4/26 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Dexter Lumis vs. Joe Gacy, Cora Jade vs. Nikki Cross, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
APRIL 26, 2023
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

WWE Main Event Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Amazing pre-taped Dexter Lumis promo

(1) DEXTER LUMIS vs. JOE GACY

The bell rang and Gacy smiled at Lumis from across the ring. They locked up and Gacy soon scooped and slammed Lumis – this is merely a way to get Lumis on the mat to perform his creepy crawly trick. Lumis got to his feet and knocked Gacy down with a reverse elbow, then rammed him into opposite corners. He mounted Gacy in the second corner and fired down multiple punches, and then an uppercut on the mat. Gacy slipped out of a body slam and chop blocked Lumis from behind, then clotheslined him to the mat. Gacy applied an arm bar, then kicked Lumis to the mat. He covered Lumis for a one-count.

Gacy fired Lumis into a corner, then body slammed him again. Gacy shouted in Lumis’s face, “This coulda been your chance – I coulda given you something!” Lumis responded with punches, but Gacy still knocked him down with a front kick and a DDT. He covered Lumis for two, then applied a chin lock.

Lumis battled out and took Gacy down with a standard suplex. He punched Gacy three times, flipping Gacy back to the mat. Lumis splashed Gacy in the corner, then took him down with a bulldog and a side suplex. He popped up and hit Gacy with a leg drop. Gacy kicked Lumis in the knee, then did a handspring off the ropes. Lumis intercepted him on the rebound and hit a sitout uranage, then covered for the three-count.

WINNER: Dexter Lumis by pinfall in 5:15.

(Meyers’s Analysis: The match was fine, but the highlight of this entire episode was Lumis’s inset video promo that played as he made his entrance. In the video, he stared at the camera without speaking as it slowly zoomed in. Once in the ring (on the main screen), he stared into the void with the same expression, so the image of his video was side-by-side with his live image. The announcers remained silent during this video, as though he were actually talking. This weird kind of humor is very appealing and I was shocked to see it on Main Event.)

(2) CORA JADE vs. NIKKI CROSS

As the match started, Jade shouted that she could “run this place, too.” She shoved Cross into a corner and smacked her before backing off. Jade used a wrist lock to leverage Cross to the mat. Cross ran the ropes and Jade knocked her down with a shoulder block, then Cross came back with a cross body. She landed a couple forearm strikes before Jade shoved her off. Cross climbed to the top rope but Jade met her there with a knee strike. Cross rolled off the apron to the floor as we cut to break.

Jade maintained control through the break, and pinned Cross against the turnbuckles with her boot to Cross’s neck. She choked Cross against the middle rope, then ran the off the opposite ropes to drop an elbow on Cross’s back. She covered Cross for two. Jade grasped Cross’s hair and landed forearm shots with her free arm. She planted her right knee in Cross’s back and wrenched Cross’s arms backward.

Cross got free and dodged a charging Jade in the corner. She ducked two clotheslines from Jade, then took her down with a basement drop kick. She splashed Jade in the corner and set up for a bulldog but Jade rolled her up instead for a two-count. Cross hit a tornado DDT from the middle rope, then covered Jade for two. Cross set up for a neckbreaker but Jade blocked the maneuver. The women got totally crossed up here – Jade took a flat back bump without a move from Cross, and Cross quickly dropped on top of her in response. They were still off-kilter as they set up for a suplex, ultimately hit by Cross. Jade hit a knee strike to Cross’s face, then hesitated before covering Cross for two.

Jade set up for a superplex, but Cross knocked Jade to the mat. Cross jumped from the top rope and leveled Jade with a high cross body. Cross remained there for the cover and three-count.

WINNER: Nikki Cross by pinfall in 7:20.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Things were going fine, but the wheels really came off toward the end of the match. This was as sloppy as anything you’ll see in a WWE ring on TV.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 9.0 (Lumis Boost)

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

CATCH-UP: 4/19 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Dexter Lumis vs. Eddy Thorpe, Cross vs. Dawn, more