7/20 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Alpha Academy vs. Alexander & Ali, Reggie vs. Tozawa, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
JULY 20, 2022
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

WWE Main Event Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Reggie is an acrobat again
• Find yourself rooting for Alpha Academy

(1) REGGIE vs. AKIRA TOZAWA

The men jockeyed on their feet before hooking up. They had some back-and-forth holds on the mat until Reggie flipped his way out of a wrist lock to minimal crowd reaction. Reggie used an apparent tumbling technique to roll up Tozawa for a two-count. Reggie took Tozawa down with a shoulder block that barely connected. Reggie ran the ropes, hopped over Tozawa, then did a pointless forward flip over Tozawa on the return without actually doing a wrestling move. Tozawa screamed, “I can do that! I can do that!” and proceeded to do two cartwheels in the ring. He did a backward flip and landed gracefully on his knees in a super hero pose. Reggie took that opportunity to hit a low drop kick to Tozawa’s chest.

Tozawa landed four elbow strikes, then Reggie lightly swept Tozawa off his feet with his boot while running the ropes – it was hard to tell what they were going for here. Reggie launched into another forward flip, this time actually striking his opponent with a leg drop. Reggie climbed to the top rope and jumped into a moonsault which Tozawa dodged. Reggie rolled backward through his landing and got to his feet just in time for Tozawa to kick him in the face.

Tozawa kicked Reggie on the mat, then dropped to one knee and landed a flurry of forearm strikes. He tossed Reggie into a corner and planted more kicks. Tozawa took Reggie down with an awkward clothesline, then covered for two. Reggie blocked a punch then came back with punches and kicks of his own. He splashed Tozawa in the corner, then took him down with a spinning cross body. He covered Tozawa for two. Reggie positioned Tozawa on the mat and climbed again to the top rope and repeated the roll-through moonsault from before. Reggie rolled up Tozawa for two, then Tozawa kicked him in the head again and went to the top rope. Reggie met him there and set up for a superplex, but Tozawa tossed him off into a face plant on the mat. Tozawa quickly jumped straight up and landed a senton splash onto Reggie (who had rolled over onto his back), then covered for the three-count.

WINNER: Tozawa by pinfall in 6:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Clunky match. Reggie has had recent Main Event matches where he looked like a pro wrestler, but here has regressed into an acrobat. They tried to put the “entertainment” in “sports entertainment,” and neither effort really worked.)

-WWE Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Dawkins vs. Jimmy Uso from Smackdown
• Replay of Lynch / Belair / Carmella in-ring confrontation from Raw
• Replay of Belair vs. Carmella from Raw
• Replay of Miz TV, featuring Logan Paul, from Raw
• Match rundown for upcoming PLE SummerSlam

(2) ALPHA ACADEMY (Otis & Chad Gable) vs. MUSTAFA ALI & CEDRIC ALEXANDER

Alexander and Otis started things off. Alexander lifted his shoulders and arms in a way to make fun of Otis’s monstrous physique. Otis responded by shoving him to the mat. Otis did a biceps flex while Alexander took advice from Ali in their corner. Alexander used his speed to dodge some Otis attacks, then literally thumbed his nose (a playground taunt popularized in the 1940’s) at the big man. Otis again responded to Alexander’s foolishness by knocking him to the mat.

Gable tagged in and chopped Alexander to the mat a few times, then “shooshed” the crowd which was not making noise in the first place. Alexander took Gable down with an arm drag and tagged in Ali. They double teamed Gable for a bit and we cut to break after they gave Gable’s legs a wishbone crack.

After the break, Gable was working Alexander’s knee over with dragon screws. Otis tagged in and power slammed Alexander. He rolled Alexander back over for the pin, but yanked him up at the ref’s two-count. Otis laid in some clubbing blows, then stood on Alexander’s throat near the corner. He fired Alexander into the opposite corner, then rammed his gut with a shoulder block. Otis splashed Alexander on the mat, then climbed to the middle rope and went for another splash but Alexander rolled out of the way. Both teams tagged and Ali came in with a fury. He took Gable down with a tornado DDT off the middle turnbuckle. He covered Gable but Otis broke it up. Ali and Alexander fired Otis into the post through the ropes, then combined to superplex Gable to the mat, then Ali covered for two. Alexander flew over the top rope and took out Otis at ringside just for the hell of it. Ali went for the 450 splash in the ring but rolled through when Gable dodged. Gable took Ali down with a German suplex. Otis climbed back onto the apron and tagged in. He positioned Ali in front of Gable atop the corner, who then launched into the Alpha bomb off the middle rope. Otis cleaned up the wreckage by covering Ali for the three-count.

WINNER: Alpha Academy by pinfall in 7:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Ali and Alexander are supposed to be good guys – Kevin Patrick even described them as “loving to have fun, and hopefully get some wins along the way.” Holy Christ are they annoying. If you’re in a combat sport, why would you make fun of your opponent’s incredible wrestling physique? “Haha, look at you, I bet you could dissect me in five seconds!” I was happy to see them demolished by Otis and Gable. Anyway, the match was pretty fun with some big spots.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.0

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S MAIN EVENT REPORT: 7/13 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Mustafa Ali vs. Akira Tozawa, Tamina vs. Allure, more