Leighty’s WWE Main Event Review 7.27.23

-My latest Retro Review from 1996 will drop this week as we are up to In Your House: International Incident. Then I will be tackling the Cody Rhodes documentary before hitting SummerSlam 96, Hog Wild 96, and Clash of The Champions from August of 96 as well. After that all I have left to finish out 1996 is Fall Brawl. I will have to decide what to do next for my Retro Review series. I have thought about going back to Starrcade 1983 and just doing every PPV in order. I have also been watching Saturday Night’s Main Event in order and thought back doing every one of them as well. I am open to suggestions. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Kevin Patrick and Byron Saxton
-Taped: Tampa, FL

Akira Tozawa vs. Sanga (with Jinder Mahal and Veer)

-I am sure we had Veer vs. Tozawa on this show years ago when Veer was in the middle of coming to RAW. Jinder cuts a promo before the match to eat up some time before the match as I assume this won’t last long. Tozawa is apprehensive to start and tries to get back control, but no dice obviously. Sanga charges and gets two feet to the face. Tozawa off the top but he gets caught and slammed to the mat. Running clothesline spins Tozawa around and that is followed by a cobra clutch slam. Poot Tozawa is getting rag-dolled out there. Backbreaker next, but Tozawa fights his way out. Unfortunately, he gets squashed in the corner with a running splash. Tozawa avoids another charge in the corner and lands a head kick. He hangs Sanga on the top rope, and comes off the top with a missile dropkick. Sanga is still on his feet and Tozawa bounces off him trying a charge. Tozawa avoids a chokeslam, but runs into a big boot. Now the chokeslam finishes at 3:37.

Winner: Sanga via pin at 3:37
-This was a SQUASH with a couple hope spots since the fans like Tozawa. Now you never believed his token offense was going to mean anything, but the thought was there. SQUASH

-Back to NXT (don’t say that much on this show) as Dirty Prison Dom ends Wes Lee’s long reign as North American Champion. Judgment Day was there to help and the crowd was shocked by the change. Dom as this generation’s Honky Tonk Man could be fun!

-Don’t Try This at Home or Anywhere!

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as Dirty Prison Dom defends the NXT Title against Sami Zayn. Hot crowd as you would expect as they LOVE Sami and HATE Dom. Judgment Day lay waste to Kevin Owens which distracts Sami and lets Dom get a a roll-up with the tights for the win. Again, just keep letting him Honky Tonk his way to title defense after title defense.

-SummerSlam! Ford Field! 9 Days!

-Hulu commercials!

-Back to RAW as GUNTHER accepts Drew’s challenge and will face him at SummerSlam. Drew talks too much trash and Kaiser has had enough of the disrespect. He is challenged by Drew and Kaiser accepts for a match tonight!

-Back to RAW as Drew and Kaiser had a fun little match that showed people who didn’t know, that Kaiser can go. Drew gets the win, as he should, and GUNTHER is there to start the beat down. Riddle runs in for the save, but GUNTHER boots him in the face and hits a powerbomb. Drew eats a big boot on the floor, escapes a powerbomb and destroys GUNTHER with a gnarly powerbomb through the announce table. BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT AT SUMMERSLAM! Heal up E!

-WrestleMania XL! Philly! Tickets go on sale August 18! It is still my plan to be there as long as one of my friends can make the trip as well.

-Hulu commercials!

-Brock Lesnar returns to RAW this Monday! He does that a lot. Not as much as Roman returns to SmackDown, but still a lot. Logan Paul is also returning on RAW a week after returning to RAW.

Nikki Cross vs. Kayden Carter (w/ Katana Chance)

-Nikki sniffs Chance’s hair before the match. Nikki gets arm control to start, but Carter flips out and takes things to the ground. Front headlock is escaped and Nikki transfers to a side headlock. Nikki gets a knockdown and does her own dance which Byron respects. Carter gets an arm-drag that sends Nikki to the floor. Carter runs out and Nikki charges back in as they continue to play mind games. Carter makes Nikki chase and catches her with a springboard leg drop as she tries to get back in the ring. Baseball slide is blocked by Nikki as she uses the ring apron to trap Carter. That sends us to a break at 2:10.

-NXT Great American Bash this Sunday!

-47 seconds of Hulu commercials!

-Back at 3:36 with with Nikki getting her head bounced off the top buckle. Nikki back with a neckbreaker variant for two. Nikki fights to get a strait jacket choke and turns it over to get back control as well. Carter gets back to a seated position, but Nikki drags her back down and flattens her out while maintaining the hold. Carter wiggles out, but Nikki transitions to a chinlock as Carter reaches out for a tag, which is a nice touch as she is used to tag matches. Carter is finally able to break and needs the ropes to help her up. She catches Nikki with an elbow and starts her comeback with a series of forearms. Running forearm in the corner hits flush! Running boot nearly sends Nikki out of the ring. Carter back to a bottom rope springboard leg drop for two. Cross gets a flash roll-up for two, but eats a superkick that gets two for Carter. Nikki back with a running bulldog for two. Neckbreaker is countered and Carter gets a modified Flatliner for two. They battle up top as Carter preps for a superplex. Cross grabs the top rope to block and sends Carter crashing to the mat. Cross gets a cross-body off the top for the pin at 9:01.

Winner: Nikki Cross via pin at 9:01
-Nice little match here and good showing from Carter in her first solo match. Nikki is a good person to work with these young kids and I can see her taking over Nattie’s role in the future. Everything after the commercial was solid and I enjoyed this. **

-Back to RAW last week as Finn Balor punks out Seth Rollins in the back to force his hand in giving Balor a rematch at SummerSlam! There was really no other challenger built up for Rollins at this point.

-American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes! Can’t wait. Between that and Dark Side covering Bash at the Beach 2000 it’s going to be a fun couple days for documentaries.

-Hulu commercials!

-Karl Anderson vs. Karrion Kross on SmackDown this Friday! FS1!

-Back to SmackDown as Main Event Jey Uso and Roman Reigns discuss the terms of engagement for their match at SummerSlam! Jey tells Roman they don’t need a contract as it is Tribal Combat now. The look of shock on Roman and Heyman’s face really sold the idea that this was something different. It seems Tribal Combat is no DQ, anything goes and is for Roman’s Championship and Title as Tribal Chief. Solo goes to attack, but Roman stops him as that would be against the rules of Tribal Combat. Jey superkicks Solo!

-Rundown of the card for SummerSlam!

-Now to RAW for an actual contract signing between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. It breaks down like most contract signings as Judgment Day head down and Seth knows he is screwed, but comes out swinging before the numbers swarm him. Sami Zayn in to make the save, but the numbers are still too much as he gets dropped. Seth eats a bunch of finishers as Judgment Day stands tall.

-Thanks for reading!

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

I assumed with the SQUASH match that either the second match would get more time or we would get even more video packages. It was nice to see them give Cross and Chance some time. Not much to the show this week though, but it's still an easy watch for someone who wants to catch up on anything they missed in the last week or want to see some of the new faces on RAW.