Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 4.18.24

Image Credit: WWE

Image Credit: WWE

Image Credit: WWE

-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Byron Saxton
-Taped: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Natalya vs. Xia Li

-We are in Canada, so we had to get Nattie on the card. Li attacks Nattie before the ball and stomps away. Good start! Nattie gets to her feet and tells the ref she is good so the match officially starts. Nattie fires back but Li cuts her off and stomps away in the corner. Li talks trash to the crowd which draws some loud boos. Li with a snapmare followed by a legdrop. She hooks a chinlock and falls back to take it to the mat. Nattie rolls back and gets a one count, so Li releases, but maintains control with a body scissors. Nattie turns over and shows off her ground game. Li hooks the head, but Nattie powers up and breaks with a slam to the mat. She catches Li coming at her with an elbow and starts throwing forearms. Reverse to the corner and Li misses a splash. Li gets caught with a clothesline for two. Sharpshooter is blocked and Li gets a roll-up for two. They go through a roll up sequence and Nattie tries for the Sharpshooter, but Li fights it off again. T-Bone suplex from Li gets two! Cyclone Kick is ducked and now Nattie gets the Sharpshooter for the submission at 4:38.

Winner: Nattie via submission at 4:38
-Started strong and kind of went down a bit from there. Nattie has popped up on here a few times and she is a good hand to work with the underneath women’s roster. I would have appreciated Li damaging her leg before the finish, but only so much you can do in under five minutes. *

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as Rhea Ripley has to give up her Women’s World Title due to injury. Rhea is angry and heart broken as she lays down the title and walks away from it. The crowd starts a “Thank You Mami” chant. She places the blame on Liv Morgan and here she is, but security keeps they separated. Liv headbutts one of the guards for fun. Liv vs. Rhea down the line should have some good heat now.

-WWE Draft commercial! 8 Days away!

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to SmackDown as Tama Tonga debuts and helps Solo beat the piss out of Jimmy Uso for losing at Mania because losing has consequences. Paul Heyman looks terrified, but Solo wants The Wiseman around. He breaks his phone when he tries to call Roman though. This should be fun!

-Back to RAW as Cody knows The Rock has more than one match in him and he is going to make Rock bleed when they meet again. Cody brings out Jey Uso and makes a dad joke: “Until we yeet again. YEET.”

-Back to RAW as Jey Uso gets a win over Finn Balor to build him up before his World Title Match at Backlash against Priest. Just keep giving him wins! Priest and Uso stare down and here’s Judgment Day to attack from behind. It seems Priest wasn’t aware of the attack. Jey catches Dom with a superkick and makes his exit through the crowd.

-Back to SmackDown as Naomi gets a win over Tiffany Stratton and earns a WWE Women’s Championship match against Bayley. That match happens this week on SmackDown from Pittsburgh!

-Also on SmackDown Theory and Waller will find out who is next for their Tag Titles as we get AOP vs. New Catch Republic vs. LDF vs. The Street Profits.

-Also, also on SmackDown, it’s AJ Styles vs. LA Knight with the winner get the first chance to dethrone Cody Rhodes at Backlash. That’s a pretty loaded card for us here in Pittsburgh.

Ludwig Kaiser vs. Otis

-Curious what they do with Otis now that Gable has turned? He has been a heel in Alpha Academy in the past, but I wonder if Gable turfs him from the group. Kaiser mocks Otis to start and slaps him on the back of the neck. He then tries to lift Otis, and yeah, that’s not happening. Otis with a heavy chop in the corner, and then again in another corner. Kaiser gets tossed across the ring and uses the ropes to get a time-out. He attacks as Otis backs up and then goes to the eyes. Running kick from Kaiser! Nice! Otis hits post as he misses a charge in the corner. Kaiser ties hangs him up and hits a dropkick to send Otis to the floor.

-15 seconds of Hulu commercials!

-Back with Kaiser playing to the crowd on the floor. The man has great douchebag facial reactions! He peacocks too long as Otis starts a comeback. Back in the ring Otis gets a splash in the corner and then a slam. He rips the shirt as Otis-Mania is running wild. Kaiser rolls to the apron to avoid The Caterpillar. He tries a suplex from the apron, but Otis blocks and gets his own suplex to bring Kaiser back into the ring. Now we get The Caterpillar to pop the crowd. It gets two as Kaiser gets his foot on the bottom rope. They fight up top and Otis looks for a slam, but Kaiser goes to the eyes and shoves Otis to the mat. Running kick gets the pin at 5:57.

Winner: Ludwig Kaiser via pin at 5:57
-Kind of short for a Main Event Main Event, but we also had a shorter commercial break that usual. This was fine and Kaiser getting the win made sense. Both men could be changing sides in The Draft which may not be a bad thing for Otis to get him away from the heel Gable. **

-Awesome video package hyping Zayn v. Gable for the IC Title!

-SmackDown this Friday in Pittsburgh! Stay all week if needed because my Penguins don’t need use of the place until The Fall. Ugh! How do you waste that season from Sidney Crosby?

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as The RAW Tag Team Titles are returned and Awesome Truth are presented with the New World Tag Team Titles. They look like titles from WCW which isn’t a bad thing.

-Awesome Truth vs. DIY for The World Tag Titles on RAW this week!

-Also, on RAW, Ricochet and Andrade vs. Prison Dom and JD McDonagh

-Also, also, a new Women’s World Champion will be crowned on RAW. Interesting!

-Back to RAW as the final five minutes of Zayn vs. Gable. Fun match with a white-hot crowd. Sami kills it as the underdog babyface that can take as ass kicking. Sami gets the hard-fought win to make the crowd happy and shakes hands with Gable.

-After the match Sami celebrates with his wife and that’s when Gable DUMPS him with a German Suplex on the floor. A crazed Gable then hooks an ankle-lock in the corner as we get a cool camera shot from the floor. Great stuff!

-Thanks for reading!

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Not much to the matches this week which is a bummer as they had a hot crowd in Montreal. Always next week!