8/17 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy, Tozawa vs. Benjamin, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
AUGUST 17, 2022
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

WWE Main Event Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

Street Profits & Alpha Academy deliver fun tag action

(1) AKIRA TOZAWA vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN

The wrestlers shook hands as the match got underway. Tozawa applied a waist lock, then attempted a fireman’s carry but he couldn’t hoist Benjamin up. Tozawa ran the ropes and Benjamin took him down with a shoulder block. Benjamin landed a forearm strike in the corner, then Tozawa came back with three of his own. Benjamin hit a knee strike, then Tozawa kicked Benjamin in the face. Tozawa flipped Benjamin to the mat with a hurricanrana, then howled at the crowd.

Tozawa climbed to the top rope but Benjamin ran to that corner and tossed him down to the mat. Benjamin covered for two. Benjamin applied a chin lock. Tozawa got free and ran the ropes, but Benjamin launched him with a back body drop. He pinned Tozawa for another two-count, then applied a bearhug from behind. Tozawa fired elbows to get free, but Benjamin whipped Tozawa into a corner. Tozawa dodged when Benjamin ran in at him, then took Benjamin down with a running knee strike. Tozawa made his first cover for a two-count.

Tozawa went again for the fireman’s carry and barely lifted Benjamin off his feet when Benjamin broke free. Tozawa hit a flurry of kicks, knocking Benjamin off his feet. Tozawa climbed through the ropes to the apron, then ascended the corner. Again, Benjamin ran to meet him there, but this time Tozawa smashed Benjamin’s face against the top turnbuckle, then launched into the flying back elbow. Tozawa climbed the opposite corner and jumped, but Benjamin got out of the way and went on to hit the Paydirt for the three-count.

WINNERS: Shelton Benjamin by pinfall in 5:25.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Standard back-and-forth Main Event action. Nothing outstanding.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Rousey / Baszler / Morgan in-ring segment from Smackdown
• Replay of Styles vs. Lashley from Raw
• Replay of Theory vs. Ziggler from Raw

(2) STREET PROFITS (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. ALPHA ACADEMY (Otis & Chad Gable)

Ford and Gable started things off. Gable did some chain moves and held Ford in an arm bar and loudly thanked the audience. Ford got free, ran the ropes, and leveled Gable with a big clothesline. Dawkins tagged in and shoulder blocked Gable to the mat. Gable fired Dawkins into the ropes but Dawkins knocked him down with another shoulder block. Lots more running of the ropes, then a couple arm drags and a drop kick from Dawkins. Ford tagged in and dove over the top rope to take out both members of Alpha Academy on the floor. The crowd cheered as we cut to break.

Otis was now the legal man and had the upper hand over Ford. He hammered Ford with a big clothesline, then choked him against the middle rope until the ref’s four-count. Otis distracted the ref while Gable kicked Ford’s face off the rope. Otis scooped and slammed Ford to the mat, then posed and yelled at the crowd. Otis tossed Ford into the corner and Gable tagged in to level Ford with a shoulder tackle and a two-count pin. Gable knocked Dawkins off the ring apron for the hell of it, then lifted Ford to his feet. Ford hit a series of quick jabs, but Gable applied an ankle lock. Ford got free quickly and both wrestlers ran the ropes and collided mid-ring with dual high cross bodies. Simultaneous tags were made and Otis clobbered Dawkins to the mat. Ford entered the ring and Otis dodged his attack with a forward roll along the canvas like some sort of lightweight tumbler. He blasted Ford with a shoulder block, then splashed Dawkins, who was still on his back. Otis covered Dawkins, but Ford dove in to break up the pin.

Ford gave Gable a DDT, then Otis tossed Ford over the top rope to the floor. Dawkins landed a right hook, but Otis was unharmed and leveled him with a clothesline. Otis climbed to the middle rope with his back to Dawkins. Dawkins moved in behind him and ducked under Otis’s tuchus to hoist him onto his shoulders. Once Otis sat up straight for even weight distribution, Dawkins slowly moved away from the corner with Otis on his shoulders. Ford tagged himself in, then went to the top rope and hit the Doomsday Blockbuster, then covered Otis for the three-count.

WINNER: Street Profits by pinfall in 6:45.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Really good tag match! Otis was presented as an unstoppable force – an idea that the commentary team helped promote. Always novel to see Otis carried by anyone, and the final move was big and drew a nice reaction from the crowd.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.2

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

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