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The latest Saturday Night's Main Event could've been called 'WWE: We Love The Knicks'. There was a lot of energy put into celebrating the basketball side's NBA finals triumph. So, if you don't like the sport and thus don't have a clue who guys like Karl-Anthony Towns or Jalen Brunson are, then that side of things would've flown clean over your head.
Now for some good news: WWE's roster came through when it mattered most, and there wasn't actually a poor match on the card. Variety was king in New York as the company returned to Madison Square Garden. No, the old place doesn't feel the same for wrestling since being remodelled years ago (who else misses that short entrance and unique hard cam view?!), but that atmosphere in the building is undeniable once the pops begin.
New champions were crowned in the opener, Danhausen brought his peculiar brand of silliness to the forefront, an underrated female feud on Raw did the business in a hot grudge match, and the main event tag-team encounter had SummerSlam implications - CM Punk and Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Sami Zayn was everything it was cracked up to be going in.
In fact, it might've exceeded expectations.
SNME ended on a bit of a low note with one seriously weak bit of celeb love-in content. That took priority (in WWE's mind) over building the issues between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, but this was a solid night of action overall.
Here's all the yay and nay.
Downs...
2. Is Jessika Carr Blind?
Anyone who has watched even 30 minutes of the medium knows that wrestling refs would struggle to read the top line from an optician’s eye chart on their best day, but this was a bit ridiculous. Either Jacy Jayne messed up or Jessika Carr did, because there’s no way she could’ve missed Jacy on the ring apron rolling Lainey Reid and Paige over for the match-deciding pin. It's minor grumble, but the minor things matter.
No, that spot didn’t ruin the match by any means either, but it still deserves a ‘Down’.
Time for some more good news: There wasn't much to whinge about at Saturday Night's Main Event as a whole. So, unfortunately for the women the opener, this bit stood out a little. Jayne leapt up onto the apron as Carr was mid-count, then the ref completely ignored a heel visibly pushing active workers into position. Apparently, to Jessika, that was perfectly fine.
That screenshot above isn't some carefully-curated or manipulated still image either - Carr was literally looking at Jacy for longer than it suggests, so anyone defending this error can forget about it. This is the kind of thing AEW officials are rightly pulled up for routinely, and it's only fair the same thing happens on WWE's side too. Suspending your disbelief enough to buy that Jess didn't see Jayne? Mission impossible, and that's coming from someone who's about to gush with praise for Danhausen's cloning machine!
Again, not a match killer by any means, but this should've been tidier.
1. Yeah, Wouldn’t Have Closed With That!
Well, that closing segment was a...closing segment.
Roman Reigns came out for a love-in with Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson. The 'OTC' handed him a special title belt, then (Indiana Pacers guard) Tyrese Haliburton came out with a steel chair and Seth Rollins attacked from behind. Brunson stepped in to put a stop to the stomp, then Reigns hit a spear on Seth before Rollins and Tyrese powdered. It was a pretty weak, nothing segment overall being honest.
As usual, all of the basketball stuff meant nothing outside the local market. Sure, some watching internationally would know who these dudes are, but they didn't really do anything that made their involvement worthwhile. Indeed, Brunson barely changed his bored-looking facial expressions for the entire duration of Roman's promo or Seth's attack. He didn't even look fired up when stepping in front of Rollins to stop the stomp.
Haliburton was a little more animated, but all in all this whole deal just felt like a colossal waste of minutes. Somewhere, Bill Goldberg would've been spitting feathers that Triple H/WWE/TKO didn't cut Jalen f'n Brunson off the way they did his retirement speech last year post-defeat to Gunther.
Personally, this fan would've ended SNME with the hot tag-team match that had SummerSlam consequences, not this. Roman and Seth are gonna have to work real hard to add some spice to their World Title showdown in Minneapolis. Currently, it feels like WWE's writers just booked the match then said: 'Our work here is done - to the pub'.
Ups...
4. Goofy Funhausen
Danhausen vs. JD McDonagh in a ‘No DQ’ effort was always going to be silly fun, and that’s exactly what we got here. Dominik Mysterio persistently got involved at ringside, then the Minihausens came along for a bit. After those hijinks, Danhausen put a stuffed cat into his cloning machine and Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT, get it?) came out to chokeslam McDonagh then chokeslam Dom through a table.
That was some NBA splicing done the right way.
Danhausen scored the win shortly after Towns cursed JD. It was over the top and totally ridiculous but a good lighthearted laugh at the same time. Being honest, it's also impressive they managed to get so much time out of Danhausen’s bit on this occasion; there were some slow moments, but the match and all of the overbooked chaos proved to be a giggle overall, and KAT's chokeslams on both 'Dirty Dom' and McDonagh looked wonderful.
