wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 1.11.24
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Twitter was fun in the wrestling world this week. Thankfully, nobody really cares about this show, so no drama over here. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Byron Saxton and Wade Barrett
-Taped: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Javier Bernal vs. “Big” Bronson Reed
-Good luck Big Body! Lockup to start and Reed shoves Bernal across the ring and then flexes. Bernal ducks a second lock up, and tries a side headlock, but gets shoved off. He gets caught in the corner, but elbows his way out. He avoids a splash in the corner and fires off kicks to the leg. He hits the ropes and Reed just pounces him down. Slam from Reed and a big elbow follows. The crowd is digging Reed tonight. Cool! Neck crack from Reed as he continues to torture Javie! Bernal puches his way out and ducks a clothesline, but gets creamed with a back elbow. Back splash misses as Bernal rolls out of the way. Bernal shows some good fire as he lands strikes and kicks. He goes to the knee and then hits a dropkick. Reed is wobbling and Bernal gets a corner dropkick. He heads up top, but gets caught which Bernal then counters into a DDT for two. Nice! Kicks to the chest from Bernal, but that only irritates Reed. He hits a Driver and then drops an elbow. The place explodes as he preps and the hits THE TSUNAMI for the pin at 5:06.
Winner: “Big” Bronson Reed via pin at 5:06
-Solid big man vs. little man match here that hit all the notes you would expect. The crowd is starting to dig Reed and THE TSUNAMI is a MDK move at this point. **1/4
-Duke Hudson vs. Myles Borne is our Main Event this week!
-Back to RAW a few weeks back as Jinder Mahal returns and then THE ROCK sets social media on fire with his return. He takes out Jinder and wants to be Head of the Table. Man, if Rock isn’t being brought in for Australia, it sucks to be Cody and maybe even Punk as Rock is sliding right into that WrestleMania Main Event. Again, I don’t blame WWE because it’s THE ROCK and they have been trying to do Rock/Roman for 3 years.
-Back to SmackDown where Paul Heyman has a response to The Rock. He notes The Rock wants to sit at The Head of The Table, but has not been invited and won’t be. I laughed when he said the only ways to be viral is to date Taylor Swift or call out Roman Reigns. Heyman brings up Cena, Cody still bitching about finishing his story and CM Punk being the OG Paul Heyman guy. Heyman says that is true, but he has upgraded to Advocate and now to Wise Man. He then ties everything into Orton vs. Knight vs. Styles tonight. Heyman is fantastic!
-Don’t Try This at Home or School or a Football Game or WalMart
-Hulu commercials!
-SmackDown, Money in The Bank, and NXT Heatwave are all heading to Toronto over a weekend in July! Should be a hot crowd! How does the exchange rate work in Toronto for Money in the Bank?
-Back to SmackDown as we join AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight in progress. Fun match and Knight like right at home against two Main Event mainstays in Randy and AJ. No winner though as Roman and The Bloodline lay waste to all three men in epic fashion. Roman’s shit talking to Aldis was fun, and so was Aldis just calmly taking it and then telling Heyman that Roman will face all three men at The Royal Rumble.
-Video package for Rollins vs. McIntyre World Title Match from RAW: Day One! Priest teases a cash in, but a Claymore stops that and Drew seemingly had the Title won, but he hooked the leg too good and Rollins’ foot lands on the bottom rope. I dug that for some reason! Seth recovers and gets a Pedigree on an announce table and then a stomp for the win.
-Hulu commercials!
-Back to RAW as Drew McIntyre addresses his loss to Seth Rollins at Day One. He needs to step away from WWE to get his head right. He bitches at Priest for not waiting to Cash In until after the match and he ended up screwing both of them. He then complains about Cody’s magical booking powers to get Jey on RAW and CM Punk returning to a hero’s welcome. Maybe he should go away from nine years and let the fans chant his name, but LOOK IN MY EYES as CM Punk is here. Drew wants to know where CM Punk was when Drew needed a real leader during his early days in the WWE. Randy had his demons and couldn’t help him, but Punk was jealous and threatened. Drew says after Punk has been gone for nine years, he is Punk’s leader now. He then relaxes on the top rope as he wants for Punk’s rebuttal. Punk says he never called himself a leader as he lead by example. Punk notes when pushed, he is Satan himself. It would have been great if he said Devil instead. He is a real nice guy until it’s time not to be. He is here to win The Royal Rumble and Main Event WrestleMania. That’s a problem for Drew as he is going to win The Royal Rumble again and win the Title in front of fans, but this time for himself. Punk won’t let Drew, Seth, or Cody stop him and he tells Drew he will be nice and throw him out last. Mic drop!
-Royal Rumble commercial!
-Hulu commercials!
-Back to SmackDown where Kevin Owens beats Santos Escobar and earns a US Title Match against Logan Paul at The Royal Rumble. Logan goes cheap heat as he mentions a Canadian will never be US Champion, so KO punches him in the face.
Myles Borne vs. Duke Hudson
-CHASE U IN THE HOUSE! Barrett says he sees a lot of a young Wade Barrett in Duke Hudson, but he can’t support Chase U. Borne gets a side headlock, but Hudson powers out and counters. He runs Borne down with a shoulder and throws up The U. Borne gets back control and transitions to another side headlock. Borne gets knocked down again and a slam gets a one count. Borne lands a forearm to the back of the head, but Hudson gets a side headlock now. He follows with a sidewalk slam for two. Hudson misses a charge in the corner and Borne gets a dropkick. He gets a double stomp to the back and that sends us to a break at 2:50.
-SmackDown This Friday: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley!
-55 seconds of Hulu commercials!
-Back at 4:30 with Borne woking Hudson over in the corner. Borne hooks a chinlock as this one is dragging a bit. I liked Borne better as the underdog babyface. Hudson elbows his way out and delivers shots to the gut while on his knees. Borne misses a dropkick as Hudson hooks the ropes. He catches a charging Borne with an elbow to the jaw, but then gets caught with a snap powerslam for two. There’s a reason he was called Baby Orton when he debuted! Hudson starts to Hulk-up and runs wild to wake up the crowd. Borne sends him to the apron, but Hudson sling shots back in and gets a German Suplex. Scorpion Death Drop gets the pin at 7:47.
Winner: Duke Hudson via pin at 7:47
-Not a fan of this one as it kind of boring until the final two minutes or so. Then it just ended with a comeback from Hudson. *1/2
-Nakamura/Cody video package featuring the EPIC comic book art! Amazing stuff!
-WWE NFL Title Belts! GO NINERS!
-Hulu commercials!
-Rollins vs. Jinder! This Monday! World Title! The match that set Tony Khan on a Twitter Rant! Also, R-Truth and Miz vs. Balor and Priest!
-Back to RAW as we join Street Fight: Nakamura vs. Cody in progress. A safe and satisfying Street Fight to blow off this feud and set Cody up for The Royal Rumble. These two can always cross paths again down the road. Nakamura is going to need someone to beat at some point though.
-Thanks for reading!
