The second installment in the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event revival on NBC airs live tonight from San Antonio, Texas, featuring three title matches, a contract signing, and a match between two brawlers.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther will look for the fifth defense of his title as he faces former Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso who is looking for his first World title. Gunther is making his second SNME appearance after defeating Damian Priest and Finn Balor in December’s debut.
The show will feature a contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens ahead of their undisputed Universal title ladder match at the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels will mediate.
WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley returns for her second SNME as she defends against former Women’s Champion Nia Jax.
Sheamus will attempt to win his first-ever WWE Intercontinental title as he challenges reigning titleholder Bron Breakker.
The show is rounded out by Jacob Fatu against Braun Strowman.
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– Following the WWE signature intro, we got a kickoff of the show from Joe Tessitore, who introduced all our key players for this evening’s show, including Ted DiBiase, who appeared with his Million Dollar Belt. We then went to the cold open.
– Tessitore was shown on the stage with Jesse Ventura. The two discussed tonight’s card, particularly the Intercontinental Championship match between Bron Breakker versus Sheamus. But first, it was time for the first match of the evening.
Women’s World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax to retain
As always, Ripley got a great reaction from the crowd as she made her entrance. Jax delivered a cheap shot as the championship introductions were in progress, which brought this match underway.
Ripley assumed control with a DDT and a cannonball from the apron. In the ring, Jax withstood clotheslines from the Women’s World Champion and then flattened her with a headbutt. In the corner, Jax took out her foe with an avalanche Samoan drop as we took our first break of the evening.
We returned with Ripley reversing a move from Jax as she tried to rally back into the match. An attempted springboard hurricanrana was caught by Jax, but Ripley turned that into a Code Red for the near-fall. Ripley’s attempt at Riptide was countered into a Samoan Drop by Jax. The challenger headed up top for a leg drop on Ripley, which wasn’t enough to get this match done.
In the corner, Ripley showed impressive strength and dropped Jax with a powerful powerbomb. She attempted a Prism Lock, but Jax countered it. Uranage from the corner by Jax gave her the chance to take over. She went to the top rope, but got driven to the outside. Ripley climbed to the top and hit a superb crossbody onto Jax.
Back in the ring, Ripley tried for another Riptide, but got splashed by Jax instead. On the corner, Jax hit the Annihilator on the Women’s World Champ. As Jax attempted for a second Annihilator, Ripley lifted her up for the electric chair drop. Ripley avoided a splash from Jax before finishing this title defense off with third time’s the charm for a Riptide and the win.
A good opener with an expected result, but still an enjoyable way to open tonight’s SNME show. Rhea’s popularity simply can’t be underestimated.
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– In the crowd, Alundra Blayze (or Madusa, if you prefer) and Mark Henry were shown in the crowd.
Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus to retain
Prior to the match, Jesse Ventura joined Michael Cole & Pat McAfee for commentary on this match, the first Intercontinental Championship title defense on a SNME episode since 1992 when Shawn Michaels defeated the British Bulldog.
Sheamus and Breakker locked horns to start off this encounter. The champ broke off the lock and laughed arrogantly at his foe. Sheamus began to work over Breakker in the corner with clubbing blows, followed by a hard lariat. Breakker recovered and hit a belly to belly throw on Sheamus. Breakker made a a speedy run across the ropes to send Sheamus outside with a clothesline. At ringside, Sheamus caught Breakker after an attempted super spear and threw him into the timekeeper’s area.
In the ring, Sheamus threw Breaker onto the apron and wanted to deliver the Beats of the Bodhran, but Breakker escaped. As Sheamus leapt off the steel steps, he was met by a fierce spear from Breakker. That, of course, meant a break in the action.
The action continued as Breakker delivered repeated rib breakers on Sheamus in the middle of the ring. Sheamus fired himself up as Breakker taunted him and he answered with a huge knee to the champion. That only got a near-fall, however. As Breakker scurried to the apron, that left him open for the Beats of the Bodhran from Sheamus — 16 to be exact. Sheamus lifted Breakker up high for the Celtic Cross. One, two… not quite.
