Leighty’s 2021 Countdown: The Matches of WWE Main Event

-We are two weeks into the new year, so it seems like a good time to look back on the year that was. Countdown shows are always a personal favorite of mine and just like last year, I have my ranking of every match that took place on WWE Main Event in 2020. Last year my pick for best match on this Hulu show was Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali from 09.30.21. Prepare yourself to see their names high on this list once again. My ranking of every 205 Live match should be finished by next week, but for now it’s all about Main Event. Let’s get to it!

103) Reggie vs. R-Truth (DUD) – 12.02.21

-Next we have a section which is filled with nothing but SQUASH matches and even being non-competitive matches they still top what we got from the bottom match on this list. Special nod to T-Bar who had some fun SQUASH matches this year.

102) Mace vs. Austin Crane (SQUASH) – 09.30.21

101) Veer vs. John Morrison (SQUASH) – 11.18.21

100) Veer vs. Jeff Hardy (SQUASH) – 07.08.21

99) Bronson Reed vs. Drew Gulak (SQUASH) – 06.24.21

98) Retribution (Mace and T-Bar) vs. Lucha House Party (SQUASH) – 03.11.21

97) Angel Garza vs Akira Tozawa (SQUASH) – 01.21.21

96) T-Bar vs. Drew Gulak (SQUASH) – 02.18.21

95) T-Bar vs Sal Sergio (SQUASH) 12.30.21

94) Veer Mahaan vs. Shelton Benjamin (*) – 12.30.21

93) Ryker vs. Angel Garza (*) – 07.15.21

92) The Hurt Business vs. Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez (*) – 11.18.21

91) Jinder Mahal vs. Jeff Hardy (*) – 05.06.21

90) Ryker vs. Drew Gulak (*1/4) – 09.16.21

89) WWE 24/7 Title: Dana Brooke (c) vs. Tamina (*1/4) – 12.09.21

88) Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez vs. R-Truth and Tozawa (*1/2) – 12.23.21

87) Veer vs. Ryker (*1/2) – 10.28.21

86) Aliyah vs. Dakota Kai (*1/2) – 08.12.21

85) Jinder Mahal vs. Shelton Benjamin (*1/2) – 06.10.21

84) Ryker vs. Cedric Alexander (*1/2) – 08.19.21

83) Odyssey Jones vs. Austin Theory (*1/2) – 08.12.21

82) Ryker vs. Drew Gulak (*1/2) – 07.29.21

81) T-Bar vs. Drew Gulak (*1/2) – 10.14.21

80) T-Bar and Mace vs. Lucha House Party (*1/2) – 06.17.21

79) Mansoor vs. Shelton Benjamin (*1/2) – 07.15.21

78) Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez vs. The Hurt Business (**) – 12.09.21

77) Cedric Alexander vs. Ryker (**) – 11.04.21

76) Liv Morgan vs. Tamina (**) – 11.04.21

75) T-Bar and Mace vs. Lucha House Party (**) – 07.01.21

74) Lana and Naomi vs. Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose (**) – 05.20.21

