3/20 WWE Main Event TV Report: Rezar from AOP vs. Curt Hawkins, Titus & Lucha House Party vs. The Ascension & The Revival

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
MARCH 20, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Percy Watson

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Hot crowd wants Curt Hawkins to break his losing streak.
•  Cool high-flying spot in eight-man tag.

(1) REZAR (w/ Drake Maverick) vs. CURTIS HAWKINS (w/ Zack Ryder)

Renee described Rezar as he and Maverick made their entrance: “He might be the most terrifying person that I pass backstage on a regular basis. I avoid eye contact at all costs.” As Hawkins entered, the announce team brought up his losing streak and described his odds tonight against Rezar as “insurmountable.” Byron also added that Rezar is undefeated in singles competition.

The bell rang as Rezar screamed at Hawkins form across the ring. Then, without warning, Hawkins charged at Rezar and drove him hard into the corner. He got in a few moves before being caught by Rezar, who tossed him across the ring with a fallaway slam. Hawkins slowly stood up on the ring apron, but Rezar knocked him off and to the floor. Maverick approached and taunted Hawkins while Ryder offered no help.

In the ring, Rezar landed some clubbing blows then pinned Hawkins for a two-count before applying a chinlock. Hawkins got to his feet and escaped the hold. He ran the ropes, but Rezar stopped him in his tracks with a big shoulder block, sending Hawkins to the canvas again. Rezar applied another chinlock.

Hawkins wriggled free once again, performed a go-behind, then dropped to the mat in an attempt to execute a schoolboy roll-up, but Rezar wouldn’t budge. He stepped over Hawkins and stomped him in the midsection, then landed his right fist across Hawkins’s head. Rezar scooped up Hawkins and landed a sidewalk slam, but Hawkins kicked out again at two.

Rezar landed more vertical blows before locking in the third chinlock of the match. Rezar body slammed Hawkins, bounced off the ropes and lined up for an elbow drop but Hawkins rolled out of the way, causing Rezar to land hard on the mat. Hawkins landed four punches before running the ropes and hitting a flying forearm, now beginning to stagger Rezar. He then landed two drop kicks and finally a flying shoulder tackle to knock Rezar down for the first time.

Hawkins hit a DDT and covered for a two-count – a believable near fall. Hawkins landed a second DDT, then ascended to the top rope and landed a flying elbow drop and covered for another two-count. The crowd excitedly counted along with the referee – they were definitely aware of the Hawkins losing streak. Hawkins crouched in a corner while Rezar slowly stirred in the middle of the ring. When Rezar got to this feet, Hawkins charged in but Rezar blocked and planted Hawkins to the canvas with a choke slam. This was good for the three-count.

WINNER: Rezar by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: A great match by Main Event standards. It featured false finishes that the crowd bought into, and they were loudly in support of Hawkins. Ryder‘s presence was pointless – he didn’t even stand up to Maverick when he was shouting at the down-and-out Hawkins. Be a better friend!)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Rousey vs. Brooke from Raw, and the aftermath with security
• Replay of the Kevin Owens Show w/ Charlotte and Lynch from Smackdown
  (Meyers’s analysis: This replay included the complete Charlotte-Lynch brawl outside of the ring, where the only person to sell for Lynch was a security guard. Charlotte appeared to shoot defend herself against every effort from Lynch, and that it’s on Main Event suggests that things went as planned in the eyes of WWE.)
• Recap of McIntyre’s attack on Reigns, and subsequent Ambrose-McIntyre match from Raw
• Replay of Rollins chair attack on McIntyre from Raw
• Replay of Rollins vs. McIntyre from Raw
• Replay of Batista’s “explanation via satellite” regarding Triple H from Raw

(2) TITUS O’NEIL & LUCHA HOUSE PARTY vs. THE ASCENSION & THE REVIVAL

Dawson started off against Metalik, and the two locked up at mid-ring. Ten seconds into the match, we cut to commercial break.

After the break, Kalisto kicked out of a pin attempt by Dawson, then scrambled toward his corner to tag. Dawson quickly tagged in Wilder, then remained in the ring to grapple Kalisto by the leg to prevent his tagging efforts. Wilder ran in and landed a basement drop kick to Kalisto, quelling his hopes of a tag. Wilder then tagged in Konnor, who entered the ring and screamed at the crowd to “Shut up!”

Konnor hoisted Kalisto up into a delayed vertical suplex, but Kalisto fired two downward knee strikes to Konnor’s head, causing him to drop Kalisto to the mat. Konnor approached the prone Kalisto to investigate the situation, and Kalisto caught him with a double boot to the face. Kalisto seemed disoriented and unable to find his corner, but eventually made the hot tag to O’Neil, who began to run roughshod over his various opponents. The crowd cheered when Dorado and Metalik executed a well-timed double missile dropkick to take out the Revival.

Amidst the madness, Viktor was tagged in as the legal man. With the ring cleared of adversaries, O’Neil was able to land Clash of the Titus to Viktor for the pin and victory.

WINNERS: Lucha House Party & Titus O’Neil by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: That the Revival are made to take part in a Mickey Mouse pre-show eight-man tag match shows exactly what WWE thinks of the tag champs and the tag division. They weren’t even the last team to make their entrance. Apart from that, we got a lot less flash from Lucha House Party this week, which is fine.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.0

FINAL THOUGHTS: The crowd’s audible support of Hawkins and the cool drop kick spot from the tag match made both matches enjoyable, but the tag champions should be nowhere near a Main Event taping. Having them on this show does not elevate Main Event – rather it lessens the Revival.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 3/13 WWE Main Event TV Report: Another EC3 sighting, Breeze’s facial hair merry go round spins further out of control, Lucha House Party vs. Mahal & Singhs