This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, before Monday’s Raw.
R-Truth defeated Akira Tozawa (4:42)
**
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This was a run of the mill encounter, but the crowd was certainly entertained by R-Truth if nothing else. This was their first singles match against each other, in a sense, since a late-June 2020 Raw appearance where Truth defeated Tozawa for the 24/7 title.
Just as he did two weeks ago on Main Event, he got the crowd going as he rapped his ring entrance and dedicated the match to his childhood hero John Cena. The irony that Truth is five years older than Cena isn’t lost on many.
The difference in this match to the one that Truth worked against Shelton Benjamin at the end of August was that Tozawa stopped his Cena-esque offense by kicking him to block the Five Knuckle Shuffle.
Tozawa got some nice stuff in with a top rope missile dropkick, but resorted to the dreaded reverse chinlock on two occasions.
In the end, Truth went through Cena’s cycle, hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the AA to get the win and leave everyone happy.
Shelton Benjamin defeated Cedric Alexander (6:46)
**3/4
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This was a good match with the storyline between Alexander and Ali slowly building in the background. Both competitors looked great here and have been frequent singles opponents, dating back to 2019. They last squared off in August on this very show.
Right after the Truth vs. Tozawa match, they aired a Benjamin promo that was a lot like the old inset promos that they would do on WWF Superstars back in the 1990s. He cut a babyface promo putting over his work in WWE over the years and his time with Alexander. He said he was still the gold standard.
Not only that, but they also actually did a backstage segment that referenced the end of last week’s show when Ali ran down to save Alexander from a beat down T-Bar. Alexander said he didn’t need Ali this week.
Given that it was two babyfaces, they shook hands at the bell and then worked with real fluidity up until the commercial break. Alexander, whose left shoulder was taped up, flew into a high knee from Benjamin on the outside going into the break.
The match really got going afterward with the crowd really getting into it. What sounded like a legit "this is awesome" chant started in the final minutes as they traded near falls.
In the end, Alexander escaped an ankle lock, tried the Neutralizer, but ate a superkick and the Paydirt for another defeat.
Ali came down to check on Alexander after the bell, but Alexander shrugged him off and walked to the back.
Final Thoughts:
The idea of storylines on Main Event is alien to say the least. They did some vignettes last year with Ali and Ricochet in their best of three series, but you would only have known anything about it if you watched the show. Given how turgid Main Event can and has been over the last few years, it’s been nice to see babyfaces caring about other babyfaces and things not existing in a vacuum for once.
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