- Last Week on WWE Main Event... Alberto Del Rio defeated the undefeated (kinda) Big E. Langston in another example of WWE's terrible 50/50 booking, and I'm plagued again by the Usos, who pick up another victory over Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal of 3MB. The promised Intercontinental Championship Match between Wade Barrett and Sin Cara never took place, because the writing team lacks long-term planning, and it's been decided randomly inserting Fandango and The Miz into a program with Barrett would make more sense... after jobbing him to Sin Cara. Clean.
- Taped from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on May 28th, 2013, with Josh Mathews, The Miz, and RICARDO RODRIGUEZ on commentary. Does this mean no more Michael Cole? I can't say I'm upset, but inserting a secondary commentator makes Main Event a bit less important looking. To be fair, Cole does have to sit through all of Raw and Smackdown, so it's understandable. Oh, and RICARDO RODRIGUEZ?! Sorry for the all caps twice, but that's just random.
We come back, with Barrett in control, working a chinlock. During the break, Barrett sent Sheamus into the ring steps, thus punishing the believed-to-be-injured shoulder further. Barrett continues working the arm, knocking Sheamus to the floor. He drives a shoulder to the midsection and launches himself back in with a shoulder tackle. Another charge misses, this time shoulder meeting the buckle, and Barrett rolls him up for two. Barrett with a clothesline and elbow drop, then it's back to the chinlock. Barrett cuts off a comeback attempt by ramming a knee to the chest, then chokes across the middle rope. Barrett with more knees, followed by running boot, knocking Sheamus to the floor once again. Barrett follows, coming off the apron with a running elbow. He rolls Sheamus back in, but a cover only gets a two count. Sheamus meets the corner, again, but at least time he wasn't on the offensive at the time. Barrett to the second turnbuckle, only to miss the elbow drop. Sheamus is hurting too much to take advantage of the mistake, and eats another boot. Barrett celebrates prematurely and gets rolled up for two. He responds with a dropkick and covers for another two count.
Back from the second commercial break, and Barrett is still in control. Sheamus from out of nowhere with a DDT. Barrett runs into a pair of axehandles, and Sheamus comes off the ropes with a knee lift. Sheamus with a fireman's roll, followed by a shoulder tackle from the top rope for a two count. Sheamus shoots Barrett to the corner, and surprise surprise, meets an elbow. Barrett slips out of White Noise, but Sheamus turns him over with the Clover-Leaf. Barrett grabs the ropes to force a break, and cradles Sheamus on a second attempt for two. Crescent kick to the midsection by Barrett, and a second to the face for two. Sheamus slips out of Wasteland and connects with White Noise. Sheamus sets up in the corner, but the Brogue Kick misses, and Barrett connects with the twisting sidewalk slam for a two count. Sheamus escapes a pump-handle slam and connects with the Irish Curse back breaker for another two count. Sheamus pulls himself to the top rope, only to get crotched along the buckle. Barrett with the Wasteland, but that only gets two. Barrett sets up for the Bull Hammer, Sheamus sidesteps, throwing Barrett to the apron, and clubs him across the chest ten times. Thank you, Edmonton, for counting for me. Barrett escapes another White Noise and throws him shoulder first into the post, not once, but twice. Barrett comes off the ropes for his running boot, but Sheamus greets him at the same time with the Brogue Kick, and that finally finishes it at 15:45 (minus two commercial breaks). That was a fantastic free T.V. match. Solid wrestling to start, well-done heat segment with Barrett in control, and then about 5-6 minutes of back-and-forth action to close things out. It's good matches like this that make me forget that the IC Champ just jobbed, again.
- The Raw Rebound: For reasons far beyond my comprehension, the "Ambulance Match" at Payback between John Cena and Ryback is now a "Three Stages of Heck" Match (It's PG, not TV 14!). Fall #1: Lumberjacks, Fall #2: Tables, and Fall #3, Ambulance... why a LUMBERJACK Match? Has Ryback ever ran from Cena? Lumberjack Matches are meant to keep a heel CHAMPION from leaving and retaining his title in cowardly fashion. This angle is such a joke. Ryback should've won at Extreme Rules and done this match, with better booking, and give Cena the win after three grueling matches. Oh, and then he fought Curtis Axel, but that was an after-thought to Cena being distracted by an Ambulance. I honestly did mark out for Axel's "Perfect-Plex".
- We see an introduction vignette for the Wyatts. This could be VERY interesting, or it can be a colossal flop. It all depends on the WWE's creative and writing staffs. Reports from NXT have nothing but great things to say about this group, but it feels like something that would flourish in the TV-14 era, but in the era of PG, make them appear only after 10-pm on Monday Night Raw.
- Another Raw Rebound: Chris Jericho has Paul Heyman on the Highlight Reel, CM Punk's name is brought up, and hey, it's a thrown-together shit program to make Punk vs. Jericho at Payback. Why, again? Didn't Punk win their definitive match at WrestleMania XXVIII over who had the right to call themself the "Best in the World"? I'm going to say this, though: If we get CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, WWE has my $45 right now.
Final Thoughts: I know they aren't being pumped out as frequently these days, but hey, it's another highly entertaining episode of WWE Main Event. We opened the show with an outstanding effort from Sheamus and Wade Barrett, and even with the Champ losing, the build up to the finish was amazing and made me forget all about it. Cesaro squashed Gabriel and made a chinlock look like a move to be reckoned with, and, well, I guess the kids enjoyed watching Truth and Tons of Funk dancing. The Raw recaps once again highlight how wrong things are, but in 2-minute doses, it's all good. Here's hoping we get another great episode next week.