Breakker hoisted Sheamus above his head for the Gorilla Press Powerslam, but that was not enough for the three. On the corner, Breakker paid homage to his lineage with a Frankensteiner. Attempted Spear by Breakker was met by a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. Is this one over? No! Breakker got his foot on the bottom rope to break the count.
Sheamus attempted for another Brogue Kick, but his bad ribs gave out. Breakker eventually seized the moment with a Spear and that’s it, over. Another successful Intercontinental Championship defense for the young Breakker.
Now that was a very enjoyable fun. I’m always entertained by, for lack of a better term, big meaty men slapping meat. On that end, Sheamus and Bron Breakker delivered in spades. That ringside spear was one hell of a spot.
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– More legends in the crowd were shown, including Ted DiBiase and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, who got a great reaction from the crowd.
Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens Contract Signing (Hosted by Shawn Michaels)
Michaels started by saying he was so happy to be back in San Antonio, and that he had been given one job tonight: to walk out of the ring with the contract signed by Rhodes and Owens. He said he was “the closer” that SmackDown GM Nick Aldis sent for tonight. With that said, Michaels introduced Owens (who wore a “Cody Sucks Eggs” shirt, shouting out Terry Funk’s shirt aimed at Cody’s legendary father) and Rhodes.
As Rhodes and Owens stared each other down in the ring with their respective championships on their shoulders, Michaels told them to be seated. They refused to do so. HBK said that for as much as we enjoyed Rhodes and Owens battering each other for months, his assignment was to walk out of tonight with their Royal Rumble match contract signed. Rhodes signed the contract first before Owens was supposed to do so.
Owens took the mic and said that Rhodes talked about something that pissed him off last night on SmackDown. He said that Rhodes saying Owens took the easy way out annoyed him. Before Owens could continue his diatribe, Rhodes told him to shut up because he was done talking about Kevin Owens and he was looking ahead to who he was facing at WrestleMania.
Owens said that at the Royal Rumble, he will shut everyone up who doubted him and he will prove to be the true WWE Champion. He says that everything that Cody has will be his once everything is all said and done.
Michaels interrupted and told Owens sounded jealous. The belligerent Canadian took umbrage to this remark and lashed out at Michaels, claiming that he was bringing more pride to the Winged Eagle than HBK ever did. Owens finally signed the contracted and forcefully shoved it to Michaels’ chest.
On Michaels’ instruction, a referee took both Rhodes and Owens’ championships and hung it on a hanger. Michaels said that only one man will walk out undisputed WWE Champion next Saturday before he wished both Rhodes and Owens the best of luck. As HBK tried to shake both men’s hands, Owens delivered a cheap shot to Rhodes and set Michaels up for a package piledriver. Rhodes responded with a superkick to Owens before HBK tuned up the band and hit Sweet Chin Music on the self-proclaimed WWE Champion.
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Braun Strowman defeated Jacob Fatu via disqualification
On the way to the ring, Fatu cut a promo to the camera, stating that he was going to beat Strowman from post-to-post, on NBC, and coast-to-coast.
This showcase of the big meaty men slapping meat kicked off with a test of strength beween Strowman and Fatu, before the former took early control with a shoulder block. Fatu recovered for a bit and hit a right hand, but that didn’t help him for long. Strowman clotheslined Fatu to the outside, but Fatu responded with a suicide dive across the middle rope to knock down the redwood that is Braun Strowman. That cued up a break in the action.
Saturday Night’s Main Event returned with Fatu in firm control until a sidewalk slam from Strowman created some separation. Strowman swung meat hook strikes that kept Fatu stunned long enough for a Biel throw that sent him outside. At ringside, Strowman had a full head of steam for a running charge that sent Fatu into the barricade. Strowman went for another running shoulder pounce that sent Fatu over the announce table. Third time’s a charm? Nope, as Fatu sent Strowman with a Samoan Drop onto the announce table to stop the Strowman Express.
