WWE MAIN EVENT RESULTS (5/22): Natalya vs. Kiana James, Authors of Pain vs. The Creed Brothers, Road Dogg on commentary

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
MAY 22, 2024
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Blake Howard, Brian “Road Dogg” James

(1) NATALYA vs. KIANA JAMES

Natalya clapped her hands rhythmically to pump the crowd up, which caused James to crinkle up her face in disgust. Natalya sneaked in a one-count roll-up cover, causing James to protest, “I wasn’t ready!” They locked up properly and twisted into a corner. The ref called James off, then Natalya smacked James and covered again for one. Natalya blocked a hip toss and covered James again. James landed an elbow strike while the ref was attempting to separate the women. James took the upper hand, landing kicks and shoulder blocks in the corner.

James posed at a booing crowd, then motioned to Natalya on the mat. She walked across Natalya’s face and continued the punishment. James whispered presumably nasty things to Natalya, then applied an abdominal stretch. Natalya escaped with a hip toss. James plowed Natalya back into the corner, then backflipped away, which gave Natalya time to wind-up a discus lariat. Both women lingered on the mat.

Natalya repeatedly knocked James down with big right punches. She ran the ropes and hit a low drop kick, then covered James for two. Natalya tossed James with a release German suplex, then dragged her back to the middle of the ring. James scrambled away from a Sharpshooter attempt. The women exchanged quick near-falls, culminating with a crucifix cover and three-count by James.

WINNER: Kiana James by pinfall in 5:55.

(Meyers’s Analysis: More good heel work from James. It looked like she would’ve wanted “a handful of tights” on her winning cover, but Natalya’s outfit wasn’t compatible with that heel tactic.)

(2) AUTHORS OF PAIN (Akam & Rezar, w/ Paul Ellering) vs. CREED BROTHERS (Brutus & Julius)

It didn’t take long for AOP to make a quick tag to double team Julius. Brutus made a blind tag in, then knocked Rezar out to the floor through the ropes. Brutus positioned himself on the ring apron and took Rezar out with a moonsault. He rolled Rezar back into the ring, then followed him in. Akam tagged himself in and leveled Brutus with a big clothesline. We cut to break.

AOP engaged in more double-teaming, this time against Brutus. Brutus reached out futilely to his partner before being leveled by a clothesline. Akam covered Brutus for two. Rezar tagged in and applied ye olde chinlock. Brutus powered out and landed a couple blows, then dodged a charging Rezar in the corner. Brutus crawled toward his corner, finally making the tag to Julius. Akam tagged in to receive an offensive onslaught from Julius. Julius tossed both members of AOP, then hit a standing shooting star press and covered Akam for two. Akam planted Julius with a uranage, then Rezar tagged in. AOP combined for a neckbreaker / powerbomb double team to Julius, and Rezar remained on top for the cover and three-count.

WINNERS: Authors of Pain in 5:25.

(Meyers’s Confession Disguised as Analysis: Okay, I can’t tell AOP apart, and it was a distraction while trying to write this report. The commentators did very little to help. I’m sure there have been any number of successful tag teams that have looked similar – the Usos at least had different face paint, and now have different hair, for instance – but the company is deliberately trying to make Akam and Rezar look identical and I find it not only incredibly annoying, but problematic if you’re trying to make a team memorable.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.0

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42