choo won her match by rolling up Tamina.

This is the first time that either Choo or Quinn has worked Main Event. Quinn previously wrestled in a dark match before a SmackDown episode in July 2021 and lost to Sheamus on SmackDown during the pandemic era in April 2020.

NXT talent have been featured on Main Event in recent weeks. That’s included Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, Fallon Henley, Carmelo Hayes, Von Wagner, Cameron Grimes, Duke Hudson, and Kiana James wrestling matches on the show.

WWE Main Event premieres on Hulu each Thursday. The episodes are uploaded to Peacock on a two-week delay.

NXT’s Carmelo Hayes, Von Wagner work WWE Main Event taping

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two NXT wrestlers were in action before Monday night’s episode of Raw in Brooklyn, New York went on the air.

Carmelo Hayes and Von Wagner both wrestled matches at Monday’s WWE Main Event tapings. Hayes defeated Cedric Alexander. Wagner lost to R-Truth by disqualification.

R-Truth got the win by DQ after faking that Wagner had hit him with a steel chair.

This is the second straight week that NXT wrestlers have appeared on Main Event. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen defeated R-Truth & Shelton Benjamin on the show last week, while Fallon Henley lost a match to Dana Brooke.

Hayes is a two-time NXT North American Champion. At NXT Halloween Havoc later this month, Hayes and Wagner will both compete in a ladder match for the vacant North American title. Hayes, Wagner, Oro Mensah, Wes Lee, and either Nathan Frazer or Axiom will be the five wrestlers in the ladder match.

WWE Main Event premieres on Hulu each Thursday. The episodes are uploaded to Peacock on a two-week delay.

WWE Main Event results: Alpha Academy vs. Ali & Alexander

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida before last Monday’s Raw.

Akira Tozawa defeated Reggie (6:12)

This was good with Tozawa getting a rare win in a longer-than-usual opening bout.

Akira Tozawa is a Main Event regular these days, but he’s always excellent value and that was no different here. Reggie is yet to notch up a win on Main Event this year and he didn’t really ever look close here.

They went back and forth but Tozawa took most of the early going. They traded high spots and tried to outdo each other, with Tozawa really looking the more accomplished.

In the end, Tozawa went up top and Reggie tried to suplex him but got thrown to the mat. Tozawa then ended it with a senton to leave Reggie 0-5 in his recent Main Event outings.

This was Tozawa’s first non-24/7 title singles win since January 2021. What that says about Reggie is probably more worrying than what it says about Tozawa.

Alpha Academy defeated Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander (7:18)

This was a really good Main Event tag match.

Ali was flanked by Alexander last week, but this week they had matching ring gear. Although they’re both fantastic workers, their gimmick is super-cheesy grins and they’re trying to play up that they’re harmless pranksters. It’s actually fairly excruciating.

This one also marked Alpha Academy’s debut on Main Event. Chad Gable and Otis have both worked the show before, but never in this guise. This foursome could pretty much curtain jerk any live event from now on and people would enjoy it, but they’ll no doubt have higher aspirations than that.

The final few minutes were really fun with a typical WWE tag match format where about 30 things were happening at once in a kind of controlled chaos.

Otis came in to break up a pinfall after Ali had nailed Gable with a second rope tornado DDT. They then did this cool spot where Otis was posted and laying with his chest on the second turnbuckle so Ali and Alexander did a superplex off him with Gable. The crowd popped for this one.

After Gable kicked out, they went to the finish. Alexander took out Otis with a flip to the outside over the top rope and Gable set up Ali for the Alpha Bomb after Otis recovered to help out.

The crowd really got into it for the finish which was very strong.

Final Thoughts —

Two decent matches, but all eyes will be on how all these limited-audience shows change over the coming weeks now that Vince McMahon is gone. There’s a big opportunity to do something completely different with a show like this, but time will tell.

Shelton Benjamin returns to action at WWE Main Event taping

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Shelton Benjamin returned to the ring on Monday night for his first match in nearly two months.

Before Monday’s Raw, Benjamin returned from injury by defeating Akira Tozawa in a match that was filmed for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event. It was the first time Benjamin has wrestled since April.

Benjamin had announced last month that he was out of action with an injury for just the second time in his career. Benjamin didn’t disclose what the injury was.

“For only the second time In my career An injury has put me on the shelf,” Benjamin tweeted on May 14. “I’ll be back soon. In the meantime I will be putting in the work to come back better than I was before my little setback. See you guys soon!”

Benjamin’s most recent match prior to being out of action also took place on Main Event. He teamed with Cedric Alexander in a loss to The Street Profits on April 25.

During WrestleMania weekend in April, Benjamin was one of the participants in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown.

WWE Main Event results: Veer Mahaan vs. Storm Grayson

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio before Monday’s Raw.

