WWE MAIN EVENT TV RESULTS (2/28): Ivy Nile vs. Xia Li, Ivar vs. Apollo Crews, Road Dogg on commentary

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
FEBRUARY 28, 2024
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Blake Howard, Brian “Road Dogg” James

(1) IVY NILE vs. XIA LI

The women locked up and shoved each other away in a stalemate. On the second go, Nile got the upper hand and shoved Li to the mat. Nile covered Li with a backslide, but Li kicked out at two. Nile blocked a waist lock, then kicked Li in the gut. She hoisted Li into a suspended vertical suplex before dropping her to the canvas – the crowd appreciated this spectacle. Li dropped out to ringside, and smothered a prone Nile with the ring apron. She rolled back in and covered Nile for a one-count, then a two-count. Li applied a chinlock.

Nile got free and fired Li into a corner, then monkey-flipped Li out of that corner to the center of the ring. Li came back with a snake eyes to Nile in a separate corner. Li laid in some kicks before suplexing Nile to the mat and covering for two. Li applied another chinlock. The crowd urged on Nile’s escape, but Li whipped her to the mat instead. Nile landed an upward kick from the mat, then got to her feet and continued the kicking onslaught. She spun Li to the mat with a hurricanrana, then hit a running kick to Li in the corner. Nile slammed Li with a gut-wrench suplex, then covered for two.

Li plowed Nile into a corner, then rammed her shoulder into her opponent. She backed up and the women exchanged kicks in the middle of the ring. Nile dug deep and landed a series of kicks, but Li caught one of the kicks and twisted Nile’s leg, driving her down to the mat. In the same motion, Li transitioned into a crossface submission. Nile pried Li’s hands off her face and tossed her to the mat. Nile hit a spinning kick, then applied an upright dragon sleeper hold, causing Li to quickly submit.

WINNER: Ivy Nile by submission in 6:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Good match. Li’s crossface looked like a legitimate match-winner before Nile’s escape, and Nile’s subsequent finishing sleeper had some oomph on it.)

(2) IVAR (w/Valhalla) vs. APOLLO CREWS

Crews tried to flip Ivar to the mat with a side headlock, but Ivar wasn’t having it. He shoulder blocked Crews to the mat. Crews tried again with the headlock, but Ivar still wouldn’t budge. Ivar elbowed Crews in the corner. Crews was finally able to take Ivar down after climbing the ropes to get a vertical advantage on the headlock. Ivar got to his feet and fired Crews off. Crews leapfrogged Ivar, then drop kicked him out to the floor. Crews did a slingshot dive over the top rope to knock Ivar to the ground. Crews kicked Ivar in the head to knock him back into the ring. Valhalla appeared on the apron and distracted Crews momentarily – enough for Ivar to move in and fire Crews into the ring post. We cut to break with Crews writhing at ringside.

Ivar maintained control through the break. He applied an upright arm bar, then suplexed Crews to the mat before covering for two. For reasons unexplained, Valhalla perched on the announce table, which distracted Road Dogg and Blake Howard. Blake: “I think you called her over.” Road Dogg: “I did. It’s good to see you, Valhalla.” Crews ducked a clothesline, then landed consecutive kicks and a jumping clothesline. He splashed Ivar in the corner, then climbed to the top rope. He jumped at Ivar and took him down with a high cross body. Crews stayed on top for a two-count.

Crews attempted a fireman’s carry but couldn’t get Ivar up. Instead, Crews hit a front kick that knocked Ivar onto his back. Crews then hit a standing moonsault, followed by a standing shooting star press. Crews covered for two. Crews slowly crawled through the ropes and to the top rope again. He went for a frog splash but Ivar rolled out of the way. Ivar planted Crews with a double-underhook powerbomb, and Crews kicked out at two on the cover. Ivar charged at Crews in the corner, and splashed him with a high cross body. Crews, with a stunning display of strength, caught Ivar, carried him to the center of the ring, and was barely able to toss him backward in a fallaway slam. Crews covered for two.

Ivar smashed Crews in the face with a spinning heel kick. Ivar began climbing the corner, but Crews stopped him. Ivar punished Crews for this interruption with a shoulder breaker, then went back to the corner climbing. Ivar hit a big moonsault from the top rope and remained there for the three-count.

WINNER: Ivar by pinfall in 7:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Another good match – this one surpassed the Main Event quality standard. The business with Valhalla and the announcers was strange and amusing. Crews’s fallaway slam – more like a fallaway dump – indeed looked shaky, but that’s what made it cool: It was all on Crews to make it work, and it pretty much did. If you knew nothing about these wrestlers, you wouldn’t look at them and predict two moonsaults and a shooting star press, but that’s what they gave us.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.8

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