WWE’s Shelton Benjamin has revealed that he’s currently out of action with an injury.
The 46-year-old Benjamin announced the news in a tweet on Saturday, noting that it’s just the second time in his career that an injury has put him on the shelf. Though Benjamin didn’t disclose what type of injury he’s dealing with, he stated that he’ll be back in the ring soon.
“For only the second time In my career An injury has put me on the shelf,” Benjamin wrote. “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 hasn’t wrestled since teaming with Cedric Alexander in a loss to The Street Profits on a recent episode of WWE Main Event. That match was taped on April 25.
Outside of Main Event episodes, Benjamin’s most recent appearance on WWE television was last month’s WrestleMania 38 go-home edition of SmackDown. He was one of the entrants in the 2022 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, before Monday’s Raw.
Apollo Crews (w/ Commander Azeez) defeated Greg Leslie (4:52)
Crews replaced Veer Mahaan in the spot where you squash enhancement talent each week, but this was really dull.
Since they made so many cuts in the last 18 months, there are fewer lower midcard guys for them to throw on Main Event every week and so we’re starting to see jobbers more and more on this show.
Leslie proved reasonably popular with this post-WrestleMania Raw crowd and he even had his own little chant going as they locked up.
In what ought to have been a straight up squash, Crews ended up using headlocks and wasting time trying to get heat in between moves. They sweetened the crowd noise, which is saying something considering this was the Raw after WrestleMania crowd.
Crews used a fallaway Samoan drop to get the job done and Azeez beat down Leslie after the bell for some further cheap heat. The silence when Crews got the victory said it all: they need to hit the reset button on this act.
Shelton Benjamin (w/ Cedric Alexander) defeated T-Bar (7:07)
Unfortunately, this one also dragged a little with Benjamin getting his hand raised to leave T-Bar winless in his last seven outings.
To say that Benjamin is being wasted on Main Event in 2022 is bad enough, but when you consider that he’s been wasted since late 2019, it becomes beyond a joke.
Apart from a brief Hurt Business run on Raw last year, his match history over the last three years makes for bleak reading.
T-Bar, likewise, must be wondering what he has to do to get some main roster television. He’s visibly improved, but needs to be booked as more of a big man and put over as much more of a threat than he currently is.
T-Bar took most of this one, but again relied on rest holds to further the match minute count. Benjamin kicked out of a modified Eyes Wide Shut and reversed a chokeslam attempt into a German suplex. Benjamin won after hitting a running splash to the corner, followed up with the Paydirt.
A lot of T-Bar’s recent losses have been made to look like he was unlucky, but he sold this one like he was out for the count.
Final Thoughts:
Not only was this post-Mania crowd not interested in these matches, they weren’t interested in hijacking the show either.
Both matches were entirely uninspiring and went a long way to support the argument that the doing the draft post-WrestleMania was the best time in order to freshen things up.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, before Monday’s Raw.
Veer Mahaan defeated Savion Truitt (4:53)
Another week and another squash for Mahaan that again went much longer than it needed to.
Truitt was this week’s victim, making his WWE debut. Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, he has worked for APW and LSC in the past.
They mentioned that Mahaan is still not yet on the main roster despite the continual adverts promoting him coming “soon.” Saxton reckons Mahaan is keeping the roster on its toes. Yeah, that’s it.
Although Truitt got some offense in toward the end, Mahaan finished him with what is becoming a familiar combination: a running splash, the Million Dollar Arm, and a ddt.
Veer is now 11-0 since October last year when they added the ‘Mahaan’ to his name.
Street Profits defeated Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (7:56)
This was a lot of fun: a good, solid tag match that the pre-Raw crowd could get behind that built to a neat finish.
This was the Street Profits’ Main Event debut. While Angelo Dawkins has worked this show before in a singles capacity, this was Montez Ford’s first outing on the show. Dawkins worked with Buddy Murphy when they were filming shows without crowds at the Performance Center during the pandemic.
They went back and forth in this one and worked through a commercial break. Lots of pace and creativity meant that there was a lot to like here.
