wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s Main Event Review 8.20.20
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-It’s Thursday (well, Friday by the time this is posted because I worked a bit later and my son wanted to swim in our new pool) and I get to use my Hulu account so that must mean a new episode of Main Event is here. If you missed it the Network dropped a new episode of Timeline last night focusing on Cena/Styles and my review can be found here. Now on to Main Event. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton
-Taped, WWE PC: Orlando, FL
Bianca Belair vs. Billie Kay (w/ Peyton Royce)
-The Queen of Main Event has returned! Say it with me….lockup to start and Kay backs off. Another go and Kay tries to get a take down, but Belair switches out and gets one of her own. Back to the their feet and Kay gets an arm-lock and uses the hair to keep the advantage. They do a backslide sequence and Kay ends up stomping the toes and then poses to mock Bianca. Belair is back on her feet as the pace picks up a bit with a leapfrog into a hip-toss. Bianca does her own version of the IIconic pose as payback. Royce gets involved and that gives Kay her chance to seize an advantage. Kay pounds away in the corner and talks some quality trash. A forearm gets a two count and Kay follows up with seated abdominal stretch. Bianca gets to her feet, but a well placed knee and then a hair pull gets her back to the mat. Kay goes back to the hold but Bianca is able to hip-toss her way out. She fires off some right hands and then stomps a mud hole in the corner. A dropkick follows and then a swank handspring moonsault gets two. That was nice! Bianca heads up top and Royce tries to distract again, but gets sent to the floor. Bianca comes off the top, but Kay is out of the way so Bianca just rolls through. They each avoid a few moves, but the KOD finishes for Bianca at 6:19.
Winner: Bianca Belair via pin at 6:19
-This was solid and the match picked up well towards the end. Bianca continues to roll on Main Event and the IIconics are such great characters that they easily get their heat back even with losing. This was fine. **
-Back to SmackDown from 2 weeks ago with Alexa Bliss giving a sit down interview discussing her relationship with Braun in The Mixed Match Challenge and how they became friends. She thinks there could be a romantic relationship with them. She isn’t sure why The Fiend targeted her. She nearly breaks down trying to answer the question about how she felt hearing Braun say he doesn’t give a damn about her.
-Back to SmackDown as Braun cuts a promo on The Fiend and is interrupted by Alexa Bliss. This isn’t the Braun she knows and she doesn’t believe he doesn’t care about her. Braun is pissed as he claims Alexa used him and basically treated him like a clown. He brings up that everyone who encounters The Fiend changes, including her. He won’t look at her, so she slaps him in the face a few times. Braun snaps and holds her over his head for a press slam as lights start to go off signifying The Fiend. Bliss gets press slammed as the PC goes black. When the lights are back, The Fiend is in the ring and Braun in on The Tron laughing. The Fiend laughs with him! Sue me, I enjoyed this more than most. Again, I am a fan of adding Alexa to this feud and it has me more interested in what they are doing.
-Back to RAW as we recap Rollins’ rampage over the RAW roster as he puts Rey and Aleister on the shelf. Dominick vs Seth is signed for SummerSlam and then Murphy and Seth just cane the crap out of the poor kid. Again, kudos to him for taking that beating as it was just brutal. Then on this past RAW, Rey returned to help continue the feud. He has a war of words with Rollins and the Mysterio Family gets revenge as Seth and Murphy eat some cane shots. Murphy saves Rollins from getting tied up in the ropes and destroyed with more cane strikes.
-ThunderDome debuts on SmackDown tomorrow and I am looking forward to it.
Humberto Carrillo vs. Murphy
-Now we have Murphy slumming it on Main Event, but this at least has a chance to be good and has the bonus of having some history tied into the match. Say it with me….lockup to start and Carrillo offers a clean break in the corner. I assume Murphy won’t do the same. Murphy gets an armlock but Carrillo flips out to escape and get one of his own. Murphy shows he can do the same and then grounds Humberto. A cartwheel escapes for Humberto and he gets a headlock take down, but Murphy floats through with a head scissors. Solid mat work from both here! Back to their feet and Murphy gets a shoulder block, but Carrillo comes back with a head scissors take down and then a springboard armdrag sends Murphy to the floor as we take a break.
-Back with Murphy stomping away in the corner. He throws some heavy blows to the small of the back. Great sound on those shots! Carrillo fires back with an elbow and tries a fireman’s carry, but his back is gone. Murphy fires off a sick kick to the back to continue the damage. Another shot to the back and then Murphy goes to a chinlock for some reason. Man, camel clutch or something would have been better. Carrillo escapes but gets sent to the floor and Murphy hits a dropkick through the ropes that sends Humberto back first into the retaining wall. Back inside the ring Murphy asks Carillo where they were when Dominick and Aleister were injured. He continues to target the back with two hard whips into the corner. Humberto charges out of the corner with a clothesline and hits a handspring elbow as he continues to sell the back. He gets set to the apron, but catches a charging Murphy with a head kick. He heads up and hits a missile dropkick to the back of the neck for two. Back to the top once again, but the moonsault misses and the knee strike gets the win at 9:00.
Winner: Murphy via pin at 9:00
-Pretty decent match with the correct winner. They hit each other hard and it was very good for what we’ve been getting on this show. Both these guys are good and could give us so much more, but I’ll take this over what I have been getting on this show. ***
-Recap of all the chaos caused by Retribution the last few weeks on RAW and SmackDown.
-Two Weeks back on RAW, Randy punts Ric Flair to continue his resurgence as The Legend Killer. Ric touching on his health issues and tearing up still gets to me. “You have to be as close to where I was to know what that feeling is.” Chills!
-Back to RAW where Shawn Michaels shows up and cuts an emotionally filled promo about Orton attacking Ric Flair. Shawn can bring the emotion when needed. Since Shawn is a legend it was pretty clear where this was heading as Orton his the RKO and then a quick punt as even Orton knew McIntyre would be out in short order. Orton sneaks back in, but Drew is all over him and shows great fire as he tosses him all over the ringside area: plexiglass, ring post, announce table. Drew then gets stupid and heads back in the ring leaving himself exposed and eats an RKO to close the show.
-Thanks for reading!
