WWE Main Event TV Report
March 18, 2014
Houston, Tex. at Toyota Center
Aired live on WWE Network
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Reporting live from tonight's Smackdown TV taping...

Dark Match: Rusev (w/Lana) beat Xavier Woods and his iMovie Titantron theme at 3:36. Rusev won with the Camel Clutch to prove his superiority.

Main Event started with the Rhodes Bros. introduced for tag action. Real Americans were out as the opposition while the audience continued to file in and find their seats.

1 - REAL AMERICANS (JACK SWAGGER & CESARO w/Zeb Colter) vs. CODY RHODES & GOLDUST

The first half built to Rhodes and Goldust doing their double splash on the floor. The heels then isolated Goldust back in the ring. A "We The People" chant picked up but it was quickly drowned out by boos for heel antics. The vocal males then popped for ten rounds on the Big Swing.

Hot tag to Cody, who delivered a top-rope moonsault for a close two. Cody escaped the Patriot Lock, then nailed Cross Rhodes on Swagger for the pin and the win. Afterward, Cesaro was a good teammate and helped Swagger out of the ring instead of yelling at him for losing.

WINNERS: Rhodes Bros. at 13:24. Solid opening tag match. The kids-heavy crowd recognized the finisher teases and bought into the nearfalls. No dissension in the Real Americans's camp this week.

Tonight: The Undertaker.

2 - CAMERON & NAOMI vs. LAYLA & ALICIA FOX

Layla back on TV for the first time in several months after returning to the road over the weekend on house shows. A blown corner spot wasn't enough to deter the face team, who picked up the win via "Pirate" Naomi. Revenge for Kaitlyn, who lost a Divas Title match in the same building last year when Layla turned on her.

WINNERS: Cameron & Naomi at 5:02.

Raw Rebound focused on the Triple H-Daniel Bryan showdown at the end of Raw. The dark nature of Hunter's beat down frightened the kids in the arena. But, it's happy fun time at WrestleMania when Bryan faces Hunter in three weeks.

3 - BIG SHOW vs. TITUS O'NEIL

A graphic for the Andre Battle Royal accompanied Show's entrance to continue making it seem like he's the favorite to win. Titus was introduced next and it's apparent his dog bark is over. Also over is Show's corner chop after silencing the crowd. Show wanted a chokeslam, but Titus blocked and hit Clash of the Titus for a two count only. Titus got cocky and walked into a chokeslam grip, but Show opted to flip it to a KO Punch for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Show at 4:24. Show marches on to the Andre battle royal. Meanwhile Titus has so much untapped potential. Great heel charisma ready to be utilized.

The Undertaker is next.

After some videos played while the production team set up Taker's entrance, WWE rolled Paul Heyman's video package from Raw highlighting The Streak. Speaking of Heyman, he moved to the corner of the ringside area while the arena was dark.

After the video played, Heyman appeared in front of the live crowd by interrupting Lilian Garcia. Paul introduced himself to loud boos, then entered the ring. Heyman said he is here to deliver a message from Brock Lesnar. Heyman hyped The Streak at the level of the WWE World Title, then claimed that The Streak will end at WM30. Boos.

And then the bell tolled for Taker returning to his hometown. Heyman freaked out in the ring and kept looking toward the entrance, but Taker showed up behind him in the ring. Taker, now sporting a Mohawk and chinbeard looking like Chuck Liddell and Zangief, grabbed Heyman around the throat and delivered a message of his own. Cited text was from Revelation that he will slay the beast and throw him into hell at Mania. And if Lesnar doesn't get the message, his sermon will continue Monday on Raw from Brooklyn. Taker choked Heyman into submission, then posed in the ring and on the stage. Nice change to Taker's look, not appearing as old as when he returned.

4 - KOFI KINGSTON vs. HEATH SLATER

No sign of Jinder Mahal and Drew McInytre supporting their 3MB teammate in the "main event." It took a while for the crowd to get into this one after the Taker segment. Kofi made his comeback and finished off Slater with a clean Trouble in Paradise for the pin.

WINNER: Kofi at 4:31. Basic match to close the show.

***

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