Kalisto was back in the ring before Raw went on the air last night and got a win against Tony Nese on Main Event. Abigail Rodriguez, Kalisto’s wife, had posted on her social media accounts last week that Kalisto needed stitches and had an MRI done due to the water bottle being thrown at him. The bottle, which wasn’t empty, bounced off the ground and hit him in the mouth.
In the other match on this week’s Main Event, The Revival were in action against Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews. Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson got the win in Dawson’s second week since returning from tearing his bicep in August.
The Big Takeaway: Prior to his injury on 205 Live on Tuesday, Kalisto beat Ariya Daivari on Main Event. Apollo Crews, who is now accompanied to the ring by Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil, left Curt Hawkins 0-146 going into the holiday period.
**********
Kalisto defeated Ariya Daivari (6:04)
After the unfortunate events from Tuesday night’s 205 Live that ended in Kalisto needing stitches and an MRI when a fan threw a bottle of water at him, it was good to see Kalisto’s Monday night Main Event match result in a great performance and a win.
Daivari and Kalisto worked together well here and built a match that looked like it could go either way. When Daivari successfully hit a huge Persian Lion Splash for the second time, you could have been forgiven for assuming that the match was done at the five-minute mark. When Kalisto kicked out, it proved a nice wrinkle in the storyline of the match.
The finish saw Daivari trying to bully Kalisto, towering over him and trash-talking him until Kalisto leapt up and flew into the Salida del Sol to get the win. This loss leaves Daivari, a man with very few wins under his belt since joining WWE, without a win since August.
Apollo Crews (w/ Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil) defeated Curt Hawkins (5:05)
Hawkins may just be becoming the new Gillberg after all, as his losing streak continued here against Apollo Crews — an opponent who he has lost to frequently over the last few months. Crews came out with the addition of Dana Brooke in his entourage. Brooke was sporting professional attire: business suit, glasses, and clipboard.
On the bell, Hawkins looked disgruntled at the presence of both Brooke and O’Neil and shouted that they should be sent “to the back!” Hawkins is making the most of his streak: after some back and forth, he actually laid down in the ring and urged Crews to get it over with. Of course, he was playing possum and Crews fell for it, allowing Hawkins to dominate the middle section here.
The match went through a commercial break and they really made it look as close as they could. Hawkins kicked out of a standing moonsault and Crews kicked out of a second rope powerbomb. Finally, Crews dug deep and nailed Hawkins with a running single leg high knee and his spin-out powerbomb for the win.
Until next time, wishing you a wonderful holiday period with your families and loved ones.
The Big Takeaway: Gran Metalik & Kalisto defeated Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher in less than four minutes. Apollo Crews beat Curt Hawkins in a rematch from last week to take Hawkins’ storyline losing streak to 137.
**********
Apollo Crews (w/ Titus O’Neil) defeated Curt Hawkins (5:13)
In a rematch from last week, Apollo Crews beat Curt Hawkins again. They have upped his streak by five from last week even though Hawkins hasn’t worked a live show in the last seven days, suggesting that the number is as arbitrary as the angle itself.
Hawkins took a beating in the first half of the match, with Crews showing off his strength with a long vertical suplex. When Hawkins got some heat, he went outside and mimicked O’Neil’s Florida Gators call, but O’Neil didn’t rise to it this week.
The last few minutes saw the two men exchange quick pinning combinations as Hawkins looked like he was pushing Crews all the way. It ended, though, when Crews ducked under a clothesline and spun Hawkins up into the air to nail him with his spin-out powerbomb.
Gran Metalik & Kalisto defeated Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher (3:44)
Gallagher is a remarkable performer but is perhaps even more so now that he wrestles in a full three-piece suit and dress shoes. He and Kendrick are as different as chalk and cheese — especially evidenced if you’ve seen their episode of “Ride Along”on the WWE Network — but functioned well as a tag team here.
After Metalik played babyface in peril, he managed to get distance between himself and Gallagher and Kendrick. They did a great spot where Kendrick slid back into the ring as Metalik was crawling to make the hot tag and Kendrick dove to stop him, just missing as the tag was made. The timing was perfect.
The finish saw Metalik hit a prone Gallagher with his rope-walking elbow drop while Kendrick was too far away to make the save. Metalik and Kalisto celebrated like they had just won a championship but, overall, this was far too short given the talent on the show.
