SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MAIN EVENT #319
NOVEMBER 8, 2018
REPORT BY MIKE MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson
REASONS TO WATCH…
– Breeze repeatedly calling spots in the ring (Reason NOT to watch?).
– Roode & Gable improving as a true tag team.
– Tag match exceeds Main Event expectations.
(1) TYLER BREEZE vs. MOJO RAWLEY
As Breeze made his entrance, the announce team indicated that there was turmoil backstage as Survivor Series is only a week away – the one night a year when Raw and Smackdown go head-to-head. Sadly, Nigel used the term “brand supremacy.” Mojo made his angry entrance, postured to the fans at ringside and was met with a mixture of smiles and thumbs down.
The bell rang, and Rawley immediately charged from the corner and knocked Breeze to the mat. Rawley lifted Breeze to his feet to deliver a head butt as the commentators pointed out that Rawley lost his last match to Breeze and was looking to expunge that memory. The fans started an early “Let’s go Tyler” chant as Rawley punched Breeze, sending him into the corner, then followed through with a shoulder to Breeze’s midsection. Rawley picked Breeze up from the corner and planted him onto the canvas with a gut wrench slam, and covered for a two-count.
Rawley lifted Breeze again, and using his face as a handle, slammed Breeze back-first into the turnbuckle three times before whipping him back to the mat for another two-count. Rawley slowed the pace of the match by applying a rear chinlock. When Tyler began to get to his feet, Rawley whipped him down to the canvas and was met with a chorus of boos by the audience. Rawley responded accordingly by re-applying the chinlock. The close-up shot of the wrestler’s faces revealed Breeze covering his mouth and communicating to Rawley – the second time so far this match this could be seen. Breeze was clearly calling the shots. Rawley scooped Breeze up and landed a body slam and postured angrily at the crowd.
As Rawley slowly paced the ring, Breeze recovered and sprung up to deliver a surprise super kick, his first offense of the match. Nigel said, “That’s all Breeze can hope for – a shot in the dark like that,” as Rawley was stunned on the mat. Breeze backed himself to a corner and climbed to the second turnbuckle and landed a high cross body, but Rawley caught him and rolled backward, maintaining his hold on Breeze, stood up, and hoisted Breeze onto his shoulders. It was an impressive power move, but Breeze reversed to escape Rawley’s clutches. Breeze performed a leg scissors takedown and transitioned into a single-leg crab. It didn’t take long for Rawley to scratch and claw his way to the bottom rope, earning the reprieve of a rope break.
Rawley got to his feet on the ring apron, and as Breeze approached, Rawley planted a shoulder into Breeze’s belly through the ropes. Breeze countered with another super kick, knocking Rawley off the apron to the floor, but still on his feet. Breeze bounced off the opposite ropes, and Rawley shot back into the ring and intercepted the rebounding Breeze with a shoulder tackle to his left knee, sending Breeze tumbling through the air and onto his back. This spot was almost great, but Breeze started his reception of the move a bit early, and it looked more like he somersaulted over Rawley in a cunning dodging maneuver. Rawley lifted Breeze atop his shoulders again, and slammed him to the mat face-first and covered for another two-count. Rawley slammed his hands on the mat in frustration.
Breeze limped to the corner, and Rawley charged at him along the ropes but Breeze caught him with yet another kick to the face. (I don’t remember the last time I was kicked in the head three times inside of five minutes, likely because such a series of events would leave me seriously concussed.) As Rawley crawled to the center of the ring and got to his feet, Breeze climbed the corner and performed another high cross body, which Rawley again rolled through, but this time Breeze rolled through as well into a pin for a three-count. Breeze high-fived fans at ringside, still limping from Rawley’s attack on his knee.
WINNER: Tyler Breeze by pinfall.
(Meyers’s Analysis: For a short match, there was decent setup of Rawley‘s attempts to finish Breeze and the move eventually backfiring. It was distracting seeing Breeze call the match at least three times. Breeze sold the injured knee briefly, but unfortunately it didn’t play into the story of the match.)
