Posted on 5/25/125 by Bob Magee
– Following the WWE signature open, the voice of Joe
Tessitore welcomed us over a shot of Tampa before we went to
an outside shot of the Yuengling Center and fans pouring
into the arena. As we saw shots of several wrestlers
arriving to the arena, we then went to the cold open for our
show.
– Tessitore was then seen on stage with Jesse Ventura, as
they discussed the action to come for tonight’s show,
including the McIntyre vs. Priest cage match and Jey Uso vs.
Logan Paul. The two then tossed things over to our
commentary team of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.
CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker
Once all four men entered the ring, the brawl began before
the bell could even ring. In the ensuing scuffle, Punk and
Zayn cleared the ring as the match finally kicked off when
Zayn and Rollins started things off for their teams.
Breakker tagged himself in and with Zayn slumped against the
commentary table at ringside, he hit a powerful clothesline
that sent the Canadian over the table as we headed to a
break in the action.
We returned with Rollins and Breakker working over Zayn in
their corner. Breakker dropped Zayn with a suplex as he then
did his pushups to taunt his foe. Rollins tagged in and
tried to continue the momentum, but Zayn avoided calamity
and got the tag to Punk. The Chicago native went to work on
Rollins as he attempted the GTS, but got countered. Punk
pulled out a Code Red out of nowhere on Rollins, which got a
close two-count. He then took down Rollins with a bulldog
while simultaneously clotheslining an interfering Breakker.
Diving elbow drop by Punk appeared to lead to a GTS, but
Breakker pulled Rollins away and caused a distraction. This
opened Punk up for a Pedigree from Rollins, but Zayn broke
up the count at two. Breakker tried to intervene, but Zayn
threw him out and then took off with a springboard moonsault
ala Sabu as we got another break.
The action continued with Rollins and Punk mixing it up in
the ring as the two men attempted to hit their respective
finishers, but to no avail. A double clothesline from both
men took each other out as they then tagged in to their
respective corners. Zayn caught Breakker napping with a
springboard DDT. He appeared to have Breakker in position
for a Helluva Kick, but Rollins held on to Zayn’s foot. Punk
took down Rollins with a dive to the outside. After an
exploder suplex, Heyman pulled at Zayn’s leg, as we then saw
a returning Bronson Reed appear at ringside to take Punk out
of the equation with a charge to through the barricade.
In the ensuing chaos, Breakker hit Zayn with the spear and
got the win for his team.
Post-match, Breakker sized up Reed, but Rollins stepped
forward and embraced Reed, apparently having recruited the
massive Australian to his burgeoning alliance. Punk tried to
grab at Heyman’s leg, but he found himself a victim of a
Tsunami at the hands of Reed.
Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn & CM Punk via
pinfall (Breakker pinned Zayn)
A fun enough opener to the evening, but the big story is
Bronson Reed aligning with Seth Rollins’ faction which
should make them a formidable heel faction on Raw. That
said, the crowd continually cheering for Rollins and singing
his song does make that a bit of an issue, and it’s
something that’s probably going to have to be addressed down
the line.
**********
WWE Women’s United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega
(c) vs. Chelsea Green
Green started off hot by takine down Vega with a clothesline
as she then pounced on her with punches, followed by an
irish whip to the turnbuckle. Vega avoided a scoop slam from
Green, and took momentum with an arm drag. She missed on a
619 attempt, as the action spilled to the outside. Green
grabbed Vega from the floor and dropped her with a hard
powerbomb right to the outside.
Back in the ring, Green relished in having Vega down and out
as she slammed her face-first on the mat for a two-count.
Green continued to assert her command on the match by
targeting Vega’s back, followed by a patented all-Canadian
chinlock. Vega fought out of it, but got rocked by a boot to
the face from Green.
