For the first time since 2008, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event will return, back on its original home of NBC and emanating from Uniondale, New York — the site of the very first episode of the show.
The two-hour show will be full of nostalgia from the original theme song to Jesse Ventura returning to what Ventura described as a stripped-down stage and entrances reminiscent of the 1980s.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will defend his title against heated rival and former champion Kevin Owens while in a three-way for the WWE World Heavyweight title, Gunther will defend against two former champions in Damian Priest and Finn Balor.
WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defends against IYO Sky while the inaugural Women’s United States Champion will be crowned between Chelsea Green and Michin.
The main card is rounded out by Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre in the latter’s first match since October’s Hell in a Cell.
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– After the WWE signature open, an overhead shot of New York City and the voice of Raw’s Joe Tessitore welcomed us to tonight’s show. We then headed into the cold open, followed by the iconic intro set to Animotion’s “Obsession”.
– Jesse “The Body” Ventura joined Tessitore at the broadcast position to loud cheers from the Uniondale, NY crowd. Ventura and Tessitore talked about Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens, with Ventura talking trash about Rhodes as only he could. They tossed things over to Michael Cole at ringside, as Pat McAfee joined the commentary team.
Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn
Zayn went after McIntyre right away as the bell rang, but got taken down with a chop. Zayn recovered and hit McIntyre with bunches of punches in the corner, followed by a clothesline. On the apron, Zayn hit a modified springboard moonsault on McIntyre.
On the other end of the ring, Zayn attempted for a vaulting press to the outside, but got caught by McIntyre, who splayed him on the announce table, which took us to the first break of the night at 8:13pm.
We returned to Saturday Night’s Main Event with McIntyre throwing Zayn for an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. That got a count of two. Zayn avoided calamity by dodging an attempted shoulder charge from McIntyre, which sent the Scot to the ringpost.
McIntyre tried for an Avalanche White Noise, but got flipped for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb by Zayn for another near fall. Zayn’s attempt at a Blue Thunder Bomb was blocked by McIntyre, who cracked him with the Glasgow Kiss headbutt.
McIntyre had Zayn in his sights for the Claymore, but he was intercepted for the Blue Thunder Bomb for yet another near-fall. As McIntyre rolled out to avoid a Helluva Kick, Zayn chased him to the outside, only to be met by a surprise Claymore Kick for the clean three.
A heck of a opener for tonight’s show. Zayn and McIntyre have fantastic chemistry and I enjoyed the intensity shown throughout the bout.
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– Tito Santana, Rich Hering, and Jimmy Hart were shown in the crowd enjoying the show.
Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) def. IYO SKY
Fast and furious action between SKY and Morgan to start off as the action headed to the apron. Morgan attempted for a powerbomb to the outside, but was blocked by SKY. Apron-based moonsault from SKY to Morgan took us to the break.
We returned with SKY and Morgan at a standstill, with the challenger gaining momentum. SKY ran across the ring and landed a suicide dive to the outside on Morgan. Double-footed springboard dropkick by SKY got a near fall.
Morgan avoided SKY’s Bullet Train and hit her foe with a backstabber. SKY, however, regained the advantage with three consecutive roll-through German suplexes. Morgan managed to kick out at two.
Enzuigiri from Morgan is met by a crossface from SKY that is easily escaped out of. Morgan, however, failed to escape another Bullet Train from SKY.
Moonsault by SKY is blocked by double feet from Morgan. Ob-Liv-ion from Morgan put an end to this title defense.
Post-match, Morgan’s victory celebration was interrupted by Rhea Ripley, who stared down the Women’s World Champion at the top of the ramp.
A by the numbers match with a by the numbers result that still managed to be entertaining. Hopefully, 2025 means bigger things for IYO SKY, who’s a joy to watch in the ring.
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World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match: Gunther (c) def. Finn Balor & Damian Priest
We started off with Gunther and Priest teeing off on Balor for a bit before the latter took over with a dive to the outside that stunned Gunther and led to a break in the action.
The action picked up from the break with Priest and Balor duking it out in the ring before Gunther floored both men with dual big boots to the face. Priest felt the wrath of the Boston Crab from Gunther before Balor chopped the World Champion to break things up. Pele kick by Balor to Gunther is followed by a double clothesline to both men by Priest.
Priest fired away with hard chops of his own to Gunther as he then teed off on Balor afterwards. With Gunther and Balor on opposite corners, Priest laid into both his opponents easily. He ascended the top rope with Gunther in hand and hit his own twist on the Undertaker’s Old School maneuver. Priest had Balor in position for the Razor’s Edge, but Gunther stopped it and looked to hit the Powerbomb. Balor took down both Priest and Gunther with consecutive Slingblades as a sleeper hold attempt was inadvertently turned into a pin by a superkick from Priest to Balor.
Gunther locked in the sleeper on Priest and looked to have him out, but the challenger powered out of it and landed South of Heaven. Balor snuck in with a neckbreaker on Priest, followed by the shotgun dropkick. Up top, Balor’s attempt at a Coup De Grace is stopped by Gunther, who looked to hit a superplex. Priest caught Gunther with a Razor’s Edge, as Balor hit a Coup De Grace on the champion. Priest managed to break it up at the last second.
South of Heaven to Balor by Priest, but the pin is interrupted by Gunther. Powerbomb to the steel steps to Priest by Gunther is followed by the Powerbomb to Balor in the ring and that’s it, over. Gunther retains.
A hell of a triple threat match with high stakes, and Gunther scoring the clean victory over two competitors certainly helps with building his credibility as a champion moving forward. A highlight of the night so far.
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– We went back to Ventura and Tessitore for their thoughts on the matches that we’ve seen so far on tonight’s edition of SNME before they sent things back to ringside.
Women’s United States Championship Finals: Chelsea Green vs. Michin
Missed kicks from both Michin and Green to start off as both women traded arm drags before Green threw her opponent to the outside. On the apron, Michin applied a modified submission using the middle rope as leverage. With the referee distracted, Piper Niven slammed Michin outside the ring, as we headed for a break in the action.
As we returned, Michin countered Green’s attempt at a Rough Ryder with a powerbomb. She followed that up with a release German suplex and then a tornado DDT. Green kicked out at two following that barrage from Michin. Green managed to connect with the Rough Ryder on Michin, but that only got two. Attempt at a spear is avoided by Michin, which caused Green to crash into Piper Niven.
Outside the ring, Michin took Niven out of the equation with Eat Defeat. In the ring, Michin managed to hit Eat Defeat on Green, but a well-timed foot on the bottom rope saved the match for the precocious Canadian. Michin was momentarily distracted by Niven, who got a dropkick for her troubles. On the corner, Green hit an amazing counter on Michin that led to the Un-Pretty-Her and the one, two, three that secured her the Women’s United States Championship.
A memorable finish led to a memorable moment for Chelsea Green, whose 2024 ends on a high with this Women’s U.S. Title victory. It’s a heck of a moment and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer star. Props to both Green and Michin for that incredible finishing sequence, too. Just a great way to end this match.
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– Koko B. Ware & Greg “The Hammer Valentine” were shown in the crowd as we saw Jesse Ventura join Cole and McAfee for commentary on our upcoming main event. After a “Pat-a-strator” gimmick, we got a hype video for the Undisputed WWE Championship main event match.
Undisputed WWE World Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) def. Kevin Owens
Owens entered to the ring wearing a t-shirt with his face taped over Dusty Rhodes, while Cody made his entrance with the Winged Eagle WWE Championship around his waist, which was teased a few days earlier in a YouTube video.
As the bell rang, Owens rolled out the ring and took his time while taking a gander at the Winged Eagle championship at ringside. Rhodes headed outside and proceeded to go on the attack against Owens, as he slammed him into the commentary table. Dive to the outside by Rhodes to Owens led to an awkward landing on the injured ankle of the Undisputed WWE Champion.
Owens regained the advantage by throwing Rhodes into the ring post, then doing a Randy Orton-style backbreaker on the commentary table, which led to a picture-in-picture break, but not before Owens said a sarcastic “Hi, Randy” to the camera.
During picture-in-picture, Owens targeted Rhodes’ injured ankle in the ring to maintain control of the match. As the match returned to live action, Owens, landed the swanton bomb on Rhodes for the two. Owens decided to rub salt in the wound by mocking Dusty Rhodes’ signature punches, but he got met with Rhodes hitting his father’s punches instead.
Disaster Kick by Rhodes on Owens got him a near-fall. The WWE Champion looked for a Cody Cutter, but Owens rolled to the outside. A superkick from Owens was followed by the challenger clearing the announce table., Rhodes paid homage to Randy Orton iwth an RKO outta nowhere on Owens right on the table. Inside the ring, Rhodes had Owens in his sights for the Cody Cutter. One, two, no!
Rhodes placed Owens up top and had him set up for a high-risk superplex attempt. Owens fought out of it and landed an avalanche fisherman’s buster on Rhodes, but the champion kicked out at two. Stunner attempt by Rhodes is met with a Cross Rhodes, but Owens countered and pushed him right into the referee!
Stunner by Owens, but the referee was still down. A second referee ran in to make the count, but Rhodes kicked out at two. Pop-up Powerbomb was blocked by Rhodes, and the second referee found himself knocked out by an errant dive from Rhodes. Owens rolled to the outside and looked to grab a streel chair. He took a swing with the chair, but Rhodes dodged it and hit a Cody Cutter. Cross Rhodes onto the chair by the Undisputed WWE Champion as Rhodes hid the evidence. The cover, and that’s it, over. Cody Rhodes retains in the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
A very fun way to cap off what has been a great evening of action on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The finish with the referee bumps and the chair should naturally lead to a third match down the line with Owens perhaps having a claim due to the murky way the match wrapped.
All in all, a solid night of wrestling for WWE’s return to NBC on Saturday Nights. While the results for four out of the five matches were never in doubt, the in-ring action was excellent and there was never a dull moment throughout. How things shape up for the next SNME in San Antonio next month should be quite interesting, but for now, I had a good time with this inaugural edition of the SNME revival.
