5/5 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali, Jinder Mahal makes his return, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
MAY 5, 2021
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Jinder Mahal returns with new entourage
• Corey Graves replaces Kevin Patrick on commentary

(1) RICOCHET vs. MUSTAFA ALI

As soon as the bell rang, Ricochet exploded from his corner and leveled Ali with a running drop kick. He took Ali down again with a flying forearm, then the two battled briefly on the floor at ringside. Ricochet hit a springboard clothesline from the top rope, then covered for two.

Ricochet mounted Ali in a corner and landed a few punches. Ali shoved him off, but Ricochet continued this punishment in a different corner. This time Ali countered by carrying Ricochet away from the corner and flap-jacking him onto the canvas. Ali laid in some kicks to Ricochet in the corner, then screamed, “You can’t beat me!”

Ricochet escaped from a suplex, but Ali caught Ricochet’s kick and twisted him to the mat with a dragonscrew leg whip. Ali applied a half crab in the middle of the ring. Ricochet crawled to the edge and got a rope break from the ref. Ali dragged Ricochet to a different side of the ring and hung his leg up on the bottom rope and laid in more kicks. Ali attempted a splash from the middle rope, but Ricochet rolled away from the edge causing Ali to come up empty.

Ricochet climbed a corner and hit a shooting star press to Ali who was standing upright – a unique high cross body. Both wrestlers were slow to their feet. Ricochet landed two front kicks to Ali’s chest, then turned him inside out with a clothesline. Ricochet took Ali down with a dragon suplex and remain bridged for a pin and two-count.

Ricochet lifted Ali into a fireman’s carry, but his knee appeared to give out and he crumpled to the mat. Ali kicked Ricochet’s injured knee, then covered for a pin – unlike last week, the ref noticed Ali’s unfair leverage advantage on the ropes and called ceased his count. Ricochet immediately reversed into a cover of his own and got the three count, complete with his hand on the bottom rope. Byron was incensed that Ricochet cheated. Byron admitted that Ricochet said he was going to come out and play dirty.

WINNER: Ricochet by pinfall in 5:45.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Some flashy moves from Ricochet were the highlight here, and credit to Ali for making the shooting star press look so effective in what was an undoubtedly tricky maneuver. Not bad.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Bryan vs. Reigns from Smackdown
• Replay of Charlotte / Ripley / Asuka in-ring segment from Raw
• Replay of Strowman vs. Lashley from Raw

(2) JEFF HARDY vs. JINDER MAHAL (w/ Veer & Shanky)

Mahal looked the same as before except for less hair and beard. Mahal was the “medium” size member among his new entourage: Veer stood nearly seven feet tall with long dark hair and a clean-shaven face. Shanky was shorter than Mahal and wore a headband, necklaces, and a very full beard.

Hardy attacked first with a brief flurry of forearm shots in the corner, but Mahal shoved him off and took him down with a wonky superkick. Mahal reversed a whip against the ropes and leveled Hardy with a reverse elbow. He planted knee strikes to Hardy’s spine, then applied a chin lock. Hardy broke free but Mahal scooped him up and dumped him over the top rope to the floor. Veer and Shanky stood over Hardy’s body as we cut to break.

After the break, Mahal had Hardy in another chin lock. Mahal fired Hardy into the turnbuckles back-first, then pressed his boot across Hardy’s face on the apron. Mahal hit a standard suplex and covered for two. Mahal applied an abdominal stretch. Hardy battled out with elbow shots, then hit Mahal with a jawbreaker. Hardy landed a few punches, then finally knocked Mahal off his feet with a running forearm to the face.

Mahal got to his feet but Hardy hit an inverted atomic drop and then a basement drop kick. Hardy covered for two. Hardy climbed a corner and went for Whisper in the Wind, but Mahal dropped to the mat to dodge, causing Hardy to land hard on the canvas. Mahal stood and beckoned for Hardy to get to his feet. When he did, Mahal landed a deliberate knee strike to the face. Mahal lifted Hardy back to his feet, then hit the Khallas. He covered Hardy for the three-count.

WINNER: Jinder Mahal by pinfall in 6:30.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Interesting to see Mahal return on Main Event and not the main roster. As always, he has a great look but is limited in the ring. In this match, he might have tied the record for rest holds in a Main Event match. His new cohorts also have interesting looks. Corey repeatedly made comments on their size, but they had no involvement in the match apart from some low-key encouragement for Mahal. We’ll see if their roles evolve from here.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.0

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S MAIN EVENT REPORT: 4/28 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali, Drew Gukak vs. Akira Tozawa