WWE Main Event - June 30, 2015
by Scrooge McSuck
- Taped from Hershey, PA. I say this every time, but when I feel like my fandom has hit a bit of a lull, I just have to go back to the C-Shows where storylines don’t matter and it’s just about watching wrestling. Courtesy of Hulu (no-longer-plus).
- Rich Brennan and Jerry “The King” Lawler are at ringside to call all the action, unless otherwise noted. Former Total Divas cast-member Jojo is handling ring introductions. I miss the days of skeevy looking men doing it instead of young models who probably think Alicia Fox is the best worker alive.
Zack Ryder vs. Bo Dallas:
Earlier in the week, The Rock made a surprise appearance in Boston and promptly (as in after a 15-minute long segment) laid out Dallas with the Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow. Dallas shows us a picture of himself with the Rock from his child-hood, and yes, he had the doofy smile then, too. The Rock broke his heart, but heroes still exist, and all you have to do is Bo-Lieve. Ryder surprises Dallas with a dropkick. Dallas with a side headlock, followed by a shoulder tackle. Ryder catches him coming off the ropes with a flap-jack and unloads with rights in the corner, followed by a clothesline. Dallas takes over with a diving forearm, followed by a knee across the throat. Whip reversed and Ryder sends Dallas to the floor with an elbow. He tries to follow via slingshot, but Dallas somehow crotches him on the ring apron! We return from commercial (and Internet Explorer screwing with me) with Dallas in control of a chin-lock. Ryder escapes with a jaw-buster, but gets clubbed across the back of the head. Dallas with a pair of hard whips to the buckle for two before going back to the chin-lock. Ryder reverses a whip, sending Bo to the corner. He surprises Dallas with an elbow to the side of the head, followed by a jumping clothesline. Double knee lift to the face, but Ryder misses a missile dropkick. Dallas charges and goes flying over the top. Ryder follows him out and comes off the apron with the missile dropkick. Ryder to the top again, but Dallas rolls away. He follows into the corner with a dive and hits the Broski Boot for two! Dallas counters the Rough-Ryder with a Power-Bomb, and the Bo-Dog finishes at 6:50. **12 Better than most of the stuff featured on Raw this week. Solid action from start to finish and both seemed motivated. Bo Dallas with the Victory Lap, because its awesome.- This Week on Monday Night Raw… Kevin Owens tricks everyone into thinking he was accepting Cena’s US Open Challenge, but instead we got a near-4-star match out of Cena and Cesaro before Owens's run-in put an end to it. Somebody, PLEASE, PUSH CESARO!
Fandango vs. Heath Slater:
Poor Fandango, he’s no longer the “New and Improved” ever since he dumped Rosa Mendes and reverted back to his original theme music. I kind of dug the Salsa-remix version, but more importantly, constantly calling him “The New and Improved” Fandango. Slater is still around, despite the implosion of The Nexus, the termination of his 3MB running buddies, and Slater-Gator being broken up in favor of a Primetime Players revival. The real question is… will Slater EVER get to challenge Cena for the US Title?! Lockup into the corner and Slater with a shove. Fandango with a takedown into a side headlock. Fandango with a pair of Japanese arm drags and a dropkick, sending Slater to the floor. Fandango quickly follows with a plancha. Back inside, Fandango with a spinning head scissors. Whip to the corner, Fandango lands funny, and Slater lays him out with a Super-Kick. Slater pounds away and hooks a chin-lock. Slater meets boot coming off the second rope (all these years, I still hate that spot). Fandango with an inverted atomic drop, followed by a pair of clotheslines. Slater catches him off guard with a DDT for two. Fandango with a school boy for two. Fandango with a suplex and a sloppy Last Dance for three at 4:08. ¾* Not much to this one. There didn’t seem to be much crowd reaction, and outside of Slater’s constant playing to the crowd, there wasn’t anything else that seemed to have much effort. I guess the only thing that would’ve been more surprising is if Ryder would’ve gone over Bo Dallas.- The Beast in the East Special broadcasts LIVE on the WWE Network, Saturday morning at 5:30 ET. Will Brock Lesnar actually face Kofi Kingston, and if so, how quickly does he destroy the entire New Day? I put the over/under at 2-minutes.
- Last Week on Monday Night Raw, The Authority laid a beating on Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and Bray Wyatt picked up the pieces on the fallen Roman Empire.
Jack Swagger vs. Luke Harper:
Poor Harper… after a failed experiment with a singles push, he reunites with Rowan (who flopped even harder with poor booking), but is now left with nothing to do after an injury put Rowan on the shelf for about 3-4 months. Poor Swagger… he’s just done now. I almost forgot he was still on the roster. He looks like someone who’s on a permanent Job Tour. Lockup and Swagger with a waist-lock. Harper counters with a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. They do a test-of-strength, with Harper taking a cheap shot to gain control. Swagger quickly picks the leg, but Harper scampers for the ropes. He tries to attack during a “We The People!” spot, but Swagger sends him to the floor and runs over him with a clothesline. Harper recovers, sending Swagger into the steps. We return from a break, with Harper pounding away. Swagger with a chest-first bump to the buckle for two. Harper continues to punish the ribs as I fantasy book in my mind what to do with guys like Swagger who are long-in-the-tooth when it comes to being midcard filler. Swagger teases a comeback, but Harper lays him out with a dropkick for two. Harper with a slingshot beneath the middle rope for another two count. Harper with the Gator-Roll. Swagger with a back suplex to escape, followed by a clothesline for two. Harper gets the boot up on a Swagger Bomb, but runs into a Power-Slam for a near fall. Harper blocks a gut-wrench and connects with a Super-Kick for two. Whip to the corner and Swagger gets a boot up. Swagger Bomb connects, but Harper is up first, and the Discus Clothesline finishes at 8:41. **1/2 Solid Heavyweight action. Harper continues to showcase a decent moveset for a man of his size. The odd use of the midcard will always baffle me, as Swagger looks strong here going 10-minutes, but on Raw he’s doing a 90-second quickie job the night before.Final Thoughts: Solid show this week, with two fun matches featuring different styles in the form of the opener between Zack Ryder and Bo Dallas and the “Main Event” of Jack Swagger and Luke Harper. The only filler match was a quickie between Fandango and Heath Slater, but it wasn’t bad enough to sour me on the entire 45-minutes. If you’re ever tired of sitting through the monotony of Monday Night Raw, then give Main Event (or to a lesser extent, Superstars) a look every now and then to remind yourself what the core of a good wrestling show should be.
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