The Big Takeaway: Jason Jordan returned to Main Event and took Curt Hawkins’ loss tally to 121, then Cedric Alexander beat Tony Nese in a short back-and-forth bout.
**********
Jason Jordan defeated Curt Hawkins (4:58)
You have to go back a year ago — almost to the week — to find a Jason Jordan appearance on Main Event. In November 2016, he defeated Viktor in an unmemorable singles match and there was just as little of note here in his bout against Curt Hawkins.
Hawkins’ losing record is now being referred to as the “longest in the modern era” on commentary. Jordan dispensed with him with relative ease, despite giving Hawkins more of the match than his status deserves, using his as-yet-unnamed finisher — a belly-to-back suplex lifted and dropped into an elevated neckbreaker.
The match was full of drop down/leapfrog combinations until Hawkins worked over Jordan’s storyline injured shoulder and took control with rest holds. The turning point was when Hawkins came off the top rope for an elbow drop and Jordan rolled out of the way. It led to a quick finish from Jordan, who had stopped selling his elbow and pinned Hawkins to continue his losing misery.
Cedric Alexander defeated Tony Nese (4:30)
So often on Main Event, the cruiserweights aren’t given nearly long enough and this was no different. It becomes a see-how-much-of-our-stuff-we-can-get-into-five-minutes contest and it does them a disservice when you look at the talent on display.
Despite its brevity, there were several good moments in the match. Alexander had a shine segment where he slid under Nese’s legs, sprung up and rolled underneath him, and came up with an overhead kick. He then did a kip up and drank in the roar of the crowd while mocking Nese by counting his abs. These two are very good together.
The finish really could have gone either way: after Nese had used his pumphandle slam, Alexander barely kicked out, but quickly recovered to nail Nese with a springboard handstand scissors takedown. Alexander used the Lumbar Check and leaped on top of Nese as hastily as he could to ensure that he got the win. This was a good, solid match.
The Big Takeaway: Matt Hardy won his Main Event debut, taking Curt Hawkins’ loss tally to 120. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson also dispensed with Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil in less than three minutes.
**********
Matt Hardy defeated Curt Hawkins (5:07)
Before he left WWE in 2010, Matt Hardy had become somewhat of a regular on WWE Superstars. To see him become such a success outside of WWE, re-sign with the company in 2017, and then wind up on Main Event (albeit Superstars under a different name) is vexing to say the least despite the circumstances with Jeff Hardy being out with an injury.
On commentary they made an effort to note that he was a successful singles performer, but in a way that sounded like the tag team division was where he was supposed to be. Hardy was still clearly a star given the reaction he got when he hit the Twist of Fate at the end of the match.
They are slowly pushing Hawkins’ losing streak on commentary, which after this was up to 120 matches without a win. He probably came closest this week to breaking the curse than any in recent memory, though, as the last minute of the match was a trading of near falls.
After a Michinoku Driver from Hawkins, Hardy kicked out at two. Hawkins made it look like he was going to finish things and got Hardy up into a fireman’s carry, where Hardy was able to elbow his way out. Hardy then reversed Hawkins’ grip into a Twist of Fate for the win.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil (2:49)
Crews & O’Neil were just two challengers to a more established tag team in Anderson & Gallows here. Crews wasn’t given nearly enough in the match, either, with virtually no chance to shine in what was a really short bout.
Once they had gone through their early exchanges, Crews & O’Neil got the upper hand and managed to dump Anderson to the outside and then double team Gallows to send both men packing.
They looked like they might have a chance as Nigel McGuinness was putting over Crews as the difference maker, calling him the “X-factor of this match.” But after the break, we returned to Anderson taking out Crews on the outside so that Gallows could nail O’Neil in the middle of the ring.
Gallows tagged in Anderson and they hit the Magic Killer on O’Neil for the win. This was way too short to have much of an impact.
The Big Takeaway: Curt Hawkins took the pinfall as he and Dash Wilder lost again this week to continue both of their respective losing streaks. Akira Tozawa also got a win over Tony Nese in a fairly ordinary main event.
I mentioned a few weeks back that Curt Hawkins has been without a win since the night he returned to WWE. Well, he is now playing this up in his ring entrance on Main Event. Over his music, Hawkins’ recorded voice says, “his 118 match losing streak is going to come to an end right before your eyes.” And, of course, it didn’t.