-Main Event recap session:
- Recap of Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar from Crown Jewel
- Replay of Acting General Manager Baron Corbin assembling the Raw Survivor Series team
- Replay of Drew McIntyre vs. Kurt Angle from Raw
- Replay of Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy from Smackdown
- Match rundown for upcoming PPV Survivor Series
- Recap of Degeneration X vs. Brothers of Destruction from Crown Jewel
(2) BOBBY ROODE & CHAD GABLE vs. THE REVIVAL
Roode and Gable made their full “glorious” entrance ahead of this rematch from two weeks prior. As the Revival entered, Nigel admitted that they have encountered recent stumbling blocks but will soon be back on top. Scott Dawson started off for the Revival against Chad Gable.
Dawson leveled Gable with a shoulder block, and Gable returned fire with a deep arm drag, followed by a head scissors takedown. Gable made an early tag to Roode, who charged and clotheslined Dawson in the corner. Roode dropped to his hands and knees, and Gable charged from the opposite corner to use Roode’s back as a springboard to leap onto Dawson and perform a monkey flip. Roode immediately dropped a knee onto Dawson’s face. Dash Wilder entered the ring to assist his partner, but Roode caught him with a back body drop. Roode chopped Wilder against the ropes and started to whip him into the opposite ropes but Wilder reversed the move. As Roode hit the ropes, Dawson – who had rolled out to ringside – hooked Roode’s ankle, causing him to faceplant onto the mat. Dawson rolled back into the ring and landed a leg drop across Roode’s face. Dawson tagged in Wilder and the Revival hit Roode with dual head butts. Dawson planted his boot to Roode’s head for good measure before climbing through the ropes to his corner.
Wilder dragged Roode to his feet by his head and landed a big chop across his chest. Wilder tagged Dawson back in and whipped Roode against the ropes, performed a drop toe hold to Roode, and Dawson landed an elbow drop to the back of Roode’s neck. Dawson pinned Roode for a two-count. Roode reached out toward his corner, but Dawson quickly grabbed him and applied a chinlock. Roode got to his feet and Dawson started to whip him into the corner, but Roode reversed and Dawson was sent chest-first into the turnbuckle, knocking him to the canvas. The wrestlers each crawled to their corners to tag in their partners simultaneously.
•Listen to the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast “Thursday Flagship” with guest Sam Roberts talking Ronda-Charlotte-Becky, WM35 speculation
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents the Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast with guest cohost Sam Roberts from the Not Sam Wrestling Podcast and WWE Kickoff Show panelist. They discuss the major happenings with Ronda Rousey-Charlotte-Becky Lynch this last week, Daniel Bryan’s heel turn, and their picks for the top matches at WrestleMania 35 for the major titles with a look at various realistic and wildcard options, and more.
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Wilder missed a clothesline, and Gable threw him to the mat twice. Dawson entered the ring again and Gable intercepted him with a somersault kick. Gable turned his back on the legal man Wilder to mount Dawson in the corner. As Wilder approached the corner to assist, Gable twisted and delivered a high cross body to Wilder, then got to his knees to deliver several blows to Wilder’s head. Dawson approached from the corner but Gable hoisted him vertically and landed a jawbreaker. Gable jumped onto Wilder, who was against the ropes, in another monkey flip position, but Gable turned around to dump Gable over the top rope. Instead, Gable locked his feet around Wilder’s neck and leveraged him over the top rope to the floor with a hurricanrana maneuver. Roode then entered the ring and performed a double clothesline with Gable to Dawson, sending him over the top rope to the Ringside of Shame with his partner.
