After over a year of inactivity, the former IWGP Tag Team Champion made his debut during Main Event tapings that took place right before the start of SmackDown on Friday, wrestling Pretty Deadly’s Kit Wilson.
Fan footage was shown of Hikuelo arriving to the ring, keeping the name he used during his NJPW run.
— Cory of False Finish (@Cory_Hays407) June 13, 2025
It was reported back in June of 2024 that Hikuleo had finished up with NJPW and was expected in WWE. However, he has yet to make any appearance on either the main roster or NXT. The 34 year old’s last match was at last year’’s Dominion event, where he and El Phantasmo lost the Strong Tag Team titles to TMDK in a four-way that was for both the Strong and IWGP Tag Team titles.
Hikuleo is the brother of both Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. They are currently off television, with Tama Tonga being out of action since April and Loa tearing his bicep during the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series.
WWE Main Event this week took place at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Monday.
Alba Fyre w/Isla Dawn defeated Ivy Nile (5:17)
Ivy Nile looked good here as she controlled the match bell to bell, but a mistake at the end meant she picked up the loss.
Nile was able to show off both her strength and improving in-ring work in this one as Fyre let her take control. The highlights were a delayed suplex, complete with squats, as well as a belly-to-back suplex that left them both gasping for air.
Dawn was essentially just there to distract and she did so twice, once early on and then again later to play into the finish.
A chinlock partway through slowed things down but did go to show that this crowd likes Nile. WWE probably needs to pay attention to that, because she for sure has a lot to offer.
The finish made Nile look pretty stupid, though, as Dawn hit the apron to distract her and, after Nile took her out, she got nailed from behind and finished off with the Gory Bomb to give Fyre the win.
For those keeping count, the loss here means that Nile is without a singles win since February and only has two wins to her name in all of 2024. She has certainly looked a little better than those stats would indicate.
This was a solid rematch from last week to leave these two teams evenly booked. The Creeds remain wildly entertaining, but this one never really got to that level.
It has felt a little jarring to see The Creeds being beaten on this show over the last few months. You have, in Julius and Brutus, raw talent that can provide you with some frankly jaw-dropping moments. That isn’t supposed to be hyperbole, it’s just how it is. Why they are being beaten is just as questionable as why they aren’t mainstays on a main roster show right now.
They kind of booked this match like a mirror of last week. LWO took the early going and nailed The Creeds with stereo dives over the top rope, instead of what they did last week where The Creeds took us to the ads on top.
The Creeds have been significantly more cocky of late, with Brutus attempting a pin with one foot on Lee in this one. But eventually, the tide turned and Wilde got the hot tag. He used a smooth-looking tornado DDT on Julius that brought Brutus back in.
The finish saw Lee get taken off the top rope and Wilde get knocked off the apron so that Julius could superplex Lee and Brutus could hit the Brutus Bomb for the win.
A possible rubber match next week would be good and it will be interesting to see which way they book it. Based on this, it seems like LWO will get the nod, but we will stay tuned to find out!
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Bronson Reed defeated Akira Tozawa (4:04)
This was pretty much an extended squash, but Tozawa is always entertaining, even in defeat.
These two have had quite a few Main Event matches in the last year or so and they largely follow a similar pattern. The difference now is that in his current gimmick, rather than just plucky, Tozawa gets to tear his shirt a la Hulk Hogan, and the crowd loves it.
Probably the only newsworthy thing here was that Tozawa managed to bloody up Reed’s nose after kneeing him to block a suplex, but it was otherwise big man vs. waspish babyface by the numbers.
It was funny that Reed played the match in such a strong way here that even when Tozawa managed to finally get him off his feet with a DDT, the cover barely resulted in a one count.
Tozawa dodged a charge so that Reed smashed into the turnbuckle and he used a spinning kick and super kick to take control. But once the shirt was ripped, it was all over as Reed had clearly had enough and he launched him into the air before finishing him with Tsunami.
Once again, nothing wrong with this, but we’ve been here for a while now with Bronson Reed. They clearly don’t know what to do with him. At least, they haven’t turned him into a comedy character or made him go on a losing streak…yet.
