4/20 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Ciampa vs. Alexander, Crews vs. T-Bar, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
APRIL 20, 2022
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

WWE Main Event Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Ciampa vs. Alexander exceeds expectations

(1) APOLLO CREWS (w/ Commander Azeez) vs. T-BAR

Crews went after T-Bar’s left knee which was taped up after last week’s match against Ciampa. T-Bar responded with a clubbing blow to Crews’s back, then tossed him across the ring. T-Bar landed elbows in the corner, then planted Crews with a backbreaker. T-Bar Stood on the second rope and twisted round in the air to splash Crews on the mat. He covered for two.

Azeez involved himself twice, first by pulling Crews out of the corner to escape a charging T-Bar, and second by sweeping T-Bar’s feet while the ref was backing off Crews. Crews hit a low drop kick to T-Bar’s knee, then posed in the corner while Azeez clapped and smirked. Crews worked on T-Bar’s knee against the bottom rope. T-Bar landed two feeble blows while seated on the mat, but Crews kicked him down. He wrenched T-Bar’s knee around the middle rope. T-Bar landed a kick and a couple punches, but Crews hit another drop kick to the knee. Crews propped T-Bar’s ankle against a rope and prepared to jump and land on the knee, but T-Bar used his good leg to kick Crews up and over the top rope to the floor.

Crews crawled back in and T-Bar was charged up. He landed forearm strikes and took Crews down with a reverse elbow. He lifted Crews with a vertical suplex stance and tossed him onto his back. T-Bar nailed a big sitout choke slam and covered for two. Azeez moved toward the ring apron and went for another leg sweep, but T-Bar hopped over his arm and kicked Azeez in the face through the ropes. This diversion allowed Crews to chop block T-Bar from behind. He scooped T-Bar and hoisted him over his head and to the mat with a Samoan drop – Crews covered for the three-count.

WINNER: Apollo Crews by pinfall in 5:50.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Decent match with non-stop heel work from both Crews and Azeez. T-Bar was protected in this loss, for what it matters on Main Event.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Charlotte in-ring interview with Drew Gulak from Smackdown
• Replay of Deville / Belair in-ring confrontation from Raw
• Replay of Theory vs. Balor from Raw
• Replay of Rhodes / Rollins in-ring segment from Raw
• Replay of Rhodes vs. Owens from Raw

(2) TOMMASO CIAMPA vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER (w/ Shelton Benjamin)

The men grappled back and forth to open the match. Alexander ducked a clothesline while running the ropes, then missed a high cross body. Ciampa kneed Alexander off the apron to the floor. Ciampa ran the ropes to dive at Alexander but Benjamin appeared and blocked him on the apron. Ciampa knocked him to the floor, which caused Benjamin to slide into the ring and go after Ciampa. The ref blocked him and proceeded to order him backstage. Alexander took control, however, by planting Ciampa to the ring apron with a uranage. We cut to break.

Alexander had Ciampa on the mat with a chin lock when we returned. Ciampa was soon on his feet, but Alexander whipped him back-first into the corner, causing him to crumple to the mat. Alexander slipped to the floor and hammered on Ciampa’s chest, then rolled back in the ring. He choked Ciampa against the middle rope and broke the hold at the ref’s four count. Alexander mimicked Ciampa’s “pat on the back” gesture before covering him for one. Alexander applied another chinlock and yelled for the ref to “ask him!”

Ciampa broke free again and landed a series of chops, then hit multiple splashing clotheslines in the corner. Ciampa ducked a clothesline and knocked Alexander to the mat with a flying clothesline. Ciampa set up for the Fairytale Ending but Alexander reversed out. Ciampa countered as well with a reverse DDT, then covered for two. Ciampa hit a big front kick to Alexander’s chin, then Alexander returned fire with a drop kick and a Michinoku driver. Alexander covered for two.

Alexander climbed to the top rope and jumped at the prone Ciampa. Ciampa rolled out of the way, but Alexander anticipated this possibility and rolled smoothly through his landing. Ciampa hit a forearm strike, but Alexander hit multiple strikes of his own. Alexander did a handspring bounce off the ropes, and Ciampa nailed him in the face with a well-timed drop kick while Alexander was upside down mid-handspring. Ciampa followed up with a running knee strike to the face, then the Fairytale Ending. He rolled Alexander onto his back and covered for the three-count.

WINNER: Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall in 7:40.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Really good match. More solid heel work in this one, this time from Alexander and Benjamin. I appreciate Ciampa punishing Alexander’s flashy, movement-wasting handspring with a drop kick that essentially ended the match. Between Benjamin’s ejection and the explosive moves, this didn’t feel like a Main Event match.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.6

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

CATCH-UP: 4/13 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Crews & Azeez vs. Hurt Business, Ciampa vs. T-Bar, more