Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 09.15.22: R-Truth vs. Akira Tozawa

-Announce Team: Kevin Patrick and Byron Saxton
-Taped: Portland, OR

R-Truth vs. Akira Tozawa

-The crowd loves Truth! He dedicates this match to his childhood hero, favorite wrestler, and favorite actor, John Cena. Tozawa gets a go behind, but reversed by Truth. Tozawa lands an elbow, but gets caught with a hiptoss. Tozawa kicks to block the 5 Knuckle Shuffle and then hits a spinning kick. He heads up top and hits a shotgun missile dropkick for one. Truth fights back, but eats another elbow and Tozawa hooks a reverse chinlock. The announcers continue to talk about the 24/7 Title which hasn’t been seen on RAW for quite some time, unless I’ve missed it. Tozawa pounds away on the mat as he shows off some aggression that he has been missing. Suplex and Tozawa talks trash to the fans before going back to the reverse chinlock. Truth rallies behind the crowd and hits a flying shoulder as he runs through his John Cena offense. Five Knuckle Shuffle connects this time and the AA finishes at 4:24.

Winner: R-Truth via pin at 4:42
-Tozawa was a little more serious here which was nice to see. Just a basic match that had the crowd invested as they love Truth. *1/2

-Shelton cuts a promo in advance of his match later with Cedric Alexander.

-Hype video for Solo Sikoa and his joining The Bloodline!

-WWE celebrates Pediatric Cancer Month in September! Team Up to Take Down Cancer!

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to SmackDown as The Bloodline (minus Roman) celebrate before Drew McIntyre interrupts with a chair. Solo is the only one that doesn’t bail which is a nice character touch. Sami takes the bullet for Solo which is on brand for his character.

-Drew vs Solo is joined in progress and it breaks down with The Street Profits getting involved. No winner as Karrion Kross hits the ring and chokes Drew out with The Kross Jacket.

-Back to RAW as Damage CTRL win the Women’s Tag Titles!

-WrestleMania Hollywood commercial!

-Hulu Commercials!

-Cedric Alexander is backstage and Ali pops up. Cedric thanks Ali for his help last week vs. T-Bar, but tells Ali he doesn’t need the help tonight as he is a big boy. STORY DEVELOPMENT ON MAIN EVENT!

-Back to RAW as we join Bianca vs. Sonya Deville in progress. Bianca gets the win, but Bayley interrupts and stalls long enough for the rest of Damage CTRL to hit the ring. Alexa Bliss and Asuka head down for the save and Bayley gets left to face a 3 on 1.

-Dom Mysterio promo from RAW where Rhea whispers in his ear that has become a meme all over social media!

-Hulu commercials!

Shelton Benjamin vs. Cedric Alexander

-Handshake to start and then Cedric lands a kick. He connects with a Tornado DDT for two. Cedric gets dumped to the apron and gets caught coming back in with a punch to the face. Suplex is blocked and Cedric hits a Neuralizer for two. Cedric tries to dump Shelton to the floor, but he skins the cat and uses a head scissors to take Cedric to the floor. Baseball slide is avoided and Cedric hits a suicide dive. He goes back in for a second one (great camera angle on that one as it looked like they crashed through the screen), but a third one eats a knee from Shelton. We take out standard break!

-Hulu commercials!

-Back with Shelton landing right hands and a clothesline. Slam from Shelton and then another one gets two. Charge in the corner eats a boot to the face and that lets Cedric hit a superkick. They counter spin kicks and Shelton gets a roll-up for two. Nasty German Suplex from Shelton gets two. Cedric traps the arm from his back and nearly gets pinned. Shelton muscles Cedric up and slams him down for two. The crowd starts a “This is Awesome” chant which we don’t get often on this show. Shelton gets the anklelock, but Cedric escapes. Neuralizer is blocked with a superkick and then another superkick. Pay Dirt finishes clean at 8:00.

Winner: Shelton Benjamin via pin at 8:00
-Fun little match here which was kind of expected. Interesting story with Shelton being rebuilt on Main Event and the stuff between Ali and Cedric. **3/4

-Ali heads down to check on Cedric and Cedric isn’t having any of it as he walks away.

-Back to RAW as Rey tries to talk Dom out of his match with Edge. Rhea lets Rey know that Dom is all man now.

-Paul Heyman Extreme Rules commercial!

-Hulu commercials!

-Miz is being interviewed at his house and doesn’t want to hear the name Dexter Lumis. He ends the interview as he is done talking about it. Miz and Maryse leave as they toss out the camera crew. As they pull away in a car, we see Lumis drawing a picture inside the house.

-Lashley defends his US Title on Monday against Rollins! Also, Theory vs. Owens!

-Back to RAW as we join Edge vs. Dom in progress. Edge kicks Dom’s ass which brings Rey out to beg for mercy. Judgment Day hit the ring and take out Rey. They turn destroy Edge as they target his knee with a steel chair. Nasty spot as Finn hits is finisher from the top on Edge’s leg. That looked great!

-Thanks for reading!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Solid show this week with the opener being a fun match for the crowd and the Main Event being a good match with some actual storyline attached.