The finish was a typical WWE tag finish where one member from the heel team ends up incapacitated on the outside, allowing the other to take the finisher in the middle of the ring without any shenanigans.
With Benjamin and Alexander on the floor, Dawkins nailed them with a diving senton and rolled Benjamin back in so that Ford could end it with the top rope frog splash.
Final Thoughts:
The show featured a fun tag team match and an unnecessarily slow squash, but it was a better show than last week. I’d like to know what the over/under is on Mahaan debuting before WrestleMania, but I’m guessing he’s coming in afterward. Street Profits being on Main Event isn’t a great sign, but they’re good enough to overcome it.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, before Monday’s Raw.
Jimmy Smith replaced Kevin Patrick at the announce table, joined as usual by Byron Saxton.
Veer Mahaan defeated T-Bar (5:36)
This was a good fight between two big men that was largely 50-50 but didn’t overstay its welcome.
Mahaan may or may not be coming to Raw, but he’s pretty much a Main Event regular these days and is now undefeated since adding Mahaan to his name.
T-Bar is increasingly more convincing as a powerful presence. He’s adding more power moves to his in-ring moveset and is slowing down to work more methodically. There’s a gimmick in there somewhere, but his character needs work.
This was heavy, pun fully intended, on big moves here: splashes, suplexes, power slams and big boots. But, that’s what a match of this length really warranted.
This is the first time fans have seen someone kick out of T-Bar’s High Justice on Main Event, but Veer got his shoulder up at two and countered with the Million Dollar Arm and then finished him with what’s described below.
Mahaan continues to experiment with a finisher. He’s used an unnamed riff on a Sister Abigail/Cross Rhodes but went for a less effective-looking spike DDT here. If he joins the main roster anytime soon, this is just one of the wrinkles that needs ironing out.
The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin) defeated The Dirty Dawgz (Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode) (7:08)
This was an excellent tag match between outstanding in-ring workers who really know how to put a good bout together.
Ziggler on Main Event is a rarity to say the least. With only one appearance on the show in the last six years, he’s largely managed to avoid Main Event. For Roode, this was his first outing in three years on this show. It’s a shame the outcome was a loss.
This was exactly what a Main Event tag match should be. It wasn’t anything too flashy, but it was solid, avoided the dreaded rest hold spots, and was pieced together in order to get the live crowd behind the drama of it.
Ziggler is doing a lot of throwback stuff in his work these days. He did the Ric Flair strut, the NWO finger points and some Shawn Michaels poses on the apron while Roode was in the ring and the Jake Roberts DDT finger twirl to signal that they were going home.
All four worked really well together and led me to wonder why this wasn’t on Raw where more eyeballs would be on it.
The finish was everything you would want out of a curtain jerker match like this. It was complicated and went back and forth with twists and turns. When Benjamin hit Roode with the Pay Dirty, the crowd really reacted as The Hurt Business got their hands raised.
Final Thoughts:
One really strong tag match and one perfectly fine singles bout meant this was a very watchable show this week. Mahaan’s promise of a Raw debut that never arrives seems to be a running joke, but he actually needs more time to work on things on a show like this.
Catch the tag match if you can, because it was good fun. But Ziggler must be a little concerned as being farmed out to NXT 2.0 and now appearing on Main Event doesn’t look particularly great.
A pre-show match has been added to the card for Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
On this morning’s edition of WWE’s The Bump, it was announced that SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos will face Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander in non-title action on the pre-show for Crown Jewel. The event is being held in Riyadh this Thursday. The pre-show starts at 11 a.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting an hour later.
The Usos have been SmackDown Tag Team Champions since winning the titles from Rey & Dominik Mysterio on the Money in the Bank pre-show this July. The Usos remained on SmackDown in the WWE Draft earlier this month, while Benjamin & Alexander remained on Raw.
Benjamin & Alexander reunited with Bobby Lashley on Raw last month, getting The Hurt Business back together.