Back in the ring, Fatu launched a barrage of running hip strikes on Strowman which kept the big man stunned. The referee attempted to stop him, but got thrown out for his troubles. With nobody to stop him, Fatu unleashed more running hip strikes on the stunned Strowman. The referee called the match to the disapproval of the fans.
Security poured in and got waylaid by Fatu as additional officials and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis arrived in the hopes of stopping this onslaught by Fatu. Strowman was left bleeding as Fatu hit his leaping moonsault onto him. The fans were in love with this carnage as they chanted “one more time”. Fatu obliged and delivered one more springboard moonsault onto Strowman, The fans chanted for Fatu as we got one more springboard moonsault onto the out-of-it Strowman. Fatu and Tama Tonga made their exit, the Samoan Werewolf more than satisified in living up to his boast of beating Strowman from post-to-post, coast-to-coast.
This match was rather short, but it more than filled my need of seeing two big giants battering the hell out of each other. Fatu getting cheers despite being a heel was interesting to see. Maybe the San Antonio fans just love the sight of giant-on-giant violence like I do.
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– Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were shown in the crowd as Cole tossed things over to Joe Tessitore and Jesse Ventura, who were stood at the “Okerlund Position” (named in tribute to “Mean” Gene Okerlund). We then got a rundown of the Royal Rumble next week:
- Men’s Royal Rumble Match
- Women’s Royal Rumble Match
- Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens (Undisputed WWE Championship)
- 2/3 Falls: DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)
World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther defeated “Main Event” Jey Uso to retain
Gunther caught Uso with a boot to the head to start the match, which led to a striking start. The World Champion gave us the sight of a big meaty man slapping Yeet as he hit Uso with a hard chop that sent the challenger outside, which sent us to the commercial break once more.
We returned with Gunther flattening Uso with a clothesline for the two-count. Gunther maintained his dominance with more chops and boots to the head of Uso, who fired back with some strikes of his own. A very hard-hitting World Title affair taking place right now. Gunther applied a submission in the middle of the ring, but couldn’t hold it for long. Uso lifted up Gunther for a Samoan Drop to create some much-needed separation.
Gunther delivered his finishing Powerbomb on Uso, but couldn’t put him away with it as Uso kicked out at two. As Uso rolled out to the apron, Gunther attempted to choke him out with a boot as we got another ad break.
We returned from the break, same as the last, with an exchange of strikes that ended with Gunther hitting a German suplex. He was met with a superkick from Uso as he tried for another lariat. Uso avoided the shotgun dropkick from Gunther and hit a running hip strike on the World Champion. Uso ascended the top rope but was intercepted by Gunther, who tried for a superplex. Uso slipped underneath and instead got a sitout powerbomb on Gunther for the two.
Uso hit a surprise Spear on Gunther, who kicked out at 2.999999 to keep his World Title reign alive. Another superkick and a Spear from Gunther was followed by the Uso Splash. Once again, Gunther barely kicked out after that salvo from “Main Event” Jey.
As Uso went for a third Spear, Gunther caught him for two consecutive Powerbombs. The three, and that’s it, over. Gunther retains the World Heavyweight Title in the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The show ended with the implication that Uso’s gutsy effort got some respect from Gunther.
An alright main event that got hot in the last five minutes, but the placement of commercial breaks kind of disrupted things and made it a bit hard to fully get into the match.
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All in all, while the results were predictable, this edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event was as good as the one last month, and gave us a rather memorable angle with Jacob Fatu’s destruction of Braun Strowman in their encounter. Meat was on the menu this evening and all that hard-hitting action tonight was, in my view, enough to whet the appetite of wrestling fans who were looking for the kind of wrestling that would make Big E proud.
