Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 1.9.25

-Yesterday my wife and I made the decision to put our 14.5 year old rescue dog, Boomer, down. My wife rescued him when we were just friends and a few months before we started dating. He was there for our marriage, move into our house, and the birth of our two boys. He was such a loyal and loving dog that was the protector of our house. Rest easy Boo-Boo! I love you!

-Announce Team: Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett
-Taped: Houston Texas, and Los Angeles, CA

Zelina Vega vs. Shayna Baszler

-So this match was apparently taped on Dec 30th during RAW from Houston. It’s been a bit I think since Zelina was last on this show. Baszler goes for the arm immediately, but Vega gets an armdrag. She gets wrist control and goes up top but Shayna knocks her off to the floor. Vega sells the shoulder from the fall and Baszler lifts her off the apron by the arm. Cool! She stomps the elbow and then locks an arm submission. Zelina escapes and avoids a charge in the corner. She looks for a head scissors but Shayna powerbombs the crap out of her. Ouch! Shayna gets cocky in trying a suplex, but Zelina counters into a jawbreaker. She hits a series of cross-bodies and then gets one off the middle ropes. Running clothesline from the corner and then a straight kick to the head. Zelina off the middle ropes and this time the head scissors works. Standing Tornado DDT! Zelina with a moonsault, but Shayna gets the knees up to block and hooks The Clutch. Zelina rolls back for a two count in a good near fall. Shayna hits a running knee to the face for two. Victory Roll gets two for Zelina and then another off a bridging pin, but Baszler counters with The Clutch and gets the tap-out at 5:08.

Winner: Shayna Baszler submission at 5:08
-I got into this as Vega works as a plucky underdog. She can take a beating and has enough fire for the comeback to get the fans into it. This was solid. **

-Hype video for Roman vs. Solo: Tribal Combat! Good stuff!

-Peacock commercials!

-Back to RAW as The Rock kicks off The Netflix Era and is a face again as he puts over Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. That Moana Money got Rock smiling and kissing babies again….for now.

-Back to RAW as we join Tribal Combat in progress with Roman vs. Solo! It was chaotic and fun with run-ins galore and in the end Roman gets the win. Roman vs. Jacob is going to be FIRE somewhere down the line. The Rock presents Roman with The Ula Falla and we will see if that goes anywhere.

-Peacock commercials!

-Hype video covering The Liv/Rhea feud! Again, WWE production crushes with these video packages.

-Peacock commercials!

-WWE Legacy Titles! My Niners are back next year! Healthy, Rested, and Easiest Schedule in NFL! Plus The Super Bowl is in Levis!

-Back to SmackDown were Tiffany Stratton helps Nia Jax retain her WWE Women’s Title against Naomi. Then the moment we have all been waiting for Tiffany decks Nia with the briefcase, and then takes Candice out. She smartly lets Bianca hit a scary impressive KOD on Nia before knocking her out. TIFFY TIME as she cashes in and hits The Prettiest Moonsault Ever to become WWE Women’s Champion to a pretty big pop. Great stuff here!

-Back to RAW as we crowned another new World Champion as Rhea Ripley finally beats Liv Morgan to regain her Women’s World Title. Dom tries to suck up to Rhea after the match, but gets hits in the little Doms and then a Riptide.

-Peacock commercials!

-Elimination Chamber commercial!

-We get the cool Drone shot that went from the outside and through The Intuit Dome! That was great!

-Back to RAW where John Cena shared his doubt about winning World Title 17, but he could do something crazy like win The Royal Rumble and give himself a shot. He officially enters The Royal Rumble. Can he join Austi as the second man to win 3 Rumbles?

Alpha Academy vs. No Quarter Catch Crew (Tavion Heights and Myles Borne)

-So we are in a completely different arena now as it looks like we are in the building that hosted NXT on Tuesday night. I quick search, and yes, this was taped in The Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Wade Barrett is also gone and instead, Vic is joined by Blake Howard. They note that Wade left during the show, but obviously our two matches were pieced together from two different shows. Weird, but whatever! I like the look of this venue. Otis’ knees are already knocking as he breaks out The Stanky Leg! The crowd really loves Otis. He starts with Tavion Heights who tries a go behind. Otis twerks and uses his ass to knock Heights back. He runs Heights down, so he tags in Borne. He gains the advantage and tags back to Heights. Otis runs through a double clothesline and knocks both men down with a double shoulder. He uses Tozawa as a weapon much like Terry Funk used a ladder back in ECW. He clears the ring and then presses Tozawa over his head and tosses him on The NQCC as we head to a break at 2:10.

-Very quick Peacock commercial!

-SmackDown commercial for a show that aired last night. Still weird they release this show after SmackDown.

-Back at 2:57 with Heights getting an overhead belly to belly on Tozawa for a one count. Borne back in and he gets a snap powerslam to feed into the Baby Orton moniker. Whip to the corner and Heights is back in. He tosses Tozawa onto Borne’s knee and then gets dead lift spinning slam for two. The crowd is into this one as they start a Tozawa chant. He flips out of a suplex, ducks a clothesline and gets the tag to Otis. Spinning back fist to Heights! T-Bon Suplex to Heights! Borne gets sent flying! He splashes both men in the quarter and then rips the shirt as Otis-Mania is running wild. CATERPILLAR ELBOW gets two as Borne makes the save. Tozawa sends him to the floor and hits a suicide dive. Roller Derby from Otis to Heights. Tozawa off the top with the Senton for the pin at 6:52.

Winners: The Alpha Academy at 6:52
-This was a fun tag match with a hot crowd thanks to the intimate NXT venue. I enjoyed this. **1/2

-Awesome video package covering Punk/Rollins!

-Peacock commercials!

-Hulk Hogan Saturday Night’s Main Event commercial! San Antonio!

-Next week on RAW: Dakota Kai vs. Lyra Valkyria to become the 1st Women’s IC Champion; Sheamus vs. Kaiser; Chad Gable vs. a mystery opponent who has a big fan that plays TE for my 49ers.

-Back to RAW as Seth Rollins and CM Punk closed out RAW on Netflix with a hate filled and hard hitting match. CM Punk gets the win as I assume this is just the first of quite a few matches, but we will see if they keep them away from each other for a bit as we head to The Rumble and then Mania.

-Thanks for reading!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

-Just another solid episode of Main Event. A little weird with the location change and announcer change in the middle of the show, but that NXT crowd was having fun with The Alpha Academy match. Weird they didn't use The Intuit Dome for any of the matches, but perhaps this is going to a new change going forward with matches being taped during NXT. I guess we will see next week!