The Creed Brothers (Brutus & Julius Creed) defeated New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) (7:55)
Needless to say, this was a ton of fun. If you are in the crowd waiting to watch a Raw taping, this was exactly the kind of curtain jerker you want to whet your appetite and get the blood pumping. All four never fail to deliver and no exception here.
This was a rematch of the match they had on this show back in May and the result has them even.
After the early going, the ring filled and New Catch Republic cleared the Creed Brothers out. Bate did a tope and Dunne hit a sweat moonsault to keep them at bay and we crashed to the break.
After the ads, they made it clear that while we’d been watching commercials Brutus and Pete had been working hard and after a German from Brutus, they both stayed down and crawled to make tags.
Bate used a head-scissors on Brutus and, after a springboard forearm, Julius had to break up the pin to make the save. Dunne and Julius then brawled outside and Bate used a discus clothesline for a near fall, before using the airplane spin. This got over huge last week, just as it always does, and the Toledo crowd dug it here, too.
In the end, Julius took out Tyler Bate to leave Dunne isolated and Brutus engineered a way to damage his knee in a suplex attempt. They set up and hit the Brutus Bomb for the win and it felt right to give them the win after having met a few defeats over the last month or so on Main Event.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the EnMarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (5:05)
This was fine and had a good finish. Dawn and Fyre look better each time they tag and it made sense that they got the win here.
They built the match around Carter getting a hot tag before they made things unbalanced in the end to get the win.
Carter came in all guns blazing and she got a two count on Dawn so that Fyre had to break it up and make a save. Dawn then took out Chance to leave Carter outnumbered.
Dawn and Fyre did a cool finisher on Carter where they kind of hoisted her up and nailed her with a double-team DDT/Flatliner combo. Road Dogg wasn’t sure what it was either, but it looked pretty good to me.
Pete Dunne defeated Dijak (7:10)
This was really strong in the last few minutes as these two delivered a really good match by Main Event standards.
This was the first outing for Dijak on this show under his new moniker. His last match here was back in September 2022 when he was working as T-Bar. As he has attested many times, he did not enjoy that gimmick.
Dunne worked a tag match a few weeks ago with Tyler Bate, but his last solo bout on Main Event was actually against T-Bar in January 2022. This time round it was a vastly superior match, despite it having the same outcome.
The early going was mostly Dunne but they went to a break a few minutes in as Dijak caught Dunne with a big boot as he came off the top rope.
The second half was all about Dunne mounting a comeback and when he did it was pretty fun. He used a cool snap German for two and then locked in a choke.
Dijak powered out with a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall of his own. The crowd was into it by this point and they started to trade superkicks and big boots.
It took a counter and a small package for Dunne to get the win, but I kind of hope that they do it all again next week as it could have gone either way and the crowd was left pumped to see Raw.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Kiana James defeated Ivy Nile (6:46)
This was a good little opener from the two NXT Level Up graduates and the crowd seemed into it which helped as they went longer than you would expect from a Main Event curtain jerker.
Nile is now 32 and so six years James’ senior, but despite her relatively young age, James continues to look good here with Nile quite a generous opponent.
The early going was James trying to avoid the chase from Nile and they did some mat work until Nile showed off her strength to an appreciative crowd with a vertical suplex that had some serious delay.
It felt like it could go either way here with Nile putting in a strong showing, but James was typically plucky, avoiding the charge so that James was posted. They started to trade some two counts as they went to the finish.
It kind of came out of nowhere, which is probably an issue with the pacing of the match, but after a gut-wrench from Nile for two, James essentially just got Nile into the corner to set up for the 401 K.
Natalya defeated Alba Fyre (w/ Isla Dawn) (7:07)
Natalya continues to be the veteran on the women’s roster who gets a great reaction wherever she goes and the Sharpshooter is still a finisher that is very much over here 2024.
As is often the way in these matches at the top of the show, they tend to take a break quite jarringly early into the bout, but as a result, really get into their grove after the ads.
Much like I have said before in these reviews, Natalya’s matches follow a particular pattern these days. She spends her time looking to hit her Sharpshooter and, realistically, it makes a ton of sense: why wouldn’t you just try to lock in your most dangerous move to get the thing won as soon as you can? Perhaps that’s an oversimplification of wrestling psychology, but when you’re only given seven minutes every other week, I like that logic very much.
