5/4 WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT: Ciampa vs. Apollo Crews, Azeez vs. T-Bar, more

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
MAY 4, 2022
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

WWE Main Event Announcers: Byron Saxton, Kevin Patrick

REASONS TO WATCH…

Historic 501st episode of Main Event

(1) COMMANDER AZEEZ vs. T-BAR

The wrestlers slowly squared off, measuring one another. This gave the announcers time to gush over their sizes. Finally they locked up and Azeez shoved T-Bar hard into a corner. T-Bar walked it off a bit, then applied a side headlock. Azeez simply lifted T-Bar off his feet and threw him toward the ropes. T-Bar landed clubbing forearm blows, then blasted Azeez in the face with a front kick. Azeez absorbed a big clothesline, then another, but wouldn’t go down. Instead, he took T-Bar down with a big boot to the face.

T-Bar held his jaw on the mat until Azeez lifted him to his feet and landed a couple shots. He kicked at T-Bar in the corner, then whipped him back-first into said corner. T-Bar landed body blows from his knees, but Azeez scooped and slammed him to the mat. Azeez slowly lifted T-Bar by his jaw, only to clothesline him back to the mat. Azeez went for a one-handed cocky pin, but T-Bar kicked out at one. Azeez applied a chin lock.

T-Bar broke free, but remained on the mat. Azeez held him down with a boot to the throat, then got him to his feet. T-Bar booted Azeez in the face and hit two clotheslines and a couple strikes. T-Bar ducked a clothesline and finally took Azeez off his feet with a diving clothesline. He covered Azeez for two. T-Bar climbed to the top rope and took flight but Azeez caught him by the throat and hit the Nigerian Nail. He slammed T-Bar to the mat and covered for three.

WINNER: Commander Azeez by pinfall in 6:50.

(Meyers’s Analysis: A lot of selling from T-Bar in this one, nothing else special. The announcers explained that Apollo crews didn’t accompany Azeez to the ring because he has his own match later this show. Likewise, Azeez would not be present for Crews’s match later on.)

-Main Event recap session:

• Replay of Rousey /Charlotte “Beat the Clock Challenge” from Smackdown
• Replay of McIntyre / Reigns in-ring confrontation from Raw
• Replay of Styles vs. Priest from Raw
• Replay of Morgan, Asuka, & Belair vs. Ripley, Deville & Lynch from Raw

(2) APOLLO CREWS vs. CIAMPA

Ciampa controlled Crews early with a wrist lock and drove him face-first to the mat. Crews got to his feet and reversed into a headlock. He ran the ropes and knocked Ciampa down with a shoulder block, then Ciampa took Crews to the mat with an arm drag before applying an arm bar. He twisted on Crews’s arm, but Crews pushed him backward into a corner. Ciampa hit a reverse elbow and ran the ropes, but Crews knocked him down with a clothesline. Ciampa tossed Crews to the floor through the ropes. Crews landed on his feet and quickly jumped onto the ring apron, but Ciampa already had a running start for a knee strike that knocked Crews to the floor. We cut to break.

Back in the ring, Crews gained the upper hand by dropping Ciampa back-first onto his shoulder. He fired Ciampa into the turnbuckles, then hit a backbreaker and covered for two. Crews applied a bear hug from behind. Ciampa got to his feet and broke free, then knocked Crews down with back-to-back clotheslines. He splashed Crews in the corner before hitting a flying clothesline. Crews dodged a knee strike in the corner, then hit Ciampa with an enziguri. Ciampa escaped from a gorilla press and planted Crews with an inverted DDT, then covered for two.

Ciampa went for the Fairytale Ending, but Crews reversed out and hit a standing moonsault before covering for two. Crews scooped Ciampa, but Ciampa broke free and rolled Crews up for a two-count. He slugged Crews in the face, then delivered the Fairytale ending. Ciampa covered for three.

WINNER: Ciampa by pinfall in 6:00.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Decent, fast-paced back-and-forth action. The announcers attempted to tell a story of Crews working on Ciampa’s back, which began when Crews fired him into the turnbuckles with an amazing sound. It looked and sounded cool but didn’t play a big role in the rest of the match.)

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 7.6

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

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