8/14 WWE Main Event TV Report: Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke, Cesaro & EC3 vs. Hawkins & Ryder, a motivated EC3 shines, Sam Roberts says Cesaro underutilized

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
AUGUST 14, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Sam Roberts

REASONS TO WATCH…

• EC3 and Cesaro shine in tag team action.
• Lacey Evans channels Toru Yano.

(1) LACEY EVANS vs. DANA BROOKE

Evans gingerly placed her hat atop the head of the ring announcer before turning her foul glare toward the ramp where Brooke made her way toward the ring.

Early in the match, Brooke caught Evans’s boot in a kick attempt, then flung Evans toward the ropes. Evans rebounded, then somersaulted over Brooke who had dropped to the mat. Evans quickly spun around on the mat to face Brooke again, and performed three pushups without taking her eyes off her opponent.

Brooke took Evans to the mat with a single leg takedown, then smacked Evans hard across the face with a right hand when she got to her feet. Evans toppled to the mat, holding her jaw, while Brooke fell prone and did three one-arm pushups, upstaging her opponent.

The women exchanged moves, but Evans got the upper hand in the corner and, channeling her inner Toru Yano, tied Brooke’s hair in a knot around the top rope. She knocked Brooke free of the predicament with kicks to her midsection. Evans pinned Brooke for a two-count, then applied an arm bar.

Between this arm bar and the next, Sam claimed that everything Brooke has ever gotten has come as a result of begging, whining, and pleading. Renee’s response was that sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease – not the soundest defense of Brooke.

Evans threw Brooke hard to the mat when she nearly escaped from the second arm bar, then began to show more frustration and nastiness as she slapped Brooke and repeatedly rebounded her head off the canvas by her hair. Brooke escaped from a third arm bar with a jawbreaker that sent Evans staggering toward a corner. Brooke approached and laid in a flurry of rights, then leveled Evans twice with clotheslines before planting her with a scoop slam. Brooke slowly ran the ropes and landed a handspring splash onto the prone Evans – Brooke covered for a two-count.

Evans stood up against a corner and Brooke charged in with an attempt at the handspring reverse elbow, but Brooke caught her in a rear choke hold. Maintaining the hold, Evans scooted up to the second rope and suspended Brooke such that her feet were dangling in midair. She released Brooke at the referee’s four-count, then leaped from the second rope and knocked Brooke silly with a flying Woman’s Right. Evans covered for the three-count.

WINNERS: Lacey Evans by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Pretty good character work from both women. Good to see the one-upsmanship from Brooke, and inventive meanness from Evans. Also good to see Evans get an aerial upgrade to her finisher. These two could get a crowd going if given the time to tell a proper story.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Highlights of Rollins vs. Lesnar from SummerSlam
• Replay of Styles challenging Rollins from Raw\
• Replay of The OC abusing Rollins and Ricochet from Raw, featuring Strowman run-in
• Replay of Natalya in-ring lamentation and return of Sasha Banks from Raw
• Replay of Reigns vs. Murphy from Smackdown
• Replay of Daniel Bryan and Rowan shaking down Murphy from Smackdown

(2) ZACK RYDER & CURT HAWKINS vs. EC3 & CESARO

Cesaro carried himself like a champion as he made his ring entrance, and the announce team talked him up as well. Sam declared him to be “the most underutilized Superstar in WWE.”

The match started with Cesaro against Ryder, with EC3 yelling, “Let’s go Cesaro!” from their corner. While dominating Ryder early with waist- and headlocks, the crowd tore into an “EC3” chant. Ryder took Cesaro down with a flapjack, then tagged in Hawkins, who covered Cesaro for a one-count.

Cesaro powered out of a front chancery, then sent Hawkins reeling into the corner with a right cross. Cesaro stalked Hawkins, crooking his neck as he approached. He fired Hawkins across the ring into the opposite corner, but Hawkins sprung up and over Cesaro as he chased in behind him, then scooped Cesaro and slammed him to the mat. Hawkins landed a quick elbow drop on Cesaro, then took out EC3 with a drop kick when he entered to assist.

Cesaro had rolled out to ringside, and was joined by the stunned EC3. Hawkins shrugged and climbed to the top rope and took out both opponents with a flying elbow. He rolled Cesaro into the ring and followed him in. Cesaro quickly got to his feet in time to plow Hawkins backward into enemy territory, allowing EC3 to tag himself in on Cesaro’s back. The crowd cheered for his official entrance.

Hawkins escaped a fireman’s carry by grappling the top rope, but EC3 caught him in a suplex position and lifted him skyward to drop him abdomen-first across the top rope, which bounced Hawkins outside to the floor. Hawkins grabbed his belly on the floor while EC3 nodded with anticipation. We cut to commercial.

EC3 had Hawkins in a headlock after the break, but Hawkins broke free and took out EC3 with a hard clothesline. He tagged in Ryder who set about cleaning house. He knocked down EC3 in a corner and began to set up for the Broski Boot, but Cesaro yanked EC3 out of the ring to the safety of the floor.

As it turned out, the floor offered no refuge. Ryder took out Cesaro and EC3 with a double barreled shotgun through the ropes. Ryder rolled EC3 back into the ring and attempted a splash onto EC3 over the top rope, but EC3 lifted his knees to blast Ryder in the gut upon his landing. EC3 attempted a suplex, but Ryder reversed by landing on his feet and pulling EC3 down into a neckbreaker. He covered EC3 but Cesaro broke up the cover.

Ryder rolled up EC3 again, but this time Cesaro had tagged himself in, unbeknownst to Ryder. Now pinning EC3 with no count, his face was left susceptible to Cesaro’s flying corkscrew uppercut. He hoisted Ryder up and planted him with the Neutralizer, then covered for the three-count.

WINNERS: EC3 and Cesaro by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Excellent tag team action. Sam Roberts was right when he said Cesaro is underutilized; Cesaro commands respect with his poise and power. EC3 continues to appear motivated, and good for him for getting such positive reactions from the crowd.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.4

FINAL THOUGHTS: Above average episode with great performances in both matches.