This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Another all-women's edition of the show made for nice viewing, but nothing really dazzled. Everyone worked hard but, all told, this was a missable show.
Indi Hartwell defeated Kayden Carter (w/Katana Chance) (6:06)
Neither Hartwell nor Carter did anything wrong here, they just didn’t really use the time they were given and so the match felt like it was just there.
This was just the second singles match these two have had but they've certainly been on opposing teams in NXT tag matches several times in recent years.
This was Carter's second appearance on Main Event and she remains winless. Hartwell has been booked evenly on the show, having traded wins recently with Dana Brooke before she was released.
Chance was on the outside cheerleading but didn’t really add much. Hartwell hit a spinebuster in the last few minutes which looked cool, and they both took time to gather themselves.
Carter then dodged a stomp and swept Hartwell off her feet. She did a neat springboard leg drop but only got a near fall from it.
In the end, Hartwell got the win with a modified full nelson she transitions into a flapjack. Carter and Chance were left to lick their wounds.
Nikki Cross defeated Xia Li (6:26)
This was the better of the two matches, but much like the opener, it dragged a little and would have been better if they had shaved off a couple of minutes.
It's rare that they give the two matches on Main Event a similar amount of time. This one was longer because they shoved a commercial break in part way through, but was otherwise a similar length to the opener.
Cross is a new regular on this show and generally gets her hand raised. They seem to trust her to take the lead against greener talent and you wonder whether she may take on a trainer-type role in her later years.
Li was sporting new red and black ring gear which looks very cool. She also has face paint to match, so her overall presentation is way better. I’m still not convinced by her overall, but Cross gave her loads here to show off what she can do.
Li had Cross draped over the apron at one point and used a leg drop before going outside and banging the dasher boards to try to rally the crowd.
There were times when Li was getting frustrated by not being able to get it done and with her new face paint the way she screamed into the mat gave her a renewed intensity that looked a lot more believable.
Cross took a beating, but it was a tilt-a-whirl DDT and her finisher, a swinging fisherman's neckbreaker I believe she calls The Purge, that earned her the victory.
More must-reads: