WWE Main Event returned to the airwaves this week for another episode. The show advertised three matches plus a Joe Hendry concert. Check out the preview Cageside user GM05 posted in the Feed yesterday, find the full episode at the link below, or scroll down a little further to just read what went down on the show!
In the words of a late boxing referee….. let’s get it on!
The Miz Method proves enough to take down Fraxiom
The show kicked off this week with Kit Wil-son making his entrance, followed immediately thereafter by The Miz, who continues to
celebrate his 20-year WWE anniversary. Their opponents were former NXT Tag Team Champions Fraxiom, who were coming off a loss to the MFTs on last week’s episode. After some brief tomfoolery from Kit right after the bell, Fraxiom took charge, flying around the ring until The Miz pulled on the middle rope as Axiom went for a springboard. Kit and Miz then worked Axiom over, isolating the masked Spaniard in their half of the ring. Axiom finally got some separation and made the hot tag to Nathan Frazer, who had been doing his best Ultimate Warrior, running back and forth on the ring apron. The pace picked back up, and Frazer went to the top rope for a frog splash, but Kit broke up the follow-up pinfall. A few nearfalls later, Axiom went up top looking for a dropkick on Kit, who was now the legal man. The Miz shoved his partner out of the way and took the dropkick, letting Wilson regroup and eventually roll Axiom up for the win!
Reaction: Both teams have been hurting for wins in recent months, so I was curious to see who would get the nod. Fraxiom keeps appearing on multiple brands under the WWE umbrella, so it seems like they’re seen as valuable commodities, but they keep losing. As for Miz and Kit, I’m a little surprised Miz’s 20-year anniversary hasn’t been more storyline-focused. It’s really a testament to Mike Mizanin’s versatility. His days of main-eventing WrestleMania are probably behind him, but he still gives other guys the rub. Kit picking up the pinfall here and having his music play after the match is a small thing, but it probably signals that the purpose of this partnership is to elevate him.
Damian Priest sends a War Raider south of heaven
In this week’s second match, recently turned bad guy Damian Priest locked up with Ivar. Main Event continued its recent pattern of tag team wrestlers wrestling singles matches without their partners present. Last week it was Lainey Reid, and this week, Ivar flew solo. Since turning on R-Truth recently, Priest has seemed to have his sights set on the United States Championship. As for Ivar, he was wrestling his first televised singles match since defeating Psycho Clown on AAA back in April.
The match was hard-hitting and physical from the jump, with the audience providing plenty of oohs and ahhs for some of the collisions. Ivar, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, controlled the match for much of the early going. Momentum shifted when the War Raider came up empty on a big moonsault. Priest, unused to being smaller than his opponents, set up his finishing sequence with a top-rope hurricanrana. Damian followed up shortly after with a South of Heaven chokeslam and rolled tovictory.
Reaction: Kind of a weird choice to have Priest fight from underneath after recently turning heel. I get wanting to get him some singles wins to build him up so he can challenge Trick Williams for the US Title, but I think this match would’ve been better served against a smaller opponent so Priest could flex some dominance. To truly build him back up as an upper-mid-card heel, I think Priest will have to evolve a bit. He still just feels like a slightly angrier version of his babyface self.
Los Americanos take down Dom and JD
The next match on this week’s show featured some AAA flavor. Dirty Dom Mysterio and JD McDonagh squared off against Los Americanos, who were joined by AAA Mega Campeón El Grande Americano. This year, much of the attention has rightfully gone to El Grande’s meteoric rise, but Rayo and Bravo deserve a ton of credit for embracing their roles. The early part of the match featured a bit of comedy, with Rayo and Bravo showing off their dance skills. When the action spilled outside, Los Americanos expanded their offense and took to the skies.
One miss, though, and Judgment Day regained control. Rayo was close to a hot tag, but JD pulled Bravo off the apron at the last second. Rayo found himself in position for a 619 shortly after, but he escaped and turned the tide again. Los Americanos got some momentum going, which led to a few nearfalls and took the match to its crossroads. The action broke down and JD McDonagh nearly picked up a win after dropping one of the Americanos with a headbutt.
In almost a carbon copy of Miz knocking Axiom off of the middle rope in the match before, Dom pulled the exact same move to quell the Americanos’ momentum. Dom then grabbed the ring hammer but was cut off by a flying headbutt from El Grande. With Mysterio out of commission, JD was no match for Rayo and Bravo, who hit stereo flying headbutts from the top rope to pick up a big win.
Reaction: I’m actually pretty surprised by this result. The booking for Los Americanos still perplexes me. They’re booked as pretty big deals on AAA, but lost in the first round of the Dusty Classic and are typically used as enhancement talent on main roster shows. Their going over the Judgment Day isn’t a great sign for that faction either, although one of the main story beats was El Grande preventing Dom from cheating and eventually costing his team the match. I’ll be curious to see if we see more of the Americanos on Raw, or if this was a way to build the story on AAA.
Two trios of ladies cut backstage promos
Following a recap of last week’s SmackDown, new Women’s Tag Team Champions B-Fab and Michin celebrated their victory. Michin made it clear they’d be changing out the side plates on the belts immediately and B-Fab said they knew they’d take care of business because they deserve it. After warning the rest of the women’s tag team division, Jade stepped in and said we’re in the midst of a takeover. She told the rest of the locker room that if they had a problem, they should step up and do something about it.
We then got some highlights from Monday Night Raw this week, with The Vision laying waste to Penta and Je’Von Evans, and a tag title match being signed between the two duos. After clips of the Judgment Day ladies’ run-in with Iyo, Tiffany, and Chelsea, Cathy Kelley caught up with the trio backstage. Iyo promised to defeat Raquel Rodriguez to become the Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Chelsea said she was going to Saudi to win the gaudy Crown Jewel Championship against Liv Morgan, and Tiffy vowed to cash in her Money in the Bank to become the Women’s World Champion.
Hendry F’s around and finds out with The Vision
The closing segment kicked off with Joe Hendry heading to the ring in his ring gear to perform. The Scotsman played his hit “Can we fire Logan Paul?”, only to be interrupted by the mop-top YouTuber himself. Logan came out into the arena, still wearing his bionic arm brace, and said he would kick Hendry’s ass himself if he was medically cleared.
Instead, Paul brought out fellow Vision member Big Bronson Reed. The leaner, meaner Aussie came out looking for a fight and was immediately hit by a flying dive from Joe Hendry. The brawl spilled into the ring, where a referee was waiting to kick off an impromptu match. Big Bronson wasted no time, hitting Hendry with a Tsunami in under a minute for an easy win. Reed added a second Tsunami after the bell for good measure, and he and Logan stood and examined their handiwork as the show drew to a close.
Reaction: It was good to see Bronson Reed back in action after the match he was promoted for against Otis on last week’s Main Event never happened. The Vision as a whole is just kind of a mess right now, and Big Bronson is no exception. After his convincing loss to Oba, I’m just not sure where that leaves him in the big picture on Raw. As for Joe Hendry, our man Cain had some thoughts on him last night, which you can check out right here!
Final Thoughts
Sort of a tale of two shows this week. The two tag team matches delivered some exciting action and two relatively unexpected winners, while the two singles matches were pretty much glorified squash matches to build up two big-time heels primed for pushes. There was nothing here to go out of your way to see, but Main Event seems to be settling into a rhythm of perfectly cromulent C-level shows.
