WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT (9/6): Bronson Reed vs. Akira Tozawa, Riddick Moss vs. Tommaso Ciampa

WWE MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
HULU STREAMING TV
REPORT BY MIKE F. MEYERS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Byron Saxton, Wade Barrett

REASONS TO WATCH…

• Moss and Ciampa deliver good action

(1) BRONSON REED vs. AKIRA TOZAWA

The men locked up and Reed immediately shoved Tozawa to the mat. Tozawa bounced to his feet and jumped onto Reed’s back, but Reed whipped him back to the mat. Reed landed a big chop to Tozawa in the corner. Tozawa hit a couple drop kicks and a series of palm strikes, but Reed used a vertical body block to level a running Tozawa. Reed pantomimed tossing a cigarette butt onto Tozawa. He lifted Tozawa to his feet and elbowed him in the head, causing him to stagger into a corner. Reed moved in and drove his shoulder into Tozawa’s gut a few times, then smiled at the camera while Tozawa writhed on the mat. He splashed Tozawa in the corner, then tossed him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Reed head-butted a seated Tozawa, then applied a chinlock.

Tozawa shook his fist while the crowd got behind him. He got free and hit Reed with a shining wizard, then climbed to the top rope. Reed stood up and was knocked down by Tozawa’s diving reverse elbow. Tozawa covered for two. Tozawa went for a body slam, but this was a short-lived effort. Reed hammered Tozawa’s back, then hoisted him into a vertical suplex. Tozawa, while suspended upside down, dropped knee strikes to the top of Reed’s head, causing Reed to drop him back to his feet. Tozawa kicked Reed twice in the head, causing him to topple to the mat. Tozawa climbed to the top rope again, and successfully hit a high-arching back-senton. He covered Reed for two.

Again, Tozawa tried for a body slam. This time he got Reed’s feet off the mat, but quickly toppled over backward, effectively giving himself a power slam from Reed. Reed added to this by standing and giving Tozawa a senton of his own. He dragged Tozawa toward a corner, then climbed to the top rope. He dropped into the Tsunami, then covered Tozawa for three.

WINNER: Bronson Reed by pinfall in 4:50.

(Meyers’s Analysis: Tozawa’s high senton and cover was a believable near fall, and it was timed well with the crowd’s encouragement. Reed was definitely the heel, but was much subtler than the vocal Riddick Moss we’d see in match number two.)

(2) RIDDICK MOSS vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA

The wrestlers locked up pretty evenly, but then Moss gave Ciampa shoulder thrusts in the corner. Ciampa escaped from a suplex and laid in three strikes and a side headlock. Moss fired him off and knocked Ciampa down with a shoulder block on the rebound. Moss verbally taunted Ciampa before driving him against the middle rope with his knee. He fired Ciampa into the opposite corner, and Ciampa crumpled to the mat in agony while Moss did push-ups in the middle of the ring.

Ciampa hit a reverse elbow strike and then a Thesz press. He took Moss down with an inverted DDT, then covered for two. Ciampa did some push-ups to show he also possesses cardiovascular prowess and upper body strength. Ciampa set up for the Fairytale Ending, but Moss blocked. Moss ran off the ropes twice before hitting Ciampa with a sprinting clothesline. We cut to break.

Moss maintained control through the break, and threw Ciampa with a fallaway slam. He speared Ciampa in the corner, then slapped his own chest and declared himself “a bad man.” He used a slingshot maneuver to smash Ciampa’s neck upward against the middle rope. He asked Ciampa if he wanted more punishment. Ciampa offered up one chest slap, but Ciampa immediately responded with another fallaway slam and a two-count cover.

Moss hit a reverse elbow strike, and again Ciampa fell to the mat. Moss yelled to Barrett that he needs to come out of retirement, then applied a chinlock to Ciampa. He went for a third fallaway slam, but this time Ciampa landed on his feet and Moss wobbled off-balance. Moss sprinted at Ciampa, but Ciampa side stepped and funneled Moss to spear the corner. Ciampa unleashed a series of strikes and chops, then a flying clothesline. He clotheslined Moss three times in the corner, then hit another clothesline that turned Moss up and over the top rope. Moss got onto the apron, and Ciampa pulled him through the ropes and hit a DDT. He covered Moss for two.

With Moss on the mat, Ciampa lowered his right knee pad and went for a running strike but Moss scooped him up and drove him to the mat with a uranage. Moss covered for two. Moss set up for a neckbreaker, but Ciampa reversed into a backslide pin and two-count. Ciampa hit a forearm and a kick, but Moss came back with a spinebuster. He screamed at nothing in particular, then ran the ropes but Ciampa hit a rising knee strike. He followed up with the Fairytale Ending, then covered for the three-count.

WINNER: Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall in 9:15.

Meyers’s Analysis: Pretty good match! Moss dominated the smaller opponent early on while being very obnoxious to both the Ciampa and the fans. The ending had good back-and-forth action and teases.

SHOW SCORE (0-10): 8.2

Find Mike Meyers on Twitter: @themikeshow42

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