Wilder is also without a win since his Revival teammate Scott Dawson was struck down with an injury in June, and it didn’t get any better for him here. However, his tag partner took the loss — when Rhyno nailed Hawkins with a spinebuster — to take the streak to 119.
Slater and Rhyno fared well with the pre-Raw crowd. They have been performing without each other for a number of weeks now, but, reunited, they went over well here. Rhyno did the power moves, Slater played babyface in peril, and Hawkins brought out the inner trash-talker in Wilder. Overall, this match was fun while it lasted.
The finish started when Rhyno got the hot tag. Hawkins blind tagged in while Wilder was wheeling from the onslaught, but Slater saw it and dumped Wilder outside so that Rhyno could focus on Hawkins, who he nailed with a spinebuster for the win.
Akira Tozawa defeated Tony Nese (4:56)
Tozawa hasn’t been on Main Event since April, but he’s such a pleasure to watch. Here, he was all action and took the match 100 miles per hour. Nese is a good foil for Tozawa’s pace and made it look like he was going to take the spoils until he got caught trying something on the top rope and Tozawa was able to hit the Drop Zone.
There was a spot here where they teased an early finish with Nese lying prone and Tozawa in position for the Drop Zone, but Nese rolled out of the ring. Tozawa’s response was amazing: he leaped off the top rope and — as he landed — began sprinting into the ropes and then dove through them headfirst at Nese. It was both breathtaking and really quite dangerous at the same time.
Otherwise, it was Nese using his physique and strength to try to dominate Tozawa and the match was punctuated by Tozawa’s efforts to get the crowd riled up. When the finish came, it felt a little early, but Tozawa seized the opportunity and got plenty of hang time on his impressive finisher, the Drop Zone.
The Big Takeaway: Other than Dash Wilder remaining winless as a singles competitor, this was not a newsworthy show. That said, Rich Swann’s corkscrew 450 splash is still a thing of beauty.
**********
Heath Slater defeated Dash Wilder (5:28)
Nigel McGuinness was back this week and made reference to the fact that Wilder has now lost four in a row. McGuinness claimed that it was “not about the wins and losses” for Wilder and brought up that Kenta Kobashi once lost 63 matches in a row.
Wilder is quite a ring technician, though, and as much as it is becoming somewhat of a burial seeing him lose to the likes of Slater and Rhyno each week, it can’t be long before they give him some kind of push.
The match was nothing special. They teased a countout victory when Wilder dumped Slater outside and then knocked him off the apron with a right hand for an eight count. Wilder had a near fall shortly after with an inventive fireman’s carry backbreaker, but Slater got the win with a schoolboy.
Lince Dorado & Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar & Tony Nese (4:56)
After a few strong main events for the cruiserweights over the last few weeks on this show, this proved to be too short and lacking in creativity to be as good as any of those.
At one point, Dorado had a visual pin on Noam Dar. Dar’s role was essentially to wreak havoc when he wasn’t in the ring. He knocked Swann off the apron so that he missed a tag and later broke up a pin on Nese. He plays the chicken heel really well.
In terms of in-ring action, Swann was probably the standout here. Dorado’s handspring stunner led to both he and Dar going down. He got the hot tag to Swann, who came in and fired up on Dar. Nese saved the pin and Swann used a roundhouse kick on Dar. Dorado gave Nese a hurricanrana to the floor outside so that Swann could get the win with the corkscrew 450.
The Big Takeaway: Dash Wilder lost his second solo match in as many weeks, then Mustafa Ali stole the show in the main event.
**********
The show opened with a tribute to Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.
Heath Slater defeated Dash Wilder (5:23)
Last week on Main Event, Wilder was beaten with relative ease by Rhyno’s spinebuster. Here, he and Slater went back and forth in a fairly by-the-numbers bout with Slater getting the win with the Smash Hit.
They’ve been going with Rhyno and Slater on their own without each other at ringside of late, which takes something away from their act. Slater has only really ever had a handful of solo wins lately, and they’ve generally been on this show against talent who are just as low on the card. When Rhyno was there to cheerlead and bodyguard, it always got a good reaction.
Here, though, Wilder was beaten for the second straight week as he doesn’t have much to do without his injured tag partner, Scott Dawson.