Here’s the updated card for Crown Jewel:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Brock Lesnar
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks in a triple threat match
WWE Champion Big E defends against Drew McIntyre
No holds barred match: Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley
Hell in a Cell match: Edge vs. Seth Rollins
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) defend against AJ Styles & Omos
Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali
King of the Ring tournament finals: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods
Queen’s Crown tournament finals: Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop
Non-title match: SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander (pre-show)
One of WWE’s top factions looks to be back in business.
During Big E and Bobby Lashley’s WWE Championship match on tonight’s episode of Raw, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander appeared at ringside wearing their Hurt Business T-shirts. Lashley had kicked Benjamin and Alexander out of The Hurt Business on Raw this March. MVP is also part of the group.
Big E’s New Day stablemates Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ran out to brawl with Benjamin and Alexander after they appeared. The match ended in a no contest, leading to WWE authority figure Adam Pearce announcing that Big E will defend his WWE Championship against Lashley in a steel cage match later on tonight’s show.
Lashley gave Benjamin and Alexander fist bumps as the three of them were heading up the ramp following the announcement.
Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Lashley to win the WWE Championship on Raw two weeks ago. When asked about potential challengers in an interview with Complex, Big E said he wanted to see The Hurt Business get back together:
Oh yeah, man. The first thought that comes to mind is The Hurt Business. I want to see them back. I want to see them together. Man, just the opportunity to go out there. The story is already there. The history is there, but I beat Bobby, and now Bobby needs to back up and [get] his two cast-off brothers back again. I got two brothers of my own. There are so many opportunities. And, same thing, I look over at SmackDown, it’s Roman and The Bloodline. I am someone who loves that. You look at The Hurt Business, you look at The Bloodline, and those that might be in those two great, incredible [factions] with really talented performers. But imagine The Hurt Business coming back together to do battle with The New Day. All kinds of incarnations; singles matches, tag matches. Man, there’s so much that we can do there.
So that’s the first order of business. I saw Cedric’s tweet, too, and I sent him the ‘mount up.’ Let him know: bring your boys, get the troop together, because that’s what I want. And I don’t think Bobby is ready to go quietly into that good night. I think he’s got some more fighting. So I want to see him with his troop, and let’s get this thing cracking again.
MVP is currently out of action after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last week. He said he hopes to be back on Raw in 4-6 weeks. In storyline, WWE claimed that MVP suffered a rib injury when Randy Orton gave him an RKO on the floor.
Two title matches involving members of The Hurt Business are set for tonight’s post-Royal Rumble episode of Raw.
WWE has announced that Riddle will get his shot at Bobby Lashley’s United States Championship on Raw tonight. Lashley’s Hurt Business stablemates Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander are also defending their Raw Tag Team titles against The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) on tonight’s show.
Riddle got the US title shot by defeating The Hurt Business’ Benjamin, MVP, and Alexander in a gauntlet match last Monday. That match featured dissension between Alexander and his stablemates.
Lashley attacked Riddle after last week’s gauntlet match and put him in the Hurt Lock.
Riddle, Big E, Daniel Bryan, and Christian eliminated Lashley in last night’s men’s Royal Rumble match.
Lashley quickly retained his United States title against Riddle on the January 11 episode of Raw after attacking Riddle before the bell rang.
Metalik & Dorado defeated Benjamin & Alexander in a non-title match on Raw Legends Night last month.
Metalik & Dorado are taking part in NXT’s men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and will face Legado Del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde in a quarterfinal match on NXT this Wednesday.
WWE is also hyping that The Miz has promised that he’ll have rapper Bad Bunny on Miz TV tonight. Bad Bunny, who performed his song “Booker T” at the Royal Rumble, hit a crossbody from the top rope on The Miz and John Morrison at the pay-per-view after Miz destroyed his equipment.
Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander are the new Raw Tag Team champions.
The two members of the Hurt Business won the titles tonight at WWE TLC, defeating champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). The finish came when Benjamin had the match won following a superplex on Kingston, but Alexander tagged himself in and pinned Kingston with the lumbar check.
After the match, United States champion Bobby Lashley came out and celebrated with the rest of the Hurt Business, including MVP who was managing at ringside.