Fyre is a feisty competitor and looked to do anything she could to avoid getting trapped in the submission. Dawn was also employed well on the outside, looking to disrupt things as much as she could, and this played into the finish.
After Natalya used a high cross for a near fall, Fyre went outside and this allowed Dawn to get involved. Natalya tried to lock in the Sharpshooter on Dawn, but she still had the wherewithal to shove Fyre into Dawn so that she was taken out.
Natalya finally reversed a roll-up attempt into her finisher and Fyre tapped to give Natalya a win that went over very nicely with the Greenville crowd.
WWE Main Event this week was taped at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut before Monday’s episode of Raw.
The Miz got his own entrance as he joined Blake Howard on commentary at the start of the show.
Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defeated Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
A clean win over former tag champs could be the start of Fyre and Dawn moving up the tag team rankings on Raw.
Chance and Carter got the early advantage but that changed after Fyre was able to tag out to Dawn. Fyre and Dawn then isolated Chance and worked her down until she was able to make a hot tag to her partner. Carter then took out both heels and got the crowd into it before Fyre hit her with a superkick and a sit-out powerbomb. Carter got back on offense pretty quickly but then tagged out to Chance. Fyre quickly got the upper hand on Chance, however, and then she and Dawn hit their Gory bomb/flatliner double-team finish for the win.
On commentary, they played up how Fyre & Dawn are off to a good start since being drafted to Raw.
New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) defeated The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed)
With one-half of the World Tag Team champions on commentary, this match was played up as a contest between two potential title-challenging teams. Miz mentioned The Creed Brothers have five wins on Main Event and seem poised to make a big impact on Raw. He also suggested Dunne & Bate could be tough challengers for Awesome Truth’s belts in the future.
Dunne went to his small joint manipulation moves pretty quickly on Julius but Julius got back into it after Dunne tagged out. At one point, Julius was in a seated position while grappling with Bate and somehow managed to still pick his opponent up in a vertical suplex position, stand up while still holding Bate up, and then deliver the suplex just before the show went to commercial.
When we came back from the ads, Brutus had Bate in a chinlock. The Creeds then double-teamed Bate for a period. Bate fought back and made a hot tag to Dunne, who then took out both Creed brothers. Dunne hit a tornado DDT from the second rope for a near fall. Bate then came in and performed an airplane spin on Brutus.
Brutus then took Bate out with a running knee and that left Dunne alone in the ring with both Creeds. They hit a double powerbomb but the brothers couldn’t quite figure out who was legal and the time they wasted allowed Bate to get back in the ring and make the save. I don’t think that was part of any story, though, I think they just legitimately couldn’t figure out who was legal. Dunne then hit his finger-snapping move on Julius and then he and Bate hit a double Tyler Driver for the win.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (5:14)
This was fine, but a tepid crowd throughout made for a tag match that ended up being pretty much what you would expect.
Green and Niven double-teamed Carter in the early going, as they cut the ring in half, talked trash, and got their shots in.
Niven missed a cannonball to the corner so that Chance could get a hot tag and then the match got pretty good.
They went back and forth with both teams having to break up pins, first Niven and then Chance. When Carter ducked, Niven caught Green with a running clothesline and so Carter followed it up with a superkick.
Chance and Carter then combined to hit the After Party on Green who is now joining the SmackDown touring roster and so you would think won’t be doing too many Main Event shows for a while now.
The Creed Brothers defeated Legardo Del Fantasma (5:57)
You would be forgiven for expecting a little more out of a tag match between these four, but the Creeds were entertaining once again. Surely it is only a matter of time before they get some main roster television work.
You have to go back a long time to find episodes of Main Event with Carrillo and Garza in action together. It was November 2021 when they were last working on the Raw crew and the pair had a run of excellent performances on the show.
Much like their bouts over previous weeks, the match was built around a hot tag after the break. The Creeds took the early going until the heels used a blind tag so that Garza could nail Julius with a high knee to clear the ring and send us to the ads.