Madison Square Garden loved it some Danhausen. He was greeted with a respectable pop during his entrance, then there were even chants for the oddball character. That had to feel amazing for someone who was completely frozen out by AEW boss Tony Khan. Every wrestler on the planet dreams of hearing the Garden chanting their name.
It's slightly surprising that neither The Miz nor Kit Wilson got involved here, but maybe WWE's writers want to keep that side of things separate over on SmackDown. The numbers advantage those Judgment Day gits had also made Towns emerging from the cloning machine more logical (if such a thing can be logical!).
3. Fatal Influence Bags The Gold
Putting the Women’s Tag-Team Titles on Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid in that opener was the right decision.
Paige and Brie Bella’s own reign was on life support pretty much since the first TV following WrestleMania 42. Hopefully, Paige can spin out of this into some singles matches. Meanwhile, Brie can just keep teaming with Nikki when she returns. That's all the twins will be good for going forwards. Individually, they don't have much steam anyway, and one means less to WWE without the other. Just the way it is.
The match here was SmackDown-level, but that’s not meant as a dig - it's just the kind of thing WWE would normally put on weekly TV if they didn’t have a SNME special to chew through pre-SummerSlam. All 4 women (5 if you include Jacy Jayne around ringside) packed a lot into 7 minutes or so. This fan liked the double teaming of Influence, then their subtle moments of inexperience compared to Paige and Bella too.
That was a nifty way to put across the fact that Influence are fairly new to this and still ironing out the kinks. Jacy's interference by rolling Reid over into a pinning combination on Paige could've been smoother (see the 'Downs' section for a moan about that), but that flub didn't outright bury the result. Henley and Reid are the new champs, and that bodes well for them on SmackDown.
Plus, it means Fatal Influence will be able to show up on Mondays and for NXT duty. The more reps they get, the better. Now, find 'em a worthwhile feud. Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green, perhaps?
2. Grudge Match Actually Feels Like A Fight
Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria benefited from some accidental blood when a Bayley elbow cracked Lyra’s nose. Beyond that, they started with high energy and didn’t let up for the entire match. It was messy in a good way, if that even makes sense. The pair weren’t uncoordinated or all over the place, but this wasn’t some slick, technical exhibition and nor should it have been. It felt like a proper fight at times, and was better for that.
Valkyria scoring the win by effectively choking her old mentor out worked too. Lyra then attacking again post-match sold the craziness of her new character, and it looks for all the world like Bayley might be winding down as a WWE star. She still has plenty to offer, clearly, but...are things coming to a natural end for the huggable one? Is an AEW reunion with Mercedes Mone incoming sooner rather than later?!
Watch this space. Anything could happen in this wacky biz.
Or, maybe Bayley was simply putting Lyra over properly so Valkyria's new unhinged character has some gas. We all know how important being all gas and no brakes is. Just ask Jacob Fatu. He'd have been proud of the physicality between these former tag-team partners. They were bringing it from the opening bell.
Confession: When this was hyped for SNME, yours truly thought it'd be one of the card's most boring bouts. Nope, it was fantastic from start to finish, and acts as a reminder not to judge a book by its cover. Or, it might be better to say 'don't judge a match before it happens'.
Top work.
1. Main Event Tag-Team Chaos WORKS!
Gunther and Sami Zayn vs. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk was a total blast.
The quartet kicked it off by continuing SmackDown’s brawl, and things didn’t let up from there. There was some nice miscommunication between the babyfaces, then Nick Aldis screwed Gunther over to ensure he didn’t get to SummerSlam’s title match. In hindsight, sticking the stip on that’d put Sami and Gunther in the WWE Title mix if they won was an inspired choice. However, there won't be a Fatal-4-Way in Minnesota next month. Punk and Cody will go 1v1 after all.
Meanwhile, Gunther will campaign for a grudge bout vs. Aldis, and that'll feel 100% refreshing. Who knows what Zayn will get up to though? He's in danger of feeling like a SummerSlam bridesmaid unless something dramatic happens over the next fortnight or so, That's a bit of a shame considering he was WWE Champion mere weeks ago.
Back to this match. It was chaotic, it was lively and it was better than predicted heading into Saturday's show at MSG. Punk seemed a little more energetic than usual within the tag setting, and Zayn was on top form as a heel who didn't trust Gunther but knew he needed him if he was going to sneak back into title contention in early-August.
Everything, from a double submission from the faces to Nick's run-in to prevent Gunther from winning, worked a real treat. This was the kind of match SNME specials were made for. It bridged the gap to SummerSlam brilliantly.
What did you think of the latest WWE Saturday Night's Main Event? For more wrestling, check out 10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: TNA (Part 3) and 101 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened!