73) Veer Mahaan vs. T-Bar (**) – 12.23.21

72) T-Bar and Mace vs. The Viking Raiders (**) – 10.07.21

71) Los Lotharios vs. The Viking Raiders (**) – 11.25.21

70) Nikki Cross vs. Naomi (**) – 05.13.21

69) Karrion Kross vs. Shelton Benjamin (**) – 06.24.21

68) Akira Tozawa vs, Slapjack (**) – 01.07.21

67) Veer Mahaan vs. Cedric Alexander (**) – 12.16.21

66) Karrion Kross vs. Ricochet (**) – 09.23.21

65) Veer vs. Drew Gulak (**) – 07.01.21

64) Mansoor vs. Angel Garza (**) – 04.01.21

63) Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa (**) – 10.21.21

62) Austin Theory vs. Akira Tozawa (**) – 11.11.21

61) Doudrop vs. Dana Brooke (**) – 09.09.21

60) Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak (**) – 11.25.21

59) Ryker vs. Cedric Alexander (**1/4) – 08.05.21

58) T-Bar vs. Akira Tozawa (**1/4) – 12.02.21

57) Garza/Carrillo vs. Morrison/Ricochet (**1/4) – 10.21.21

56) Karrion Kross vs. Ricochet (**1/4) – 10.07.21

55) Garza/Carrillo vs. Lucha House Party (**1/4) – 09.16.21

54) Mansoor vs. Akira Tozawa (**1/4) – 04.15.21

53) Apollo Crews vs. John Morrison (**1/4) – 10.28.21

52) Angel Garza vs. Drew Gulak (**1/4) – 07.22.21

51) John Morrison vs. Angel Garza (**1/4) – 10.14.21

50) Akira Tozawa vs. Angel Garza (**1/2) – 01.14.21

49) Mansoor/Ricochet vs. Tozawa/Gulak (**1/2) – 03.11.21

48) Dana Brooke vs. Peyton Royce (**1/2) – 02.11.21

47) Jaxson Ryker vs. Humberto Carrillo (**1/2) – 02.18.21

46) Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 02.04.21

45) Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 01.21.21

44) Lince Dorado vs. Akira Tozawa (**1/2) – 03.18.21

43) Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 02.25.21

42) Eias and Jaxson Ryker vs. Akira Tozawa and Humberto Carrillo (**1/2) – 02.25.21

41) Lucha House Party vs. Tozawa/Garza (**1/2) – 04.08.21

40) Ali/Mansoor vs. Lucha House Party (**1/2) – 09.02.21

39) T-Bar vs. Apollo Crews (**1/2) – 12.16.21

38) Jeff Hardy vs. Cedric Alexander (**1/2) – 09.02.21

37) Angel Garza vs. Shelton Benjamin (**1/2) – 07.08.21

36) Angel Garza vs. Lince Dorado (**1/2) – 08.05.21

35) John Morrison vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 09.30.21

34) Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa (**1/2) – 03.25.21

33) Angel Garza vs. Humberto Carrillo (**1/2) – 03.18.21

32) Lince Dorado vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 04.22.21

31) Mansoor vs. Akira Tozawa (**1/2) – 04.22.21

30) Angel Garza vs. Gran Metalik (**1/2) – 03.25.21

29) Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 04.08.21

28) Ricochet vs. Drew Gulak (**1/2) – 06.17.21

27) Ricochet vs. Angel Garza (**1/2) – 08.19.21

26) Mustafa Ali vs. Angel Garza (**1/2) – 06.10.21

25) Ricochet vs. Cedric Alexander (**1/2) – 07.22.21

24) Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali (**1/2) – 05.06.21

23) John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin (**1/2) – 11.11.21

22) Humberto Carrillo vs. Slapjack (**3/4) – 01.14.21

21) Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa (**3/4) – 04.29.21

20) Ricochet vs. Akira Tozawa (**3/4) – 03.04.21

19) Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew Gulak (**3/4) – 04.01.21