This is Cedric Alexander’s first run with the Raw Tag Team titles, and Shelton Benjamin’s third reign as champion, previously holding the titles twice with former tag team partner Charlie Haas.
The New Day had held the titles for 69 days. They were previously the SmackDown Tag Team champions, but traded titles with The Street Profits when the two teams were drafted to Raw and SmackDown respectively as part of the 2020 WWE Draft.
Bobby Lashley is the new WWE United States champion.
Lashley defeated Apollo tonight in a back and forth match where he won the title by submission, latching on the full nelson.
This marks Lashley’s second reign as champion, his first in over a decade. He first won the title back on the May 23, 2006 edition of SmackDown, defeating John Bradshaw Layfield.
Apollo has been feuding with MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin, collectively known as The Hurt Business, in recent months. He was originally supposed to face MVP at Extreme Rules for the United States title, but was unable to due to what announcers described as an injury.
Last Sunday at SummerSlam, Apollo defeated MVP in a United States title match. A match was then made between him and Lashley for the title the following day on Raw.
Apollo Crews had held the championship for 97 days, defeating Andrade on the May 25th edition of Raw.
Both matches were very strong again this week as Main Event carried on being an extremely watchable wrestling show. Liv Morgan and Shane Thorne held their own against very experienced hands in Natalya and Shelton Benjamin. Morgan got her first win since April and Benjamin made his experience count in the main event.
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Liv Morgan defeated Natalya (5:34)
Liv Morgan was last on Main Event back in April when she defeated Santana Garrett and has been very impressive. With respect to Garrett, here against Natalya, she was taking on a vastly more experienced opponent and the match was even better.
What Morgan does so well, in addition to her in-ring smoothness, is her facial expressions and ability to react in a natural looking way to the situations she faces in the ring. She also has some comic timing and a fantastic look. Like Bianca Belair, Morgan has to be one to watch for the imminent future.
Natalya, composed as ever, started by getting the crowd going before they went at a really fast pace for the entirety of this match. They did a spot where Morgan mimicked Natalya in everything she did, like a child annoying an older sibling, and Natalya did an remarkable surfboard spot.
In the end, the traded inside cradles back and forth, after Natalya had failed to lock in the Sharpshooter. Morgan rolled Natalya through and just managed to hold on for the three count in a finish that could have gone either way. Natalya played up the loss after the bell looking angry and bereft.
This was a good opener to continue the streak of excellent in-ring work that we’ve seen on this show over the last few months. Natalya is always outstanding, but Morgan vs. Belair would be a very intriguing Main Event matchup for the coming weeks.
Shelton Benjamin defeated Shane Thorne (8:02)
Shelton Benjamin has been a joy to watch over the last six months on Main Event, rarely missing a week. Although clearly wasted on a show that is difficult to watch for the casual WWE viewer, he’s given new talent the chance to work with him on a taped TV show, no doubt providing invaluable experience for them.
Shane Thorne is by no means new to this, but he is fairly new to the WWE audience and is one of those who will be benefiting from the experience that Benjamin brings with him. Thorne worked with Ricochet last week, putting on a solid, traditional babyface vs. heel contest.
Here, Thorne, with kinesiology tape on his left shoulder, played an old-school, smug, cowardly heel. He looked for the ropes to break holds at every turn and took cheap shots to gain an advantage wherever he could. He plays this role beautifully.
They paced the match well, speeding up into quick bursts of quick chain wrestling and some explosive moves, like when Thorne did a rolling cannonball to the corner to send Benjamin outside.
But enough was enough for Benjamin, who got the shine with three scoop slams and a running knee to Thorne who was on the top rope. Benjamin then hit him with Paydirt for the win.
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Final Thoughts —
Main Event has become a very watchable product over the last few months. Seeing the likes of Liv Morgan and Shane Thorne prove that they’ve got what it takes is fun to witness, but it’s about time Shelton Benjamin got the respect he deserves as an in-ring performer. Maybe the shakeup in creative will mean that happens, but I’m not holding my breath.
For those keeping count, this was the 401st episode of Main Event and just as almost no one is able to watch it, it’s finally getting into its stride.
