10/9 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Cesaro vs. Cedric Alexander, The Revival vs. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
OCTOBER 9, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Mickie James

REASONS TO WATCH…

Good way to catch up on the now-skipped Raw since AEW’s emergence

(1) THE REVIVAL (C) vs. CURT HAWKINS & ZACK RYDER

The announce team acknowledged that this was a rematch from WrestleMania, but did not mention it was on the Kickoff show.

Wilder and Hawkins started things off. Wilder got the upper hand early, but Hawkins interrupted the flow with a body slam and a pin for two. Ryder tagged in and worked on Wilder’s right arm briefly, but Wilder came back and planted Ryder with a powerslam. Dawson tagged in and Revival double teamed Ryder to clothesline line him upward against the middle rope, neck-first. Dawson covered Ryder for a two-count.

Dawson dropped rapid fire elbows on Ryder before tagging Wilder back in and dropping him leg first onto Ryder. Wilder stood defiantly between the prone Ryder and Hawkins, who was waiting eagerly on the ring apron. Wilder cinched in a chinlock. Byron took this opportunity to remind us that at one time, Hawkins had the distinction of having a 269-match losing streak in WWE.

Ryder reached out uselessly for a tag, but Wilder spun him around and into the Revival’s corner. Dawson tagged in, ran the ropes, and nailed Ryder (who was being held down by Wilder) with a running elbow drop. Dawson covered but Ryder kicked out at two.

Dawson laid in kicks and a chop to Ryder, which sent him reeling and coughing against the middle rope. With the ref distracted, Wilder jumped off the apron with Ryder’s hair in hand, thrusting his neck down across the rope. Dawson dashed back for another pin attempt but Ryder again kicked out.

Dawson fired Ryder against the ropes and telegraphed a back bodydrop, allowing Ryder to spike Dawson’s face to the mat. Hawkins finally made the hot tag in and leveled the Revival before posing for the crowd. Wilder had tagged back in and absorbed a sitout powerbomb from Hawkins, but the pin was broken up by Dawson. Seeking revenge, Ryder charged at Dawson, but Dawson flipped him up and over the top rope, causing Ryder to topple roughly onto the floor.

Dawson tagged in and Revival landed the Shatter Machine on Hawkins, who was now working solo with his parter laid out at ringside. Dawson covered for the pin and victory.

WINNERS: The Revival by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Standard tag match. WWE again sweeps the tag champs under the Main Event rug.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Highlight package of Smackdown debut on Fox
• Replay of Kofi vs. Lesnar, Velasquez appearance from Smackdown
• Replay of Lashley/Lana bedroom antics, and Rusev’s beatdown of Orton/Corbin from Raw
• Recap of DQ finish of Rollins vs. Fiend from Hell in a Cell
• Replay of Strowman-Fury altercation from Smackdown
• Replay of Strowman-Fury brawl from Raw

(2) CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. CESARO

As the bell rang, Byron unloaded some trivia: Alexander’s first match on Raw was a loss against Cesaro.

The wrestlers exchanged prolonged side headlocks to start. Cesaro backed Alexander up against the ropes, and when the ref called for a break, Cesaro slowly backed away before landing a closed fist blow to Alexander’s sternum. Alexander broke away from the ropes and took Cesaro down with a hurricanrana, then knocked him down again with a basement drop kick.

Both men got to their feet and Alexander nailed Cesaro with two chops to the chest, with little effect. Cesaro returned fire and knocked Alexander down with a single punch to the chest. Cesaro laid in an uppercut and a couple forearms, and Alexander came back with a drop kick. Alexander attempted a springboard attack off the top rope, but Cesaro knocked him from the rope with a well timed sweep of the boot, causing Alexander to fall abdomen-first onto the perpendicular top rope. We cut to break.

Back from break, Cesaro had Alexander in an abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. Alexander broke free and started to fight back, but Cesaro turned him inside out with a big running clothesline. He pinned Alexander for a two-count. Cesaro sprung up and landed a big elbow drop, covered for another two-count, then applied an arm bar.

Alexander again got free and mounted some more blips of offense, including one near fall. Cesaro came back and smashed Alexander with a big boot, causing Alexander to flip through the air. This was good for another two-count pin. Alexander was dazed but got slowly to his feet. The men exchanged blows, then Alexander hit Cesaro with the Neuralyzer and Lumbar Check, which was good for the three-count.

WINNER: Cedric Alexander by pinfall.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Decent Main Event match. Cesaro was positioned as the strong man here, both with the wrestlers’ actions and the running commentary, and with that in mind, the finish came as a surprise out of nowhere. The commentary and in-ring action worked nicely in tandem to tell this brief story.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.2

FINAL THOUGHTS: Skippable tag match, watchable singles match. It’s Main Event!

NOW CATCH UP… 10/2 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Cool finishing sequences for Mojo vs. No Way Jose, EC3 & Young vs. Dorado & Metalik