The story of the match was that Wilder was the stronger, more dangerous performer but Slater was plucky and continued to thwart him. Eventually, Slater took the win when he reversed Wilder’s suplex into his lifting DDT.
Nigel McGuinness has helped improve the show now that he is on the announce team. Generally, Corey Graves, although good, switched to being a heel on Main Event and would essentially treat Vic Joseph with disdain. But McGuinness is there to put over the talent and really helps call moves.
Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese (7:48)
If the show wasn’t already a re-run of sorts from last week, this match saw four of the six men from last week’s main event in Anaheim go at it again. The faces won again on this show with the match building to Ali finishing Daivari with his impressive 054.
On any other show, this kind of all-action, fast-paced tag match would go down really well, but here it’s hidden. On a show that is difficult to catch in the United States, there’s often little reason to go out of your way to find it when you have countless hours of other content out there to watch.
Nese, who didn’t even get a tag last week, looked really good here. He has grown his hair and beard out and his physique is impressive for this division. He and Dorado work really smoothly together. The highlight was Mustafa Ali, though. His move set is exciting and fresh, and he and Daivari work extremely well together.
The match was all about the finish: they did a great spot where Dorado was selling an injury, leaning on the middle rope for a breather while Daivari and Nese were outside. Ali climbed up, stood on Dorado’s back, and performed a beautiful moonsault off his back onto both men.
Dorado followed it up by nailing Nese with a top rope crossbody, while Ali was able to set up for the 054 on Daivari for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Dash Wilder made his singles debut on Main Event in a loss to Rhyno, then the cruiserweights put on a good six-man tag match with a magnificent finish.
**********
Rhyno defeated Dash Wilder (5:45)
Wilder took a lot of the match here despite Rhyno’s size and strength advantage. Unfortunately, Wilder has been completely forgotten about since Scott Dawson got injured and the crowd, who were initially behind Rhyno, quickly didn’t care too much for this match.
Rhyno and Wilder went back and forth until Wilder knocked him off the top rope over to the outside. The blow Rhyno took as he tumbled to the matting slowed him down and let Wilder look like he had a realistic shot.
Wilder tried some quick pin attempts and used a rear chinlock to wear him down, but Rhyno worked his way out and speared Wilder in the corner. Rhyno tried a belly-to-belly suplex but only got a two count.
Rhyno went for the Gore, but Wilder dodged and rolled the posted Rhyno into a schoolboy, using the ropes for leverage. Rhyno kicked out and this time picked up the running Wilder into a spinebuster for the win.
Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari, Noam Dar & Tony Nese (5:20)
After endless entrances, Dorado and Daivari started things off together. Ali distracted Daivari and he turned around to eat a slick dropkick from Dorado, but Daivari kicked out at two. Dorado hit him with a second rope springboard moonsault for two and then locked in a rest hold.
Daivari tagged in Dar and Dorado made the tag to Ali. Ali came off the top rope and nailed Dar’s left arm with a double foot stomp and then tagged in Metalik, who did likewise with a double axe handle. Metalik flipped all over around Dar, who did his best to dodge, but he was planted with a bulldog and rolled outside.
Both teams stared each other down as we headed to a break.
Daivari was yelling at Dorado as we returned. He slapped on a rear chinlock to a roar of boos. The crowd clapped Dorado out of the hold and he was able to surprise Daivari with a springboard stunner. They crawled to their corners and tagged in Ali and Dar. Ali overwhelmed Dar and hit him with a roll-through neckbreaker, but Nese and Daivari broke up the pin.
The ring filled, with all six men going at it. The heels were sent packing and Metalik, Dorado, and Ali hit them with triple seated sentons in what was quite the spectacle. Ali rolled Dar back into the ring and hit the 054 for the win. Nese never even got tagged in, but this was a fun match.
The Big Takeaway: Nigel McGuinness replaced Corey Graves on commentary, and we were treated to excellent tag team action in the cruiserweight division. Elias also made his Main Event debut, stealing a win against Kalisto in the main event.
**********
Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali defeated TJP & Brian Kendrick (6:33)
Kendrick and Dorado started off and exchanged chops. A head scissors takedown sent Kendrick outside, then Ali tagged in and they double-teamed Kendrick for a two count. Kendrick took over, tagged in TJP, and the heels started to slow the match down.
