This week’s edition of WWE Main Event featured Sheamus in
the spotlighted contest once more, this time against another talented European
Antonio Cesaro. Elsewhere the Usos took on Team Rhodes Scholars and Justin
Gabriel fought the lesser seen Curt Hawkins.
Sheamus vs. Antonio Cesaro
Our main event for Main Event saw two talented Europeans
square off for the second week in a row. Last week’s we saw Sheamus face Wade
Barrett in an enthralling bout and this week it was the turn of Antonio Cesaro
to take on the Celtic Warrior. Both men currently seem in somewhat of a limbo
in terms of storyline, with Sheamus’ on-off team with Randy Orton apparently on
hold, as well as their subsequent feud with the Shield, with a storyline with
Damien Sandow has failed to take off due to some pretty awful segments on
Smackdown over the last two weeks. Meanwhile Cesaro hasn’t been seen much of
late, mainly appearing on Main Event, and after his unsuccessful run with the
United States Championship earlier in the year, it would appear WWE doesn’t
know how to handle The Swiss Sensation.
The match, as last week, was a fantastic watch and
benefitted from being fairly fresh, as I can only think of handful of occasions
these two have faced each other in the past and certainly not recently. Cesaro
dominated the early going, firstly slowly wearing down Sheamus with a number of
submission holds, and then sending his shoulder crashing into the ring post
with Sheamus on the apron, leading to a kick to the head from the opposite side
with Sheamus’ head hitting the ring post. This section for me proved why WWE
should take more of a chance on Cesaro, as he managed to make this spot look
dangerous and important without injuring his opponent. Unfortunately, Sheamus’
selling of this was edging towards the comedic, which would be my only
criticism of The Celtic Warrior during this match.
The two then switched momentum frequently throughout the
latter half of the contest, with Cesaro showing a number of nasty looking
submissions including escaping Sheamus’ White Noise and slapping on a Cross
Face Chicken Wing a la Bob Backlund, whilst Sheamus hit his crowd pleasing
clubbing blows with Cesaro tied up in the ropes (that moves really needs a
name) with Long Island proving they can indeed count to ten. There was a nice
near fall when Sheamus leapt from top rope, only to be met with A Very European
Uppercut from Cesaro, with at least some in attendance thinking it might be
over. The ending came with Cesaro about to attempt his Neutralizer, only for
Sheamus to counter into White Noise, which was delivered to the top turnbuckle,
once Cesaro got back into the ring, Sheamus delivered a Brogue Kick for the
victory. This was a satisfying ending as it at least made Cesaro look like a
challenge for Sheamus, unlike Cody Rhodes on Raw last Monday.
Cesaro brings a legitimacy to his matches that is rarely
seen in WWE today, he looks extremely tough like a wrestler from the 1950’s, his
blows are worked extremely close and his submission holds look painful. Hopefully,
this and the number of awful gimmicks that he has taken on will go some way in
Cesaro returning to WWE’s good favour as he could really bring something
different to the main event scene. Sheamus on the other hand is much better
when put in these kind of matches, when he’s taking things seriously against a
serious opponent like Cesaro or Wade Barrett he can really put on quite a
match.
Best of the Rest
The Usos new push continued as they took on Team Rhodes
Scholars. For a tag team match this had a strange dynamic as it saw The Usos
dominate for most of the contest. With The Usos making frequent tags, Rhodes and
Sandow were rarely in control for very long, including a clever blind tag that
lead to Cody Rhodes get dropped on the top rope after a double team. During the
small period where Rhodes Scholars had control of the match, we saw a different
side from both Cody and Damien, as they looked a lot more aggressive in the
ring than what we’ve come expect from the usually precise and calculating duo,
including some rather vicious stomps from Rhodes. As the match edged towards its
end, there was a great false finish, with Cody slipped out of a suplex attempt
and hit his Beautiful Disaster kick, when it looked like it might be over,
Jimmy slid in to make the save for his twin. Soon after, Jey hit a Super kick
and Jimmy soared from the top rope with a Superfly splash for another
impressive victory for the Usos.
I was a little surprised by this match, not at the quality
as that was never in doubt with the four individuals in the ring, but that The Usos
picked up the victory over a tag team so previously so high up the ranks, so
early in their new push. Damien and Cody have been looking like permanently
splitting for a while now, maybe it’s finally time to break them up and allow
them to pursue singles careers, though with WWE currently stalling on Sandow’s
singles feud with Sheamus and Cody seemingly going nowhere it might be a while
before their association wears out. WWE clearly believes in The Usos, and I can
see why, they put on fantastic tag team match almost every time they get in the
ring and seem to know how to work the crowd well, with the right booking and a successful
feud with The Shield they have the ability to get over well with the audience.
There was also a singles match between Justin Gabriel and a
returning Curt Hawkins. For such a short match this was good fare, with both
men playing their roles well. Hawkins looks cocky and confident as a heel,
whilst Gabriel’s strong selling ability allows him to work the face in peril
role well. The ending however seemed a bit rushed with The Capetown Werewolf
kicking a charging Hawkins out of the corner, pushing him to the mat hard,
before hitting a 450 splash, even Josh Matthews on commentary seemed surprised.
Both of these competitors could benefit from a reignited tag team division, as
there really is little for them, however talented they maybe, higher up the
singles ladder.
Finally…
What have we learnt from this week’s episode of Main Event?
1. Sheamus benefits from working against a more serious opponent.
2. The Usos will, deservedly, continue to rise up the Tag Team ranks.
3. Ricardo Rodrigues brings little to the commentary team!
Announced for next Monday's Raw:
Triple H Vs. Curtis Axel
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