WWE Main Event
WWE Network
November 11, 2014
Liverpool, ENG

Episode 111

Boy, that’s a lot of 1’s on this show. Episode 111 on 11/11. This show must be #1! Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t.

When I began reviewing Main Event for Voices of Wrestling, I was originally enthused as the show was gaining more importance with its move to WWE Network. WWE appeared to be putting more main event talent on the show, and sometimes we even got week to week storylines. Now, it’s back to being just a throwaway show that doesn’t even get main events advertised on Raw anymore. Due to the lessening of significance, I moved to doing this review every two weeks. I’m wondering if at some point it would just be better doing the recaps monthly. This show has increasingly become good solely to go back and watch a fun match every once in a while. There’s no storyline advancement, there’s fewer great matches, and with Michael Cole on commentary, I don’t even get to see how Tom Phillips is growing as a play-by-play man on this show. I’ll keep doing this bi-weekly for now, and if you’d like more WWE discussion in a fun way, catch the podcast I host along with Jeff Hawkins weekly on this very site HERE.

Adam Rose vs Stardust: Rose pinned Stardust with a schoolboy. This match showed how sometimes the WWE B shows are just out there in their own little world. Not only did Adam Rose get the win here, but The Bunny helped him get the win. To add on even further, Michael Cole actually referenced how a man was inside the Bunny costume. Now, I know, this shouldn’t be notable. Afterall, no one thinks the bunny is an actual rabbit. Except… on WWE commentary, that is exactly how these things are usually portrayed. On Raw and Smackdown, the Bunny is played up like an actual rabbit (take the goofy go-behind humping on Rose from a recent Raw). Same thing with Torito, who is played up like an actual bull. It’s fun childish stuff WWE does with these things to entertain the kids. Well, tonight, it was all reality. Cole even put over The Bunny’s athleticism, as it was a jumping press and spin kick from the bunny onto Goldust that distracted Stardust enough to allow Rose to roll him up. *3/4

Cameron vs Alicia Fox: Fox pinned Cameron with a schoolboy. Cameron must have been all smiles all day long once she found out she was going to get to compete against the Diva that participated in her favorite match of all time. Michael Cole reminded us that Alicia was a former Divas champion. I couldn’t believe that was true, but it is. She held it for two months in 2010. Did you remember that? Cameron was wearing yellow in memory of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. Byron was surprised by Cole bringing that up, leading to Cole hazing the new guy a little bit. The match wasn’t good. The finish saw Alicia run the ropes, then stop  behind Cameron, and schoolboy her. Yep, two schoolboys in a row. Wonky. *

Bray Wyatt cut a promo about sin. Sums it up, really.

Tyson Kidd vs Sami Zayn THE REMATCH: Tyson pinned Zayn after the swinging fisherman buster. Sami should try his look without the beard. That was my biggest takeaway from this match (/r/showerthoughts). The match was as good as you would suspect, and it got the crowd into the show more than anything else so far. I can definitely see why Vince McMahon came out and chastised this audience, because they were not just silent, they were eerily quiet. This match almost ended with another schoolboy, but Tyson was grabbing the tights so the referee wouldn’t allow it. Sami was able to fight off Tyson to the outside, but that’s when Kidd used his wife for help a bit. In the end, after several less than ethical moves on Kidd’s part in the match, Tyson was able to get the win in the rematch to continue Sami Zayn’s bad luck on the main roster. With around thirteen minutes of time to work, the two were able to have the best match of the night. ***

Dean Ambrose vs Justin Gabriel: Ambrose pinned Gabriel with Dirty Deeds. People were cheerful of Ambrose, but still relatively quiet. Weird crowd. The match was fin, with Ambrose getting the win after his new Dirty Deeds (Double Underhook DDT). After the match, Ambrose looked around crazily. He spoke on the mic about Bray Wyatt’s promo from earlier, and said that he isn’t afraid of Wyatt’s games. Dean said that he’ll be giving Wyatt a little family counseling at Survivor Series. **1/2

WWE Main Event
WWE Network
November 18, 2014
Knoxville, TN

Episode 112

The go-home Main Event to Survivor Series began with The Usos coming down to the ring for a tag team opener. Michael Cole and Byron Saxton, as usual, were our commentary team.