After Julius was briefly in peril, hung in the tree of woe, they got the hot tag to Brutus. This is what most of their matches are like on this show, sort of exhibition pieces that get the pre-Raw crowd pepped up for the main show.
We had suplexes galore, including a Northern Lights, and then two Brutus Bombs got it done – one to Garza outside and the one to defeat Carillo on the mat.
Fun while it lasted, but I had hoped for something a little more spicy.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio before Monday’s episode of Raw.
The last episode of the show before next week’s draft was run-of-the-mill, but the Creed brothers always seem to find a way to dazzle.
Ivar defeated Apollo Crews (4:50)
They worked hard here and got going in the last few minutes, but it was a turnaround in fortunes for Ivar who had lost to weaker opponents the last two weeks.
Ivar continues to work well as a solo performer while his partner recovers from injury, but Crews feels entirely rudderless at the moment. Despite his ability, with the latest round of cuts to the roster, you do wonder whether some of these guys will stay on much longer.
Early on, Crews showed his incredible strength when he went to scoop slam Ivar and held him for a good few seconds while pretending that his back was giving out. Ivar crashed down on top of him and took control.
After a period where Ivar just slowly beat Crews down, they went on to hit some nice high spots. Crews rolled out of the way of a top rope splash and hit a top rope cross-body for a near fall.
Ivar looked like he had it won with a sit-out powerbomb, but somehow Crews kicked out. They finished by fighting on the top turnbuckle until Ivar hoisted Crews up and came off the second rope with a falling powerslam.
The Creed Brothers defeated Mark Coffey & Wolfgang (w/ Joe Coffey) (7:12)
This was a rematch from the bout these two teams had a few weeks back, but unfortunately, this wasn’t quite as strong as that outing. That said, you can’t help but enjoy Julius Creed, who is just incredibly talented and wildly entertaining.
It’s been nearly two months since we were treated to the Creeds on Main Event and the last time that any of these men appeared here was back on the March 4 edition of the show when they faced off against each other.
They hit all their marks as they did in the previous match, with an early showing of the Creeds’ ability to do everything in stereo: we were treated to stereo hip tosses, kip-ups, and moonsaults before the break. It went sour, though, when Wolfgang blind tagged in and sent Brutus to the outside as we headed to commercial.
After the ads, Gallus had the advantage, and the match was now built around getting Julius the hot tag. He came in to a roar of appreciation and suplexed Coffey and Wolfgang before hitting Northern Lights suplexes to boot. He ended with a standing shooting star press but the pin was broken up by Coffey.
The end was poor because Gallus were obviously slowing everything down and waiting for things to happen and the smoothness was taken out of what had been a really strong match thus far.
Wolfgang was clotheslined over the top and Brutus was sent out with him, but Julius nailed Joe off the apron when he tried to interfere, and then he and Brutus set up and executed the Brutus Bomb for the win.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Natalya defeated Xia Li (4:38)
Natalya winning in Montreal makes all the sense in the world and she was over with the crowd here who appreciated her getting her hand raised.
It’s matches like these where you can really tell that there are new hands at the wheel. Not that long ago, they would have done some pathetic nod to the Montreal Screwjob to further water down its impact and have Natalya lose, embarrassingly. This was not the case here, though, thankfully.
What perhaps hasn’t changed, however, is how expendable talent can be to the company. Not three days after this show was taped, Li was let go and so this turned out to be her last match in her current run with WWE.
Like most Natalya matches, it was built around her hunting for the Sharpshooter. Li worked over her left leg, though, as though it would be a way to stop her from being able to lock in the submission finisher.
After a series of back-and-forth roll-up attempts, Natalya ducked Li’s Cyclone Kick attempt and then pounced to lock in the Sharpshooter for the win.
Ludwig Kaiser defeated Otis (5:57)
Ludwig Kaiser continued to impress in singles action, while Otis clocked up another loss, making it two defeats in as many weeks for him on Main Event.
The early going saw Kaiser try and fail to lift Otis but then was able to dodge a charge so that Otis posted himself. Kaiser then used a dropkick to send Otis to the outside and they went to the ad break.