Veer Mahaan defeated Storm Grayson (3:46)

This was a squash, but it went longer than it needed to with Veer getting the victory in dominant fashion.

WWE was feeding T-Bar local jobbers a few months back, but Veer Mahaan must have run out of lower card opponents — because they gave him Chicago-based wrestler Storm Grayson.

Veer took his time in this one, choosing to stop a two count early on, then picking Grayson up and using a rest hold.

Although Grayson tried to get some offense in, Mahaan no-sold most of it. It went longer than it should, though, and Mahaan should have looked more impressive than he did here.

In the end, the Million Dollar Arm, a running splash, and the leaping Thesz Press finished Grayson off in under four minutes.

Final Thoughts —

One match was all she wrote this week. It seems that WWE did tape Austin Theory vs. Apollo Crews for Main Event on Monday, but it didn’t end up airing. Maybe they chose to cut it after changing their plans with Theory and Pat McAfee. Either way, one crappy squash that ran under four minutes made this a pretty terrible show.

WWE Main Event results: Liv Morgan vs. Queen Zelina

Posted on by James Cox

This week’s Main Event was taped at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina before Monday’s Raw.

Veer Mahaan defeated Apollo Crews (w/ Commander Azeez) (5:00)

This was a rematch from last week and ended with the same outcome. It was definitely a better contest than last time out and felt much pacier.

While Veer Mahaan is still undefeated and may or may not appear on Raw one day soon, Apollo Crews now only has one singles win since last August. They just aren’t pushing the act with Crews and Commander Azeez like they had been — and they looked weak again here.

Azeez got a cheap shot in early on but was sent packing far too easily at the finish. He’s such an enormous presence but isn’t being booked like he should be.

In this one and in last week’s match, Crews tried to get all his stuff into the short bout, but Mahaan had an answer for everything.

Mahaan is slowly improving and seems to enjoy being a babyface as he was here. He finished this one by pulling Crews down from the top rope and using a running splash/Thesz Press.

It remains to be seen what Mahaan’s finisher will be if and when he joins the main roster, as he’s now used three over the last few months.

Liv Morgan defeated Queen Zelina (w/ Carmella) (8:01)

This dragged a little as they were given too much time, but Zelina Vega is enjoying her gimmick and Liv Morgan looked good again here.

Not only was this the first time I can recall one half of the women’s tag team champions working a match on Main Event, this match also marked Vega’s debut on this show.

Logically, Morgan should have been given a tag partner and they could have worked a better match, but nothing tends to make much sense on this show. Carmella didn’t do much other than help Vega out of a pin late on.

Morgan recently worked the women’s Elimination Chamber match and has been up against Rhea Ripley and Doudrop of late, but this was the second time this year she has found herself on Main Event.

After the ad break, they got going into a much better pace and Morgan managed to come back and hit the Oblivion out of nowhere to get the win.

The way that Morgan powers up to quickly snap on Oblivion is really effective and is the kind of thing they could make way more of. This was a good win for her.

Final Thoughts —

Two pretty average matches this week on a show that continues to exist in a vacuum. It will be interesting to see what happens with Veer and whether post-WrestleMania we get any roster shake-ups that would bring some fresh faces to Main Event.

WWE Main Event spoilers: Dakota Kai in action

Posted on by F4W Staff

Before tonight’s Raw went on the air, two matches were taped for this week’s episode of Main Event at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

– Aliyah defeated Dakota Kai

Aliyah and Kai also faced each other in a dark match prior to last week’s SmackDown, with Kai defeating Aliyah in that match but losing here.

Aliyah is set to be part of the main roster going forward.

It was announced earlier today that Kai will challenge for Raquel Gonzalez’s NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver 36 on Sunday, August 22. Kai turned against Gonzalez on NXT two weeks ago and laid her out with a kick.

– Odyssey Jones defeated Austin Theory

Jones and Theory have both worked multiple dark matches at main roster shows recently. Jones is currently part of the NXT Breakout Tournament. He’s set to face Trey Baxter in the semifinals of the tournament.

Theory last wrestled for NXT on the July 20 episode of the show, losing to Kyle O’Reilly.

In a dark match prior to tonight’s Main Event tapings, Keith Lee quickly defeated independent wrestler Chico Adams.

Karrion Kross, Bronson Reed wrestle on WWE Main Event tapings

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Both Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed worked matches on WWE Main Event prior to tonight’s episode of Raw.

Kross defeated Shelton Benjamin in a match that Dave Meltzer had reported earlier in the afternoon. Scarlett, the manager of Kross, was not at ringside for the match. In the second Main Event match, Bronson Reed defeated Drew Gulak. 

Meltzer noted in today’s Daily Update that Scarlett is being talked about for a tryout of her own on Friday. Reed, Scarlett, and Kross were also at the SmackDown tapings this past Friday.

