wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 3.04.21
Image Credit: WWE/Twitter
Loading...-Back at it again with another episode of Hulu’s WWE Main Event. The RAW side of the WWE is now under the rule of Bobby Lashley, though that doesn’t really mean anything for this show. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe
-Taped: WWE ThunderDome (Tropicana Field), St Petersburg, FL
Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak
-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 reveral. 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. ***1/4
-Rhea Ripley is coming to RAW
-Back to SmackDown as Bianca Belair has a decision to make. She is interrupted by Reginald who is then interrupted by Sasha Banks who shoves him out of the way. Sasha tells Bianca she is the standard and if she wants to make history she should choose her. Sasha is the best which makes Bianca second best. Bianca is going to make her eat her words on The Grandest Stage as she makes it official that she wants Sasha at WrestleMania and we get a Mania sign point and pyro to make it official.
-Back to SmackDown as Daniel Bryan confronts Roman Reigns as he wants a Universal Title Match at Fastlane. Jey Uso attacks Bryan leading to a match later in the night with the stipulation being that Bryan gets the Title Match if he wins. The match ends in a Double Count-Out, so no Title Match. Reigns saves Uso from the Yes Lock and puts him to sleep with the guillotine choke.
-Oh crap, they actually show Talking Smack footage (my review here) as Paul Heyman informs Bryan that he gets a rematch with Jey and if he wins he will get Reigns at Fastlane for the Universal Title. If Bryan loses, he must acknowledge Reigns as The Head of the Table, The Best of the Very Best, and Tribal Chief. Bryan accepts and if he loses he will call Roman the best wrestler he has ever been in the ring with, but he has his own condition. He wants the match with Jey inside a steel cage. Heyman is caught off guard as Bryan and Kayla chant “steel cage match.” If you aren’t watching this show every week, you really need to. Bryan mocking Heyman as he stalls and make excuses is amazing. Heyman gets a text from Reigns to accept the match. They cut off the ending where Bryan refers to CM Punk however. I assumed that was coming.
Ricochet vs. Akira Tozawa
-Handshake and then a lockup to start and Ricochet controls with a hammerlock into a side headlock. Tozawa flips out and gets an armdrag. They shake hands again as we start once more. Joe tells us he would rather punch people In their face than shake their head. I love Joe! Tozawa flies around a bit to piss off Ricochet as he isn’t here to have fun apparently. He drops Tozawa with a hard right hand as he asks him if he is having fun as he isn’t here to play games. We take a break, but I will say last time we had something like this on Main Event, Ali turned heel a few weeks later.
-Back with Ricochet in control and still talking crap to Tozawa. He lands a stiff kick to the back for a two count. More heavy blows as evil Ricochet is fun! Ricochet drops a few elbows for another two count and then back to a headlock. Tozawa fights out but runs into a dropkick that gets Ricochet another two count. A backhand from Ricochet follows and then back to the headlock. Tozawa fights from underneath again, but eats a knee to the ribs. Tozawa snaps off a rana to counter a pop-up move and hits a Shinning Wizard. He comes off the top with the Cannonball for two. Tozawa looks for a German Suplex, but Ricochet escapes and hits more heavy strikes. Ricochet flips out of a suplex attempt, but gets caught with a kick. Ricochet comes back with a standing moonsault into a German Suplex into a bridge for two. Fantastic! Tozawa counters a kick with a roll-up for two and then gets a windmill kick. He charges and gets creamed with a lariat turns him inside out. The Kickback finishes at 8:41.
Winner: Ricochet via pin at 8:41
-Everything after the break was fantastic as they hit another gear. Ricochet playing the aggressive heel was wonderful and Tozawa did well in fighting back from underneath. This was fun and I could go for a heel run from Ricochet. **3/4
-Ricochet offers a fist bump and Tozawa accepts.
-Back to RAW as we recap all the Bliss/Orton craziness and you have to assume this is all leading to a Firefly Fun House Match at Mania which will be all sorts of batshit crazy considering everything Orton has done in his career that they could play off in that match.
-Back to RAW as The Miz tried everything to get out of his Title Match with Lashley, but it eventually happens to close the show. It’s a Lumberjack Match and Miz gets destroyed in short order and Lashley finishes with The Hurt Lock to win The WWE Title for the first time. Great moment and I know people hate on him, but Miz was great here and took the ass kicking like a champ. He weaseled his way to the MITB, weaseled his way into the WWE Title and then got creamed when he faced a badass like Lashley, so it all worked out in the end. It seems like Drew vs Lashley is the match for Mania, but there is enough chatter out there for Lashley to make me hope a program with Lesnar can still happen at some point.
-Thanks for reading!