Kaiser postured to the crowd a lot as if he had this one in the bag and so with cheap heat came the inevitable turnaround of fortunes as Otis nailed him with a power slam.
The live crowd enjoyed Otis’ shirt rip and his caterpillar which gained him a near fall when Kaiser got his foot on the bottom rope.
In the end, Kaiser raked Otis’ eyes which was enough to allow him to set up for his running kick finisher and get the win.
Not quite what you would expect here as it felt a little short and it seemed likely that Otis would get the win, but it’s now perhaps more interesting to see what they do with him after Chad Gable turned on Sami Zayn.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before Monday’s episode of Raw.
This was a good show with two decent wrestling matches this week.
Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (4:45)
This was some solid tag team action to kick off the show, but the crowd was not really into it at all.
We were treated to a proper tag bout from start to finish, which is exactly what they should be putting on for a pre-Raw crowd like this; give them plenty of quick tags and lots of action and it nicely whets the appetite.
However, while that was true here, the crowd didn’t seem to have an appetite for it. Both teams worked hard with the combination of Stark and Baszler gelling smoothly at this point.
They built the match around getting Carter the hot tag and when she finally got it, the crowd barely noticed as she and Chance double-teamed Stark, but Baszler broke up the cover.
Baszler sent Carter outside, but Chance then sent Baszler packing. Chance then got caught by Stark who finished her with the Z-360.
It was a well-worked match that deserved a little bit more credit than it got in the arena.
Ivar defeated Julius Creed (w/ Brutus Creed) (7:31)
They gave Ivar the win here after Julius looked to be going on a mini-winning streak. It was good after the ads, but anything involving either of the Creeds normally is.
While Ivar has been working solo, it has been good to see him get over on his own, but the Creed brothers are incredible together, so it seems a waste not to find a tag match for them on this show.
Creed got the early advantage and tried to knock Ivar down and lift him off his feet. He finally managed to do both when he sent him over the top rope and hit him with a tope to take us to the break.
After the commercials, Ivar was making his way to the top rope when Creed sprang to his feet and met him up there and they did a superplex, which got the crowd going. Ivar recovered to hit a sitout powerbomb for two.
Creed hoisted Ivar up and used a fireman’s carry to plant him and then the straps came down and he went up top for a 450, but landed on his feet. Ivar countered with a super kick and slammed him in position for his moonsault to get the win.
A very good match by Main Event standards that they could pretty much do every week and it would go over well.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina before Monday’s episode of Raw.
A good episode this week, made better by some funny bits on commentary and a decent match at the top of the show.
Zoey Stark defeated Natalya (4:40)
They gave the win to Stark in this one which didn’t have too much going for it. She and Natalya worked well together and the crowd was into a little by the end, too.
The early going was very much back and forth. You could tell that Howard and James were looking for things to say, with James discussing how you pronounce ‘cravat’ at one point.
And there were more than enough cravats in this one, unfortunately, which is not what the crowd wants to see when Natalya is in the ring.
The crowd got behind her when she hit a snapmare and basement dropkick onto Stark, as she looked like she was tipping the balance in her favor.
As she was looking for the Sharpshooter, Stark kicked Natalya off her and then pulled her down, using the tights, into a roll-up to snatch the win.
After the match, they shook hands and Natalya hugged her, raising her arms with Stark in celebration.
Giovanni Vinci defeated Apollo Crews (5:58)
A debut win on Main Event for Giovanni Vinci here was fun to watch. There was a smoothness to how these two worked together, which is impressive given their size.
Giovanni Vinci looked a million bucks as he came out here to debut. They played up his role in Imperium, but he can certainly work so it would be good to see him in more singles action like this.
Crews had a little streak of wins in recent months on this show but has lost his momentum. The suggestion was that a win here might give him a shot at Gunther, but realistically he’s a long way from that right now in storyline.
Vinci used a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Crews as we went to the ads, but afterward Crews managed to grab some separation as he hit a delayed German suplex on Vinci as they both went down.
Crews then went through his moveset, hitting a stinger splash, gorilla press slam, followed by a standing moonsault.