18) Mansoor vs. Cedric Alexander (**3/4) – 05.20.21

17) Ricochet vs. Drew Gulak (**3/4) – 01.07.21

16) Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin (**3/4) – 08.26.21

15) Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali (**3/4) – 04.29.21

14) Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali (***) – 05.13.21

13) Cedric Alexander vs. Lince Dorado (***) – 09.23.21

12) Angel Garza vs. Drew Gulak (***) – 04.15.21

11) Jeff Hardy and Ricochet vs. Elias and Jaxson Ryker (***) – 01.28.21

10) Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak (***) – 06.03.21

9) Ricochet vs. Cedric Alexander (***) – 09.09.21

8) Angel Garza vs. Humberto Carrillo (***) – 01.28.21

7) Angel Garza vs. Humberto Carrillo (***) – 07.29.21

6) Vikings Raiders vs. Lucha House Party (***) – 08.26.21

5) Angel Garza vs. Ricochet (***) – 02.04.21

4) Mustafa Ali vs. Jeff Hardy (***) – 06.03.21

3) Ricochet vs. Humberto Carrillo (***1/4) – 02.11.21

-We’ve seen these two square off on this show before and I am all for seeing them go at it again. God Bless Phillips for saying that wins are crucial this time of year as you never know what WWE officials will be watching this match. Ricochet dancing to Carrillo’s entrance theme is fun. Not Brock Lesnar dancing to MVP’s fun, but still fun. They start quick with some chain wrestling and Ricochet gets the first pin off a shoulder block. He goes to a side headlock and is able to maintain the hold as Carrillo tried to shove off. Carrillo is able to escape and gets a shoulder bock of his own, but gets caught again with a side headlock, but Carrillo escapes with a leg scissors headlock. Ricochet is out and they start flying around the ring again as they counter each other. We get a stalemate as they flip out of everything and then square off with superhero poses as we take a break. I’m a sucker for a sequence like that when it’s done right.

-Back with Ricochet flipping around some more as you would expect. They start trading chops and then we slow things down again with Ricochet getting a roll-up for two. He hits a slam and drops an elbow for a two count. Carrillo flips out of a suplex attempts and gets a springboard crossbody for two. To the corner for some chops and then a running clothesline in the corner. Ricochet ducks a clothesline and then both men collide in midair in the middle of the ring. The ref starts the 10 count, but both men are up with relative ease. Carrillo gets a backslide for two and they clothesline each other. Carrillo misses two kicks, but they end up each hitting a head kick to leave them both down again. Cool! Ricochet charges into a boot, and then eats a springboard kick. Carrillo gets two of his modified facebuster as Phillips mentions that move has racked up some recent wins. Carrillo sells his shock well and panics as he looks for a moonsault that misses. Ricochet gets an axe kick and then a spinning brainbuster for two. Now Ricochet is at a loss. He looks for the Recoil, but Carrillo ducks and gets a roll-up for two. Ricochet is to his feet first and this time the Recoil connects to end this one at 10:58.

Winner: Ricochet via pin at 10:58
-They were given some solid time here though the commercial ate up a little of it. I like the story of them being so evenly matched they kept escaping or hitting the same moves. The final few minutes got pretty great and the ending was good with Ricochet avoiding the flash pin and hitting his move to finish. This was fun and I could watch these two wrestle every week

2) Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak (***1/4) – 03.04.21

-As has been mentioned every time he appears in a match, Mansoor is still undefeated. This is also a rematch from last week when Mansoor got the win in just over 5 minutes. Lockup to start and Gulak controls with a standing side headlock and then takes Mansoor to the ground. Mansoor gets to his feet to escape and is able to get an arm to ground Gulak. Back to their feet and standing switch. Mansoor gets an armdrag, but then gets caught with a release German suplex for two. Nice one there! Gulak goes to a reverse chinlock while burying a knee in the back. Mansoor breaks with a jawbreaker and fires off an elbow and some chops. Gulak reverses a whip and gets another German Suplex for two. Again, nice! Gulak charges in the corner, but Mansoor moves. He tries to follow up with an enziguiri, but Gulak catches the foot and gets an STF in a wonderful counter. Mansoor gets to the bottom rope to break and Gulak makes sure to use all of the ref’s count before breaking. Gulak preps Mansoor on the top rope, but Mansoor elbows Gulak down to escape. Mansoor comes off with a crossbody to leave both men down. Gulak wins the race to a vertical base and they start trading heavy blows. Mansoor wins the exchange and gets a back elbow and clothesline. He hits a slam and then a cradle for two. Next is an inverted atomic drop followed by a spinebuster for two. Gulak gets a flash roll-up for two, but Mansoor counters into a sleeper in another great reversal. Gulak rolls back for a near fall as Mansoor has to release the hold to avoid being pinned. Mansoor gets dumped to the apron, but catches Gulak with a shot and then hits the slingshot neckbreaker for the win at 5:51.