-Don’t Try This at Home message
The Revival had gained the upper hand, with Wilder landing repeated blows on Gable in the Revival’s corner. Wilder knocked Gable to his knees with a big European uppercut, and took the time to approach Roode and mock his winding hands posturing before yelling “top guys!” instead of “glorious.” Wilder lifted Gable into an upright submission move – kind of a back-to-back full nelson, but Gable reversed and rolled into a pin and a two-count. Wilder immediately tagged in Dawson after the kick out, and Dawson had to dash across the ring to barely stop Gable from tagging in Roode. Dawson sarcastically shouted “Let’s go Gable!” before landing repeated kicks and punches to Gable on the ropes. The referee backed Dawson away from the ropes, allowing Wilder to sneak in and clothesline Gable to the mat. Dawson returned to meet Gable and executed a slingshot suplex. Nigel compared Dawson to Tully Blanchard.
The crowd began to cheer on the down-and-out Gable as Dawson performed a snap mare and tagged in Wilder. Dawson lifted Wilder in an atomic drop position, and planted Wilder to the mat with a leg drop across Gable’s chest. Wilder covered for a two-count. Wilder head butted Gable and applied a rear chinlock. Gable struggled and got upright, but Wilder slammed him to the mat back-first and cinched the chinlock back on. Gable struggled again to his feet and moved the duo round and round in circles, reaching for his corner, and eventually used this revolving momentum to fire Wilder through the ropes to the floor. As Gable crawled slowly toward Roode, Dawson helped Wilder back into the ring and then tagged in, and Dawson nearly prevented the tag again, but Gable maneuvered out of the Dawson’s grip on his ankle and tagged in a refreshed Roode.
Roode landed two quick clotheslines, and then a back body drop to Dawson. Wilder began to crawl through the ropes, but Roode met him with a knee lift to the chest. Roode took Dawson down again with an exploder suplex. Wilder, in the ring against the turnbuckles for some reason, received a running clothesline from Roode. Then Dawson received the same clothesline from Roode in the opposite corner. Dawson stunned Roode with a European uppercut, sending him staggering to the middle of the ring. Wilder approached to attack, but Roode lifted him and landed a spine buster. This allowed Dawson to sneak in and hook Roode’s arms from behind for a backslide pin attempt and a two-count.
Roode scrambled to a corner and lifted both boots to the charging Dawson’s face. Roode scaled the corner while Wilder approached that corner from the outside of the ring, clearly up to no good. Gable sniffed him out and crushed Wilder with a tumbleweed senton from the ring apron. Roode then leaped off the center turnbuckle and landed the Blockbuster on Dawson. Roode tagged in Gable, who quickly climbed the same corner Roode was on and landed a nice looking moonsault to Dawson. This was a believable three-count but the pin was broken up by Wilder who had slid back into the ring. Wilder rolled back out of the ring, knocking Roode off the apron and to the floor in the process.
Gable rolled Dawson into a pin but only a two-count. The wrestlers got to their feet and Gable muscled Dawson into the Revival’s corner, allowing Wilder to tag in. The Revival, in full force, landed the Shatter Machine, and Wilder pinned Gable for the three-count. The referee lifted the Revival’s wrists in victory, and as the ref was about to exit the ring, Dawson grabbed his arm and demanded he lift their hands once more.
WINNER: The Revival by pinfall.
(Meyers’s Analysis: An above average tag match with a longer run time than a standard Main Event match. Both teams exhibited true tag team combinations, something we‘ve come to expect from the Revival, but is a new development for Roode and Gable. Gable provided most of the heavy lifting and motion for his team. Roode is much more palatable in tag team action than in singles matches. In standard WWE 50/50 booking, the Revival got a win back after losing to Roode and Gable two weeks earlier.)
SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.6
FINAL THOUGHTS: The first match is skippable unless you have a specific interest in the illusion of simulated combat being shattered. The tag match more than made up for it, and all of its wrestlers were given time to shine. Both matches featured a clear definition of good vs. evil.
CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 11/1 WWE Main Event Report: Titus vs. Mojo Rawley, Slater & Rhyno vs. The B-Team, Nigel disapproves of mid-match dancing, two key reasons to watch
Horrible show in my opinion like most of the recent product.