10/13 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: John Morrison vs. Angel Garza, Gulak vs. T-Bar, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
OCTOBER 13, 2021
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Two decent matches
• See Morrison “fly blind” due to distraction

(1) DREW GULAK vs. T-BAR

The men locked up and were evenly matched. They briefly traded blows, then T-Bar applied a side headlock. Gulak landed blows to T-Bar’s ribs and applied his own headlock. Gulak ran the ropes and clotheslined T-Bar, who no-sold the attack. T-Bar immediately countered with a bigger clothesline that sent Gulak to the mat. T-Bar went on the offense and covered Gulak for a one-count.

T-Bar scooped Gulak and delivered a knee strike as though trying to break a baseball bat in half. He turned and tossed Gulak to the mat. Gulak blocked a spinning kick and twisted T-Bar down to the mat into a single-leg crab. T-Bar crawled to the ring’s edge and got a rope break. Gulak climbed to the top rope and hit a flying clothesline before covering T-Bar for a two-count. Byron pointed out that it was unusual for Gulak to employ high-flying tactics like this.

Gulak began to grapple T-Bar’s leg again, but this time T-Bar used his free leg to kick Gulak away. T-Bar punched Gulak in the face near the corner, then positioned him on top of the top turnbuckle. T-Bar set up for a superplex, but Gulak resisted with mid-section punches. Gulak grabbed T-Bar’s head and flung him away – T-Bar did a backflip from the middle ropes and landed on his feet. Gulak took flight next, looking to land a double axe handle, but T-Bar was ready and simply lifted the big boot to knock Gulak out of the air. T-Bar hoisted Gulak onto his shoulders and flipped him over into the Eyes Wide Shut, then covered for the three-count.

WINNER: T-Bar by pinfall in 4:50.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Actually a decent match – these two could do better things together with more time.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Rollins in-ring challenge to Edge from Smackdown
• Replay of Banks & Belair vs. Lynch & Charlotte Flair from Raw
• Replay of McIntyre & Big E vs. the Usos from Raw
• Match rundown for upcoming cash grab Crown Jewel

(2) JOHN MORRISON vs. ANGEL GARZA (w/ Humberto Carrillo)

Morrison controlled things early with a side headlock and an elbow strike to Garza’s face. He leveled Garza, who was on his knees, with another knee strike. Garza surprised Morrison with a roll-up pin, but Morrison kicked out at two. Morrison climbed to the top rope, but took his eyes from Garza when he noticed Carrillo at ringside pick up Morrison’s jacket and use it to polish his boots. Morrison jumped blindly toward Garza, still eyeing Carrillo’s jacket defilement on the way down, which allowed Garza to hit a superkick. We cut to a break from this nonsense.

Garza was in control after the break and pinned Morrison for two. Garza hit a running drop kick to Morrison, who was hanging upside down in a corner. Garza tore him down and covered for another two-count. Garza applied an arm bar and landed elbow shots to his body. Morrison punched his way out, but then absorbed a big chop from Garza. Morrison charged up and plowed Garza, who was begging off, into a corner. He ran the ropes and took Garza down with a flying heel kick. Morrison hoisted Garza onto his shoulders, then hit a cool looking Samoan drop variant where Morrison’s body was vertical at the moment of impact, allowing him to roll through the move and land back on his feet. He then hit a standing twisting standing splash and covered Garza for two.

Morrison ran the ropes and ducked a clothesline from Garza, then jumped through the ropes on the same pass, taking out Carrillo in front of the announce table. With his jacket now avenged, Morrison somersaulted into the ring off the top rope. Garza sidestepped Morrison, then leveled him with a right cross. Garza removed his pants with vigor. He tossed them to a still groggy Morrison, then hit him with a superkick. Garza stood on the middle rope in the corner, posturing to the fans. He went for a moonsault, but Morrison had just enough time to roll out of the way. Garza splashed the canvas, and Morrison rushed to the same corner. He flipped into the Starship Pain, then covered Garza for the three-count.

WINNER: John Morrison by pinfall in 6:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: More good action. Morrison’s moves tend to favor flash over function, but that’s about what everyone expects from him and it’s admirable he can still provide that flash at age 42. The downside of this match was the ridiculous “blind dive” Morrison subjected himself to because he was distracted by Carrillo. The point of a distraction is that it allows the victim to be attacked or blindsided by a third party – not pointlessly jump into harm’s way with no plan of attack as Morrison did here. WWE amazingly finds a way to make their reliance on distractions even dumber. At least Carrillo, as Garza’s tag partner, was there for a reason wasn’t a random wrestler strutting down the ramp halfway through the match to cause trouble.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.4

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S MAIN EVENT REPORT: 10/6 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Viking Raiders vs. T-Bar & Mace, Ricochet vs. Karrion Kross, more