Winner: Mansoor via pin at 5:51
-This was very good for a 6 minute match as everything hit well and the counters and escapes were great. Gulak showed some aggression coming off the loss last week and Mansoor earned this one. This was fun and easily one of the best Main Event matches of the year.

1) 2 Out of 3 Falls: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali (***3/4) – 05.27.21

–1st Fall: Cautious start as Ali talks crap and then the fists start flying. Ricochet pounds away but gets caught with a boot to the face followed by some chops and a headbutt. More trash talk from Ali as he tries to dump Ricochet to the floor. He lands on the apron and then avoids a trip that sends Ali to the floor. Ricochet sprints to the top and comes off with the moonsault to the floor. Ali gets tossed into the barrier and then back in the ring where he catches Ricochet coming in with a kick. They each get a small package for one and then pin each other simultaneously so the ref doesn’t even count. Back to the floor as Ricochet gets pulled to the apron and then sent into the barrier and finally the ring steps. Ricochet can’t beat the count and we have our first fall at 2:57. You had to see that a quick first fall was coming. That was a fun 3 minute sprint though! Ali goes up 1-0!

-2nd Fall: Back as Ricochet is back in the ring and Ali keeps getting quick covers trying to get the win but Ricochet still has fight in him. Ali to the reverse chinlock, but Ricochet breaks with a nice belly to back suplex. Back to trading blows in the middle of the ring and Ricochet wins the exchange with a flying forearm and another one that turns Ali inside out. Now Ricochet is laying the bad mouth. He catches a charging Ali with a back elbow, but misses a blind move from the top. Ali is right there and plants him with a Tornado DDT for two. Sweet! Ali heads back up, but Ricochet is able to grab the foot to stop that and drops Ali with a German suplex. Now Ricochet heads up top, but Ali kicks the ref into the ropes to knock Ali off balance and that draws a DQ at 8:30. Lame! Tied at 1 fall each.

-3rd Fall: On one hand you can say Ali knew he was screwed and took the loss as a way to damage Ali but there would have been better ways to go about that. Go HHH/Rock and have Ali just plaster him with a chair to set up a better chance to win the 3rd fall. Ali in control as we return and he goes back to the headlock, but Ricochet has enough fight to force a break. Ricochet is able to create space and then starts firing right hands again. Running corner clothesline and then again on the other side of the ring. A 3rd clothesline is missed and Ali connects with a superkick to the back of the head and then a sit-out powerbomb for two. To the top, but Ricochet rolls to the floor so Ali gives chase. They battle around the timekeeper area and Ricochet is able to land a suplex off the barrier which teases a double count-out like a few weeks ago, but both men are back in at 9. Nice callback! They trade shots in the middle of the ring and Ricochet wins that exchange. He turns to run the ropes, but Ali sends him to the floor. Ali hits a slingshot plancha, but Ricochet rolls through and hits a Michinoku Driver on the floor. Ali tossed back in the ring and Ricochet misses the springboard 630 and gets caught in the Koji clutch. He makes the ropes to break and Ali talks some more trash as he chokes with his boot. He gets caught charging in though and Ricochet connects with Recoil. Up top and again the 630 misses, but Ricochet lands on his feet. They each get a roll-up and Ali runs to the middle rope off the kick-out and gets caught in midair with the Recoil to finish at 16:18.

Winner: Ricochet via pin at 16:18 (2 Falls to 1)
-That 3rd fall was great and even the second one was very good outside of the finish though I assume they wanted to protect Ricochet since he is back on RAW and involved in the US Title picture. The commercials breaks hurt a little though that is minor. This was great and easily the best match of my run with Main Event. Definitely check this one out as they gave them some time and they delivered. Kudos to both men.

-So, there you have it as Ali and Ricochet top my list for a second straight year. Pulling off the win for a thir straight year will be a little tougher since neither appear on Main Event anymore, but there are 11 months left in the year for them to be passed back to RAW and put back on the show. Thanks for reading!