Ali outsmarted TJP, using some quick skill to flip out of a wrist lock and TJP backed off impressed. Ali mimicked the dab and gave TJP a hurricanrana. He tagged in Dorado and the pair double-teamed both TJP and Kendrick, cleaning house.
Kendrick and Ali then settled into it, with TJP sweeping the legs of Ali while the referee was distracted. The heels cut the ring in half and worked over the left shoulder of Ali.
After Dorado got the hot tag and worked over TJP, he tagged in Ali to finish him off. Dorado did a suicide dive onto Kendrick to the outside to take care of the threat, while in the ring Ali hit a neckbreaker to put TJP in position for the 054. This was a good win for Dorado and Ali, who worked really smoothly as a team.
Elias defeated Kalisto (2:24)
Elias was introduced in the middle of the ring, playing a song that buried Omaha, Nebraska where Main Event was being taped. The crowd booed so he started over because he had told them “to hold their applause.” Kalisto’s music cut him off and Elias was maddened.
Elias cut off any attempts by Kalisto to kick him and outpace him. Kalisto was slung around the ring until he connected with a right foot and a springboard crossbody. He sent Elias outside and used a springboard moonsault as we went to a break.
Kalisto gave Elias a hurricanrana to the mat as we returned, getting a two count. He used another top rope moonsault and went for the Salida del Sol, but Elias caught him and reversed it into the Drift Away and got the win after having taken virtually none of the match.
The Big Takeaway: A show that lacked punch had a decent cruiserweight bout between Mustafa Ali and Ariya Daivari and a tepid women’s division win for Dana Brooke over Alicia Fox.
**********
Dana Brooke defeated Alicia Fox (5:17)
Fox and Brooke had a couple of matches on Main Event back in January and in both cases Fox took the spoils, but Brooke got the win here over Fox who is now a nine-year veteran in the women’s division having started with the SmackDown brand back in 2008.
They exchange early cover attempts, trying roll-ups and inside cradles until Fox dodges a charge from Brooke and scissor kicks her back for a near fall. Fox works over the lower back with knees, following it up with a reverse chinlock and trying to stretch Brooke out.
When Fox goes for a til-a-whirl backbreaker, Brooke reverses it into a cover for a two count. A rather heelish Fox gets stroppy here, finishing some knee strikes with her patented bridging northern lights suplex for two. She slaps Brooke, then Brooke wakes up and gets the heat with a clothesline and scoop slam.
Brooke looks slow here as she goes to the finish with a handspring back elbow smash to the corner, followed by what looks like a new finisher, a running cartwheel splash. Brooke gets the win in what seemed like a long five-minute match.
Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari (4:50)
On the bell, Daivari takes down Ali into a front face lock and trash talks him, laughing in his face. He grabs the hair and whips Ali back to the mat in a wristlock. Ali immediately quickens the pace, showing his high-flying style is so different to Daivairi’s ground-based offense. A dropkick to the face sends Daivari outside as we head to a break.
Daivari catches Ali with a high knee as we return and covers him for a near fall. Daivari tries an inverted DDT, but again Ali stays alive. He goes for a suplex, but Ali uses an inside cradle as they trade pin attempts.
After Ali kicks out of a spinebuster, he dodges the charge and uses a pop-up stunner and spinning DDT to put Daivari in position for the 054 for the win. In contrast to the opener, this felt short and would have benefited from giving Ali longer to get his offense in before the pin.
A big “let’s go Slater” chant kicks things off on Main Event as Hawkins gets some hometown heat. Slater chucks his shirt into the crowd to a big cheer and then atomic drops and scissor kicks Hawkins for two. Rhyno plays cheerleader on the outside, enjoying this hot crowd.
Hawkins slows things down by nailing Slater in the lower back with a running knee and then stomps on his back. The crowd hates it and starts to clap along to get Slater back on top as he kicks out of a sidewalk slam. Hawkins slaps on a rear chinlock and, when Slater works his way out, runs into a big boot and a clothesline.
Slater eventually gets some impetus when he spikes Hawkins with a jawbreaker to get out of a rear chinlock, but Hawkins immediately sweeps him off his feet. Hawkins goes under the ropes with the momentum and celebrates to a rain of boos. When he then rolls back in, Slater snatches a win with an inside cradle.
