Saturday Night's main event could be a seminal moment in Cody Rhodes' WWE career.
On this night, WWE's purest babyface showed that he may not be who we think he is anymore. On Saturday night, in front of 14,186 fans at the Nassau Coliseum as the iconic series returned to NBC for the first time since 2008, Rose used a steel chair brought into the ring by Kevin Owens to defeat Andy in the main event. Retained the Spewed WWE Universal Championship.
Is this the first sign of a heel coming out in Rhodes, or is the champion simply taking advantage of the situation presented to him?
It feels fitting that Rose did perhaps the most babyface thing of all time, fulfilling his promise to bring back the famous Winged Eagle belt for the first time since it was retired by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in 1998. Ta.
Rose's use of the chair and the chaos after the show went off the air (which was the best thing that happened all night) drives this story, with the champion being in bad company and driven by the ego he's built up. He will continue to advance Owens' belief that he is a man of the highest caliber.
The match was the culmination of an overall night of quality wrestling, and while it wasn't PLE-level in major happenings, it was a solid start to a five-year partnership between WWE and NBCUniversal, which first debuted on the network in 1985. It became.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday night's main event.
Travel to the new Rhodes
Things are far from over between Rhodes and Owens and will only get more heated after the developments on Long Island. Owens won the championship, but had knocked out referee Charles Robinson during a cross-roads counter. So when he unleashed a stunner on Rhodes, no one counted to three. A second officer ran down, but couldn't make it in time.
The referee was taken down as well, and this time Rose ducked Owens with a Cody Cutter. Frustrated, Owens threw Rose against the ring post, ran out of the ring, and brought a chair into the ring. Rhodes sold out an injured Angle early on, but then went away, but avoided it and rolled his opponent into a chair with a crossroads followed by a Cody Cutter to a slightly stunned Crown.
Rose looked at the chair before doing so and threw it outside the ring so that the referee, dressed as a heel, wouldn't see the chair. Robinson stood up outside the ring and counted to three. Jesse “The Body” Ventura did a great job with the commentary foreshadowing Rose potentially “cheating” into using the chair.
The last thing television viewers saw was Rose celebrating in the ring. Long Island fans saw Owens rush back to the ring and attack the champion who was sent to address the crowd.
Owens then delivered a banded package piledriver, leaving Rhodes on a stretcher, leaving WWE officials in a panic. Owens then appeared to lose the Winged Eagle title, but he returned and stood over Rhodes on a stretcher with his belt held high in an incredible visual. Owens ends up feuding with Triple H for the championship near the entrance.
WWE has two options. They could use Rose's injury to extend it to the Royal Rumble or book a rematch in the match that Raw debuts on January 6th on Netflix.
green day
Chelsea Green finally got her well-deserved moment after returning to WWE, defeating Meechin to become the inaugural U.S. Women's Champion in front of a Long Island crowd that supported her 100 percent from the start. Green being married to Long Island native Matt Cardona certainly helped, making it the perfect spot for Green to win his first WWE Singles Championship.
The crowd was chanting “Let's go, Chelsea!” Even if Piper Niven interferes with a running heel on the outside. When Green put his foot on the rope to break the pin, it popped.
Green has made the most of every moment he has in WWE and is one of the most entertaining people on the show. It's a key moment that shows you're being noticed and rewarded. Her title win means more meaningful television appearances and deeper storylines for Greene, which is always a good thing.
Niven played a role in the finish, distracting Michin while Green was helpless on the top rope. Michin kicks Niven off the apron and Green slaps Niven as he sits back on the top rope. She then performed an Avalanche style Unpretia to win the title to Big Pop. Niven celebrated by lifting Green's shoulders in the ring.
triple delight
The triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship was probably the best match on the card. This was because the three men had a series of strong false finishes at a high pace in the second half.
The best part was Damien Priest's Razor's Edge on Gunter from the corner, followed by Finn Balor's Cou de Grace, but Gunther kicked out. All three traded near the waterfall until Gunther had enough.
He put Priest in a sleeper outside the ring before powerbombing him onto the ring steps. The champion ran to the ring, kicked Balor hard into the corner, and hit a powerbomb on the rebound for the win.
Priest competed in this match in front of his hometown crowd in New York. He shocked Gunther with an old school crossbody and again when he blocked the champion's sleeper attempt. WWE could continue his feud with Priest. Perhaps Priest will find a tag partner to challenge Baylor and J.D. McDonough for the World Tag Team Championship.
quick work
I really liked the pace between Iyoskai and Liv Morgan at the Women's World Championship because there was no slack.
Sky, who was in control for most of the match, went for a moonsault off the top rope, but Morgan got up on his knees and quickly turned it into an Oblivion finisher to keep. Skye reacted very well as a babyface and this bodes well for her moving forward.
The match was great, but it was just a stepping stone before Morgan faced Rhea Ripley again for the championship. As the champion returned and greeted Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez, Ripley came out and confronted Morgan. I think WWE did a great job setting up one of the biggest matches on network TV.
nifty nostalgia
WWE took advantage of Jesse “The Body” Ventura's return. He wears his trademark colorful boa, sunglasses, and snakeskin leather jacket. Ventura spent most of the show in the announcer's seat preparing for the match with live voice Joe Tessitore before joining the commentary desk for the main event. Although his delivery was a little slow at times, he worked well as a heel commentator, was set up well by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, and was great around Cody Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes and Dominik Mysterio during the night. Gave some inspiration.
WWE does a quality job with a sprinkling of nostalgia from the original show openings and music, staging design, classic WWE logos on the turnbuckles, and referees dressed in vintage outfits of blue shirts and black bow ties. I did. I was disappointed that there were no big surprise legends, but I did get to see Jimmy Hart, Tito Santana, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and Coco B. Ware.
Other matches
Drew McIntyre defeats Sami Zayn
McIntyre would be able to cross the original Bloodline original members off the roster and make Jimmy Uso his next target as he continues his vendetta against the group.
McIntyre got the pin when he slid out of the ring to avoid a helluva kick, making Zayn promise to follow him to the floor. The Scottish Warrior slid into the ring and nailed a Flash Claymore on Zayn, who entered the square circle again.
How many Bloodline members will Drew go through, and will he return to Roman Reigns at some point?
Biggest winner: chelsea green
Biggest loser: Sami Zayn
Best match: Finn Balor vs. Gunther vs. Damian Priest World Heavyweight Championship
Grade: B