Both Kross and Reed hold championships in NXT. Kross is the current NXT Champion, successfully defending the title at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in a five-way match. Reed holds the NXT North American title, and with NXT Tag Team champions MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) successfully defended their titles against Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Jouaqin Wilde, Raul Mendoza) at TakeOver.

New episodes of Main Event are added every Thursday on Peacock.

WWE Main Event results: Dolph Ziggler in action

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway —

Erik made his Main Event singles debut in a losing performance against Riddick Moss in a fairly dull opener. Dolph Ziggler then brought a touch of class to the show in his win against Main Event mainstay Humberto Carrillo.

**********

Riddick Moss defeated Erik (4:55)

With Ivar out injured, this is exactly the kind of place for Erik to try out as a singles wrestler. They did the same when Scott Dawson was injured and Dash Wilder had a few matches on Main Event. 

Erik and Riddick Moss have been involved sporadically on Raw Underground over the last couple of months, so it was good to see them work a traditional match here. For Erik, at 36 and minus his long-term tag partner, it’s good to still be being given opportunities to work on TV.

As you can imagine, these two worked a fairly stiff five-minute match that was full of power moves and lots of posturing.

In the end, there wasn’t too much to it. Moss spiked Erik’s neck on the top rope, nailed him with a charge in the corner, and then finished him off with his still-unnamed modified neckbreaker for the win.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Humberto Carrillo (9:07)

You have to go back as far as September 2016 to find a Dolph Ziggler appearance on Main Event. His opponent? Aiden English. That night, Ziggler came out the victor, just as he did here.

Ziggler made passed comment on the fact that he had been shuffled to the back of the deck on Twitter this week, but he brought some much-needed legitimacy to this show after a few tepid weeks.

Ziggler and Carrillo worked well together, going through a commercial break, but it wasn’t quite the match it had promised to be. But when a former WWE Champion appears on this show, it isn’t to be sniffed at. 

It was interesting to see Carrillo kick out of the Famouser, before dodging a superkick and threatening to take the victory for himself. He came off the top for a moonsault, but Ziggler dodged and then got the win as Carrillo ate the superkick at the second time of asking.

Final Thoughts —

Ziggler working Main Event was a definite plus this week, but probably not a situation he would want to find himself in too often. Erik was fine on his own, but he’ll probably be happier when he’s back working regularly with Ivar.

WWE Main Event results: Bianca Belair vs. Peyton Royce

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway —

Akira Tozawa, complete with his ninja sidekicks, lost to Titus O’Neil in under five minutes. Bianca Belair continued her winning streak, this week against Peyton Royce.

**********

Titus O’Neil defeated Akira Tozawa (4:51)

It’s easy to forget that Titus O’Neil has been with WWE for over 10 years now. He doesn’t really look his age. At 43 years old and in his first in-ring appearance since April, O’Neil has become quite the influencer outside of the ring and, here, dispensed with Akira Tozawa with relative ease.

Tozawa first appeared with a group of ninjas — turning heel for the first time in his career — at Backlash in June. Since then, a short 24/7 title reign followed before he has returned to Main Event with little creative direction.

O’Neil nailed Tozawa with some open hand chops early on that looked and sounded absolutely devastating. Tozawa and the ninjas did a spot where they all put their balaclavas on to try and fool O’Neil. But he just threw them all around.

The match was largely dull otherwise, with Tozawa trying a sleeper hold for a good chunk of it. In the end, O’Neil finished him with the Clash of the Titus, but even the Performance Center crowd looked bored during this one.

Bianca Belair defeated Peyton Royce (w/ Billie Kay) (6:53)

After defeating Billie Kay last week on Main Event, Bianca Belair took on Kay’s IIconics tag partner, Peyton Royce, this time out.

Much like Kay, Royce is an entertaining competitor. No, she’s not in the same league as Belair in terms of natural in-ring ability, but she put on a good show in this match. Royce and Kay are excellent, irritating heels at this point, with Kay shrieking on the outside whenever things weren’t going in her favor.

Royce spent most of the match working over Belair’s left arm, just as Kay did last week on Main Event. Ultimately, though, after selling it well, Belair launched Royce face-first into the turnbuckles and finished her off with the KOD.

Belair remains undefeated since being called up from NXT, but she’s still in need of some main roster exposure. It’s difficult to argue that there isn’t room in a three-hour Raw for someone with her talent.

Final Thoughts —

A return to the more average Main Event of old this week. I’m not sure how long Belair needs to plow through the women’s division undercard before she can achieve some TV time on Raw. She’s more than ready and continues to work well with whoever they put in front of her. Tozawa must also be frustrated at the lack of direction he has found for himself within weeks of debuting a new gimmick.