WWE Main Event - August 30, 2016
by Scrooge McSuck
- Taped from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, with Tom Phillips and David Otunga calling the action unless otherwise noted.
- One week after the big angle was shot on Talking Smack, WWE officially killed the storyline, with the idea being that it teased a match they couldn't deliver, and it was best not to move forward with it. Well, that sucks. It actually seemed like a great idea, and even if Daniel couldn't come back, it could've lead to some decent promos and maybe a way to introduce a new face to the roster to act on behalf of him to ruin the Miz's reign as Intercontinental Champion.
Jey Uso (w/ Jimmy Uso) vs. Konnor (w/ Viktor):
Jey sure is getting a lot of face time working singles matches on Main Event in the short time since the brand split. The Usos beat The Ascension to advance to the Semi-Finals of the Tag Team Championship tournament, and get to face American Alpha next week on Smackdown Live. What brainless monkey thought it would be a good idea to make KONNOR represent the Ascension in a singles match? At least with Viktor it might be a good match. Lockup into the corner, Jey avoids a cheap shot and dishes out some chops. Viktor with a distraction, allowing Konnor to crush Jey in the corner. Konnor with choking and a hard whip to the corner. He grabs a nerve-hold, doing his best to do as little as possible. Jey gets the better of a slugfest and connects with a Samoan drop. He charges into the corner with the butt to the face for two. Viktor with a distraction and Jimmy lays him out with a Super Kick. Jey with a Super Kick to Konnor and a top rope Splash finishes at 4:13. ½* Jey's offense was OK, but Konnor brought nothing.- Flashback to Monday Night Raw, Part I... The show opened with Corey Graves conducting some kind of group therapy session with the four men competing for the vacant Universal Championship. That would be Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, and Big Cass. The crowd is actually split on Cass even though they've had his back since his debut. Fans can be really fickle about things like if someone is possibly being pushed too hard, too soon. The person with the best crowd support turned out to be Kevin Owens. I guess it's not much of a surprise, but I expected Seth Rollins to get all the "we love the heel" love.
- Flashback to Monday Night Raw, Part II... The New Day and Bayley have a bonding moment and join forces for an inter-gender tag team match against The Club and Dana Brooke. How much longer before they pull the plug on Dana on send her back to NXT for more experience? At least they didn't show us the latest, lamest comedy segment where "Dr. Gallows and Dr. Anderson" are joined by Nurse Dana. Stuff happens and Bayley pins Dana Brooke for the second week in a row. That's not an accomplishment, but it was good to see a non-Brooklyn crowd supporting Bayley as much as they did.
American Alpha vs. Breezango:
(Chad Gable & Jason Jordan vs. Tyler Breeze & Fandango)Rematch from the 1st Round of the Tag Team Championship Tournament. I would've been fine with another solo match, like Gable vs. Breeze or whatever combinations of the team members you want to fantasy book yourself. Gable and Fandango start. They trade drop toe holds and headlocks. Gable does a big counter sequence out of an arm-bar and takes Fandango down for a pair of pin attempts. Whip to the ropes and Jordan with a dropkick for two. American Alpha with double dropkicks to both Breeze and Fandango. Fandango saves Breeze from a suplex and Gable gets dumped over the top rope. We return from commercial with Gable getting worked over in the corner. Whip to the ropes and Breezango with a double elbow for two. They take turns stomping Gable down in the corner. Fandango cuts off a tag attempt and sends Gable hard into the corner. Breeze meets boot coming off the middle rope, and Fandango misses a knee drop from the top. Jordan with the hot tag. Dropkick and press slam on Breeze, followed by an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He nails Breeze with some kind of electric chair drop (off camera) and Gable with a missile dropkick for two. A rare instance of poor camera work in WWE. Gable with a roll up for two. Breeze with a "between the legs" Super Model Kick for a near fall. Jordan dumps Breeze over the top rope. Breeze comes back with an enzuigiri and Fandango comes in from the apron with a splash for two. Breeze with a sunset flip, but Jordan takes Fandango over with a German Suplex. Jordan with a spear into the corner, and Grand Amplitude finishes Breeze at 7:54. ** Decent enough, but didn't pick up until the last couple of minutes.
- Flashback to Monday Night Raw, Part III... The Universal Championship, Fatal-Four Way Elimination Match is going along just fine. Big Cass was the first man eliminated after given a decent rub staying competitive. The action was taken to the floor, with Reigns laying Rollins out with a Spear. Suddenly, Triple H returns for the first time since WrestleMania and KO's Reigns with a Pedigree on the floor. He tosses Reigns in the ring, throws Rollins back in, and Rollins pinned Reigns. Moments later, Hunter swerved everyone, laying out Rollins with a Pedigree, allowing Kevin Owens to cover and become the NEW and to date longest reigning Universal Champion.
Final Thoughts: A so-so-match between American Alpha and Breezango and a borderline stinker between Jey Uso and Konnor is our exclusive matches of the week. As far as the stuff from Monday Night Raw is concerned, it was great to see Kevin Owens being the man standing at the end, regardless of how much of it was won by Triple H and his mighty finishing move.
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