SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
MARCH 27, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Percy Watson
REASONS TO WATCH…
- Tyler Breeze hair and outfit refresh.
- EC3 gaining crowd support.
(1) EC3 vs. TYLER BREEZE
The announce team expressed excitement for WrestleMania as the wrestlers made their entrance. Breeze was sporting a new haircut: Still longish on top, but a fresh fade on the sides and back – no more ponytail. The fur trim from his boots was mostly eliminated as well. This was a rematch from two weeks ago where Breeze defeated EC3.
EC3 offered a handshake to Breeze, but Breeze immediately attacked EC3 instead and had him reeling in the corner with punches and kicks. Breeze leveled EC3 with a drop kick then applied a chinlock. EC3 got to his feet and took Breeze down with a back suplex, then covered for a one-count. EC3 wrestled Breeze on the mat, applying a full nelson. While Breeze was panting on the mat, EC3 shouted, “Submission! Submission!”
Breeze escaped with a jawbreaker, then knocked EC3 down with a kick to the face while using the top rope for leverage. With EC3 buckled over the middle rope, Breeze performed a somersault over EC3’s back and top rope. Breeze landed on his feet, but it was very awkward and he ended up falling onto his rear end. He sprung up immediately and resumed his original plan of running off the far ropes, and EC3 met him halfway to level him with a clotheslines. EC3 covered again for a two-count. The announce team discussed what it would do to EC3’s ego if he lost to Breeze two matches in a row.
Breeze ran and jumped into a high crossbody toward EC3, but EC3 caught him and turned Breeze over to slam him to the mat. He screamed, “Say my name!” at the prone Breeze, then ran the ropes and landed an elbow drop. An “EC3” chant echoed throughout the arena. EC3 attempted to lock Breeze up, but Breeze escaped and landed a superkick to knock down EC3. Breeze covered for a two-count. While both men were down and struggled slowly to get up, another “EC3” chant slowly started. Renee commented on the WWE Universe getting behind him.
Breeze set up EC3 for a suplex, but EC3 blocked the maneuver by locking his arm around the top rope. EC3 then tried the same maneuver himself, but Breeze flipped through the move and landed on his feet – cleanly this time. Now behind EC3, he locked his arms around EC3 and twisted him around into the Unprettier setup, but EC3 freed his arms up and pushed Breeze away. EC3 gave Breeze a DDT, then sprung to his feet and froze before doing his quick “turn to the mirror over his shoulder” pose, aimed at Breeze. Breeze got to his feet and EC3 easily performed the One Percenter DDT, then covered for the pin.
WINNER: EC3 by pinfall.
(Meyers’s Analysis: The match had two or three sloppy moments, but it still had more to offer than an average Main Event match. The move sets were less routine, and EC3 was allowed to carry on with his mannerisms. Most importantly, the crowd got behind him, in spite of being staged as a heel.)
Main Event recap session:
- Replay of Charlotte vs. Asuka women’s championship match from Smackdown
- Recap of McIntyre vs. Reigns, and McIntyre in-ring challenge to Roman from Raw
- Replay of Reigns’s response to McIntyre’s challenge, and the ensuing brawl, from Raw
- Match rundown for upcoming PPV WrestleMania (The rundown did not include Kofi vs. Daniel Bryan)
- Replay of New Day gauntlet match from Smackdown
(2) HEAVY MACHINERY vs. THE ASCENSION
Byron reminded the audience that the Ascension made fun of the “mental acuity” of Otis the night of their Raw debut. Renee pointed out that Otis can dead lift 710 lbs. Tucker started off against Konnor as Otis did his characteristic shouting from the apron. The men locked up at mid-ring and Tucker maneuvered Konnor into the Ascension corner. Viktor blind tagged himself in and attempted a sunset flip over Tucker, who wouldn’t budge on the maneuver. However, Konnor, on his way out of the ring, back-kicked Tucker in the gut, allowing Viktor to follow through on the sunset flip. Tucker kicked out at two.
Tucker got to his feet and clotheslined Viktor to the mat. Tucker tagged in Otis and the duo did the Bushwhacker stomp around Viktor before colliding mid-ring, crushing Viktor. Konnor tagged in and gestured and shouted at the crowd who provided a light round of boos. Otis responded with a pose of his own, and shouted “Oh yeah!” The crowd cheered. Konnor teased a high lockup but quickly kicked Otis in the gut before ramming his head into a turnbuckle. Otis seemed merely irritated. Konnor landed a big vertical chop to Otis’s chest, but Otis tossed Konnor into the corner and laid down a deluge of clubbing overhand lefts and rights.
The ref backed Otis out of the corner, and Konnor sprung out with a knee lift to Otis’s midsection. Viktor tagged back in and the Ascension caught Otis running the ropes and pulled the middle rope down, causing him to spill out to ringside. Viktor then leveled Otis on the floor with a high cross body from the ring apron. We cut to commercial.
In the ring again, Konnor had Otis down on the mat. Konnor landed a big elbow drop and pinned Otis for a two-count before tagging in Viktor. Viktor landed several kicks to Otis, then dropped a fist to his head and covered for a two-count. Konnor tagged back in and applied a chinlock. The crowd offered moderate support to Otis, who got to his feet, but Konnor threw him back down to the mat back-first. Otis writhed on the canvas, reaching out toward his corner. Instead, Konnor moved Otis into the Ascension’s corner and tagged in Viktor. The Ascension landed a flurry of two-on-one kicks to the downed Otis.
Viktor kicked Otis again in the head, then pinned for yet another two-count. Konnor tagged in and landed a measured punch between Otis’s eyes. He lifted Otis to his feet then fired him into a corner. Otis, finding a burst of energy, ran out of the corner and the two clotheslined one another, both falling back-first to the mat. The downed wrestlers crawled to their respective corners and simultaneous hot tags were made.
The fresh man Tucker knocked Viktor down three times with clotheslines and a drop kick. He knocked Konnor off the ring apron before leveling Viktor again with a high cross body. Otis tagged back in and executed the Caterpillar and elbow drop. Tucker tagged back in and Heavy Machinery executed the Compactor for the pin and victory.
WINNERS: Heavy Machinery by pinfall.
(Meyers’s Analysis: Not a bad tag match. The hot tag at the end made sense in this example, as both Ascension members were working hard throughout the match while Tucker had been waiting patiently in his corner while Otis worked most of the match. It was nice to see Ascension finally behaving like a polished tag team with frequent tags and double teaming. For weeks, Viktor did all of the heavy lifting while Konnor stayed off to the side, perhaps nursing a mild injury.)
SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.2
FINAL THOUGHTS: Two decent matches, and EC3 had the biggest crowd reaction of all. Perhaps most newsworthy is that Kofi vs. Daniel Bryan was missing from the WrestleMania match rundown. There is only one week remaining until the show, and WWE is still not showing all its cards.
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