Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 3.8.25

-A quick plug for my review of the first episode of WWE Evolve! Tomorrow I will have recaps of the trio of shows on A&E and soon Dark Side will be on Tuesdays. Funny how I always get busier around WrestleMania time. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Vic Joseph
-Taped: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY

-Video package recapping Elimination Chamber. It was an all time great show with one of the most shocking endings in wrestling history. Great video package here as the mix in fan reactions from YouTube and press headlines. The song change and build towards Cena’s heel turn was perfect as well. WWE is rolling towards Mania now!

Cruz Del Toro vs. Pete Dunne

-Lockup and Dunne controls the arm. Cruz flips over the ropes to reverse, so Dunne just decks him with a forearm. Cruz gets a shoulder tackle and then a head scissors. Dunne with sunset flip, but Cruz rolls through and delivers a kick. Quebrada off the bottom rope gets two. Baseball slide to the floor misses. Toro counters a throw by landing on the apron, but Dunne yanks him down by the leg and Cruz hits his face off the apron. Dunne tears and rips at the face before turning his attention to SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION! Cruz starts firing off right hands, and gets a flying forearm. He sends Dunne to the corner and hits another forearm. Cruz avoids a charge in the corner and gets a missile dropkick for two. German Suplex, but Dunne lands on his feet. Cruz hits an enziguiri. He springs off the ropes, but gets clocked with forearm on the way down. Bitter End finishes for the pin at 5:19.

Winner: Pete Dunne via pin at 5:19
-Perfectly acceptable wrestling and really all I want from this show. Dunne getting a win was good to see. **1/2

-Back to Elimination Chamber as John Cena turns heel and makes kids across the world cry! YouTubers are shown including In The Clutch! Shout-out to them as I have been following their page for years due to Eminem reactions. I do wonder what reactions we would have seen if social media was around for Hogan’s turn in 96. I can tell you I ran around my house without a shirt as I throw it across my living room. I will admit that even today when I see it, I nearly throw my shirt again.

-Peacock commercials!

-Back to RAW as CM Punk brought straight fire with a tremendous pissed off promo. I took note of Punk saying some people think he exhausted all paths to the Main Event of WrestleMania. I assume that is alluding to a favor he is owed. Punk roasts Rock, and Cena before telling Becky Lynch to come get her man. Rollins is out and it’s on instantly. Just a great, hate filled segment that had the crowd going crazy. Things like this are why I love pro-wrestling.

-They start brawling again in the back as Jackie Redmond was trying to talk to Rollins. Jackie is a hockey reporter, so she’s tough.

-Later Rollins tells Pearce he wants to finish things with Punk. Pearce books Punk vs. Rollins in a Steel Cage for RAW next week in MSG. Cool!

-More reactions to Cena turning heel. Over 500 million social views in 24 hours.

-WWE Shop!

-Peacock commercials!

-Back to Elimination Chamber as we take another look at Cody Rhodes going Christian Cage on Rock and then paying for it as John Cena finally embraces the dark side. A kick to the balls and kids around the world are heart broken. Just mesmerizing to watch and I was in shock, but elated at the same time.

-WWE going back to Frace for a PLE!

-Peacock commercials!

-Back to Elimination Chamber as we get highlights of the brutal all time classic between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. They certainly could have done this same match at Mania and stolen the show, but having them get to do this in SkyDome in front of nearly 40,000 Canadians was probably a special moment for both of them. Also, KO vs. Owens has been building for months and we get that pay-off at Mania. I just hope they have something ready for Sami unless he needs time off.

Zoey Stark (w/ Shayna Baszler) vs. Dakota Kai

-I assume last week will be the last we see of Alba on this show for a bit as she is moving up in the world and has joined Team Chelsea. Good for her! Stark picks up Kai and runs her into the corner to start. Whip to the corner is reversed and Kai gets a monkey flip, but Stark lands on her feet. She delivers a forearm smash and chokes Kai in the corner. They move to another corner and Zoey lays in the boots and uses her knee to choke this team. She gets a slam and does a Jericho like cocky cover while posing. Kai fires up with arm-drags and gets a headlock take down. She pulls Stark to the apron and lands a pump kick to the side of the head. Zoey gets a trip and plants Dakota on her face on the apron. Slingshot plancha from Stark to the floor as we take a break at 2:27.

-Shop WWE for Championship Belts!

-60 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back at 4:00 with Stark getting a cover for two. They fight on the apron again and Kai lands a head kick. She charges, but Stark catches her with springboard missile dropkick. Cool! Stark lays in some chops and is enjoying her work. She plays to the crowd and it gets them on her case. Dakota fires up again and delivers a clothesline. Another and then a dropkick. Running boot in the corner and then another! Modified backstabber gets two! Stark throws elbows to avoid getting picked up. She hits a Rolling Driver but Kai gets a roll-up for two. Stark with a head kick for another two count. Powerbomb, but Kai counters into a sunset flip bomb for two. Half and Half Suplex from Zoey followed by a knee to the face. That only gets two! They are letting these women work here. They are getting the crowd into this by force. They battle on top and Starks talks some trash. Dakota slips out and hits GTK for the pin at 9:00.

Winner: Dakota Kai via pin at 9:00
-They put in work here and were given a lot of time for this show. They crowd was kind of checked out to start, but they were able to pull them into what they were doing. I was a fan of this and props to both women. ***

-Video package on the history between Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky!

-WrestleMania tickets on sale now! Hopefully you hit the lottery or won a bunch of money in Fantasy Football!

-Peacock commercials!

-Big time show on Monday as RAW comes from MSG and they have a loaded card.

-Back to RAW as Rhea Ripley defended her World Title against Iyo Sky with the winner heading to Mania to defend against Bianca Belair. This really looked like one of those matches they book to give Rhea a big time win over someone who has owned her, but instead Iyo gets the win with the moonsault after Rhea turned her focus to Bianca sitting at ringside. Big time upset there and we will see what that means for Mania.

-Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Enjoyable show this week as I dug both matches and it was just a fun watch. The hard work from Kai and Stark was appreciated and it was cool to see them get some time and make use of it. More shows like this please!