Curt Hawkins is now without a win in a WWE ring for close to 11 months.
Brian Kendrick defeated Lince Dorado (7:48)
Kendrick looks to be in a foul mood and starts the match off with a cravat and an abdominal stretch. Kendrick spends a long time on the fundamentals trying to thwart the pace and electricity of Dorado. They exchange quick pins until Dorado spins Kendrick to the outside with a spinning head scissors.
Dorado follows him outside and then nails him with the same move on the matting around the ring. He rolls Kendrick back inside, then Kendrick starts to back off and look for the ropes to give himself a breather. Kendrick pulls Dorado’s arm through the ropes as he flies over the top to the outside as we head to a break.
Kendrick is nailing Dorado with a big boot as we return and Dorado kicks out of the cover at two. Kendrick double underhook suplexes Dorado and then goes back to the cravat. He holds on as Dorado tries to create some separation. When he eventually does, Kendrick flapjacks him and returns to the submission hold.
Dorado gets the advantage when he reverses a top rope belly-to-back suplex into a crossbody. He enzuigiris Kendrick and then goes up top for a crossbody. Kendrick takes the impact but rolls it into a near fall. Dorado then gets the heat with a combination of kicks and a spinning heel kick. He gets a two count off of a hurricanrana and then does a handstand stunner for another near fall.
The match builds to a nice crescendo when Kendrick puts his foot on the rope to stop the pinfall. Dorado comes off the top for the shooting star press, but Kendrick gets his knees up. He immediately slaps on the Captain’s Hook for the win. This was a great match for this expectant post-SummerSlam pre-Raw crowd.
The Big Takeaway: Curt Hawkins lost again, this week to Kalisto while Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik beat Ariya Daivari & Drew Gulak in a solid main event.
**********
Kalisto defeated Curt Hawkins (4:27)
Here’s one for you: since he returned to the company in September of last year after the brand split, Curt Hawkins has put over countless people in around 113 matches and he has only had one televised win. He defeated Apollo Crews on the night of his return on SmackDown and since then has been on quite the losing streak. It also means, of course, that he has never won a match on Main Event.
Here, he beats down Kalisto early on, mocking Kalisto. It catches up with him and he is booted in the face and tossed outside. Kalisto teases the suicide dive, making Hawkins look like a wimp in the process. Kalisto goes up top but Hawkins sweeps out his leg and slaps on a read chin lock.
Hawkins nails him with a spinebuster, confidently counting the pin to the crowd, but Kalisto kicks out at 2 7/8ths. Hawkins tries a split leg moonsault, but Kalisto rolls out of the way. From here, Kalisto gets the heat, spinning around the ring and finally planting Hawkins with the Salida del Sol for the win.
Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik defeated Ariya Daivari & Drew Gulak (4:50)
Daivari and Dorado start off together and Dorado quickly tags in Metalik so that they can double team Daivari. Dorado launches Metalik over his head in a leapfrog so that he can plant Daivari with a drop kick. Daivari rolls out of the pin attempt and tags in Gulak.
Gulak tries to slow things down with his no-nonsense style but Metalik cannot be contained for long. He whips Gulak across the ring with a springboard arm drag and then does a rope walk missile drop kick. Gulak kicks out of the cover at two and rolls outside for a regroup with Daivari as we head to a break.
Dorado hurricanranas Gulak as we return and then comes off the top rope with a clothesline. Gulak again survives the cover, kicking out at two. He then nails Metalik off the apron and after a cheap shot on Dorado locks in an inverted Sharp Shooter on Dorado. Dorado looks done for but Metalik steams back in and drop kicks Gulak in the back.
The finish is aesthetically very pleasing: Dorado does a double springboard stunner on both Daivari and Gulak. Dorado and Metalik both go up to the same top turnbuckle and Metalik swoops down onto Daivari outside with a moonsault while Dorado hits a shooting star press on Gulak for the win.
The Big Takeaway: R-Truth made his first appearance on Main Event in a year while beating Curt Hawkins in the opener, then Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson stole one against Heath Slater & Rhyno in a strong main event.
**********
R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins (4:38)
R-Truth comes out rapping to this expectant crowd in Nashville. He is in incredible physical shape at 45, a fact that many casual WWE fans just won’t realize. He and Hawkins do a lot of comedy early here, with Truth now adding dabs to his dubious dance repertoire.
