This past week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, before Monday’s Raw.
There were decent matches on display this week with talent who can work these kinds of curtain-jerker matches with ease. As usual, however, there's little here to go out of your way to seek out.
Bronson Reed defeated Riddick Moss (5:48)
This one was hard-hitting as you might expect. They did well to tease a Moss victory, but Reed continued his undefeated streak on this show.
Last week, Reed was reasonably comfortable in his win against Akira Tozawa on Main Event, but his matches are too evenly contested to be considered even extended squash matches. This one was broadly the same with Moss posing much more of a likely match for Reed than Tozawa would have.
Moss spent most of the match trying to get Reed off his feet and when he did, Reed cannily rolled to the outside. They did a chase and run outside with Moss getting smashed into the apron and nailed with an elbow drop.
Reed went up top but got toppled so that Moss could hit the SOS for a near fall. You could tell they had managed to get buy in from the crowd at this point as they thought that was it.
In the end, it was a missed charge to the corner that allowed Reed to hit his Tsunami for a huge pop and another W -- his sixth straight on Main Event since January.
The Viking Raiders (w/ Valhalla) defeated Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (7:32)
This was a solid tag bout here that was a bit dull in the early going. Benjamin was the star of the show, despite the loss, with the crowd super into his hot tag.
Benjamin and Alexander haven't been together on Main Event since back in February. They have been working six-man tags at the live shows in August with Austin Theory against AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson. I have no problem believing that those would have been a ton of fun.
This was a match in four parts: Alexander took the early going, then Erik and Ivar slowed it down and then Benjamin got the hot tag, but Valhalla used the distraction to get the Viking Raiders the win.
Although this one went too long for my liking, it certainly picked up after the commercials as these matches tend to. Benjamin came in full of energy, using a series of splashes before hitting Erik with an Angle Slam. He even used an ankle lock. This is definitely the way to book Benjamin at 48 years old.
In the end, just as Alexander and Benjamin looked in control, Valhalla came up onto the second rope and to speak to Benjamin. He was bundled out of the ring and Alexander was caught with a knee as he came off the top rope with a springboard. This allowed Erik and Ivar to hit Ragnorak for the win.
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