Two very strong matches were on display, with Ricochet getting a fine win over Shane Thorne in the opener and Cedric Alexander gaining a surprise victory over Shelton Benjamin in an excellent main event.
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Ricochet defeated Shane Thorne (6:03)
This felt longer than it was, but in a good way. They got so much in the time that they had and Ricochet made every effort to help Thorne look a real threat. By the end, they’d tried just about everything each of them had to gain the win.
Thorne garners some pretty decent heat as a heel and against as good a babyface as Ricochet, it makes sense. And it’s times like these that really cement just how underused and seemingly undervalued Ricochet has become of late.
This was a rematch from two weeks ago. And although that match was actually really very good and this was shorter, this time out was probably the better of the two, probably for the finishing sequence alone.
Ricochet went for his standing Shooting Star Press, but Thorne got his knees up and rolled Ricochet up for a near fall. Ricochet then showed some fight and nailed Thorne with an impressive reverse rana before hitting the Kick Back for the win.
This was a good, smooth wrestling match between a great babyface and an increasingly convincing heel.
Cedric Alexander defeated Shelton Benjamin (7:29)
It doesn’t seem to matter who they give Shelton Benjamin to work with on Main Event, he will adapt to their style and produce an excellent match. Hardly surprising when you consider he’s been doing this for 20 years and that this week his opponent was Cedric Alexander.
This was as good a Main Event match as you’ll see. Not because they tried to do anything special, but because the pace was perfect and technically it was superb. Benjamin is in that space in his career now where there is no wasted movement in his work and Alexander is seriously talented.
Shelton played the bully; Alexander was the plucky babyface. If they stuck Benjamin with Paul Heyman and let him use his powerful move set, you could easily strap a rocket to this guy and make him a main eventer within weeks. He’s that good and that underused.
They gave Alexander the win here. Benjamin went for Paydirt and Alexander reversed it for a near fall, so Benjamin went for a powerbomb but Alexander flipped over onto his feet and hit the Neuralyzer Kick for another near fall.
In the end, it took a Lumbar Check and a Michinoku Driver from Alexander to defeated Benjamin and I just hope we get this again next week.
Final Thoughts —
Two really good matches again from Main Event. The shorter match format is suiting almost everyone at the minute. MVP is great as color commentator and with Performance Center talent in the crowd, the whole presentation is better than it has been in such a long time.
Main Event returned with members of the Performance Center to make up the crowd, which made for a much better show. Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott had a fine opener as Belair remains undefeated since being called up to the main roster. Shelton Benjamin and Akira Tozawa worked beautifully together and had an excellent six-minute match in the main event.
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Bianca Belair defeated Ruby Riott (5:45)
This was a rematch for Belair and Riott, who faced off two weeks ago on Main Event. Belair is now 4-0 since joining the Raw roster and ought to be given some TV time as there is simply no doubt that she is ready. She dominated Riott here and has a varied moveset that makes her an exciting prospect.
At the finish, Riott grabbed a near fall and went up to the top rope, but Belair caught her and hit a modified Glam Slam on to the top turnbuckle. After news that emerged this weekend, that move may no longer be allowed.
Belair then hit the KOD for the win. This was good, but not quite as good as their last outing a couple of weeks back on Main Event. Belair is such a huge talent and should be rubbing shoulders with the top talent on Raw or SmackDown.
Shelton Benjamin defeated Akira Tozawa (6:06)
Jim Ross noted on Grilling JR with Conrad Thompson this week that Shelton Benjamin was the “finest pure athlete” that he ever signed when he was head of talent relations. For sure, watching him on Main Event over the last few months has been a pleasure.
Benjamin and Tozawa worked so well together here. Tozawa is fantastic at selling and, with Benjamin in tow, knows exactly when to speed up or slow down to build the tension. They went back and forth and produced such a wonderfully paced match here.
In the last minutes, Benjamin locked on the Angle Lock and it looked every bit that Tozawa would tap. Instead, he rolled through and snatched a near fall before super kicking Benjamin. He climbed up top, selling his ankle so that Benjamin had time to get to his feet.