Green missed on a splash as Vega dodged at the last second,
which gave the Women’s U.S. Champion an opening and a second
wind. Vega showing some almighty offense with a back suplex,
but Green snuffed that out. An Un-Pretty-Her attempt was
blocked by Vega, who then hit the 619 on Green, which
appeared to have busted her nose upon impact. A distraction
from Alba Fyre allowed Piper Niven to try her hand in
distracting Vega, but to no avail.
In the end, Vega retained her Women’s U.S. Title with an
avalanche Code Red for the three to maintain her perfect
record against Chelsea Green.
Zelina Vega def. Chelsea Green via pinfall to retain the
Women’s United States Championship
A fine match for sure, and the anime nerd in me really
appreciated Vega’s choice of attire, which was a shoutout to
the character All Might from My Hero Academia. Still, it was
nice to see Vega in action on this edition of SNME.
**********
– Jimmy Hart and Bushwhacker Luke were shown in the crowd.
The commentators discussed the CMLL/NXT Worlds Collide show,
particularly a match just made for the event in two weeks:
El Hijo del Vikingo versus Chad Gable.
Non-Title Match: John Cena vs. R-Truth
Cena, of course, entered to cheers despite being a heel.
Truth entered to the match to Cena’s own music, as well as
sporting attire that was directly a spoof of Cena’s own
attire.
Cena started the match by hitting Truth from behind and went
on the offensive before he ripped off Truth’s shirt. The
Undisputed WWE Champion attacked Truth in the corner as he
threw aside his earrings in disgust. Cena didn’t waste any
time hitting his usual shoulder tackles, followed by the
back drop. The Five Knuckle Shuffle made no mistake as Cena
looked for an Attitude Adjustment. Truth escaped and
proceeded to give Cena a taste of his own medicine. Five
Knuckle Shuffle from Truth was then followed by an AA on
Cena. One, two… no! Truth applied the STF on Cena, but the
Champ escaped to the outside. A throw to the ringpost at
ringside by Cena gave him the opportunity to retrieve his
WWE Championship belt.
Cena looked to hit Truth with his WWE Title belt, but seemed
to have a moment of hesitation, but that was just a
distraction for a low blow, followed by the AA for the
victory.
Post-match, Cena grabbed his title belt and smashed Truth
with it before he walked off.
John Cena def. R-Truth
A lot like most of Cena’s heel run, this was just kinda
there. Nothing overly bad, but nothing really remarkable,
either. Truth doing Cena’s mannerisms and moves was cute and
all, but it wasn’t really much to write home about. Even the
obvious route of perhaps having Cody Rhodes return to save
Truth and confront Cena wasn’t taken, but I suppose the
return of the American Nightmare will be saved for a bigger
occasion.
**********
– Backstage, Jey Uso was confronted by John Cena, who said
that it’d be quite something if Logan Paul were to defeat
Uso for the World Title, causing a scenario where the World
Title would be in the hands of a YouTuber, while he held the
WWE Title as his clock struck zero. Cena told Uso that he’d
be watching his defense against Paul later tonight closely.
Steel Cage Match: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
Jesse Ventura joined Cole and McAfee at the commentary table
for this next match.
McIntyre attacked Priest before he could enter the cage as
he grabbed a pair of chairs from under the ring before
entering the ring to get this match started. Priest
responded with a couple of elbows, but McIntyre countered
with a chop. Priest fought back with a Flatliner, followed
by a kick to the face. A South of Heaven attempt by Priest
was blocked by McIntyre. The Scotsman avoided a running
splash, and took advantage by sending Priest face first into
the cage twice as we went to a break in the action.
Saturday Night’s Main Event returned with McIntyre and
Priest duking it out as both men were climbing the side of
the cage wall. Priest blasted McIntyre with a kick, followed
by the South of Heaven for an incredibly close two-count.
Priest tried to climb up to the top of the cage, but
McIntyre met him at the pass. McIntyre caught Priest and
delivered a superplex from the side of the cage. McIntyre
set Priest up for the countdown and the Claymore. One, two…
Priest kicked out!
