7/31 WWE Main Event TV Report: Lacey Evans is back and nasty, EC3 seems to have his spirit and enthusiasm back

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
JULY 31, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Renee Young

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Lacey Evans is back, and she nasty
• EC3 less grumpy, more engaged

(1) LACEY EVANS vs. DANA BROOKE

As the match started, Evans slowly removed her lace glove, then threw it at Brooke. Brooke, incensed, ran at Evans but was stopped by the ref as if the bell hadn’t rang yet, which it had. Evans was allowed to remove her other glove, then the match started properly. Brooke knocked down Evans with a shoulder block, then swatted her across the face, causing Evans to crumple onto the canvas.

Evans rolled beneath the bottom rope onto the apron, then quickly got to her feet to pull Brooke down neck-first across the top rope. Evans then laid in a series of overhand clubbing blows to Brooke’s chest while holding her against the turnbuckle by her hair. Evans locked a rear choke hold and stood up on the middle rope, suspending Brooke above the mat with her feet dangling. The ref counted the hold and Evans relinquished at four, and fanned herself after such exertion.

Evans slowly walked around Brooke, who was catching her breath on her knees, before taunting her briefly then leveling her with a clothesline. Evans applied a chinlock.

Brooke escaped the hold but Evans fired her into the corner. When Brooke slumped down to the mat, Evans ran in and landed a single-landing bronco buster, then covered Brooke for a two-count. Evans rewarded Brooke for the kickout by slamming her face into the mat a few times, then applied an arm bar while landing several knees to Brooke’s skull. Evans told the ref to ask Brooks if she wanted to submit. He did. She did not.

Brooke nearly battled out with shots to Evans’s abdomen, but Evans countered with a modified DDT, then covered for another two-count. Evans yanked back on Brooke’s hair before applying another chinlock. Brooke flipped Evans off of her, but Evans rolled through it and planted her knee into Brooke’s breadbasket. Brooke responded with clotheslines and a dropkick. After ramming Evans’s face into the top turnbuckle, Brooke took her down with a bulldog. Brooke ran the ropes, performed a handspring moonsault but Evans got her knees up, stunning Brooke.

Evans began climbing the corner, but Brooke intercepted at the second rope, then power bombed Evans in the middle of the ring for a pin and two-count. Brooke missed a handspring back elbow in the corner, and Evans caught Brooke with the Woman’s Right. Evans covered Brooke for the three-count.

WINNERS: Lacey Evans by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: This match served as a vehicle for Evans to display various shades of nastiness, and in this, it was effective. Evans’s finisher looked good enough to warrant two replays after the match. A nice touch was Evans holding her hand daintily out to the ref to help her to her feet after the pinfall.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Recap of U.S. Championship Contender Gauntlet Match from Raw, featuring Ricochet vs. Andrade
• Replay of King’s Court w/ Trish Stratus and Charlotte Flair from Smackdown
• Replay of Roman Reigns Scaffolding Incident from Smackdown
• Replay of Randy Orton video promo building to SummerSlam match vs. Kofi
• Match rundown for upcoming PPV SummerSlam
• Replay of Lesnar / Rollins in-ring altercation from Raw

(2) LUCHA HOUSE PARTY vs. ERIC YOUNG & EC3 & ROBERT ROODE

Roode entered last so he could fulfill his entrance mannerisms, and when he ripped his robe open at the musical cue, EC3 was blown back into the corner. Roode noticed these antics and smiled, saying, “You get it! You get it!”

Kalisto and Roode started things off. Roode leveled Kalisto with a shoulder block, but Kalisto soon got the upper hand with speed and agility. Young and Dorado each tagged in, and Dorado used a head scissor takedown to send Young careening into Roode. Lucha House Party posed victoriously in the ring while their opponents recovered on the floor at ringside. We cut to commercial.

Back from the break, EC3 was working Dorado over in a neutral corner. EC3 laid in a chop across Dorado’s chest, then leaned backward and stylishly pointed to Young on the apron. EC3 climbed the corner, setting up for a superplex, but Dorado fought him off and took him down with a high cross body in the middle of the ring. Both wrestlers were stunned, but EC3 made it to his corner first and tagged in Young, who dashed across the ring to knock Kalisto off the apron.

He turned his attention to Dorado, the legal man, but his attack on Kalisto gave Dorado enough time to recover and land an enzuigiri on Young. Dorado tagged in Metalik, who sprung onto the top rope to pounce at Young, but Young saw him coming and dropped to the mat and rolled beneath the attack. Metalik turned around and slapped Roode’s chest, then landed a reverse elbow after tumbling around the ring. Metalik then twirled up onto the top rope again, and after a tiny hint of losing his balance, landed a missile dropkick against Roode. He covered Roode, but Young and EC3 both rolled in and stopped the count.

Kalisto ran in to help, but Young and EC3 tossed him out to ringside. Dorado ran in for his turn, and took out both Young and EC3 with a double Golden Rewind. The duo got back to their feet, staggered, just in time to take a missile dropkick from Kalisto, who had scaled the top turnbuckle.

In a highly coordinated spot, Kalisto landed a somersault senton over the top rope onto Young on the floor, then Dorado and Metalik landed simultaneous moonsaults off the top rope onto EC3 and Roode, also on the floor. Metalik rolled Roode into the ring (both legal men), and was knocked off the top rope by Roode. Roode scooped Metalik into the Glorious DDT, which was good for the three-count and victory.

WINNERS: Eric Young, EC3, and Robert Roode by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: EC3 seemed to be in better spirits tonight, flashing some extra personality before and during the match. The action throughout was solid, though it was partially copied from last week’s match, only without Titus O’Neil and Cesaro’s involvement. The final high spot from LHP was stunning, but the match ended abruptly immediately afterward.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.3

FINAL THOUGHTS: Tune in to see flashes of good character work from Lacey Evans and EC3, and the usual high-flying action from Lucha House Party.

RECOMMENDED: 7/24 WWE Main Event TV Report: Sarah Logan vs. Naomi, Cesaro & Roode & Young & EC3 vs. LHP & Titus