Benjamin climbed up and launched Tozawa off the top rope with a belly-to-belly suplex and then finished him with his old finisher, the Paydirt.
Final Thoughts —
A good show, but there’s an argument that all four of these performers should be being used more. Admittedly, Belair probably has plenty of time to get to where she needs to be. Benjamin, however, is being cruelly underused at this stage in his career – he has so much more to give.
WWE’s final build to Money in the Bank takes place on tonight’s SmackDown from the WWE Performance Center.
Universal Champion Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt are set to have a face-to-face confrontation ahead of their title match at Sunday’s pay-per-view. Wyatt as been taunting Strowman for the last few weeks by bringing up his past with the Wyatt Family. Strowman’s tired of all the mind games and challenged Wyatt to meet him in the ring tonight.
Mandy Rose goes one-on-one with Sonya Deville. Last week, Carmella defeated Rose in a Money in the Bank qualifying match after Deville interfered. Deville beat down Rose after the match.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley & Sasha Banks take on Tamina & Lacey Evans. The match comes in advance of Bayley defending her title against Tamina at Money in the Bank.
Jeff Hardy makes his return to SmackDown tonight. For several weeks, Michael Cole introduced a series of videos covering Hardy’s career. Sheamus was upset each time Cole started talking about Hardy. WWE.com is teasing a showdown between Hardy and Sheamus.
Plus, King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro take on Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak & a mystery partner in a six-man tag team match.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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In the back, Mandy Rose was warming up for her upcoming match. Otis approached and asked to help. Rose assured Otis she has this under control and told him to focus on Money In The Bank. Rose kissed Otis and walked off.
Somewhere else backstage, Sonya Deville was warming up for the match as well. Dolph Ziggler approached and asked if she’s ready. Deville noted she waited five years for this moment. Ziggler promised to be waiting backstage. He asked Deville not to hurt Rose’s face, but she couldn’t make any promises.
Sonya Deville defeated Mandy Rose
Rose had her leg wrapped up because of the attack from last week.
Rose jumped Deville to start the match. She backed Deville in the corner and beat her down. Deville attacked the injured leg to gain control briefly. Rose recovered and rocked Deville with forearms. Deville rolled out of the ring.
Deville attacked Rose’s leg to regain control. Deville slowed the pace down with the body scissors. Deville trashed talked Rose and pulled off her eyelashes. Rose fought back, but Deville took back over.
Rose fired back with a series of clothesline. She followed up with a knee, which sent Deville to the floor. Rose slammed Deville face-first into the announce table. She threw Deville into the steps and then launched her over the announce desk.
Rose screamed at Deville. Rose attempted a jumping knee, but Deville rolled up Rose for the win.
The Forgotten Sons, The Miz & John Morrison defeated The New Day & The Lucha House Party
They recapped Lucha House Party defeating John Morrison and The Miz two weeks ago. They also recapped The Forgotten Sons defeating SmackDown tag team champions The New Day in a non-title match last week.
The Miz and Kofi Kingston went back and forth early. All eight guys jumped in the ring and started brawling. Big E launched Kingston over the top rope to the floor onto the heels. Lince Dardo and Gran Metalik then both hit suicide dives.
Back from the break, the heels were firmly in control. Kingston rocked Wesley Blake with a dropkick off the second rope. Kingston hit a big splash. Big E then hit a big splash.
Gran Metalik hit a moonsault off of Dardo’s shoulders. Dardo hit a big splash.
Metalik followed up with a big splash for a near fall.
The heels took over and isolated Kingston on their side of the ring. Kingston fought back, but Blake knocked him off the apron. Blake followed up with a suicide dive.
Back from the break, the heels continued to beat down Kingston and cut him off from his corner. Kingston almost got the tag, but the heels pulled Kingston’s partner’s off the apron.
Kingston hit the SOS, and Metalik got the tag. Metalik hit a springboard crossbody for a near fall. Dardo hit a crossbody, but The Forgotten Sons caught him. Dardo fought out and hit and double handspring stunner on the Forgotten Sons.