Truth legdrops Hawkins, who rolls under the ropes to take a breather. Hawkins spikes Truth on the top rope and then takes over with strikes and a big vertical suplex. Truth kicks out at one and Hawkins slows things down with a rear chinlock.
When Truth works his way out, Hawkins takes him down by sweeping out his legs from under him and goes back on offense. Truth kicks out of a side suplex as Hawkins postures to the crowd. Truth nails him with a leg lariat and then gets the heat with clotheslines and a sit-out reverse suplex slam.
Truth misses the axe kick but is able to hit him with a finisher that he used to use in TNA, the reverse STO. This was pretty much by the numbers and exactly what you would expect.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (6:09)
Rhyno and Anderson start off together, with Rhyno taking the early going. He runs through Anderson and tags in Slater for some tag team tandem offense. Slater works over the left arm until he goes to tag in Rhyno. Anderson decides he’s had enough and retreats to his corner. He tags in Gallows to square off against Rhyno.
Gallows looks to waste no time, but he gets caught by Rhyno, who then goes to the second rope and floors Gallows with a diving shoulder block. Gallows kicks out of the cover, then Rhyno tags in Slater.
As Slater mounts him in the corner for punches, Anderson distracts Slater and he turns around to eat a superkick from Gallows. Anderson and Gallows celebrate with the too sweet as we head to a break.
Gallows and Anderson have the ring cut in half as we return, with Slater playing babyface in peril. Slater works his way out of a rear chinlock and is nailed back to the mat, then Gallows goes over and nails Rhyno. He turns around and gets dropkicked by Slater as both men crawl to make tags.
Rhyno comes in and is all over Anderson with a running spear to the corner and a huge belly-to-belly suplex. Gallows has to come in to make the save and Slater takes him out and they both spill outside. Rhyno hits Anderson with a superplex, but he kicks out at two.
Rhyno then looks for the tag, but Gallows sneaks around and takes out Slater’s feet so that he smashes his head into the apron. With the referee’s back turned, Gallows enzuigiris Rhyno to the back of the head and they hit the Magic Killer for the win. This was a decent match but had a really good finish.
The Big Takeaway: Mickie James beating Emma was the most noteworthy aspect of a fairly run-of-the-mill show that featured TJP and Lince Dorado in the main event.
**********
Mickie James defeated Emma (5:50)
Mickie James comes out to mark her debut appearance on Main Event, while it also marks over a year for her opponent, Emma. Emma’s last outing on this show was way back in April of 2016 in a loss against Paige.
James takes the early going, showing her veteran experience and outwitting Emma at every turn. A neat dropkick from James gets an early near fall. Emma then ducks under the rope to get a breather. She uses it to her advantage and goes on the offensive. When she connects with a powerbomb, we cut to Dana Brooke, who is backstage watching the action on a television in her dressing room.
After Emma applies a full nelson, James gets out but is planted with a clothesline for two. Emma hangs her in the tree of woe and slides outside and pulls her hair around the ring post. Emma goes back to the full nelson, but James works her way out and gets the heat.
James uses clotheslines and a flapjack and then comes off the top rope with a Thesz press for two. She finally beats Emma with the Mickie DT. As James celebrates, we cut backstage and see Brooke, but it comes to nothing and we go to a break.
TJP defeated Lince Dorado (4:31)
Both these men are so proficient in all aspects of what’s needed in the ring, particularly TJP. His unique offense starts early here as he uses a headstand headscissors takedown into a near fall. After exchanging intricate interchanges, Dorado chops TJP and dropkicks him, forcing him to take a walk to regroup.
Dorado teases the suicide dive, then when TJP runs away, Dorado stops, looks at the crowd, and mimics his dab. The crowd loves this and Dorado, who is now oozing confidence, clearly loves the reaction. Dorado invites him back in, drop toeholds him, and slaps on a rest hold as we head to commercials.
Dorado is in control when we return; he hits a top rope moonsault, a belly-to-belly, and a springboard stunner on TJP, who just manages to kick out of the cover. TJP crotches Dorado but is thrown off onto the mat. Dorado goes for the shooting star press, but TJP rolls out of the way and is able to use the Detonation Kick for the win.
