12/12 WWE Main Event Report: Lucha House Party competes without special rules but did they win? Plus Breeze & Rawley try out for David and Goliath roles

WWE MAIN EVENT #324
DECEMBER 12, 2018
AIRED ON HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers:  Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

REASONS TO WATCH…

– Lucha House Party competes…under regulation tag rules
– Breeze and Rawley try out for David and Goliath roles

(1) MOJO RAWLEY vs. TYLER BREEZE

Rawley and Breeze made their entrances amidst the sea of tables and chairs on the entrance ramp. The bell rang, but Rawley remained squatting in the corner on the bottom turnbuckle. Breeze looked confused and approached slowly, and Rawley pointed up at Breeze, prompting the referee to back him away from the corner. While Breeze was distracted with the referee, Rawley finally sprung out of the corner at Breeze, and carried him across the ring to bury him into the opposite corner before firing a series of shoulder thrusts into Breeze’s midsection. When Rawley ceased his attack, he tore Breeze out of the corner and performed a big gut wrench slam.

Breeze stirred and slowly got to his feet from the mat while being aggressively taunted by Rawley. Once upright, Rawley grabbed Breeze by the jaw and continued to yell at him that he should stay down, and then backed him violently into another corner and rammed Breeze back-first by his face into the turnbuckle three times before tossing him again to the mat. Rawley covered for a one-count. Rawley mounted Breeze and landed a couple right forearms and continued the taunting. Rawley got to his feet and received some jeers from the crowd as he slowly lurked in a circle around the prone Breeze. Breeze crawled to a corner, where Rawley buried his boot up into Breeze’s chin, using the ropes for leverage, as the referee counted to a break.

Rawley whipped Breeze from that corner to the opposite, where Breeze collided back first and collapsed onto the mat. Rawley covered again and got a two-count this time. Rawley got to his feet and moved behind Breeze and planted a forearm to Breeze’s upper back before applying a rear chin bar. Breeze got to his feet with the help of 20-30% of the crowd, but Rawley quickly threw him back down to the canvas. Breeze again crawled to a corner and righted himself against the turnbuckles. Meanwhile, Rawley sprinted to the opposite corner, then charged back toward Breeze and landed a big body splash in the corner. Rawley slapped Breeze around a bit in the corner while delivering more taunts. Rawley ran again to the opposite corner to repeat the splash maneuver, but this time Breeze caught him with a super kick to the chin, sending Rawley to the mat for the first time. Breeze pinned Rawley for a two-count.

Rawley rolled out of the ring and was recovering on the floor while Breeze crawled through the ropes to stand on the apron. As Rawley got to his feet, Breeze trotted off of the apron into a high cross body, but Rawley was waiting and caught him in midair. Rawley then hoisted Breeze up and onto his shoulders, then hoisted him again to the top floor and dropped Breeze face-first onto the ring apron. Rawley rolled Breeze into the ring for a quick cover, but only a two-count. Rawley got to his feet while Breeze again crawled on his hands and knees to a corner. No more taunts to be heard from Rawley; this time he was repeating, “Okay… Okay…,” with a tone that nearly acknowledged the resilience of his opponent. Rawley charged at Breeze, but by using the top rope for leverage, Breeze whipped his feet up into the air to catch Rawley with an enzuigiri, sending Rawley to the mat and into a seated position against the turnbuckle.

Nigel said that Breeze’s strategy should be to stick-and-move, and wait for the bigger man to come to him. In nearly immediate contradiction, Breeze ran from corner-to-corner at Rawley and landed a flying forearm. Rawley was stunned, and Breeze repeated the maneuver. The third time was not the charm for Breeze, as he ran in again Rawley scooped him up into an Alabama Slam position and nearly delivered the move but Breeze slid downward and wrapped up Rawley’s legs and was able to turn roll him over into a pin and three-count for the victory.

WINNER:  Tyler Breeze by pinfall.

(Meyers’ Analysis: A good match that did a nice job of creating a big-man / little-man dynamic even though the actual size difference is not extreme. By Main Event standards, it appeared that Rawley would‘ve won had he landed his last power move, but Breeze used cunning and guile to overcome the odds for the win.)

-Main Event recap session:

Replay of Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre from Raw
Replay of Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka from Raw
Match rundown for upcoming PPV, TLC

(2) CURT HAWKINS & THE ASCENSION vs. LUCHA HOUSE PARTY

As LHP danced their way to the ring with colorful piñatas, Percy pointed out their recent success against the Revival, citing the Lucha House Rules stipulation. Nigel indicated that this event is taking place in San Diego, “not far North of the border,” and that “the circus is in town.” Percy told Nigel not to be such a sourpuss. Nigel responded by saying, “I’m not sour – it’s alright. I just wish someone would fire Kalisto out of a cannon.”   Heel Nigel is back, and it’s tremendous.

Viktor started off against Dorado. Viktor got the upper hand early with a go behind. Twice Dorado sprung upward, but Viktor maintained his grip around Dorado’s waist, and flung him back downward like a mat wrestler. Viktor maneuvered Dorado’s left arm behind his own back, and stood up to apply leverage to Dorado’s left shoulder from behind. Dorado sprung up again, and this time was able to land prone and whip Viktor to the mat with a mare takedown. Dorado tagged in Metalik, who tagged in Kalisto, and suddenly it was a multi-ball bonus on the WWE pinball table.  Metalik body slammed Viktor to the canvas while Kalisto bounced off the far ropes. Dorado moved into position between Kalisto and the prone Viktor to perform the signature LHP maneuver of Kalisto splashing onto Viktor from atop Dorado’s shoulders. Dorado followed with a splash of his own. For whatever reason, LHP allowed Viktor to sheepishly roll across the ring to his own corner, allowing Hawkins to tag in.