Vinci countered with a fireman’s carry roll into the corner and a second rope moonsault, but Crews kicked out at two and it was clear at this point that Vinci was bleeding from the nose.
When he comically slapped away the offer of a tissue from the ref, he went to the finish, hitting Crews with a brain buster and celebrating with a cheeky smile.
It would be good to see these two go at it again next week, because they were pretty great together.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas before Monday’s episode of Raw.
For my money, when the Creed brothers are on this show, you can’t go too far wrong.
Chelsea Green defeated Candice LeRae w/Indi Hartwell (5:29)
Chelsea Green is a devilish heel and thriving in the role. They did a nice finish here where she thwarted the good guys and made off like a bandit.
Green was in full garnering heat mode from the get-go. She walked on LeRae’s back, frequently hollered at the crowd, as well as the announcers, and even got some shots in on Hartwell to boot.
They went back and forth early on, with Green feeding LeRae so that she could get some arm drags in and a top rope missile drop kick.
They both went down when LeRae hit a German suplex on Green, but it was LeRae who got up first to get the hope. The legs were cut off her comeback when Green got her knees up to block a moonsault off the middle rope.
Green used the ropes for leverage to get a roll up but Hartwell intervened. When Green ducked a clothesline, she used the opportunity to transition into a baseball slide to take out Hartwell.
This time, Green went back to the rope-assisted roll-up and grabbed the win, leaving both LeRae and Hartwell thoroughly cheated out of the win.
The Creed Brothers w/ Ivy Nile defeated Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) w/Joe Coffey (6:58)
It was good to see Gallus get some main roster minutes, but the Creed Brothers – particularly Julius here – continue to impress in a big way. This was fun stuff all around.
Julius and Mark started the match off together and they did some mat work. The smoothness with which Julius works around the ring was really stark here. He is a pleasure to watch.
When Julius tagged in Brutus, they both stayed in together and hit stereo fallaway slams followed by standing moonsaults and kip-ups. The crowd loved this as the brothers congratulated each other.
Gallus regained the advantage before we went to a break.
After the commercials, the match was all built around getting Julius the hot tag. When it came, the crowd was ready and completely into it.
Julius exploded into the ring, hitting four suplexes on both Wolfgang and Mark with a kip up after each. He then used a double Northern Lights suplex on both men simultaneously. This guy is seriously impressive, it’s stunning watching him work.
Gallus mounted a brief comeback after Mark used a blind tag, but they sent Mark over the top rope to isolate Wolfgang and finished him off with a Brutus’ top rope cannonball, toppling him off Julius’ shoulders.
This past week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, before Monday’s Raw — a solid, fun show with some good wrestling and some interesting results.
Ivy Nile defeated Xia Li (6:16)
It was good to see Nile get the win as she is being booked well and the submission finish made sense.
Nile made her Main Event debut here after having worked some other main roster shows over the last few years. She has an MMA background and a low center of gravity, but is clearly really strong and some of her work has a really neat and tidy look about it.
Li took a lot of the going here, using stomps, kicks and strikes. Nile sold well throughout until she got a chance to mount a comeback.
Nile used a couple of suplexes before the pair traded kicks in the middle of the wrong. Nile used one too many, getting caught and pushed into a sloppy-looking Li crossface.
Nile worked her way out easily and then used a spinning kick to knock Li to the mat. She then locked in an unusual finisher: a standing dragon sleeper. Li didn’t spend anytime fighting it off and immediately tapped.
Logically, if it was that easy to get the win, Nile had a ton of opportunities to put this one to bed, but they made her look dangerous as she continues to improve.
Ivar (w/ Valhalla) defeated Apollo Crews (7:19)
There were some impressive spots between two big, strong dudes. Crews hasn’t lost much on this show of late, so it was intriguing to see them give Ivar the honors. This was good stuff that the live crowd really appreciated. Interestingly, too, this was Ivar’s first ever solo win on Main Event.
After Ivar beat Crews up and slowly wore him down, Crews caught him running the ropes with a diving clothesline to finally get him off his feet. Crews did a kip-up to signal to the crowd that this was his chance and they roared in appreciation.