As both men got up to their feet, Priest and McIntyre
exchanged strikes as it devolved into a hockey fight of
sorts. Priest got the upper hand and left him stunned with
his martial arts strikes. Priest avoided a Claymore and
dropped his Scottish foe with a big boot. McIntyre responded
by delivering a South of Heaven of his own to Priest. One,
two… another Priest kickout! McIntyre eyed the chair that he
brought in and proceeded to put it to great use by striking
Priest with it repeatedly.
McIntyre attempted to hit the Claymore against a chair
propped up in the corner, but Priest dodged at the last
second. Priest placed McIntyre’s neck across the top of a
chair and dropped it. Priest then delivered a South of
Heaven to stun McIntyre. With the Scotsman out cold, Priest
laid his head across the chair on the mat as he then grabbed
the other chair. Priest then hit McIntyre with a con-chair-
to, which left him unconscious long enough for Priest to
just walk out of the cage to secure the victory. Jesse
Ventura was apopletic on commentary on how Priest won by
just walking out of the cage door, as Cole tried to cover
for it.
Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre via Cage Escape
That match was entertaining and it picked up considerably
after the commercial break. Seeing Priest deliver a con-
chair-to to finish this match was a good way to put an end
to this match, and I chuckled at Jesse Ventura’s indignation
on commentary at Priest’s exit through the door to win this
match.
**********
– As the U.S. Express were shown in the crowd, we returned
to Ventura and Tessitore discussing the events that has
transpired on this evening before we got a video package for
the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event: Jey Uso vs.
Logan Paul for the World Heavyweight Championship.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Logan
Paul
The match started off with a lockup in the middle of the
ring until Uso dropped Paul with a shoulder block. Paul
caught Uso with an elbow strike, followed by a Blockbuster
on the World Champion. As Uso powdered to the outside, Paul
flew to the outside with a vaulting dive press as we got a
break with about ten minutes left on the night.
We returned to Uso hitting a running hip splash on a prone
Paul in the corner. That was not enough to get the victory,
however. Uso headed up top and looked for a splash, but Paul
caught him and went for the pin. Uso was able to kick out at
two. Paul hoisted Uso on his shoulder and dropped him with a
forward roll. The springboard Lionsault by Paul was met by
knees from Uso. A pop-up Samoan Drop by Uso only got a two
as Paul kicked out once more.
Paul held on to dear life to the second turnbuckle as Uso
grabbed on to him, ripping the padding away. As Uso tried
for the dive, he got met by a punch from Paul. The so-called
YouTube “star” tried for his imitation Buckshot Lariat, but
Uso intercepted with a superkick to the face.
Uso attempted the spear, but he got sent to the exposed
second turnbuckle, which allowed Paul to hit him with the
hard right punch. One, two… Uso kicked out at the last
second! Uso recovered and delivered a superkick, followed by
the dive from the top rope. Just as Uso had the pin, John
Cena pulled the referee out as he then attacked Uso.
Just then, Cody Rhodes’ theme music hit, which signalled the
arrival of the American Nightmare. Rhodes, appearing for the
first time since his WrestleMania loss, caught Cena with
Cross Rhodes to send him to the outside. Paul tried to sneak
up on Rhodes with the brass knucks, but Uso intercepted with
the Spear. One Uso Splash later from Uso on Paul and that’s
it, over. Jey Uso retains the World Title in the main event
of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
After the match, Rhodes took the microphone and challenged
Cena and Paul to a tag match at Money in the Bank in two
weeks time just as the producer credits popped up to end the
night.
Jey Uso def. Logan Paul via pinfall to retain the World
Heavyweight Championship
The match itself wasn’t really anything to write home about,
largely due to it being constrained by oddly placed
commercial breaks, but the finish certainly spiced things
up. Cody Rhodes’ return and subsequently setting up a
potentially huge tag match for Money in the Bank did its job
in making things exciting.
All in all, another fine edition of Saturday Night’s Main
Event that might’ve not had any true standout matches, but
we had some interesting storyline advancements with Bronson
Reed joining Seth Rollins’ faction and Cody’s return.