Hawkins entered the ring and was met with simultaneous side kicks from Dorado and Metalik. Kalisto bounced off the ropes again and leapfrogged over Dorado to drop kick Hawkins. While Hawkins was stunned, LHP moved into enemy territory and landed a triple dropkick to Konnor, knocking him off the canvas to the floor. Kalisto leaped over the top rope toward Konner at ringside, but Konnor caught him in the cross body position before launching him off his shoulder like a shot put, back-first onto the floor. Kalisto shrieked in pain as the show went to break.

Back in the ring, Hawkins was covering Kalisto for two-counts while grinding his forearm across Kalisto’s face. Hawkins planted a knee into Kalisto’s back before locking in a rear chinlock. Kalisto got to his feet and rolled Hawkins up into a pin, but Hawkins had just made a tag to Viktor who entered the ring as Kalisto pinned the non-legal man. Viktor repeatedly kicked the downed Kalisto, then did the “Lucha!” fist pumps to the crowd with his boot planted on Kalisto’s chest. Viktor covered Kalisto for a two-count.

Viktor chopped Kalisto across the chest, sending him into Viktor’s corner. Konner tagged in and applied a rear chinlock of his own. Unrealistically, Kalisto got to his feet, but Konnor leveled him with a nice looking European uppercut. Konnor lifted Kalisto to his feet and glared at Metalik and Dorado before whipping Kalisto kinetically into Konnor’s corner. Kalisto writhed in pain as Viktor tagged in, booted Kalisto’s face, then covered for a two-count. Viktor locked in a rear choke, but Kalisto struggled to his feet and escaped with a jawbreaker. Kalisto crawled toward his corner and nearly tagged out, but Viktor dragged him by his ankle back across the ring and tagged in Hawkins.

Hawkins dropped an elbow onto Kalisto’s back and turned him over for a two-count. Hawkins stood up and held Kalisto against the bottom rope with his boot as he tagged in Konnor. Konnor dropped to ringside and struck the helpless Kalisto with a right forearm. Konnor rolled into the ring and covered Kalisto again, and again Kalisto kicked out at two. Konnor went back to an old favorite – the rear chinlock. The crowd, very mildly, started a “Lucha!” chant, and Konnor got to his feet and positioned himself between Kalisto and the LHP corner. Konnor knocked Dorado off of the ring apron to the floor, then turned his attention back to Kalisto. Konnor lifted Kalisto into a suspended vertical suplex position, but Kalisto unsteadied Konnor with three knee strikes to his head. This caused Konnor to drop Kalisto harmlessly to the mat. Kalisto backed up into a corner while Konnor gathered his bearings and eventually charged. Kalisto slipped out of the way of Konnor’s spear, and Konnor collided impressively with the ring post between the middle and top ropes.

Kalisto was finally able to tag out, bringing in Dorado. Meanwhile, Konnor tagged in Hawkins. Dorado leaped to the top rope and landed a springboard high cross body to Hawkins. Dorado rolled through the move and got quickly to his feet. Hawkins missed a clothesline, allowing Dorado to land a springboard reverse elbow off the middle rope. With Hawkins stunned, Dorado scaled the middle corner and rope in the fanciest way possible and landed a missile dropkick. Dorado went for a cover and had the match won but Viktor scrambled in to break up the pin.

Viktor was punished for his interference by Dorado and Kalisto with a double super kick, sending him sprawling out to ringside. Konnor approached the duo and caught them in the double choke slam position. He fired Dorado to the mat with one hand and whipped Kalisto toward the ropes, but Kalisto did a handspring and rebounded off the ropes to land an enzuigiri to Konnor. Kalisto and Dorado knocked Konnor out of the ring with dual dropkicks, then Hawkins appeared behind them and clotheslined them both to ringside over the top rope.  Metalik leveled Hawkins with a high kick to the face, and then scaled the top ropes in the corner. With his hands held high in the air, Metalik sidestepped onto a single top rope for style points, and jumped to land a big elbow drop and cover for the three-count.

WINNERS:  Lucha House Party by pinfall.

(Meyers’ Analysis:  While I was ready to see the heelish, happy-to-cheat scumbags known as Lucha House Party get handed a big loss, it does come as some consolation that they weren’t allowed to compete under the bastardized circumstances known as “Lucha House Rules.” The match was otherwise what you‘d expect – some excitement mixed with larger opponents trying to slow down LHP.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.8

FINAL THOUGHTS: Both matches brought something fresh to Main Event. The former showed an orchestrated big-man / little-man contest, and the latter brought unique high flying antics of Lucha House Party. LHP is neat to look at, but  as always, it feels more like an acrobatics exhibition than a fight.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 12/5 WWE Main Event Report: Tyler Breeze actually picks up a win… against Curt Hawkins, Mojo Rawley & Ascension vs. B-Team & Zack Ryder