Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 12.01.22

-Announce Team: Byron Saxton and Kevin Patrick
-Taped: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, VA

Zoey Stark vs. Dana Brooke

-More with the NXT women getting called up to work Dana or Tamina. Lock-up to start and Stark gets a go behind and shoves Brooke across the ring. Another go and Stark backs Brooke into the corner and shoves her. Another go and Dana gets a side headlock and takes it to the mat. Shoulder tackle gets a one count. Zoey begs off in the corner and wants a time-out. Dana charges and Zoey pulls her face first into the buckle. Forearms from Stark followed by her tearing at the nose of Dana. Effective! She uses the middle rope to choke and then looks for a suplex, but Dana reverses to a roll-up for two. Zoey to her feet first and she catches Dana with a clothesline for two. Zoey hooks a reverse chinlock as the crowd tries to rally Dana. Dana breaks, but misses a clothesline and Stark hits a shotgun dropkick. Zoey up top but Dana meets her up there and brings her down with a superplex. Nice! Both women are down and start trading blows as they get back to their feet. Brooke runs wild with clotheslines and sends Zoey into the corner. Handspring into a splash in the corner from Brooke. She counters a move from Stark and turns it into a bulldog for two. Zoey misses a charge in the corner and gets rolled up for two. Stark uses a hair pull to gain the advantage and slingshots into a springboard corkscrew splash for two. Wow! They go back to trading rights and Stark hits a super kick. She hits a modified version of a GTS (called the Z-360 apparently) for the win at 5:42.

Winner: Zoey Stark via pin at 5:42
-Yo, this was a dope little match between these two. I wasn’t expecting this one at all so kudos to both ladies. **3/4

-Back to SmackDown as they show Ricochet pinning Strowman and Escobar beating Butch to set up our World Cup Final on FS1 this Friday!

-Video package on the War Games Matches from Survivor Series with “War Pigs.” I enjoyed both matches and the story in the Main Event had me jumping around the house. The pop for Jay and Sami hugging was amazing and when The Bloodline turns and beats the hell out of Sami it is going to be something else. “”

-Don’t Try This At Home Or Anywhere!

-Hulu commercials!

-Still photos recapping Ronda Rousey’s successful Title Defense against Shotzi. It seems Raquel is up next for Ronda.

-Back to RAW as Becky Lynch returns and cuts a promo from the crowd. As a fellow Bob, I stand with Becky in her assessment that Bobs don’t suck. It breaks down into a sweet brawl with Becky and Damage CTRL through the crowd and into the souvenir stand. This was fun!

-Video package recapping the Dexter Lumis/Miz story with Gargano also being involved.

-Royal Rumble commercial! WrestleMania season about to kick-off and hopefully we get something great with HHH’s first run at booking The Rumble.

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as we going Lumiz/Miz in an anything goes match in progress. Lumis gets the win which gets him a WWE contract from Pierce and the bag of money Miz owed him. In a cool touch, Lumis hands out several 100 dollar bills to some kids in the crowd. The adults reaching out while Lumis walks by them is funny. Miz decks Lumis from behind and in a brilliant dick heel move he takes the 100 off one of the kids. Gargano out with a superkick and he returns the money to the kid. Nice!

-Joe Gary is talking to Tozawa backstage when Cedric Alexander shows up. They have a match later in this show. Gary thanks Cedric for his sacrifice.

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to Survivor Series as we get some video and still photos of Austin Theory regaining The US Title in his match against Rollins and Lashley.

-Back to RAW as Austin Theory gets to gloat as the Austin Theory Era begins now. Rollins interrupts and wants a match, but Theory says it will happen on The Champ’s time.

Joe Gacy vs. Cedric Alexander

-Gacy offers a handshake as she smiles, but Cedric just smiles back. Gary throws a clothesline that misses and Cedric lays in forearms and hits a dropkick. He throws a European Uppercut and fires off sone chops. Gacy back with a headbutt followed by a backbreaker. He pounds away with more forearms as Cedric blocks being tossed into the corner. He grabs the ropes and lets Gacy fall to the floor. Cedric looks to fly, but instead slides out to the floor where Gacy is waiting to run his back first into the apron. That takes us to our break.

-Hulu commercials!

-Back having Gacy having back control. He fires away with right hands to the back of the head. He gets a two count and hooks a chinlock. Cedric punches his way out, but Gacy drops him with a backbreaker. He switches to a cross-face as he tells Cedric this is his chance to give up. Cedric fights up again and hits a jawbreaker. He catches Gacy with a bottle to the face and dumps him with a belly to back suplex. Gacy rolls to the floor and Cedric follows with a suicide dive. Back inside he gets a Flatliner for two. Gacy back as he just tosses Cedric in the air and hits a super kick. He drops Cedric with a fall-out version of a belly to back suplex for two. They trade blows and Cedric looks for The Neutralizer, but Gacy ducks and hits a kick. Gacy looks for the handspring clothesline, but Cedric ducks and gets a Snap German Suplex into a roll-up for the pin at 8:02.

Winner: Cedric Alexander via pin at 8:02
-This was solid as they hit a good gear after the break and traded some nice stuff until Cedric got the win. I enjoyed this. **1/2

-Back to RAW as The Bloodline (minus Roman) celebrate their win at Survivor Series. Kevin Owens interrupts and lets Sami know that no matter how many times The Bloodline tells Sami he is family, he doesn’t share their blood. Jey stands up for Sami and that leads to KO vs. Jey to close RAW.

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as we join KO/Jey Uso in progress. Good match where KO overcomes the odds, hits a Stuner and runs out with the win.

-Thanks for reading!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

-Two solid matches that delivered more than I expected (especially the opener) makes this an easy thumbs up from me. The recap stuff is always the same and perhaps I am just grading on a curve more since this show has become the next level up for the NXT call ups, but that's okay as I enjoyed this.