The Forgotten Sons hit the inverted DDT/Foot Stomp on Big E on the floor. Blake then power bombed Kingston onto Big E.
Morrison hit Starship Pain, but Dardo moved. Dardo hit the reverse rana on Morrison, but Miz made the blind tag. Miz then hit the skull crushing finale on Dardo for the win.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed King Corbin. Corbin’s certain his team is going to win tonight, so he’s looking past the six-man tag match. Corbin went through the participants in the MITB ladder match. He teased tossing Rey Mysterio off the top of the building. Corbin promised to win the MITB.
Jeff Hardy Returns
Renee Young introduced the returning Jeff Hardy. Young mentioned the videos covering Hardy’s career in the last few weeks. Hardy noted every low taught him how to get back up.
Sheamus was watching backstage and was trash-talking the screen.
In the ring, Hardy noted he can still hear the people chant his name. Sheamus got frustrated and marched out to the ring.
Hardy admitted he was surprised Sheamus hadn’t come to the ring yet. Hardy called out Sheamus.
Sheamus mocked Hardy and said nobody cares about him anymore. Sheamus pointed out that Hardy’s made several comebacks but failed each time. Hardy noted Sheamus should look at himself.
Sheamus promised to take out Hardy. He walked to the ring, but Hardy got the better of Sheamus. He hit the twist of fate and the Swanton bomb. Sheamus screamed as Hardy walked off.
Universal Champion Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt Face-to-face confrontation
Strowman noted he’s not playing any more mind games. He demanded Bray Wyatt come to the ring to meet face-to-face.
Wyatt came out and was happy to see Strowman. He noted all he wants is for Strowman to say he’s sorry. Wyatt claimed to be Strowman’s creator and knows how to defeat him.
Wyatt wants Strowman to come back home so he can be special like him. Wyatt just needs the Universal Championship back to take Strowman’s burden away.
Strowman noted Wyatt knows nothing about him. Wyatt laughed and tried to give Strowman the black sheep mask.
The puppets from the Firefly Funhouse begged Strowman to come home. Strowman noted he is home and promised to beat Wyatt Sunday. Strowman mimicked Wyatt and said goodbye.
Wyatt apologized and noted he tried.
In the back, Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak approached Otis. They asked if he heard what King Corbin said about him earlier. Bryan noted they need to talk.
Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart announced that WrestleMania III airs on FS1 this coming Tuesday night.
They recapped Banks and Bayley brawling with Tamina and Evans last week.
On commentary, Michael Cole teased problems between Bayley and Banks
Bayley and Banks argued over starting the match, so Tamina jumped them both. The heels recovered and isolated Tamina in their corner. Tamina fought back, and the heels tried leaving.
On the floor, Evans attacked Banks, and Tamina pulled Bayley into the ring.
Back from the break, Bayley distracted Evans and Banks took over. The heels isolated Evans on their side of the ring.
Evans fought back and tagged Tamina. The heels jumped Tamina before she could get in the ring. Banks jumped off the apron, but Tamina caught her. Tamina then tossed Banks into the barricade.
Tamina and Bayley fought on the top rope. Tamina knocked Bayley off and attempted a splash, but Bayley got her knees up. Bayley hit the Bayley-to-Belly and followed up with a flying elbow for a near fall.
Evans rocked Banks with the Women’s Right. Bayley then knocked Evans out of the ring. Tamina rocked Bayley with a superkick and hit the Samoan Drop for the win.
Corey Graves gave a tour of WWE Headquarters.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Carmella and Dana Brooke. Brooke pointed out that nobody believed she could defeat Naomi to qualify, not even her best friend, Carmella. Carmella noted she apologized, and Brooke claimed she was just teasing. Brooke and Carmella both promised to win the MITB ladder match.
The mysterious individual appeared again and showed footage of various SmackDown superstars. He then played a voice recording.
King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro defeated Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak & Otis
Bryan rocked Corbin with a running dropkick to start the match. Corbin rocked Gulak with a shot to the throat, but Gulak fought back. Gulak and Cesaro had a great exchange. Gulak climbed to the top, but Nakamura pushed him off, and Cesaro hit an uppercut.
