WWE MAIN EVENT TV RESULTS (9/27): Kayden Carter vs. Indi Hartwell, Xia Li vs. Nikki Cross

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Wade Barrett

REASON(S) TO WATCH…

• Kayden Carter’s dazzling rope tricks

SHOW REVIEW

(1) KAYDEN CARTER (w/ Katana Chance) vs. INDI HARTWELL

Carter lightly pushed Hartwell into a corner, then waggled her ass in Hartwell’s general direction. Hartwell tossed Carter to the mat, then knocked her down with a shoulder block. Carter grappled Hartwell’s leg and took her to the mat and sat on Hartwell’s back while flexing her free arm. Carter chopped Hartwell across the chest two times, then maintained a wristlock while hopping up to the top rope, then down to the middle rope, then tumbled into a very fancy arm drag. Carter followed up with a drop kick, then clubbed Hartwell with a forearm strike. Hartwell returned fire with a front kick that dazed Carter. She rolled onto the apron where Chance approached and offered encouragement. Hartwell draped Carter over the middle rope and attempted to kick her head off, then covered her for two (head intact). Hartwell applied an arm bar.

Carter got free and charged at Hartwell in the corner, but Hartwell sidestepped. Hartwell hit a sidewalk slam and covered for another two-count, then went back to the arm bar. Carter broke free by backing Hartwell up into a corner. Carter rolled up Hartwell, but instead of covering, she quickly backed off and kicked Hartwell in the face. She covered Hartwell for two. Carter missed a kick, allowing Hartwell to smash Carter into the mat with a spinebuster. Carter tripped Hartwell and kicked her in the chest. Carter landed a springboard leg drop off the bottom rope and covered Hartwell for two. Hartwell came back with a full nelson face-first takedown, then covered Carter for the three-count.

WINNER: Indi Hartwell by pinfall in 6:10.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Good stuff! Carter stole the show with her lucha-esque antics on the ropes near the corner. Lots can go wrong with a move like that, but she executed like a champ.)

(2) XIA LI vs. NIKKI CROSS

Li whipped Cross to the match by her hair to open the match. Cross was nonplussed. She leveled Cross with a shoulder block, then screamed at the crowd. Cross had a sort of convulsion while Li watched. Li sidestepped a charging Cross in the corner, then threw Cross through the ropes to the floor. Li walked onto edge of the ring, so Cross swept her leg and yanked her down between the ring and apron. Cross landed forearm shots, then she approached the announce table and reached out toward Wade Barrett. Wade said to Byron, “How many times have I got to ask you for a taser?” Cross climbed to the top rope, but Li disrupted the rope, causing Cross to fall to the mat. She hit a running knee strike that sent Cross back to the floor. We cut to break.

Li was stomping Cross on the mat after the break. She hit another knee strike to Cross’s skull. Li landed a deliberate leg drop, then covered for two. Li applied a chinlock. When Cross tried to break free, Li punished her with a body slam. She dusted her hands off and posed to the crowd. Li went for another leg drop, but Cross dodged this one. Cross ran the ropes and knocked Li down with a clothesline. She followed up with a low drop kick to Li’s knee, and another one to the face.

Cross slapped the canvas, then splashed Li in the corner. Li rolled up Cross for two, then hit a spinning kick, then covered for another two-count. Li was visibly and audibly frustrated. She shook her head at the crowd who had started chanting, “Let’s go, Nikki!” Cross set up and landed a tornado DDT off the middle rope. She followed up with her purge neckbreaker, then covered Li for the three-count.

WINNER: Nikki Cross by pinfall in 6:10.

(Meyers’s Analysis: More solid action to follow the first match. Strange that the matches were the same length – that isn’t the Main Event formula. I am enjoying the running gag of Byron being cool with Nikki Cross’s behavior, and Wade Barrett being completely put off. Nice to see Cross directly interacting with him.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.6

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

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