WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT (8/23): Ricochet vs. Riddick Moss, Natalya vs. Nikki Cross, hot Canadian crowd

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
AUGUST 23, 2023
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Wade Barrett

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Two solid matches and a hot Canadian crowd

(1) RICOCHET vs. RIDDICK MOSS

The men locked up and Moss quickly muscled Ricochet into a corner. The crowd chanted “Ricochet” after they broke apart. Ricochet hit a shoulder block but Moss hardly budged. Ricochet applied a side headlock and maintained it through Moss’s attempts to throw him off. They eventually separated with Moss firing Ricochet against the ropes. He shoulder blocked Ricochet on the rebound, and Ricochet spiraled spectacularly on his way to the mat. The crowd booed Moss as Ricochet slowly got to his feet.

Moss kicked Ricochet a few times in the corner. Ricochet landed a few short punches to Moss’s gut, but Moss hammered his back with a big forearm. Ricochet juked Moss into a reverse elbow, then landed a few forearm strikes in the middle of the ring. Ricochet ran the ropes and knocked Moss off his feet with a diving reverse elbow. Ricochet turned it up, taking Moss down with a hurricanrana, then nailing him with a drop kick into the corner. Ricochet did a springboard launch off the top rope, but Moss caught him and dropped him with a fallaway slam. Moss speared Ricochet in the corner, then slammed him to the mat and covered for two.

Moss delivered a few punches, then set up for a suplex. Ricochet slipped out the back door, then hit Moss with the Recoil. Ricochet continued with a standing moonsault, then a shooting star press. He covered Moss for two. Ricochet hit a running knee strike and then the Sliced Bread neckbreaker, then covered Moss for the three-count.

WINNER: Ricochet by pinfall in 5:40.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Good action, and a good feeling of Ricochet pulling out all the stops in the final moments of the match. The crowd was hot throughout, and was audibly excited as the match got underway.)

(2) NATALYA vs. NIKKI CROSS

Nikki clapped her hands rhythmically as the match got underway. Meanwhile, Byron said he had a 25-second conversation with Nikki Cross about UFO’s. Barrett said, “I bet that was enlightening.” The women locked up, and Natalya immediately took Cross to the mat. Cross countered with a leg scissors, but Natalya quickly escaped and got to her feet. Cross made dual “grabby hands” gestures, then told the crowd to shut up. Cross kicked Natalya in the gut, then applied a wrist lock. Natalya reversed out of the hold and rolled up Cross for a one-count. Natalya dodged a clothesline, then rolled up Cross two additional times for two-counts. Natalya applied a rear waist lock but Cross got to the middle rope to break the hold.

Cross leaned through the ropes to yell at a fan, so Natalya kicked her in the butt to get her attention back in the ring. Cross pointed to the ref, then slapped her own butt several times, as if to dispute Natalya’s kick. Natalya caught Cross’s boot during a kick attempt, then swept her to the mat for a sharpshooter but Cross quickly escaped. Natalya chased Cross around the outside of the ring, which Barrett compared to an episode of Benny Hill. Cross eventually rammed Natalya into the ringside barricade, then posed at the crowd while Natalya recovered on the ground. We cut to break.

Cross had control in the ring after the break. She choked Natalya against the middle rope until the ref’s four-count. She rammed her shoulder into Natalya’s midsection in the corner, then flung her to the mat and applied a chinlock. Natalya landed some elbows, but Cross whipped her back to the mat. Natalya rolled up Cross for two, then Cross hit Natalya with a clothesline and covered for her own two-count. Cross went back to the chinlock.

Natalya took Cross down with a Russian leg sweep, then hit a basement drop kick to Cross’s chest. She covered Cross for two. Natalya hit a spinning clothesline, then set up for another sharpshooter. Cross countered with an inside cradle pin and two-count. Natalya ducked a clotheline, then Cross escaped from yet another sharpshooter attempt. Cross hit the Purge, a twisting neckbreaker, but Natalya kicked out of the subsequent pin. Cross paced angrily around the ring before climbing to the top rope. She went for the splash, but Natalya rolled out of the way, then successfully applied the sharpshooter. Cross tapped out in short order.

WINNER: Natalya by submission in 6:35.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Another solid match. The fans in Quebec City were clearly behind Natalya, so good job having the Canadian win.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.8

(Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42.)

Catch up on previous WWE Main Event TV Reports: CLICK HERE.

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