Otis got the tag and ran wild. He hit a splash in their corner on Nakamura and followed up with the caterpillar.
Back from the break, the heels were firmly in control. Corbin slowed the pace down with a chin lock. Bryan recovered and went after the leg.
Gulak backed Cesaro into the corner. Cesaro placed Gulak on the top turnbuckle and hit an uppercut. Gulak rolled through and locked on a submission.
Otis threw Cesaro to the floor. Corbin jumped Otis from behind and tossed him over the top rope. Gulak caught Corbin with a flying clothesline for a near fall.
Nakamura and Cesaro sent Otis into the ring post. Bryan caught Cesaro with a knee, but Nakamura nailed Bryan with a kick to the head.
In the ring, Corbin hit the End of Days on Gulak for the win.
After the match, Bryan, Otis, Nakamura, and Cesaro fought in the stands. Gulak leaped off the barricade onto all four guys. They fought to the back.
Corbin was left alone and brought a ladder into the ring. He climbed up the ladder, but Bryan cut him off. Corbin recovered and threw Bryan into the ladder.
Otis jumped back in the ring and took out Corbin. Otis tried to climb the ladder, but the rungs kept breaking, and he couldn’t climb up.
Corbin recovered and attacked Otis and Bryan. Bryan fought back and climbed up the ladder. Corbin tipped over the ladder, and Bryan landed on the ropes.
Corbin climbed up the ladder and pulled down the briefcase.
Asuka defeated Catalina Garcia (now just ‘Catalina’) in a by-the-numbers opener that went too long before Shelton Benjamin and Humberto Carrillo battled for the third time on Main Event.
MVP was a welcome addition to the announce table, providing some insight and experience.
Show Recap:
MVP was in the booth this week with Tom Phillips for the first time, preferable to the usual pairing of Byron Saxton and Mickie James. With MVP providing the color commentary, they have someone with nearly 20 years experience in the business and it really showed.
Asuka defeated Catalina (9:03)
Asuka worked Main Event last month, defeating a newcomer to the show in Kayden Carter. Under normal circumstances, the fact that she is even on this show would be a serious cause for concern, but all bets are off here in April 2020.
Back in October, Catalina Garcia made her Raw debut, coming out with Sin Cara. Six months later, how things have changed. Now sans ‘Garcia’, Catalina made her Main Event debut here in what was a very visually vibrant match.
This was certainly given generous timing. Matches over the seven minute mark are pretty rare on Main Event and the fact they did so here is good for the new talent they are continuing to give a chance to on the show each week.
Unfortunately, what they did with the time wasn’t really much to write home about. It was largely holds and mat work with Asuka dominating Catalina, who either doesn’t have much in her armory or wasn’t given the chance to show it.
Asuka got a near fall after a running bulldog followed by Catalina attempting a 360 splash off the middle rope. However, Asuka had it scouted and rolled out of the way, finishing Catalina with the Asuka Lock for the win.
Humberto Carrillo defeated Shelton Benjamin (7:08)
I wrote last week that having Benjamin and Carrillo work together on this show each week would be fine by me and after this week, I stand by that.
MVP noted that Benjamin has “missed a step”, but conceded that “power is always the last thing to go.” This also led to lots of inevitable Money in the Bank ladder match discussion and reflection on Benjamin’s highlight reel in that regard.
They worked extremely well together again here and used the full ring and the barriers outside, going through a commercial break. Benjamin looked in his element early on as he beat down and suplexed Carrillo, grinning widely as he seemed to be enjoying himself.
It was only a small package that defeated Benjamin in the end with Carrillo rolling out of the ring quickly after the bell and backing up the ramp with his arm aloft. This takes Carrillo to 3-0 over Benjamin, but I would happily watch them do it over next week.
Final Thoughts:
Main Event was another interesting show this week with debuts and some much needed experience, both in the ring and in the announce booth. Again, there’s little to hate about the show these days as it glides along at a good pace for 45 minutes of wrestling and a Raw recap.
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.
