SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
OCTOBER 16, 2019
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Mickie James
REASONS TO WATCH…
- Play “Spot the Misfires” with Brooke vs. Logan
(1) MOJO RAWLEY vs. ZACK RYDER (w/Curt Hawkins)
Rawley made his entrance first. It appeared that a cartographer used Rawley’s face as her canvas, started with the rivers, then hastily abandoned the project.
Dio briefly ran down the history of Rawley and Ryder: They used to be a tag team called Hype Bros until Rawley declared that Ryder was holding him down and went solo.
The match began and the wrestlers exchanged blows evenly until Rawley eventually leveled Ryder with a shoulder tackle. Rawley scrambled to the mat and covered Ryder twice for two two-counts. He straddled Ryder, asking, “What’s up, broski?” before smashing Ryder with two right forearms. Rawley got to his feet and scoop slammed Ryder, then covered for another 2-count. Rawley applied an arm bar.
Ryder broke free but Rawley quickly leveled him with a big boot, then scaled the corner and flicked sweat from his chest and brow out at the audience. He turned his attention back to Ryder and set up a vertical suplex, but Ryder landed on his feet and pulled Rawley down into a neckbreaker. Both men recovered and got to their feet.
Ryder hit Rawley with a double knee lift in the corner, then took him down with a missile dropkick. Rawley collapsed into the corner, allowing Ryder to successfully land the Broski Boot, but Rawley kicked out of Ryder’s cover at two.
Rawley hoisted Ryder up turned to the middle of the ring, preparing for the Alabama Slam, but Ryder slid downward into a sunset flip cover and two-count. Ryder got in a bit more offense, but Rawley quelled that effort with a major running forearm strike in the corner, then a successful Alabama Slam. Rawley covered for three.
WINNER: Mojo Rawley by pinfalll.
(Meyers’s Analysis: Not to sound repetitive from one report to the next, but this match was decent. Rawley’s striking attacks were aggressive and hard-hitting. Both wrestlers elicted quality reactions from the crowd.)
-Main Event recap session:
- Replay of Lesnar/Heyman in-ring promo from Smackdown
- Replay of Bayley heel turn (including the slaying of the Bayley Buddies) and championship victory against Charlotte from Smackdown
Match rundown for upcoming PPV Crown Jewel
Replay of Strowman vs. Tyson contract signing from Raw
Replay of Firefly Funhouse featuring Rollins’s arson
(2) DANA BROOKE vs. SARAH LOGAN
During Brooke’s entrance, Mickie said that she had spoken to Brooke earlier that day, and that Brooke is feeling so confident she’s going to start calling Main Event “Dana Vent.” When Logan entered, it was apparent that Rawley’s cartographer abandoned his face to do another half-assed job on Logan’s.
The women grappled to start, but Logan got the upper hand and slammed Brooke to the mat from a waistlock. Brooke returned fire with a hip toss, then executed a motion-wasting cartwheel just to land a simple front kick to Logan’s shoulder. Brooke covered for a two-count.
Logan fired Brooke toward the ropes but Brooke countered by moving into a handspring. Her legs bounced off the top rope, then around Logan’s neck. We were then treated to the most lackluster attempt at a headscissor takedown – Brooke was dangling like a nightcrawler from Logan’s hook, and Logan was made to somersault herself to finish the move.
In the corner, Brooke laid in a series of shoulder blocks into Logan’s midsection, then again with the handspring. This time she ground her left boot against Logan’s face while using her right boot for balance on the top rope. It was interesting to look at, but the lack of leverage made it hard to buy into. Brooke did a backward somersault, then sprung forward and clotheslined Logan to the mat. She covered Logan for a two-count. Brooke attempted a vague reverse handspring attack, but Logan caught her in midair (as was clearly planned) and planted her head-first into the turnbuckles. We cut to break.
Brooke had just escaped from a Logan headlock, but Logan immediately leveled her with a running knee strike. Brooke countered in the corner and took Logan down with a suplex, and both women struggled to get to their feet. Brooke hit Logan with two clotheslines and an enzuigiri, then landed a handspring moonsault and cover for a two-count. Logan ended Brooke’s momentum and knocked her out to ringside with a baseball slide.
Logan rolled Brooke back in and Brooke rolled her up with a cradle pin for a two-count. Brooke began to scale the corner to stage a sky attack, but Logan quickly moved in and swept one of Brooke’s feet out, causing her to fall flat onto the mat. Logan approached the prone Brooke and applied the cloverleaf crab, causing Brooke to tap out.
WINNER: Sarah Logan by submission.
(Meyers’s Analysis: Multiple points of sloppiness to be found in this match. Logan’s gymastics-based moveset already looks forced, and adding a new maneuver to that list only exacerbated the issue. Like the Torch editor says, just because a wrestler can juggle doesn’t mean it should be implemented into their act.)
SHOW SCORE (0-10): 6.6
FINAL THOUGHTS: First match was a decent crowd warmup, and the second should be a learning opportunity for both wrestlers.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.