Crews came off the top rope with a high cross but, still selling his ribs, he couldn’t fully hook the leg to enforce the pin. Ivar kicked out at two, but Crews used two consecutive standing moonsaults only to then miss the frog splash when Ivar rolled out of the way.
Impressively, Crews tried to hoist Ivar onto his shoulders and nearly got there, but didn’t quite have the strength.
Plucky ’til the end, when Ivar went up to the top for his finisher, Crews tried to pull him down, but got posted and planted in position for Ivar to finish him off with the top rope moonsault.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky before Monday’s episode of Raw.
An average show this week that had its moments, but Akira Tozawa is always entertaining.
Chelsea Green defeated Tegan Nox (5:01)
This was fine. Nox is certainly getting better but some of her ring work needs tightening up.
There was no Piper Niven or Natalya this week after their tag match on the show last week and so it lost something in its impact, but Green is clearly enjoying being a heel these days.
The early going was full of little comedy bits from Green until Nox came off the apron with a cannonball and went up top. Green kicked her off the turnbuckle and then stomped her before slapping on a chin lock.
Nox worked her way out and, after exchanging some quick pin attempts, she came back with clotheslines and a running splash to the corner, before again going up top.
In the end, Green took the opportunity to turn a high cross into an opportunity, rolling through and grabbing a handful of tights to get the win. The finish made sense, playing into Green’s heelish character.
This was a good match, only to be spoiled a little by some chin locks midway through that felt a little unnecessary for a match designed to hype up the crowd before Raw.
Before the match, Dupri and Tozawa did a little jig together in the ring and Chen looked on and couldn’t help smirking at it.
I always find Tozawa pretty damn entertaining. On and off over the last few years he’s been a Main Event regular and always gives a good performance, more often than not taking the fall to put someone else over.
The latest iteration of Tozawa’s character has seen him Hulk up as he heads to the finish. He tears his shirt – sometimes not managing to do it all the way in half – and then runs wild.
Chen is a big dude, especially when put next to Tozawa, and he took the early going with Tozawa flipping all over for him.
After a series of chin locks from Chen, Tozawa used a headscissors and a suicide dive to the outside to get a near fall.
After a brief comeback, Tozawa finished Chen with his top rope senton back splash and celebrated with Dupri, because he doesn’t notch up too many wins. This was his second of 2024.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Enterprise Center in St Louis, Missouri before Monday’s episode of Raw.
A good-to-fair episode this week with a fun tag bout to open and a battle of two giants to top off the show.
Tegan Nox & Natalya defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (5:32)
This was an entertaining enough tag match to open the show and the crowd thought so too, but the ending felt a little confusing.
Niven and Green cut the ring in half, bullying Natalya in the corner. She gave as good as she got, but quick tags thwarted her attempts to tag in Nox.
Eventually, Nox got the hot tag and ran wild, knocking Niven off the apron and nailing Green with running European uppercuts, a cannon ball and a top rope cross body for two.
Natalya and Nox teamed up on Green, but Niven broke up the pin. Natalya then locked in the sharpshooter on Green but Niven grabbed her hand. When the referee broke the hold, Niven entered the ring and Natalya tried to put her in the submission hold too.
The finish was a bit messy here, but essentially Niven was sent packing and after a few moments, Green finally tapped to the sharpshooter.
It looked like they were expecting another distraction from Niven, but it didn’t happen so they just went home.
Bronson Reed defeated Apollo Crews (6:35)
This was a good hard-hitting match that gave Bronson Reed his third consecutive Main Event win of 2024.
The early going saw Crews take the advantage, leading to a standing moonsault off the apron to the outside. This meant that they took an early break for the ads.
After the commercials, Reed defaulted to some chin locks before using the ropes to nail Reed with a flapjack. He then got greedy and went for a senton but Crews rolled out of the way and they both stayed down.
Crews was up first and used two running clotheslines, an enzuigiri and a top rope high cross to finally get Reed off his feet. After battling, Crews then finally managed to hoist Reed up onto his shoulders, but Reed fought his way out.
Reed then seized the opportunity and knocked Crews down to leave him prone to receive the Tsunami.
The win for Reed made sense as the way they are booking him now makes him look like an absolute giant.
