WWE Main Event
Episode 171
WWE Network

“Grab a bottle of penicillin, because we’re going viral” – Heath Slater

The Social Outcasts kick off WWE Main Event #171 with a promo, which is fairly rare for this particular WWE Network series. I’ve personally been enjoying their little act; they’re obviously not going anywhere but they manage to be funny while putting others over and are getting way more TV time than they used to at nobody’s expense. The relationships are interesting too, as they supposedly all have the same beliefs and goals but their personalities clash so much that they all try to tell a different promo. Slater is stuck in the middle, regretting his decisions. He has to try and translate an odd stream of consciousness from Rose, remind Bo of Axel’s name and all the while he’s looking like he’d rather be literally anywhere else. The Usos interrupt and I can’t put into words how cringey they are, it’s like having two Romans. They set up for a match later on.

Stardust vs Titus O’Neil

Oh, God, why is this happening again. These two have no chemistry and yet they’ve been paired together six times on tv! Three of those were on Main Event! There’s nothing new here: it’s boring, it’s slow and the victor is the same. Titus gets the win with the ‘Clash of the Titus’. Hopefully, they’ll end this aeonian feud at the Rumble.

Tyler Breeze vs Zack Ryder

As happy as I am that Breeze is a regular on WWE Main Event, it isn’t because WWE wants to improve the show, it’s due to them already demoting Tyler to a jobber. It’s heartbreaking to see Summer taken from him because they don’t want someone so worthless in their eyes to have a manager, mic time or interesting feuds. There’s so much that he could achieve on the main roster but as we all feared, they failed to capitalise on such a wonderful home grown talent. Across the ring, Tyler comes face to face with what he may very well become in a few years, and my heart sinks even further. Let’s make the most of it though: he has a fantastic match with Neville next week here on WWE Main Event (in which Neville goes for a Croyt’s Wrath). Breeze hits the Unprettier for the pinfall in an uneventful match.

Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel vs The Usos

The featured matchup made in the opening segment isn’t exactly a slobber-knocker, but hopefully the Social Outcasts’ antics will get me through it. Bo does the usual schtick where he gets his ass handed to him but once he escapes a hold, he runs to the outside and yells “I DID IT!” before doing his victory lap around the ring. Same old, except this time he gets the rest of the Outcasts involved and the team’s collective charm shines through. They each add their own flair to the lap before Jimmy and Jey dive onto them and do their own, sarcastic version. Pretty fun spot but about all this match has to offer.

The Outcasts are great at doing what they were made to do: being funny and getting squashed. But this match doesn’t play to those strengths, it goes far too long and none of them are convincing when they’re in control; they sell well but don’t do so well on the other end of the spectrum. The Usos are also not suited to long matches. Uso matches used to be fun, because they’d have a quick sequence at the end that would be very entertaining even if the start of the match was slow, but since they do that in every match  and never add anything new, even that is boring now. It’s the exact same here with The Usos getting the pin on Bo.

Final Thoughts: It’s been a while since we saw a gem on WWE Main Event, and while nothing on this show stands out, I’m actually looking forward to next week’s show with Breeze vs Neville