WWE Main Event 10-17-12

Well, I’ve been looking to try something new, and the generally positive reaction to this show have convinced me to bite the bullet and give this a shot. That and zanadude’s relentless pimping of it… This will be the first time I’ve watched a WWE TV show in years, outside of catching brief bits of Raw during Top Gear commercial breaks. It’ll certainly be nice to see something with decent production values, unlike the ROH shows I’m used to.

Taped from Memphis, TN.

We start out with Cole and JBL in the ring. Clips of Kofi busting Miz’s head open from Raw are shown, then a pretty well done video package for Kofi. Kofi gets interviewed in the back and promises to win the IC title. The Miz comes out cuts a promo (with the WWE logo upside-down on the mic cube for some reason), basically saying that no one else would be back the very next night after taking a kick like that. Miz video package, and Kofi comes out as we cut to commercial.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz(C): I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Kofi wrestle. Lots of amateur-style stuff to start and they trade shoulder blocks. Miz tries a hiptoss but Kofi reverses it into a monkey flip, clotheslines him to the floor, and hits a nice running somersault dive to the outside. Miz gets tossed back in and Kofi follows with a springboard forearm for 2. Miz comes back with an elbow to the face (which really didn’t need to be replayed) and hits the chinlock, but Kofi gets out of it with a jawbreaker. A sunset flip/reversal/reversal sequence gets a few 2 counts for both guys. Kofi goes for Trouble in Paradise, but Miz ducks out of the way and bails to the floor as we go to commercial.

We’re back with Kofi kicking away in the corner. He goes for the 10-count punches, but Miz powerbombs him out of the corner. Heh, I called that as soon as Kofi hopped up there. Miz with the HHH knee for 2, ax-handle from the top for 2, and then back to the chinlock. Kofi flips out of a suplex and gets a scoop slam, but tries something or other that hits the knees. No idea what he was going for there… Both guys simultaneously hit a bodypress and we have the double KO. Kofi’s up first and he chops away and hits a dropkick. Miz ducks a blind charge and Kofi catches himself and hops up to the top, but Miz tosses him to the floor. We go back to a commercial break. Seriously, again?

Back with a Miz headlock, Kofi fights out but Miz sends him right back down with a knee and kicks him in the face a few times. Blind charge from Miz this time and he crotches himself on the second rope and Kofi follows up with an atomic drop. They slug it out, and one major difference between this and the ROH I always watch is the selling, as both of them are acting worn out here, as opposed to the “get hit with something and act like it hurts for 10 seconds then forget about it” thing that has infested most indy promotions these days. Miz gets backdropped to the floor, baseball slide misses, and now here’s the spot of the night: Miz tries throwing Kofi into the stairs, but Kofi just launches himself over them to miss, and comes back with a flying clothesline off the stairs. It gets 2 back in the ring. Kofi gets a kick to the head from the apron and a flying bodypress that Miz rolls through for 2. Kofi comes back with a clothesline and a double legdrop. Trouble in Paradise attempt #2 misses and Miz goes for a pin while holding the tights, but Kofi kicks out. S.O.S. for Kofi and Miz gets his foot on the rope. He tries grabbing the belt and walking out, but Kofi hits a plancha and tosses him back in. Miz comes back with a really fucked-up looking DDT for 2. Miz goes for the Skull-Crushing Finale, Kofi counters but eats a boot and Miz tries the pin with his feet on the ropes. Ref sees it, Miz stops to argue with him, and I think you all know what happens next. Trouble in Paradise and we have a NEW Intercontinental Champion at 15:32 aired. I know the IC title is kind of worthless these days, but even so having a title change does a good job of not making this look like a B-show, especially with this week’s Smackdown having 3 non-title matches. Match was crap, however. *1/2, Kofi looked great but the Miz was just awful here, as nearly his entire offense was punching, kicking, knees, and restholds. Outside of a couple Kofi highspots this was kind of boring too. I should also note that WWE announcing Kofi’s win on their own website kind of kook all the suspense out of it. Kofi thanks the fans after the win.

Miz gets interviewed in the back, but talks so low into the mic I can’t even hear what he says.

Vickie Guerrero brings out Dolph Ziggler as we go to break

Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder: Lillian introduces Ryder as “Zack Raider”, I gotta wonder who she’s banging to let her keep this job. Armdrags from Ryder to start off, Ziggler comes with an elbow out of the corner but gets dropped. Blind charge by Ryder finds a boot to the face. Ziggler stomps away and hits an elbowdrop. They fight over a headlock, and Ziggler hits a great Holly-esqe dropkick. This won’t come as news to anyone, but Vickie’s screaming is REALLY irritating. Ryder with a clothesline, Ziggler charges a couple times but gets caught and Ryder hits a missile dropkick. Ryder hits a forearm in the corner and gets the Broski Boot (which has to be about the stupidest name for a finisher I’ve ever heard), Ziggler kicks out and hits a sort of jumping neckbreaker thing to finish at 2:49. Short but fine. **

Ziggler issues an open challenge for next week and Ryback appears at the top of the ramp to end the show.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad show, and could be a pretty good show as long as we get someone who doesn’t suck instead of The Miz. The commentary was better than I expected, the social media whoring was non-existent, and John Cena’s name wasn’t mentioned once. In fact, there was really no talk of anything that didn’t directly involve what was going on here. They’ve convinced me to come back next week, anyway.