Gold & Stardust vs The Usos: The Usos won via pinfall after a top rope splash on Stardust. Didn’t these guys just wrestle on Smackdown in a Steel Cage match for the titles? And Gold & Stardust won that one. I guess this was a trap game here, as The Usos got the win just to further prove to us that nothing ever matters. I know it’s only Main Event, but come on. Miz & Mizdow joined on commentary, with Miz mimicking a lucha libre play by play man, since Los Matadores and Torito were also ringside watching on commentary and speaking Spanish. **

Holy shit, they’re advertising Bray vs Swagger for later tonight. Does that make sense? Swagger was kicked off Cena’s Survivor Series team because he was injured. Well, I guess he got better sooner than expected. Oh well.

Paige vs Alicia Fox: Alicia pinned Paige. One of my favorite humans on television was out next to please my eyeballs and brain tissue. I love Paige. She’s the best. One day, I hope WWE Becky Lynch will surpass her as she is also the best. Until then, though… The leader of Team Paige at Survivor Series in a Divas Elimination Match was set to battle her former bestie, Alicia Fox. Alicia, of course, was coming off her big win against future Hall of Famer, Cameron. So wouldn’t you know it, the streak continues! As Paige was doing her slow crawl over Alicia’s body, Fox countered by thrusting Paige off of her with her legs, then flipping over to get the cover. Paige was shocked, and Alicia confidently walked up the ramp celebrating her win. I want to give this ten stars, but I’ll work to maintain my credibility with a true rating. ********

Backstage: A week after treating the Bunny in a serious manner, Cole was back to pretending the Bunny was an actual rabbit. Renee Young asked Adam Rose about the Bunny’s actions from Raw. If you didn’t see Raw, the Bunny attempted to sexually molest Adam Rose via his butt hole. Rose called out the Bunny, and told him “no humping.” Rose claimed he saved the Bunny from a life of debauchery, and he saved every one of the other Rosebuds, too. He claimed to be some kind of God, and led the Bunny to the ring for their… um… Inter Species Match.

The InterSpecies Match: Tyson Kidd & Natalya defeated Adam Rose & The Bunny when Kidd tapped the Bunny out via Sharpshooter. Okay, let’s get through all the stuff happening here. The Bunny has a crush on Natalya. Natalya feels bad for the Bunny. Adam Rose wanted to punish the Bunny, so when given the chance to help The Bunny out of the Sharpshooter, he instead chose to back away and allow his tag partner to submit. Tyson Kidd, after the match, gave a cheap shot to the Bunny and Natalya looked sad. A whole lot of stupid stories going on here. My only hope is that The Bunny reveals itself soon, but sadly, I don’t think you can actually reveal it to be Gabriel or Zayn (the two men most often playing The Bunny) and make it mean anything. If you chose to reveal him as someone else, I wouldn’t want to be that guy they reveal. Or, one day, the Bunny might just disappear. Maybe reveal him as Santino on Monday? Why not? Anyway, Adam Rose was good here and the heel persona has a chance to work. *1/2

Bray Wyatt vs Jack Swagger: Wyatt pinned the quick healing Jack Swagger via pinfall. Bray Wyatt cut a promo before the match, telling Dean that they could have been brothers. He said the game they’ve been playing must come to an end. WHAT FUCKING GAME? Bray interfered in a match, then the two have been saying words and doing not much else for four weeks. Fun game. Bray said that tonight, he’ll sacrifice Jack Swagger. The match started with only five minutes left of TV time, so me thinks this is going to be a squash. Cole tried to make sense of the Swagger/Team Cena situation. In a funny, as he was going through the recent history, he actually paused during the explanation as if he realized it didn’t make sense. Again, Swagger was removed from Team Cena due to injury. Yet, miraculously, he is here on Main Event prior to Survivor Series selling no injury. Fun stuff. The match was mostly a squash, although Swagger did get a few hope spots, including a brief Patriot Lock spot. This was all about promoting Dean vs Wyatt, so Wyatt was given the spotlight in a quick win via Sister Abigail. I guess Cena is better off not having Swagger on his team, after all. **

Hilariously, as the camera was zoomed on Bray in celebration, Cole decided to make the hard sell for Team Authority vs Team Cena instead of Bray vs Dean.

Episode 112 sucked, while Episode 111 had the fun Zayn-Kidd matchup. In order of best entrance music, your stars of the shows were Paige, Sami Zayn, and Dean Ambrose.